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Raylan Givens #2.5
Fire in the Hole and Other Stories
In this superb short fiction collection, Elmore Leonard, “the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever” (New York Times Book Review), once again illustrates how the line between the law and the lawbreakers is not as firm as we might think. In the title story, the basis for the hit FX series Justified, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens meets up with an old friend, but they’re now on different sides of the law. Federal marshal Karen Sisco, from Out of Sight, returns in “Karen Makes Out,” once again inadvertently mixing pleasure with business. In “When the Women Come Out to Dance,” Mrs. Mahmood gets more than she bargains for when she conspires with her maid to end her unhappy marriage.
These nine stories are the great Elmore Leonard at his vivid, hilarious, and unfailingly human best.
259 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2001
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5701 people want to read
About the author
Elmore Leonard
211 books3,702 followersElmore John Leonard lived in Dallas, Oklahoma City and Memphis before settling in Detroit in 1935. After serving in the navy, he studied English literature at the University of Detroit where he entered a short story competition. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.
Father of Peter Leonard.
Father of Peter Leonard.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 741 reviews
March 27, 2020
This collection of Elmore Leonard's short fiction was originally entitled When the Women Come Out to Dance, but the title was changed to capitalize on its connection to FX's Justified. “Fire in the Hole” is the novella which inspired the series, and was used as the basis for the plot of its first episode. (The series did it justice, but the novella is better.)
At least half the book is taken up with two novellas, the aforementioned “Fire in the Hole” and “Ten Killer”, the tale of a confrontation between stuntman and former rodeo star Ben Webster and the criminal family who has taken over his deceased father's farm.
The rest of the book consists of seven stories: “Karen Makes Out” and “Chickasaw Charlie Hoke (treats for fans of Out of Sight and Tishimingo Blues, featuring the familiar characters Federal Marshal Karen Cisco and former baseball player and raconteur Charlie Hoke respectively), “Sparks” (a mellow version of Double Indemnity with a nod toward The Last Seduction), the two western stories “Hurrah for Captain Early” (a negro veteran of the Spanish American war confronts racism in a small town) and “The Tonto Woman” (the relationship between a Mexican rustler and a white woman once captured by Apaches), plus two other stories I would like to single out for special mention.
“Hanging Out at the Buena Vista” is slight, little more than a sketch really, but its portrait of a man and woman in their eighties who meet at a retirement village is—like most of Leonard's dialogue--a model for spare, laconic speech, matter-of-fact and unsentimental. Yet—quite a surprise for Leonard—it is very sweet and very moving too.
On the other hand, we have the original title story, “When the Women Come Out to Dance,” a deceptively casual tale of the growing relationship between discontented wife Mrs. Mahmood and her new domestic employee, the Latina Lourdes. Not to spoil your pleasure, I'll just say that this story not only contains a crime but has an ending that suggests—in the most subtle, offhand way imaginable—how fitting and how ghastly its unconventional punishment may be. This is a marvelous story that should be read by everyone who admires short fiction.
I wasn't sure if I'd like Leonard's short fiction as much as his novels, but I think perhaps I like them even more. The short form showcases his fine dialogue, and encourages his subtlety and efficiency--qualities Elmore Leonard has always possessed in abundance.
April 5, 2010
Reading this collection of Elmore Leonard short stories was kind of like going to a family reunion and having your mother give you running commentary on all the people you haven‘t seen a while. "Remember Carl Webster from The Hot Kid ? That’s his grandson Ben. He’s trying to run some redneck squatters off the family farm. And there’s Karen Sisco! Why, I haven’t seen her since she was chasing that bank robber in Out of Sight . Raylan Givens over there has his very own TV show now. We’re all so proud. Oh no! There’s one of those nasty Crowe boys." Etc. etc.
The stories are kind of a greatest hits medley of some of Leonard’s work. The familiar faces appear in short sequels or prequels to some of his novels. Most notable is Fire in the Hole which was used as the inspiration and pilot episode for the TV show Justified on FX. There’s also a couple of westerns in a nod to Leonard’s roots.
But my favorite is a very short and funny one called Hanging Out at the Buena Vista. It’s only about 4 pages long and is just a conversation between two seniors at a retirement home. It’s a great snapshot of Leonard dialogue and style that is mainly an extended joke complete with punch line.
The stories are kind of a greatest hits medley of some of Leonard’s work. The familiar faces appear in short sequels or prequels to some of his novels. Most notable is Fire in the Hole which was used as the inspiration and pilot episode for the TV show Justified on FX. There’s also a couple of westerns in a nod to Leonard’s roots.
But my favorite is a very short and funny one called Hanging Out at the Buena Vista. It’s only about 4 pages long and is just a conversation between two seniors at a retirement home. It’s a great snapshot of Leonard dialogue and style that is mainly an extended joke complete with punch line.
December 28, 2025
A solid collection of short stories from Dutch. The title story and the cleverly written The Tonto Woman were the best of the lot. Amazing how Elmore Leonard develops character almost entirely through dialog. He was more descriptive than usual in the two Western stories - Hurrah for Capt. Early and The Tonto Woman. Dutch sure loved Hollywood movies, often comparing a sexy female character to a famous actress. Tenkiller felt like it was meant to be a full length novel but Dutch lost interest in it. I liked the movie stuntman character Ben Webster and his girlfriends. He is the grandson of Carl Webster from Up in Honey's Room. Karen Cisco from Out of Sight also makes an appearance in one of the short stories.
June 5, 2023
This is a collection of short stories by Elmore Leonard which starts so-so and ends very enjoyable with the story “Tenkiller” and has a Raylan Givens and a Karen Sisco story in it, two characters I have really enjoyed and both live up to their reputation.
Elmore Leonard has a gift with words which I enjoyed unwrapping.
PS - just started rewatching Justified the tv show which starts with fire in the hole, the story in this bundle.
Elmore Leonard has a gift with words which I enjoyed unwrapping.
PS - just started rewatching Justified the tv show which starts with fire in the hole, the story in this bundle.
June 26, 2024
3½ out of 5 stars
After finishing this short story collection, I now understand why Elmore Leonard is considered a classic in contemporary Western. He's a skilled writer of action-y dialogues that keep his stories moving forward even when there isn't much happening on the surface.
Leonard's style can be described simply as punchy because it can pack a punch and punctuate a seemingly simple story with lots of undertones. His writing might look like straight-forward pulp fiction, but there's a sense of "literary literature" in his prose. He definitely knew how to turn a phrase half-way through a sentence to change the whole atmosphere of a story.
Most, if not all, of Leonard's characters are morally corrupt and/or understandably self-serving, with the exception of the good US Marshal Raylan Givens from the titular story "Fire in the Hole." The good Marshal is a contrast to the criminal figures he deals with in that he is steered by the law, but assumes the persona of someone who doesn't care for it. At first glance, it can seem unsettling to see him playing along with outlaws because you, the reader, can't figure out where his loyalties lie. As the story unfolds, however, Givens' motives and intentions become a little clearer with each encounter with each character, who is usually an outlaw. This is a running theme in Leonard's writing. You don't know, upon first introduction, what each character in the story represents until you read further.
There's a subtle, simmering sense of something (unintended alliteration) not quite right in each of Leonard's short story that's sometimes a little on the violent side--violent in the sense of tense atmosphere, not necessarily and not always bloodshed. The prose, dialogue, characterization, all of it take after the atmosphere and have a tense undercurrent running through them which heightens the plots' progression.
The criminal figures and lawmen featured in Leonard's stories are familiar and somewhat staples of the crime fiction genre now. What separates Leonard's characters from those of his peers' is his handling of moving dialogue. His dialogue actually moves the plot forward, and a lot can be resolved in a passing conversation between an outlaw and a deputy. Leonard is Old West crime fiction in its most interesting contemporary form.
Western is not my preferred genre, and I don't often read crime fiction unless it's interjected into sci-fi/fantasy. With that said, I must say this collection of Leonard's stories is a satisfying read.
Those who've seen the TV series "Justified," based on the character of Raylan Givens, will find the story "Fire in the Hole," which is also the name of the pilot episode, very familiar. The beats and events in this story set off the series and reignite Givens' clash with the ever opportunistic Crowder clan, just like in the short story.
The first season follows Leonard's writing, and the rest of the series after that point, while staying true to Leonard's creations, veers off into new story arcs by introducing new "victims" and "villains" for the good Marshal and his friends to deal with. Raylan Givens in the show is younger and more charismatic than Raylan Givens in the stories, who is rougher around the edges and isn't as articulate.
Overall, though, I think Justified's showrunners have done Leonard's stories justice by incorporating his unique, realistic setting and atmosphere into the show.
* * * * *
Cross-posted at http://covers2covers.wordpress.com/20...
After finishing this short story collection, I now understand why Elmore Leonard is considered a classic in contemporary Western. He's a skilled writer of action-y dialogues that keep his stories moving forward even when there isn't much happening on the surface.
Leonard's style can be described simply as punchy because it can pack a punch and punctuate a seemingly simple story with lots of undertones. His writing might look like straight-forward pulp fiction, but there's a sense of "literary literature" in his prose. He definitely knew how to turn a phrase half-way through a sentence to change the whole atmosphere of a story.
Most, if not all, of Leonard's characters are morally corrupt and/or understandably self-serving, with the exception of the good US Marshal Raylan Givens from the titular story "Fire in the Hole." The good Marshal is a contrast to the criminal figures he deals with in that he is steered by the law, but assumes the persona of someone who doesn't care for it. At first glance, it can seem unsettling to see him playing along with outlaws because you, the reader, can't figure out where his loyalties lie. As the story unfolds, however, Givens' motives and intentions become a little clearer with each encounter with each character, who is usually an outlaw. This is a running theme in Leonard's writing. You don't know, upon first introduction, what each character in the story represents until you read further.
There's a subtle, simmering sense of something (unintended alliteration) not quite right in each of Leonard's short story that's sometimes a little on the violent side--violent in the sense of tense atmosphere, not necessarily and not always bloodshed. The prose, dialogue, characterization, all of it take after the atmosphere and have a tense undercurrent running through them which heightens the plots' progression.
The criminal figures and lawmen featured in Leonard's stories are familiar and somewhat staples of the crime fiction genre now. What separates Leonard's characters from those of his peers' is his handling of moving dialogue. His dialogue actually moves the plot forward, and a lot can be resolved in a passing conversation between an outlaw and a deputy. Leonard is Old West crime fiction in its most interesting contemporary form.
Western is not my preferred genre, and I don't often read crime fiction unless it's interjected into sci-fi/fantasy. With that said, I must say this collection of Leonard's stories is a satisfying read.
Those who've seen the TV series "Justified," based on the character of Raylan Givens, will find the story "Fire in the Hole," which is also the name of the pilot episode, very familiar. The beats and events in this story set off the series and reignite Givens' clash with the ever opportunistic Crowder clan, just like in the short story.
The first season follows Leonard's writing, and the rest of the series after that point, while staying true to Leonard's creations, veers off into new story arcs by introducing new "victims" and "villains" for the good Marshal and his friends to deal with. Raylan Givens in the show is younger and more charismatic than Raylan Givens in the stories, who is rougher around the edges and isn't as articulate.
Overall, though, I think Justified's showrunners have done Leonard's stories justice by incorporating his unique, realistic setting and atmosphere into the show.
* * * * *
Cross-posted at http://covers2covers.wordpress.com/20...
August 19, 2025
I was expecting more Raylan Givens, but he is featured in only one of these short stories. There isn’t a lot of variety in this collection, the tone is similar in each story. My favorites were, “Sparks” about the interrogation of a suspected arsonist, and “Fire in the Hole”, the Givens story. I listened to the newly-issued audiobook narrated by Taye Diggs. He did an excellent job. 3.5 stars
I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.
January 13, 2012
Well, I think it's a law or something that you have to like Elmore Leonard. I purchased this one for the one story "Fire in the Hole" A Raylan Givens story. That one was the best story in the book for me, but, there were some other gems in here as well. But, there was one or two that were only a few pages long and kind of left me scratching my head. But, over all if you like Elmore you'll want to add this one to your collection.
January 15, 2019
"We dug coal together."
You know, it's funny how that old saying never quite fits until you read a story that gives you the purest form of perspective.
The camaraderie in the statement is akin to big city beat cops. When a partner's on the take, but the other isn't quite down with the bribes, how can he be trusted? Eventually, the decent cop is gonna take the bribe, just to put his partner at ease, so they can do their jobs and trust each other. It's necessary to trust your partner when extreme danger comes knocking, nearly a dozen times per tour.
The same goes for coal miners. Cave-ins, explosions, unconsciousness... you name it. Whichever factor you choose, working in a coal mine with another man is putting that man's life in your hands, and vice-versa.
So when Elmore Leonard's "Fire in the Hole" opened with the now infamous line, I found myself in a remarkable position to understand what he was saying, after long conversations I'd had with my father in the past as an underground miner in South-Central Illinois.
It’s not about the work, it’s about the people. When you’re in a coal mine, you can’t protect yourself when you’re brain’s been powered down. It's the people, the union, that bring you out safely.
That’s what drives the core of this story. Once you dig coal with a man, you feel obligated to protect each other for life. So here we are, a lawman and a Nazi criminal narcissist who’ve found themselves on different sides of an explosive fence. The struggle is real. Could your put a hole in your brother in the name of the law? Or could you put a hole in your brother just to prove that you’re above the law?
In the end, the story grinds to a halt and it leaves us where it found us: “We dug coal together.”
You know, it's funny how that old saying never quite fits until you read a story that gives you the purest form of perspective.
The camaraderie in the statement is akin to big city beat cops. When a partner's on the take, but the other isn't quite down with the bribes, how can he be trusted? Eventually, the decent cop is gonna take the bribe, just to put his partner at ease, so they can do their jobs and trust each other. It's necessary to trust your partner when extreme danger comes knocking, nearly a dozen times per tour.
The same goes for coal miners. Cave-ins, explosions, unconsciousness... you name it. Whichever factor you choose, working in a coal mine with another man is putting that man's life in your hands, and vice-versa.
So when Elmore Leonard's "Fire in the Hole" opened with the now infamous line, I found myself in a remarkable position to understand what he was saying, after long conversations I'd had with my father in the past as an underground miner in South-Central Illinois.
It’s not about the work, it’s about the people. When you’re in a coal mine, you can’t protect yourself when you’re brain’s been powered down. It's the people, the union, that bring you out safely.
That’s what drives the core of this story. Once you dig coal with a man, you feel obligated to protect each other for life. So here we are, a lawman and a Nazi criminal narcissist who’ve found themselves on different sides of an explosive fence. The struggle is real. Could your put a hole in your brother in the name of the law? Or could you put a hole in your brother just to prove that you’re above the law?
In the end, the story grinds to a halt and it leaves us where it found us: “We dug coal together.”
July 25, 2014
Four stars, absolutely four solid stars.
The title story, When Women Come Out to Dance the last story along with two other stories I would rate higher but the remaining (and majority) short stories, three and four stars.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to locate a list of the title of the nine stories otherwise I would know their names but it matters not, they were all fun. A couple of them just turned me upside down with a big "Huh????" "What? Lemme think a minute."
So silly us...while we're driving to the grocery store trying to think of what we need, Elmore Leonard, who I just love, was thinking about great ideas for a story. What a genius.
If I was going to have a baby I would name him (or her for that matter) Elmore Leonard. Highest honor I could give Mr. Leonard.
The title story, When Women Come Out to Dance the last story along with two other stories I would rate higher but the remaining (and majority) short stories, three and four stars.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to locate a list of the title of the nine stories otherwise I would know their names but it matters not, they were all fun. A couple of them just turned me upside down with a big "Huh????" "What? Lemme think a minute."
So silly us...while we're driving to the grocery store trying to think of what we need, Elmore Leonard, who I just love, was thinking about great ideas for a story. What a genius.
If I was going to have a baby I would name him (or her for that matter) Elmore Leonard. Highest honor I could give Mr. Leonard.
October 23, 2014
A fantastic collection of short stories, it starts out with a couple of short sketches that are more interesting than they should be for what they are. Leonard's writing really shines as he manages to use a short scene to paint entire people & years of history.
Other stories include the one on which the TV series Justified is based & one with Karen Sisco, another interesting marshal. Plus plenty more, including 2 that I had previously read in his western stories. They were just as good the second time.
Other stories include the one on which the TV series Justified is based & one with Karen Sisco, another interesting marshal. Plus plenty more, including 2 that I had previously read in his western stories. They were just as good the second time.
August 13, 2020
4 Stars, best of the Raylan so far
As usual with my reviews, please first read the publisher’s blurb/summary of the book. Thank you.
Home town Harlan Kentucky, Raylan hears old coal-digging buddy Boyd has been bad, and shot up a church and some other terrorist acts. They decide to pull Boyd in, but the lovely Ava confuses things a bit.
Nice pacing, good dialogue, down home feel, good tension, too. Nice climax for a novella. Well-worth reading.
The story is expanded and set to TV series, very nicely done. Do watch Justified on TV. Superb.
Shameful there are no worthy quotations.
Raylan's Smith .45 Target, 6.5" barrel
Full size image here
.
As usual with my reviews, please first read the publisher’s blurb/summary of the book. Thank you.
Home town Harlan Kentucky, Raylan hears old coal-digging buddy Boyd has been bad, and shot up a church and some other terrorist acts. They decide to pull Boyd in, but the lovely Ava confuses things a bit.
Nice pacing, good dialogue, down home feel, good tension, too. Nice climax for a novella. Well-worth reading.
The story is expanded and set to TV series, very nicely done. Do watch Justified on TV. Superb.
Shameful there are no worthy quotations.
Raylan's Smith .45 Target, 6.5" barrel
Full size image here
.
January 20, 2014
A collection of really excellent (well, most of them) stories by Elmore Leonard. My favorites were the collection titled story, "Fire in the Hole" that provided much of the background and basis for the "Justified" TV series (very good, btw.) "Karen Makes Out" was lots of fun. Karen is a U.S. Marshal who has been smitten by Carl, a man wanted (they think) by the FBI for bank robbery. How she deals with it is delightful, indeed. Shades of Raylan in that girl. "Hurrah for Captain Early" provides a nice mix of the role played by black soldiers and some of the discrimination they faced. "The Tonto Woman" is a touching story of a Mexican bandit who crosses the border to steal cattle. Along the way he salvages the wife of the man whose cattle he's about to steal, resurrecting her in the eyes of her husband. Charming.
October 3, 2011
This review is solely on 'Fire in the Hole', the only story I've read in the collection so far.
I've wanted to read 'Fire in the Hole' since I started watching Justified, which is one of my favorite shows on television now. So when I saw the short story collection it was in at a book sale for a dollar, it was an easy decision to make (despite my repeatedly telling myself not to buy more books while I have so many sitting at home unread).
I loved the hell out of this story, even after knowing the basic plot from the show. Getting to see Raylan, Art, Boyd, Ava and the other Harlan County characters in the medium they were created for was a real treat. I only wish there were entire novels about Raylan's rogue lawman, and not just this 50-page short story.
I've wanted to read 'Fire in the Hole' since I started watching Justified, which is one of my favorite shows on television now. So when I saw the short story collection it was in at a book sale for a dollar, it was an easy decision to make (despite my repeatedly telling myself not to buy more books while I have so many sitting at home unread).
I loved the hell out of this story, even after knowing the basic plot from the show. Getting to see Raylan, Art, Boyd, Ava and the other Harlan County characters in the medium they were created for was a real treat. I only wish there were entire novels about Raylan's rogue lawman, and not just this 50-page short story.
June 21, 2016
This compilation, consisting of 9 short stories, is named after its longest title, Fire In The Hole, the inspiration for the television series Justified. It begins with a Kentucky-based Nazi called Boyd blowing up a church with a grenade launcher. When US Marshal Raylan arrives to investigate, he becomes reacquainted with Ava, an old school friend. Ava has recently killed her husband, Boyd’s brother.
Vengeful Colombian mail order brides are the subjects of When the Women Come Out to Dance. The aptly named Karen Makes Out sees Federal Marshal Karen Sisco mixing business with pleasure. In Tenkiller a trio of nefarious hillbillies have occupied a farm, much to the chagrin of its owner.
This authentic and atmospheric American-based collection boasts a strong array of characters, lean prose, effective dialogue and abrupt finales. Themes include guns, conflict and relationships. There are several occasions when liberties are taken with grammar. This is a trademark of an author who refused to allow rules to slow the pace.
Whilst these tales are for the most part contemporary, 2 of them, Hurrah for Captain Early and The Tonto Woman, are set in the Wild West, a haphazard approach this reader found rather distracting. Nevertheless Fire In The Hole is a compelling introduction to crime-writing maestro Leonard’s work.
It should be noted that this book is a reissue of an old title, When the Women Come Out to Dance. Evidently the publisher wanted to cash in on the popularity of the television series.
Vengeful Colombian mail order brides are the subjects of When the Women Come Out to Dance. The aptly named Karen Makes Out sees Federal Marshal Karen Sisco mixing business with pleasure. In Tenkiller a trio of nefarious hillbillies have occupied a farm, much to the chagrin of its owner.
This authentic and atmospheric American-based collection boasts a strong array of characters, lean prose, effective dialogue and abrupt finales. Themes include guns, conflict and relationships. There are several occasions when liberties are taken with grammar. This is a trademark of an author who refused to allow rules to slow the pace.
Whilst these tales are for the most part contemporary, 2 of them, Hurrah for Captain Early and The Tonto Woman, are set in the Wild West, a haphazard approach this reader found rather distracting. Nevertheless Fire In The Hole is a compelling introduction to crime-writing maestro Leonard’s work.
It should be noted that this book is a reissue of an old title, When the Women Come Out to Dance. Evidently the publisher wanted to cash in on the popularity of the television series.
March 30, 2025
...Effettivamente posso farci ben poco: magari non sono un giudice imparziale perché rimango un estimatore di Elmore Leonard qualunque cosa scriva.
In questo caso ha scritto dei racconti sempre alla sua maniera e sempre fatti in modo da catturate TUTTA l'attenzione del lettore (mia di sicuro): i miei preferiti sono "scintille" (è il primo breve racconto: CHE racconto!), "la donna apache" e "Tenkiller" che non sono riuscito a mollare neanche per un istante.
Sarebbe piuttosto un punteggio di 4,5 ma in fondo chissene: per via della non uniforme qualità dei racconti e della tensione, direi.
Anche se in fondo _come ho detto_ Elmore non mi delude mai.
In questo caso ha scritto dei racconti sempre alla sua maniera e sempre fatti in modo da catturate TUTTA l'attenzione del lettore (mia di sicuro): i miei preferiti sono "scintille" (è il primo breve racconto: CHE racconto!), "la donna apache" e "Tenkiller" che non sono riuscito a mollare neanche per un istante.
Sarebbe piuttosto un punteggio di 4,5 ma in fondo chissene: per via della non uniforme qualità dei racconti e della tensione, direi.
Anche se in fondo _come ho detto_ Elmore non mi delude mai.
February 8, 2014
Goddamn, Fire in the Hole is smart fun. I'm not much of a short story reader but Leonard's short stories are the perfect length, almost like well-told bar stories or the best of popcorn movies. The title story (the genesis of the Justified tv show) makes me want to kiss my fingers and say "perfect" like a French waiter or something. Leonard was a treasure. There's not a bad story in the bunch. The only problem is the book's length, 162 short pages that make me want to bang myself on the head with a tire iron so I can forget the stories and read them anew again.
January 31, 2024
This is a pretty good collection of short stories! Elmore Leonard has definitely become one of my favorite authors. I just love his style of writing. He's one of the best at writing dialogue. He doesn't pull any punches and there are no wasted words. My favorites in this collection were Sparks, Fire in the Hole, The Tonto Woman, and Tenkiller. The rest of the stories were also fun to read. Leonard does a good job of creating likable characters even though some may have questionable morals. This is a quick and entertaining read and I look forward to reading more Elmore Leonard in the future!
March 2, 2015
This book is a compilation of nine well written short stories with characters whose lives fall just outside the norm. These stories are gritty, ironic, sometimes humorous, and always end with some sort of twist. An interesting, enjoyable read!
May 26, 2022
"I read an article that men don't read novels anymore."
"An article?"
"Yeah, some chick bitching to GQ about her boyfriend reading Kim Stanley Robinson, Ursula K LeGuin, and history about CIA death squads instead of novels."
"Your girlfriend?"
"Naw. But that guy has about the same taste in books as I do."
"Weird"
"Yeah, weird."
"So this Leonard?"
"Well, I figured why not read some contemporary literary fiction, but if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it like a man. You know, terse stories about down-and-out lawmen, criminals, decent folks in a wicked world, or maybe not so decent folks in world with no illusions. Classic America."
"What did you think?"
"It's pretty good! Real snap-crack in the dialog, just like that "Guide to Dialogue" book a while back was talking about."
"Hough"
"Yeah, Hough. Anyways, these are some great stories. Definitely a little front loaded, “When the Women Come Out to Dance”, “Hanging Out at the Buena Vista”, and "Sparks" are all incredible. Apparently the other stories link into the novels, but I haven't read them. But hell, those three are worth the price of admission, and the rest are solid tales. Maybe I should read more novels."
"You think Leonard was who that chick was talking about."
"You think I give a fuck?"
"An article?"
"Yeah, some chick bitching to GQ about her boyfriend reading Kim Stanley Robinson, Ursula K LeGuin, and history about CIA death squads instead of novels."
"Your girlfriend?"
"Naw. But that guy has about the same taste in books as I do."
"Weird"
"Yeah, weird."
"So this Leonard?"
"Well, I figured why not read some contemporary literary fiction, but if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it like a man. You know, terse stories about down-and-out lawmen, criminals, decent folks in a wicked world, or maybe not so decent folks in world with no illusions. Classic America."
"What did you think?"
"It's pretty good! Real snap-crack in the dialog, just like that "Guide to Dialogue" book a while back was talking about."
"Hough"
"Yeah, Hough. Anyways, these are some great stories. Definitely a little front loaded, “When the Women Come Out to Dance”, “Hanging Out at the Buena Vista”, and "Sparks" are all incredible. Apparently the other stories link into the novels, but I haven't read them. But hell, those three are worth the price of admission, and the rest are solid tales. Maybe I should read more novels."
"You think Leonard was who that chick was talking about."
"You think I give a fuck?"
October 11, 2025
Fire in the Hole is a snappy short story collection from Elmore Leonard that features his famed U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (from the series that starts with Justified). I haven’t read the rest of the series, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the ride—Leonard’s dialogue still crackles, his crooks still swagger, and his sense of irony is as dry as the Kentucky dust. Having loved Rum Punch, I was happy to find that same mix of grit and sly humor here—just in shorter, faster bursts. It’s crime fiction done with a wink and a well-timed drawl.
August 29, 2018
I read this book for one story specifically, ‘Fire in the Hole’, which inspired the first series of Justified. I loved that show and still miss it. It also happens to be the longest and most memorable in the collection, which are otherwise neatly written and wryly amusing yet didn’t really grab me. Leonard’s narratives are character-driven but his characters aren’t generally very sympathetic. His most common theme is Disorganised Crime. Even Boyd Crowder, the most competent criminal in the book, is stymied by the gang of neo-nazi morons he runs with. ‘Fire in the Hole’ made me want to re-watch Justified, inevitably, and was also interesting for the ways in which it diverged from the TV version. While certain lines are identical, the ending was totally different.
Of the other stories, I liked the titular one for focusing on two female characters with an interesting dynamic. The two historical tales, ‘Hurrah for Captain Early’ and ‘The Tonto Woman’ were unexpected, as I hadn’t realised that Leonard wrote historical fiction. Even more so than the other stories, though, they were filled with racist, misogynist idiot American men. Which can be tiring and trying at the best of times.
Of the other stories, I liked the titular one for focusing on two female characters with an interesting dynamic. The two historical tales, ‘Hurrah for Captain Early’ and ‘The Tonto Woman’ were unexpected, as I hadn’t realised that Leonard wrote historical fiction. Even more so than the other stories, though, they were filled with racist, misogynist idiot American men. Which can be tiring and trying at the best of times.
February 19, 2016
Purchased the original collection when it was called "When The Girls Come Out To Dance'.
I was 3 0r 4 novellas into this before I realized I owned the original anthology despite delighting in the short stories once again.
It's Elmore Leonard.
It's brillaint.
The fogggggg you want out of life?
Recommended to Elmore Lenonard fetishists.
July 25, 2016
this must be the 5th...6th...or 7th from leonard for me...stories.
contents
the extras
sparks
hanging out at the buena vista
chickasaw charlie hoke
when the women come out to dance
fire in the hole
karen makes out
hurrah for capt. early
the tonto woman
tenkiller
then it has an "about the author"..."also by elmore leonard"...credits...copyright...about the publisher...that i'm tempted to look at now...my curiosity is aroused...could be some racy details there...nah
the extras
i dunno...on this kindle i'm reading this, right, and as i push to advance to the next page, i find myself on "sparks"...so i go back, scroll down to "the extras" until the white pointy-glove appears...sheesh, i dunno, has lists of crime novels, westerns...click on one of those and i'm at 73%
well, okay, so the extras has four parts..."all by elmore: the crime novels: the westerns"..."selected filmography"..."if it sounds like writing, rewrite it"...
i'm off to the races...that one is at the 92%-mark. this looks good..."these are rules i've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when i'm writing a book...: 1. never open a book with weather. 2. avoid prologues. 3....well, i won't list them all...this was "first published july 16, 2001 as "easy on the adverbs, exclamation points, and especially hooptedoodle" in the "writers on writing" recurring feature in the new york times.
i believe it is also a separate book called elmore leonard's ten rules for writers...something like that. i read it...some of it is a hoot.
and then item...heh!...and this makes sense: item 5....three listed above, then we have #5! "martin amis interviews 'the dickens of detroit'"...this too, is at the back of the kindle book, at 95%...so, i may as well read the stories, hey?
sparks
begins:
they sat close to each other on the sofa, canavan aware of mrs. harris' scent and her dark hair, parted to one side, she would hold away from her face to look at the map spread open on the coffee table.
i dunno, strunk & white, in their little book, say toalways use apostrophe ess, even after ess...what do i know? i'm a carpenter. onward and upward. (i believe they also say to never split your infinitives.)
1st story is all right...joseph canavan...you can call him joe, is an insurance investigator looking at a suspicious fire, talking to the former robin marino, robin harris now, although her husband had some kind of fancy heart attack, one of those thrombosis-thingies, a moneyed heart-attack, and robin throws the make on joe...this robin has a lot of spunk--she bought a twenty-gauge remington to even the coyote/cat score--puddin and mr piper in the loss column but a neighbor with binoculars put the keebosh on that.
hanging out at the buena vista
they lived in a retirement village of cottages among palm trees and bougainvillea, maids driving golf carts. the woman, natalie, wore silk scarves to cover what was left of her hair, a lavender scarf the afternoon vincent appeared at her door. he told her through the screen door he thought it was time they met.
onward & upward.
there's some that give koontz a hard time for using that word, bougainvillea...or maybe it's just me. i'd google it...or bing it, see if i can get a picture...okay, so i do and it's a plant w/mainly red/pink flowers...sounds like some kind of cheese, is what i'm saying. palm trees and cheese. that or a foreign sports car, one of those high-powered lawn mowers, usually a bald guy driving, sunglasses, gold chains.
vincent and natalie..both up there in years, vincent is 80, natalie will be 82 next month, and they're doing the dance. it's a wonderful thing...there's hope. sounds like they'll move in together, vincent gathering his pills and setting up in the bathroom.
chickasaw charlie hoke
this time vernice started in on charlie while he was making their toddies, what he did every evening vernice worked days. charlie said, "take a load off your tootsies, honey, and let me wait on you."
well, they get into it, or vernice does...charlie the slacker...she gives him a week to straighten up and so forth...so he's this big-time pitcher...detroit, in '84, right? thing is, he gets the host job he was pitching (literally) for. some baseball lore included.
when the women come out to dance
title story: lourdes became mrs. mahmood's personal maid when her friend viviana (isn't there a lot of stories w/women w/"v-names?) quit to go to l.a. with her husband. lourdes and viviana were both from cali in columbia and had come to south florida as mail-order brides. lourdes' (there it is again...no ess after the apostrophe...must be new english) husband, mr. zimmer, worked for a paving contractor until his death, two years from the time they were married.
and...away we go!
yeah and so this lourdes gets a job working for mrs. mahmood and during the interview, the mrs. asks lourdes about her ex-husband, gone now, as the 1st paragraph explains...buried in concrete. heh! the mrs. is interested...and so it goes.
they dance.
fire in the hole
on this one now...a raylan givens story...and leonard has several stories about raylan...one called...i think, raylan...a u.s. marshal, wears a .45 six-shooter, uses it. we need to bring back those days...sheriff tells the hoodlums to get out of town by dark, or else. the hell with this wrist-slapping. sumbitches don't need to be coddled, slap em down a peg or two...fogg that noise about some meathead busting in a citizen's door, tying up folk, beating em, killing em...the perps w/a sheet as long as your arm...and they're not locked up...the law too busy w/a war on some drugs.
anyway...this one starts out:
they had dug coal together as young men and they lost touch over the years. now it looked like they'd be meeting again, this time as lawman and felon, raylan givens and boyd crowder.
this one has more than a bit of the absurd to it...the church of the jesus meek and mild or some such title, weed outlet...raylan and his partner (a character there for dialogue, but who's paying attention?)...are going to land a black man in this house that boyd hasn't paid taxes on...has said he will blow it if anyone moves in...so it's been vacant. heh!
and away we go!
raylan gets his man...hoo-rah...
karen makes out
they danced until karen said she had to be up early tomorrow. no argument, he walked with her through the crowd outside monaco, then along ocean drive in the dark to her car. he said, "lady, you wore me out."
imagine jodie foster in the role of karen...works for the marshal's service...the one el marshal...her father has a marshall investigations and that's where she got her start and when trouble brews, she looks to her old man for advice...she makes out.
hurrah for capt. early
the second banner said hero of san juan hill. both were tied to the upstairs balcony of the congress hotel and looked down on la salle street in sweetmary, a town named for a copper mine. the banners read across the building as a single statement. the day that captain early was expected home from the war in cuba, over now these two months, was october 10, 1898.
this one must be one of the westerns...and away we go!
yeah, okay, sure...western...or the right time period...see above...some black guy who has been in the military all most his life wanders into town for a sit down w/capt early...some cowpokes take a dim view to his blackness, etc. and then when it comes to the showdown, leonard does not show us that...he brings us to that...and then the man is sitting down w/capt early who takes up the man's saber.
the crowd...without benefit of an establishment media...hurrahs.
the tonto woman
a time would come, within a few years, when ruben vega would go to the church in benson, kneel in the confessional, and say to the priest, "bless me, father, for i have sinned. it has been thirty-seven years since my last confession...since then i have fornicated with many women, maybe eight hundred. no, not that many, considering my work. maybe six hundred only."
this is an interesting tale...'tonto woman'...some lady who was hauled off by the pawnee...or some group of peaceful spiritual indians, one that likely posed for a national stamp or something...anyway, she is branded on her face...although leonard never once uses the word "branded".
but she'd been someone's woman and that someone is a rich man now, etc.
she's used goods...and leonard never once uses that expression, "used goods"...and then this other watches her, etc. they parlay. etc.
tenkiller
at kim's funeral--people coming up to ben with their solemn faces--he couldn't help thinking of what his grandad carl had said to him fifteen years ago, that he hoped ben would have better luck with women."
"we seem to have 'em around for a year or so," the old man said, "and they take off or die on us."
good story...tenkiller...the name of some indian chief who carved ten notches in his arrow, or teepee...or something...and had a name laked after him, so that's the name of our hero...ben tenkiller...not really, webster i think it was. but he used tenkiller on a movie, or to get a bit part, getting shot off a horse or something...and it stuck
so, he's back home in oklahoma...'you're the reason god made oklahoma'...never really considered what those words mean...until it got me to thinking about how they apply...and they fit...oklahoma is flat, isn't it? heh!
anyway, this last is a good story...denise is a great character, no-nonsense kind of woman who keeps a sig in her purse...and warns the other to leave so on and so forth.
onward and upward
contents
the extras
sparks
hanging out at the buena vista
chickasaw charlie hoke
when the women come out to dance
fire in the hole
karen makes out
hurrah for capt. early
the tonto woman
tenkiller
then it has an "about the author"..."also by elmore leonard"...credits...copyright...about the publisher...that i'm tempted to look at now...my curiosity is aroused...could be some racy details there...nah
the extras
i dunno...on this kindle i'm reading this, right, and as i push to advance to the next page, i find myself on "sparks"...so i go back, scroll down to "the extras" until the white pointy-glove appears...sheesh, i dunno, has lists of crime novels, westerns...click on one of those and i'm at 73%
well, okay, so the extras has four parts..."all by elmore: the crime novels: the westerns"..."selected filmography"..."if it sounds like writing, rewrite it"...
i'm off to the races...that one is at the 92%-mark. this looks good..."these are rules i've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when i'm writing a book...: 1. never open a book with weather. 2. avoid prologues. 3....well, i won't list them all...this was "first published july 16, 2001 as "easy on the adverbs, exclamation points, and especially hooptedoodle" in the "writers on writing" recurring feature in the new york times.
i believe it is also a separate book called elmore leonard's ten rules for writers...something like that. i read it...some of it is a hoot.
and then item...heh!...and this makes sense: item 5....three listed above, then we have #5! "martin amis interviews 'the dickens of detroit'"...this too, is at the back of the kindle book, at 95%...so, i may as well read the stories, hey?
sparks
begins:
they sat close to each other on the sofa, canavan aware of mrs. harris' scent and her dark hair, parted to one side, she would hold away from her face to look at the map spread open on the coffee table.
i dunno, strunk & white, in their little book, say to
1st story is all right...joseph canavan...you can call him joe, is an insurance investigator looking at a suspicious fire, talking to the former robin marino, robin harris now, although her husband had some kind of fancy heart attack, one of those thrombosis-thingies, a moneyed heart-attack, and robin throws the make on joe...this robin has a lot of spunk--she bought a twenty-gauge remington to even the coyote/cat score--puddin and mr piper in the loss column but a neighbor with binoculars put the keebosh on that.
hanging out at the buena vista
they lived in a retirement village of cottages among palm trees and bougainvillea, maids driving golf carts. the woman, natalie, wore silk scarves to cover what was left of her hair, a lavender scarf the afternoon vincent appeared at her door. he told her through the screen door he thought it was time they met.
onward & upward.
there's some that give koontz a hard time for using that word, bougainvillea...or maybe it's just me. i'd google it...or bing it, see if i can get a picture...okay, so i do and it's a plant w/mainly red/pink flowers...sounds like some kind of cheese, is what i'm saying. palm trees and cheese. that or a foreign sports car, one of those high-powered lawn mowers, usually a bald guy driving, sunglasses, gold chains.
vincent and natalie..both up there in years, vincent is 80, natalie will be 82 next month, and they're doing the dance. it's a wonderful thing...there's hope. sounds like they'll move in together, vincent gathering his pills and setting up in the bathroom.
chickasaw charlie hoke
this time vernice started in on charlie while he was making their toddies, what he did every evening vernice worked days. charlie said, "take a load off your tootsies, honey, and let me wait on you."
well, they get into it, or vernice does...charlie the slacker...she gives him a week to straighten up and so forth...so he's this big-time pitcher...detroit, in '84, right? thing is, he gets the host job he was pitching (literally) for. some baseball lore included.
when the women come out to dance
title story: lourdes became mrs. mahmood's personal maid when her friend viviana (isn't there a lot of stories w/women w/"v-names?) quit to go to l.a. with her husband. lourdes and viviana were both from cali in columbia and had come to south florida as mail-order brides. lourdes' (there it is again...no ess after the apostrophe...must be new english) husband, mr. zimmer, worked for a paving contractor until his death, two years from the time they were married.
and...away we go!
yeah and so this lourdes gets a job working for mrs. mahmood and during the interview, the mrs. asks lourdes about her ex-husband, gone now, as the 1st paragraph explains...buried in concrete. heh! the mrs. is interested...and so it goes.
they dance.
fire in the hole
on this one now...a raylan givens story...and leonard has several stories about raylan...one called...i think, raylan...a u.s. marshal, wears a .45 six-shooter, uses it. we need to bring back those days...sheriff tells the hoodlums to get out of town by dark, or else. the hell with this wrist-slapping. sumbitches don't need to be coddled, slap em down a peg or two...fogg that noise about some meathead busting in a citizen's door, tying up folk, beating em, killing em...the perps w/a sheet as long as your arm...and they're not locked up...the law too busy w/a war on some drugs.
anyway...this one starts out:
they had dug coal together as young men and they lost touch over the years. now it looked like they'd be meeting again, this time as lawman and felon, raylan givens and boyd crowder.
this one has more than a bit of the absurd to it...the church of the jesus meek and mild or some such title, weed outlet...raylan and his partner (a character there for dialogue, but who's paying attention?)...are going to land a black man in this house that boyd hasn't paid taxes on...has said he will blow it if anyone moves in...so it's been vacant. heh!
and away we go!
raylan gets his man...hoo-rah...
karen makes out
they danced until karen said she had to be up early tomorrow. no argument, he walked with her through the crowd outside monaco, then along ocean drive in the dark to her car. he said, "lady, you wore me out."
imagine jodie foster in the role of karen...works for the marshal's service...the one el marshal...her father has a marshall investigations and that's where she got her start and when trouble brews, she looks to her old man for advice...she makes out.
hurrah for capt. early
the second banner said hero of san juan hill. both were tied to the upstairs balcony of the congress hotel and looked down on la salle street in sweetmary, a town named for a copper mine. the banners read across the building as a single statement. the day that captain early was expected home from the war in cuba, over now these two months, was october 10, 1898.
this one must be one of the westerns...and away we go!
yeah, okay, sure...western...or the right time period...see above...some black guy who has been in the military all most his life wanders into town for a sit down w/capt early...some cowpokes take a dim view to his blackness, etc. and then when it comes to the showdown, leonard does not show us that...he brings us to that...and then the man is sitting down w/capt early who takes up the man's saber.
the crowd...without benefit of an establishment media...hurrahs.
the tonto woman
a time would come, within a few years, when ruben vega would go to the church in benson, kneel in the confessional, and say to the priest, "bless me, father, for i have sinned. it has been thirty-seven years since my last confession...since then i have fornicated with many women, maybe eight hundred. no, not that many, considering my work. maybe six hundred only."
this is an interesting tale...'tonto woman'...some lady who was hauled off by the pawnee...or some group of peaceful spiritual indians, one that likely posed for a national stamp or something...anyway, she is branded on her face...although leonard never once uses the word "branded".
but she'd been someone's woman and that someone is a rich man now, etc.
she's used goods...and leonard never once uses that expression, "used goods"...and then this other watches her, etc. they parlay. etc.
tenkiller
at kim's funeral--people coming up to ben with their solemn faces--he couldn't help thinking of what his grandad carl had said to him fifteen years ago, that he hoped ben would have better luck with women."
"we seem to have 'em around for a year or so," the old man said, "and they take off or die on us."
good story...tenkiller...the name of some indian chief who carved ten notches in his arrow, or teepee...or something...and had a name laked after him, so that's the name of our hero...ben tenkiller...not really, webster i think it was. but he used tenkiller on a movie, or to get a bit part, getting shot off a horse or something...and it stuck
so, he's back home in oklahoma...'you're the reason god made oklahoma'...never really considered what those words mean...until it got me to thinking about how they apply...and they fit...oklahoma is flat, isn't it? heh!
anyway, this last is a good story...denise is a great character, no-nonsense kind of woman who keeps a sig in her purse...and warns the other to leave so on and so forth.
onward and upward
September 4, 2023
Having started rewatching Justified, it’s interesting to see the way they adapted the story to television. Nothing against Elmore Leonard, but Timothy Olaphant definitely adds something to the character of Raylan in the series.
Aside from the Justified of it all, solid collection. I wonder how many of the elements were practices. The Karen Sisco story reads a lot like a rough draft of Out of Sight.
Aside from the Justified of it all, solid collection. I wonder how many of the elements were practices. The Karen Sisco story reads a lot like a rough draft of Out of Sight.
June 28, 2020
Fire in the Hole
Ottimi racconti, che coprono una buona dose dello spettro della disperazione (versione hard-boiled americana, con uno sconfinamento in territorio western).
Tarantino ha un debito nei confronti di Leonard, il suo Tenkiller prefigura a tratti Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*.
In tanti abbiamo un debito di gratitudine nei confronti di Leonard, per aver creato Raylan Givens, Boyd Crowder e allegra compagnia, e averli messi nell'amena contea di Harlan, Kentucky: il racconto Fire in the Hole ha dato il la all'ottimo Justified.
Raylan
Ops, quello Roy Eastman Kodak. Raylan è questo https://youtu.be/Ho2_c_LGZfk
* oziosa curiosità: Timothy Olyphant, che interpreta Raylan Givens, appare nel film di Tarantino. Doppia curiosità carpiata: interpreta il protagonista di un telefilm western, come il Deadwood che ha interpretato realmente.
Ottimi racconti, che coprono una buona dose dello spettro della disperazione (versione hard-boiled americana, con uno sconfinamento in territorio western).
Tarantino ha un debito nei confronti di Leonard, il suo Tenkiller prefigura a tratti Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*.
In tanti abbiamo un debito di gratitudine nei confronti di Leonard, per aver creato Raylan Givens, Boyd Crowder e allegra compagnia, e averli messi nell'amena contea di Harlan, Kentucky: il racconto Fire in the Hole ha dato il la all'ottimo Justified.
Da giovani avevano scavato carbone insieme e poi, con gli anni, si erano persi di vista. A quanto pare adesso si sarebbero incontrati di nuovo, questa volta come guardia e ladro, Raylan Givens e Boyd Crowder. ... Raylan Givens, di qualche anno più giovane di Boyd, adesso era un vicesceriffo degli Stati Uniti. Raylan era famoso per aver fatto fuori un gangster di Miami chiamato Tommy Bucks - noto anche come Zip - tutti e due seduti allo stesso tavolo nel ristorante del Cardozo Hotel, a South Beath, quando estrassero le pistole. Raylan aveva dato a Zip ventiquattro ore per lasciare la contea di Dade altrimenti gli avrebbe sparato a vista. Quando Zip aveva rifiutato l'offerta, Raylan era stato di parola, e gli aveva sparato tra piatti e bicchieri da meno di due metri.
Raylan
Ops, quello Roy Eastman Kodak. Raylan è questo https://youtu.be/Ho2_c_LGZfk
* oziosa curiosità: Timothy Olyphant, che interpreta Raylan Givens, appare nel film di Tarantino. Doppia curiosità carpiata: interpreta il protagonista di un telefilm western, come il Deadwood che ha interpretato realmente.
September 15, 2021
Originally titled When The Women Come Out To Dance, this volume was re-titled after a different story in this volume to capitalize on the success of the (excellent) TV series Justified. Were I marketing it, I might call it The Young Person's Guide to Elmore Leonard. First it highlights many of his faithful recurring characters. There's a nod to Carl Webster (The Hot Kid), who looms large in a novella about his grandson, Ben. Federal Marshal Karen Cisco of Out of Sight continues to get overly involved with bad guys. And, of course, the collection contains the source material for the Raylan Givens series, "based on Fire in the Hole" (and it's a credit to the Justified team how much fidelity the pilot episode had for the novella - with the exception of . There are even a couple of western pieces (a nod to the beginning of Leonard's writing career), and a Spanish-American War story that has got me wanting to read Cuba Libre next. Fill it out with some shorter character pieces, and you've got a great all-in-one volume introduction to the late, great master storyteller.
January 9, 2014
God Bless Elmore Leonard, and rest in peace, Dutch. These little collected stories have been on display before in an earlier paste-up called When the Women Came Out to Dance (I believe that's the title.)
Nevertheless, if you want to see what it's like to get inside the head of one of the last fifty years' greatest authors, then do yourself a service and dive on in. Leonard's prose is so true-to-story, and so "right" for the telling of his story, that I sit and wonder in amazement,"How does he DO that?"
As stated, you're missing some pretty amazing crime-story fiction if you let this one slide. Come in and meet Raylan Givens before he was "Justified," and a whole 'nother world of characters great and small, and all a hell of a fun time.
4 Stars.
Nevertheless, if you want to see what it's like to get inside the head of one of the last fifty years' greatest authors, then do yourself a service and dive on in. Leonard's prose is so true-to-story, and so "right" for the telling of his story, that I sit and wonder in amazement,"How does he DO that?"
As stated, you're missing some pretty amazing crime-story fiction if you let this one slide. Come in and meet Raylan Givens before he was "Justified," and a whole 'nother world of characters great and small, and all a hell of a fun time.
4 Stars.
November 27, 2023
I admit to ordering this only because I was halfway through the Justified television series and couldn't remember the details of Fire in the Hole. At least not separately from what rang as familiar on the screen.
This time as I read I couldn't help populating this book with the actors from Justified. Leonard has such a sparse style that it is easy to dismiss his work as simple, but that is a disservice. His words may be simple, but each seems perfectly chosen with economy. There is broiling tension in so many of his scenes, that the welcome respite of the calm description of a Kentucky sky or hillside is sweet relief. Leonard allows the reader to fill in the blanks. Maybe allows is too passive a word. Leonard INSISTS the reader fill in the blanks.
This time as I read I couldn't help populating this book with the actors from Justified. Leonard has such a sparse style that it is easy to dismiss his work as simple, but that is a disservice. His words may be simple, but each seems perfectly chosen with economy. There is broiling tension in so many of his scenes, that the welcome respite of the calm description of a Kentucky sky or hillside is sweet relief. Leonard allows the reader to fill in the blanks. Maybe allows is too passive a word. Leonard INSISTS the reader fill in the blanks.
March 22, 2018
I might be the only person on here who read the original version, when the women come out to dance, but I'd be lying if I said I approached this book for any other reason than "fire in the hole." I'll keep my discussion of that story brief. it's great.
The rest of the stories are fun as well, and many deal with previously established characters, such as Karen sisco, who, we find out in this book, has always had a thing for older men who are also criminals. It's bite sized chunks of Leonard, with plenty of suspense and black humor, and even some romance in certain cases. All in all a good read, and a must for any fan of Justified, if only to see how Raylan was first conceived.
The rest of the stories are fun as well, and many deal with previously established characters, such as Karen sisco, who, we find out in this book, has always had a thing for older men who are also criminals. It's bite sized chunks of Leonard, with plenty of suspense and black humor, and even some romance in certain cases. All in all a good read, and a must for any fan of Justified, if only to see how Raylan was first conceived.
December 31, 2012
This the short story that spawned the FX series, Justified. It is almost word-for-word the pilot episode (with a notable difference at the end), and the show has done a great job staying true to the tone of the original story.
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