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Picket Line: The Lost Novella
The first major release in nearly a decade from the late New York Times bestselling author Elmore the never-before-published story of a budding agricultural strike in Texas, the racial tension brewing in the fields, and what happens when brutality from “the man” goes unchecked.
“If a man comes out of the field and goes on the picket line, even for one day, he’ll never be the same...”
Chino and Paco Rojas seem well-mannered, at least for Chicanos, to the white cops that pull them over for littering on the long drive from California to Trinity, Texas. So well-mannered, in fact, that Captain Frank McKellan lets them off with a warning and recommends them a job at Stanzik Farms, the largest independent melon grower in the area. But Chino and Paco didn’t drive all this way for work. Instead, Chino is looking for a mysterious man, Vincent Mora, whose new Valley Agricultural Workers Association is causing a scene striking against the farm owners.
Stanzik’s fields and Mora’s union bring together a cast of unlikely Connie Chavez, a former picker and blossoming revolutionary who leads with a bullhorn and a fearless mouth; Bud Davis, a white Xavier University student working for spending money; Harold Ritchie, a local marine-turned-cop; Luis Tamez, a striker whose grandson served with Harold in Vietnam; and many more, including the pragmatic Chino, who finds himself pulled irrevocably into the cause. Some are neighbors, others just passing through. Some know each other well, or at least thought they did…before the picket line.
This never-before-published gem from master storyteller Elmore Leonard describes the early days of an unprecedented farmers’ movement; the complex cast of Chicanos, Anglos, and migrants that impact the union; and the careful balance of passion, patience, and pure, stupid guts that it takes to hold the line.
“If a man comes out of the field and goes on the picket line, even for one day, he’ll never be the same...”
Chino and Paco Rojas seem well-mannered, at least for Chicanos, to the white cops that pull them over for littering on the long drive from California to Trinity, Texas. So well-mannered, in fact, that Captain Frank McKellan lets them off with a warning and recommends them a job at Stanzik Farms, the largest independent melon grower in the area. But Chino and Paco didn’t drive all this way for work. Instead, Chino is looking for a mysterious man, Vincent Mora, whose new Valley Agricultural Workers Association is causing a scene striking against the farm owners.
Stanzik’s fields and Mora’s union bring together a cast of unlikely Connie Chavez, a former picker and blossoming revolutionary who leads with a bullhorn and a fearless mouth; Bud Davis, a white Xavier University student working for spending money; Harold Ritchie, a local marine-turned-cop; Luis Tamez, a striker whose grandson served with Harold in Vietnam; and many more, including the pragmatic Chino, who finds himself pulled irrevocably into the cause. Some are neighbors, others just passing through. Some know each other well, or at least thought they did…before the picket line.
This never-before-published gem from master storyteller Elmore Leonard describes the early days of an unprecedented farmers’ movement; the complex cast of Chicanos, Anglos, and migrants that impact the union; and the careful balance of passion, patience, and pure, stupid guts that it takes to hold the line.
106 pages, Hardcover
Published September 30, 2025
52 people are currently reading
4898 people want to read
About the author
Elmore Leonard
214 books3,732 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 72 reviews
August 21, 2025
This is not the usual Elmore Leonard book. It is not a western or a crime story. It is a story about migrant and Mexican American workers in Texas near the Mexican border. There is an effort by an agricultural union to get them to join a union and secure better pay and working conditions. The farm owner is aided in his strikebreaking efforts by the local corrupt sheriff's department. The interaction between the union organizers on the pocket line, the farm workers, the foremen and the Sheriff Deputies makes for an interesting story. It was originally written at the request of a Hollywood producer who then decided against it. Leonard rewrote it and it was turned into a movie by Charles Bronson, "Mr. Majestyk."
So this novella was found among the deceased author's papers and is now being published. It is only 128 pages and can be read in one day.
I rate it 4 stars and recommend it to Elmore Leonard fans.
#PicketLine #NetGalley.
Thank You Mariner Books for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
Pub. date Sept 30, 2025
So this novella was found among the deceased author's papers and is now being published. It is only 128 pages and can be read in one day.
I rate it 4 stars and recommend it to Elmore Leonard fans.
#PicketLine #NetGalley.
Thank You Mariner Books for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
Pub. date Sept 30, 2025
November 5, 2025
Holding the Line
The death of a favorite artist brings a wave of grief, inevitably coupled with a yearning for just one final visit, one last treat. Maybe there was something unfinished, a final piece awaiting the last finishing touches. In the world of music, it often results in a mixed bag. Jimi Hendrix's estate, for instance, released virtually everything in the vaults. Quality studio albums by Tupac were cranked out for years. George Harrison opposed cleaning up "Now and Then" after John Lennon's death, though Harrison's own album, “Brainwashed," was beautifully completed posthumously. One can only wonder what treasures still lie hidden within Prince’s Paisley Park Studios.
For readers, the passing of a favorite writer brings not only grief for the author, but also the sudden, permanent end to the hope of any future works. This was the case for me with the late Tony Hillerman, and again with the passing of Elmore Leonard. Leonard became a favorite during my short stint as a bookstore manager. I began with his crime novels, moved through his earlier westerns, and finished with his final works, devouring everything I could find by him until his death in 2013. Though many films adapted from his writings were just bad, some were truly exceptional, including “Hombre,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “Out of Sight,” “Jackie Brown,” and “Get Shorty.” The brilliant television series “Justified” is also based on his writing.
Earlier this year, Mariner Books announced its release of “The Picket Line,” a major release, a lost novella by Leonard. Almost immediately, his longtime researcher, Gregg Sutter, posted a clarification on Facebook: “Picket Line is not major, it’s not lost, and most importantly, it’s not a novella. It’s the first act and de facto treatment for a motion picture that never got made—but would live on in another form.
“Picket Line” was originally started as a screenplay for Clint Eastwood in 1970 about farmworkers striking in Texas. Eastwood eventually passed on it and sections were cannibalized for the Charles Bronson movie, “Mr. Majestyk.”
Elmore Leonard's exceptional writing is on full display in "Picket Line," featuring his trademark authentic setting, and completely believable characters and dialogue. While some recommend this short piece as a perfect introduction to his work, others find it incomplete. I agree with the latter perspective. It is a great setup, but ends up like a great looking tennis serve that never lands. If, like myself, you are a devoted reader of his, then the “for completist only” label can apply. Choose almost any other of his novels, and please do not prejudge it on a misguided movie adaptation.
Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #PicketLine #NetGalley
The death of a favorite artist brings a wave of grief, inevitably coupled with a yearning for just one final visit, one last treat. Maybe there was something unfinished, a final piece awaiting the last finishing touches. In the world of music, it often results in a mixed bag. Jimi Hendrix's estate, for instance, released virtually everything in the vaults. Quality studio albums by Tupac were cranked out for years. George Harrison opposed cleaning up "Now and Then" after John Lennon's death, though Harrison's own album, “Brainwashed," was beautifully completed posthumously. One can only wonder what treasures still lie hidden within Prince’s Paisley Park Studios.
For readers, the passing of a favorite writer brings not only grief for the author, but also the sudden, permanent end to the hope of any future works. This was the case for me with the late Tony Hillerman, and again with the passing of Elmore Leonard. Leonard became a favorite during my short stint as a bookstore manager. I began with his crime novels, moved through his earlier westerns, and finished with his final works, devouring everything I could find by him until his death in 2013. Though many films adapted from his writings were just bad, some were truly exceptional, including “Hombre,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “Out of Sight,” “Jackie Brown,” and “Get Shorty.” The brilliant television series “Justified” is also based on his writing.
Earlier this year, Mariner Books announced its release of “The Picket Line,” a major release, a lost novella by Leonard. Almost immediately, his longtime researcher, Gregg Sutter, posted a clarification on Facebook: “Picket Line is not major, it’s not lost, and most importantly, it’s not a novella. It’s the first act and de facto treatment for a motion picture that never got made—but would live on in another form.
“Picket Line” was originally started as a screenplay for Clint Eastwood in 1970 about farmworkers striking in Texas. Eastwood eventually passed on it and sections were cannibalized for the Charles Bronson movie, “Mr. Majestyk.”
Elmore Leonard's exceptional writing is on full display in "Picket Line," featuring his trademark authentic setting, and completely believable characters and dialogue. While some recommend this short piece as a perfect introduction to his work, others find it incomplete. I agree with the latter perspective. It is a great setup, but ends up like a great looking tennis serve that never lands. If, like myself, you are a devoted reader of his, then the “for completist only” label can apply. Choose almost any other of his novels, and please do not prejudge it on a misguided movie adaptation.
Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #PicketLine #NetGalley
September 8, 2025
Elmore Leonard proves he can still hit the bullseye from beyond the grave. Picket Line: The Lost Novella is being published twelve years after his death. It feels startlingly timely given some of the issues shaking America right now.
Originally conceived as the basis for a film that never came to be, this novella arrives with an intriguing backstory, explained in the introduction. I found that peek into Leonard’s creative process fascinating. Still, what a shame the movie was never made. I would have loved to see it on screen.
The story itself unfolds over 24 hours in rural Texas, where an agricultural union is striking for better wages for melon pickers. The characters are compelling, though they would have benefited from the breathing room of a longer novel. You catch glimpses of deeper complexity, but the brevity of the tale means those layers remain just out of reach. The setting, however, is richly done. Having passed through that part of Texas many times, and having lived in Mexico for a year, I could vividly picture the landscape. Leonard sets his story decades before my own travels, but it still felt familiar.
This was my first time reading Leonard, and it will not be my last. His knack for capturing characters’ voices is outstanding, and his lean, direct style kept me hooked. At just 128 pages, this novella is a one-sitting read. Yet it manages to highlight issues that still resonate today. The casual racism directed at the striking workers was shocking and heartbreaking. It is also, unfortunately, all too recognizable. I finished the last page wishing I could follow these characters into the next day and the one after that.
I would recommend this to most readers, as the issues it raises are still important today. It will be especially meaningful to longtime fans of Elmore Leonard, as well as to readers who enjoy novellas and stories that highlight cultural struggles and social justice.
A small book with a big punch. Well done, Mr. Leonard. Thank you for leaving us this story.
Many thanks to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions are my own.
Originally conceived as the basis for a film that never came to be, this novella arrives with an intriguing backstory, explained in the introduction. I found that peek into Leonard’s creative process fascinating. Still, what a shame the movie was never made. I would have loved to see it on screen.
The story itself unfolds over 24 hours in rural Texas, where an agricultural union is striking for better wages for melon pickers. The characters are compelling, though they would have benefited from the breathing room of a longer novel. You catch glimpses of deeper complexity, but the brevity of the tale means those layers remain just out of reach. The setting, however, is richly done. Having passed through that part of Texas many times, and having lived in Mexico for a year, I could vividly picture the landscape. Leonard sets his story decades before my own travels, but it still felt familiar.
This was my first time reading Leonard, and it will not be my last. His knack for capturing characters’ voices is outstanding, and his lean, direct style kept me hooked. At just 128 pages, this novella is a one-sitting read. Yet it manages to highlight issues that still resonate today. The casual racism directed at the striking workers was shocking and heartbreaking. It is also, unfortunately, all too recognizable. I finished the last page wishing I could follow these characters into the next day and the one after that.
I would recommend this to most readers, as the issues it raises are still important today. It will be especially meaningful to longtime fans of Elmore Leonard, as well as to readers who enjoy novellas and stories that highlight cultural struggles and social justice.
A small book with a big punch. Well done, Mr. Leonard. Thank you for leaving us this story.
Many thanks to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions are my own.
October 21, 2025
Started yesterday evening finished this morning having saved reading the introduction by C. M. Kushins for afterwards.
The introduction provides an eye opening account for Elmore Leonard fans of Leonard’s attempts to pull himself out of the paperback original Western field and write something more contemporary.
This novella was a prose proposal for a film to be based on the 1965 Delano Grape Strike which led to the popularity of that strike’s leader, Cesar Chavez. Elmore Leonard’s agent at the time had sent feelers out in Hollywood seeking a screenwriting gig for his client. The idea or proposal came from two then hot-shit producers who basically commissioned this novella.
It would all fall apart in the end and the rights to the novella reverted back to Leonard and they remained in his archives just prior to being rediscovered and published in 2025.
This novella would be fleshed out later with different protagonists and plot developments and characters’ motivations shifted about and published as a movie tie-in paperback original, Mr. Majestyk.
As it is, especially for Elmore Leonard enthusiasts, this is overpriced but worthy of reading.
What this contains are examples of Leonard becoming the writer legions of fans recognize to this day.
Not that the plot actually goes anywhere… which makes it more suitable for today’s diminished reading-for-fun populace.
The novella introduces some extremely interesting characters and ends with the reader yearning for a longer visit with these complicated actors whose motivations remain questionable come the final page.
It’s a quick, easy read. Faster read than say, the first 5 issues of The Fantastic Four.
Recommended for Elmore Leonard fanatics and completists only.
The introduction provides an eye opening account for Elmore Leonard fans of Leonard’s attempts to pull himself out of the paperback original Western field and write something more contemporary.
This novella was a prose proposal for a film to be based on the 1965 Delano Grape Strike which led to the popularity of that strike’s leader, Cesar Chavez. Elmore Leonard’s agent at the time had sent feelers out in Hollywood seeking a screenwriting gig for his client. The idea or proposal came from two then hot-shit producers who basically commissioned this novella.
It would all fall apart in the end and the rights to the novella reverted back to Leonard and they remained in his archives just prior to being rediscovered and published in 2025.
This novella would be fleshed out later with different protagonists and plot developments and characters’ motivations shifted about and published as a movie tie-in paperback original, Mr. Majestyk.
As it is, especially for Elmore Leonard enthusiasts, this is overpriced but worthy of reading.
What this contains are examples of Leonard becoming the writer legions of fans recognize to this day.
Not that the plot actually goes anywhere… which makes it more suitable for today’s diminished reading-for-fun populace.
The novella introduces some extremely interesting characters and ends with the reader yearning for a longer visit with these complicated actors whose motivations remain questionable come the final page.
It’s a quick, easy read. Faster read than say, the first 5 issues of The Fantastic Four.
Recommended for Elmore Leonard fanatics and completists only.
January 4, 2026
really more of a 3.5
I have never read an Elmore Leonard novel but have seen several of the movies based on his books (Get Shorty and Jackie Brown). Trying to expand my reading even more this year.
The whole book is really a story based on a strike on melon picking somewhere in Texas. Based on the dates that the lost novella was found, it seems to be set in and around the early 70's. Lots of migrant pickers from Mexico doing most of the farm labor in Texas. Melon picking included.
The story has a 'dry' and gritty tone (especially at the beginning) but picks up steam during the middle and end of the story. The Workers Association stages a picket line for better wages and the story swirls around the picket line and the 'boss' of the association. I was going to say it was a 'fun' read but really it is a small but serious piece about the country and the people.
A small secret revealed almost at the end. :)
I have never read an Elmore Leonard novel but have seen several of the movies based on his books (Get Shorty and Jackie Brown). Trying to expand my reading even more this year.
The whole book is really a story based on a strike on melon picking somewhere in Texas. Based on the dates that the lost novella was found, it seems to be set in and around the early 70's. Lots of migrant pickers from Mexico doing most of the farm labor in Texas. Melon picking included.
The story has a 'dry' and gritty tone (especially at the beginning) but picks up steam during the middle and end of the story. The Workers Association stages a picket line for better wages and the story swirls around the picket line and the 'boss' of the association. I was going to say it was a 'fun' read but really it is a small but serious piece about the country and the people.
A small secret revealed almost at the end. :)
January 2, 2026
I have not read any of Elmore Leonard’s books before, so this may be an odd place to start. He has an extensive bibliography mostly in a genre I don’t read, so maybe this is a good place to start. The introduction covers how this novella came to be published, and a bit of history of the piece, which was first written for the screen.
What appealed to me was the labor aspect. I tend towards work fiction in a way, and this one covers that, with a union and a strike. The workplace here is a melon field in Texas, the workers Spanish speaking maybe migrants. Since there is a strike some of the pickers have different people in the field, such as a young white college kid. The story opens with three guys driving in from California.
Even though the book is short, there lacks depth of character, not much development. Perhaps there were too many characters. I’ve read shorter pieces with better understanding of a character. In any case, this did feel too short. There was some action, but it ended too soon. The story felt like a moment in a larger story.
Thanks to Mariner Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.
What appealed to me was the labor aspect. I tend towards work fiction in a way, and this one covers that, with a union and a strike. The workplace here is a melon field in Texas, the workers Spanish speaking maybe migrants. Since there is a strike some of the pickers have different people in the field, such as a young white college kid. The story opens with three guys driving in from California.
Even though the book is short, there lacks depth of character, not much development. Perhaps there were too many characters. I’ve read shorter pieces with better understanding of a character. In any case, this did feel too short. There was some action, but it ended too soon. The story felt like a moment in a larger story.
Thanks to Mariner Books and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. However, I listened to a published audiobook copy of the book.
December 11, 2025
Picket Line was a quick read and a little frustrating because Elmore Leonard creates a batch of interesting characters and shuts the story down just as it was getting good. From reading the introduction I understand why the novella is in the form it is but I still want to see how the dueling ideologies of Chino and Mora played out.
An atypical Leonard tale but enjoyable nevertheless.
It was good to read some more Leonard because I miss having a yearly release from this literary giant.
Recommended for Leonard completists.
An atypical Leonard tale but enjoyable nevertheless.
It was good to read some more Leonard because I miss having a yearly release from this literary giant.
Recommended for Leonard completists.
December 29, 2025
To read a lost novella by the late, great Elmore Leonard was akin to taking a trip down memory lane. Unlike the crime thrillers that he wrote throughout his career, the Picket Line focuses on farmworkers striking for better pay for their labor, amidst a background of poverty and inherent racism. Leonard’s gift for storytelling and character development (*which covered a wide range of diverse characters) was definitely on display; however, as the story ended very abruptly with too many unanswered questions, this short novel was a bit of a disappointment. All in all, if Leonard made this a fully complete novel, it is likely that it would have ranked among his more memorable works. In any event, while I would have liked to give the book 3-½ stars, I’ve rounded things off to four stars.
October 21, 2025
this is just a glimpse of the unspoken labor force driving our economy and the struggle for fair wages, benefits. well done EL
November 11, 2025
I definitely miss Elmore Leonard.
This Novella is from a 1970's story Leonard chose to submit to a subscription - based online magazine called Contentville.However, the magazine went under before Picket Line would be published. And so, the long - shelved Novella was reshelved within the author's home archive. Until now.
This story is of an Agricultural strike in Texas, where racial tension starts to brew in the fields, and what happens when brutality from " The Man " goes unchecked.
Short and to the point - it is a fulfilling read from Leonard's earlier writings that still stands up today.
This Novella is from a 1970's story Leonard chose to submit to a subscription - based online magazine called Contentville.However, the magazine went under before Picket Line would be published. And so, the long - shelved Novella was reshelved within the author's home archive. Until now.
This story is of an Agricultural strike in Texas, where racial tension starts to brew in the fields, and what happens when brutality from " The Man " goes unchecked.
Short and to the point - it is a fulfilling read from Leonard's earlier writings that still stands up today.
January 16, 2026
PICKET LINE by Elmore Leonard is a literary neo-western that tackles issues such as race relations, labor conditions, and abuse of power. Written 50+ years ago, yet given the current climate of the nation, you’d think it was ripped from today’s headlines. A short, timely novella that is well worth a read.
January 28, 2026
a day in the life
Read
November 22, 2025Girl shocked when half assed political commentary written by mid white guy is bad. Publishing this in 2025 is insane. “The lost novella” maybe it didn’t need to be found
October 16, 2025
It very interesting reading this less than a month after Mr Majestyk as they both start the exact same way (close to word-for-word) and while Mr Majestyk goes down the Hollywood rout, this goes with a more literary political statement. I'm almost embarrassed to say that I preferred the Hollywood version 😳 and the fact that this was never published while Mr Majestyk became a book and film says that I'm not alone.
November 30, 2025
Page for page, this day-in-the-life of a fledgling strike among melon pickers in Texas is as good as anything Leonard ever wrote. His cast of characters-- union organizers, Chicano pickers, county sheriffs, and a black and white misfit pair who act as a kind of Greek chorus--all step off the page as fully flesh-and-blood as anyone you might find in any bar or diner. According to the lengthy introduction, this slim volume--originally written as a script treatment for Clint Eastwood, and ultimately cannibalized for the Charles Bronson vehicle Mr. Majestyk--represents Leonard's first experiment with the pared-down style and multiple viewpoints that would become his trademark. It is a good read, but it was obviously never intended as a complete, standalone narrative, because it seems to end just as all the pieces have been positioned. As enjoyable as it is, I came away wishing Leonard had gotten back to it and worked it out to completion.
January 31, 2026
Classic Elmore Leonard! Excellent dialogue as always. This book is really short so we don't get to know the characters all that well. Chino and Paco seemed pretty cool from the little time we do get to spend with them. I enjoyed the different narratives and reading the story from different characters' points of view throughout the book. Elmore Leonard is one of the all time greats and definitely one of my favorite authors! I will be reading more books by him.
December 24, 2025
This evocative short novella was shopped around Hollywood by Leonard and would eventually become the movie Mr. Majestyk - which wasn't very faithful to Leonard's vision or intent to dig into the crisis of farmworkers trapped between falling into abject poverty or working for a degrading pittance with no labor rights whatsoever. The novella moves between the POV of many characters, while the film makes a hero of a white farmer and introduces an organized crime element. My "Reading Every Leonard Novel or Short Story" journey continues.
November 7, 2025
It was great to see a new book by Elmore Leonard, one of my all-time favourite writers.
November 22, 2025
Great, zippy dialogue, well-paced, strong characters, nice shifting POVs - all hallmarks of Leonard's style. So easy to slip into this world, even just for a couple of minutes. Obviously, this novella is unfinished in a sense - we don't get a complete story, just the beginning of a conflict - but it puts the reader into the world of farmworkers' struggles, the racism, the exploitation, the freedom and joy of saying fuck you to oppression.
October 20, 2025
A short, intense glimpse into a migrant worker labour dispute with Leonard's usual laser focused writing. The tension starts on page one and doesn't stop until the last word.
“If a man comes out of the field and goes on the picket line, even for one day, he’ll never be the same...”
“If a man comes out of the field and goes on the picket line, even for one day, he’ll never be the same...”
September 28, 2025
Of course this is good—it’s Elmore Leonard. Picket Line showcases everything that makes his writing so strong: clean prose, steady pacing, and characters who feel authentic and layered. The story moves with purpose, drawing you in from the first page and holding your attention all the way through.
Leonard has a way of making every scene feel grounded and real, and this book is no exception. If you appreciate clear storytelling and masterful control of language, Picket Line is a rewarding read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the ARC.
Leonard has a way of making every scene feel grounded and real, and this book is no exception. If you appreciate clear storytelling and masterful control of language, Picket Line is a rewarding read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the ARC.
September 15, 2025
Quick and easy read for lovers of stories about social justice and cultural struggles. This novella covers a 24 hour period during an attempt to unionize melon pickers in the heart of Texas. Elmore Leonard’s direct style, ability to capture character voices, and focus on issues still relevant today left me wanting more. Thanks to Goodreads for this opportunity.
October 16, 2025
Elmore Leonard's long-lost novella
More than half a century ago, Elmore Leonard was eking out a living writing pulp Western novels. He was about to take a sharp turn into crafting the crime novels that would establish his reputation as one of the most brilliant stylists in the genre and earn him both wide recognition and a lot of money. But at the time he was turning to Hollywood to boost his income by writing screenplays, which pay a whole lot better than most novels. And in 1970 he drafted a treatment for a film about the farmworkers’ strikes that were then in the news.
The film never got made, but he converted the treatment into a novella. Then that never saw the light of day in print. Now, finally, we can read it under the title Picket Line.
A Chicano activist shows his stripes
Two Chicano men who call themselves Chino and Paco Rojas are on their way in an old car with California plates to a South Texas town called Trinity. En route, they stop at a service station where they witness the attendant deny a family of Mexican migrants the use of the restrooms. Chino intervenes, humiliating the attendant and forcing him to allow the migrants the use of the facilities. Then he and Paco Rojas leave the happy family and make their way further down the road toward Trinity.
Workers are on strike at a melon farm while others work in the fields
Picket Line‘s subsequent setting is a melon farm the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, far from the epicenter of farmworker labor activity in California. Without stopping in nearby Trinity, Chino and Paco Rojas go to work picking melons for $1.10 an hour. They labor in the shadow of a picket line, where other workers are clamoring for a 50-cent-an-hour raise. But Chino’s activism doesn’t fit into the picture at the farm. Why haven’t he and Paco Rojas joined the picket line? We’ll learn why as the action unfolds. And there is a lot more action.
It turns out that the two men from California know the man who is leading the strike. Vincent Mora is gaining fame for his success in persuading the poor men, almost all Mexican migrants, to demand higher wages and better treatment. And eventually Mora shows up on the picket line. There, his assistant, a young woman named Connie Chavez, uses a bullhorn to call out to individual workers in the field. In short order she persuades a few to leave their jobs and join the strikers. Which then provokes the foreman and the police who come to the scene. Violence ensues.
For anyone familiar with the history of farmworker organizing in California, the scene Leonard paints is sadly familiar. Weeks, even months before growers would (sometimes) agree to recognize the union, they would send in thugs and racist local police to harass and sometimes beat the strikers.
Leonard had set out to deliver a social message with Picket Line. He succeeds brilliantly.
About the author
Elmore Leonard (1925-2013) was for decades one of America’s most renowned author of crime and thriller stories. In a career spanning the 1950s to the 2010s, he wrote 45 novels, nine collections of short stories, eight screenplays, and one notable nonfiction book, a guide to writing style. Twenty-six of his novels and short stories have been adapted for the screen (19 as motion pictures and another seven for television).
Leonard was born in New Orleans but lived for much of his life in the Detroit area. His alma mater was the University of Detroit. He was married three times and had five children, all with his first wife.
More than half a century ago, Elmore Leonard was eking out a living writing pulp Western novels. He was about to take a sharp turn into crafting the crime novels that would establish his reputation as one of the most brilliant stylists in the genre and earn him both wide recognition and a lot of money. But at the time he was turning to Hollywood to boost his income by writing screenplays, which pay a whole lot better than most novels. And in 1970 he drafted a treatment for a film about the farmworkers’ strikes that were then in the news.
The film never got made, but he converted the treatment into a novella. Then that never saw the light of day in print. Now, finally, we can read it under the title Picket Line.
A Chicano activist shows his stripes
Two Chicano men who call themselves Chino and Paco Rojas are on their way in an old car with California plates to a South Texas town called Trinity. En route, they stop at a service station where they witness the attendant deny a family of Mexican migrants the use of the restrooms. Chino intervenes, humiliating the attendant and forcing him to allow the migrants the use of the facilities. Then he and Paco Rojas leave the happy family and make their way further down the road toward Trinity.
Workers are on strike at a melon farm while others work in the fields
Picket Line‘s subsequent setting is a melon farm the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, far from the epicenter of farmworker labor activity in California. Without stopping in nearby Trinity, Chino and Paco Rojas go to work picking melons for $1.10 an hour. They labor in the shadow of a picket line, where other workers are clamoring for a 50-cent-an-hour raise. But Chino’s activism doesn’t fit into the picture at the farm. Why haven’t he and Paco Rojas joined the picket line? We’ll learn why as the action unfolds. And there is a lot more action.
It turns out that the two men from California know the man who is leading the strike. Vincent Mora is gaining fame for his success in persuading the poor men, almost all Mexican migrants, to demand higher wages and better treatment. And eventually Mora shows up on the picket line. There, his assistant, a young woman named Connie Chavez, uses a bullhorn to call out to individual workers in the field. In short order she persuades a few to leave their jobs and join the strikers. Which then provokes the foreman and the police who come to the scene. Violence ensues.
For anyone familiar with the history of farmworker organizing in California, the scene Leonard paints is sadly familiar. Weeks, even months before growers would (sometimes) agree to recognize the union, they would send in thugs and racist local police to harass and sometimes beat the strikers.
Leonard had set out to deliver a social message with Picket Line. He succeeds brilliantly.
About the author
Elmore Leonard (1925-2013) was for decades one of America’s most renowned author of crime and thriller stories. In a career spanning the 1950s to the 2010s, he wrote 45 novels, nine collections of short stories, eight screenplays, and one notable nonfiction book, a guide to writing style. Twenty-six of his novels and short stories have been adapted for the screen (19 as motion pictures and another seven for television).
Leonard was born in New Orleans but lived for much of his life in the Detroit area. His alma mater was the University of Detroit. He was married three times and had five children, all with his first wife.
January 27, 2026
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Among crime writer Elmore Leonard's many works is this 'lost' novella from 1970, the genesis of his novel Mr. Majestyk. This story of an agricultural strike by Texas melon pickers is rife with racial tension, inspired by the Mexican braceros, the migrant workers picking beets and cucumbers near his home.
Chino and Paco drive through the barren landscape of Texas near Laredo. The Texaco attendant allows them to use the bathroom, but when another car pulls up with six Hispanic migrants, the toilet is suddenly out of service to their kind. Chino is looking for a man named Vincent Mora who heads the Valley Agricultural Workers Association, and they take on jobs picking melons along the irrigation canals for a dollar and ten cents an hour; migrants don't sit around on their asses. Mora is working with Connie Chavez, a twenty-two-year-old organizer building a strike for a just wage of $1.50 an hour—and proper toilets, not the open fields. Foreman Larry Mendoza worked his way up from picking and is now caught in the middle between Bravo County State troopers goading them on the other side. Mora is an experienced labor organizer from California—a man Chino knew before he was in Folsom Prison and began his own pachuco gang named the Brown Hand. How long can they hold out with troopers' intimidation on behalf of the owners, along with their own prejudice?
Taking place over a single day, you certainly enter their world; you can easily see how this was developed into a novel. There were many attempts to film this when it was adapted into a screenplay, with Clint Eastwood moving the story to California and the troopers into local mob enforcers. A disagreement over picking artichokes or melons folded that deal, and it was reworked for Charles Bronson, becoming the film Mr. Majestyk in 1974.
Fans of concise writing and characterization will appreciate Leonard's masterful prose, no matter what subject he tackles. This is now republished and widely available in all formats.
for over 1000 book reviews in all genres
Among crime writer Elmore Leonard's many works is this 'lost' novella from 1970, the genesis of his novel Mr. Majestyk. This story of an agricultural strike by Texas melon pickers is rife with racial tension, inspired by the Mexican braceros, the migrant workers picking beets and cucumbers near his home.
Chino and Paco drive through the barren landscape of Texas near Laredo. The Texaco attendant allows them to use the bathroom, but when another car pulls up with six Hispanic migrants, the toilet is suddenly out of service to their kind. Chino is looking for a man named Vincent Mora who heads the Valley Agricultural Workers Association, and they take on jobs picking melons along the irrigation canals for a dollar and ten cents an hour; migrants don't sit around on their asses. Mora is working with Connie Chavez, a twenty-two-year-old organizer building a strike for a just wage of $1.50 an hour—and proper toilets, not the open fields. Foreman Larry Mendoza worked his way up from picking and is now caught in the middle between Bravo County State troopers goading them on the other side. Mora is an experienced labor organizer from California—a man Chino knew before he was in Folsom Prison and began his own pachuco gang named the Brown Hand. How long can they hold out with troopers' intimidation on behalf of the owners, along with their own prejudice?
Taking place over a single day, you certainly enter their world; you can easily see how this was developed into a novel. There were many attempts to film this when it was adapted into a screenplay, with Clint Eastwood moving the story to California and the troopers into local mob enforcers. A disagreement over picking artichokes or melons folded that deal, and it was reworked for Charles Bronson, becoming the film Mr. Majestyk in 1974.
Fans of concise writing and characterization will appreciate Leonard's masterful prose, no matter what subject he tackles. This is now republished and widely available in all formats.
August 31, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins/Mariner Books for an eARC of this title.
Picket Line is a novella written about 50 years ago by Elmore Leonard, published posthumously and much like the endless Jimi Hendrix releases maybe this was not the finished product he would have wanted. Per the Introduction, this story was the basis for a movie never made due to numerous rewrites and changes in focus and direction when Leonard was working more as a screenwriter than the crime novelist we have come to know and love several years later.
Still this is an interesting story about an attempt to unionize melon pickers in the heart of Texas that takes place over the course of one day. Several characters are introduced, but not properly developed, as the movie producers Leonard was working for, kept throwing curve balls at him in an attempt to commercialize the story, before eventually abandoning the project. As such I think this novella was never completed.
A good quick read, and an interesting topic with some half baked characters ( the Union man, Vincent Mora used to be a Priest was just thrown out there at the end without much explanation ) and Chino who we are first introduced to driving down the highway to the Melon Farm gets lost in the shuffle of the drama between the "picket line" the Foreman and crooked cops, before reappearing at the end. Who was Chino and why was he there? All questions that might have been answered if Leonard finished this novella for publication.
For those readers who love Elmore Leonard, this is a bridge between his earlier westerns like the Raylan Givens novels and his more well known works like Get Shorty, Out of Sight and 52 pick up.
If you have a coupla free hours, pick this up and Strike to help the migrant workers of the Texas melon farms.
Picket Line is a novella written about 50 years ago by Elmore Leonard, published posthumously and much like the endless Jimi Hendrix releases maybe this was not the finished product he would have wanted. Per the Introduction, this story was the basis for a movie never made due to numerous rewrites and changes in focus and direction when Leonard was working more as a screenwriter than the crime novelist we have come to know and love several years later.
Still this is an interesting story about an attempt to unionize melon pickers in the heart of Texas that takes place over the course of one day. Several characters are introduced, but not properly developed, as the movie producers Leonard was working for, kept throwing curve balls at him in an attempt to commercialize the story, before eventually abandoning the project. As such I think this novella was never completed.
A good quick read, and an interesting topic with some half baked characters ( the Union man, Vincent Mora used to be a Priest was just thrown out there at the end without much explanation ) and Chino who we are first introduced to driving down the highway to the Melon Farm gets lost in the shuffle of the drama between the "picket line" the Foreman and crooked cops, before reappearing at the end. Who was Chino and why was he there? All questions that might have been answered if Leonard finished this novella for publication.
For those readers who love Elmore Leonard, this is a bridge between his earlier westerns like the Raylan Givens novels and his more well known works like Get Shorty, Out of Sight and 52 pick up.
If you have a coupla free hours, pick this up and Strike to help the migrant workers of the Texas melon farms.
January 5, 2026
Elmore Leonard's Picket Line was published in 2025, a dozen years after his death and some 50+ years after the 1970s version was supposed to have been made into a movie. The short introduction, written by C.M. Kushins, provides that backstory and situates the work within Leonard's body of work.
Picket Line is a two-day snapshot of life for 1970s-era farm laborers in a Texas bordertown where predominantly Chicano workers fight racism and exploitation as their ranks are divided between the strikers and those who continue working, picking melons at Stanzik Farms, in the early days of the fictitious Valley Agricultural Workers Union's (VAWA) expansion into the area. Readers meet the assorted characters and perspectives and quickly gain the understanding that things are poised to get violent very quickly. Despite select characters' desire to keep things limited to the "business" side of things (i.e., the matter of pay, work conditions, and the fact non-locals are housed in former bracero quarters, it is readily apparent that race and class are inexplicably intertwined. While the Delano grape strike was before my time, it and the activities of organizers such as Cesar Chavez and other labor and civil rights activists will be familiar to many readers and provide the backdrop for the action of this novella. Picket Line is expertly written and does a terrific job of establishing the details of an incredibly nuanced situation. Because it provides only the briefest of glimpses, it makes clear for readers that different characters will have their own personal "solutions" to the problems they are encountering and does not offer a one-size-fits-all solution. Nor does it glamorize the challenges or motives of the individuals involved. Therein lies some of its elegance. I rate it a 4 1/2-star read.
Picket Line is a two-day snapshot of life for 1970s-era farm laborers in a Texas bordertown where predominantly Chicano workers fight racism and exploitation as their ranks are divided between the strikers and those who continue working, picking melons at Stanzik Farms, in the early days of the fictitious Valley Agricultural Workers Union's (VAWA) expansion into the area. Readers meet the assorted characters and perspectives and quickly gain the understanding that things are poised to get violent very quickly. Despite select characters' desire to keep things limited to the "business" side of things (i.e., the matter of pay, work conditions, and the fact non-locals are housed in former bracero quarters, it is readily apparent that race and class are inexplicably intertwined. While the Delano grape strike was before my time, it and the activities of organizers such as Cesar Chavez and other labor and civil rights activists will be familiar to many readers and provide the backdrop for the action of this novella. Picket Line is expertly written and does a terrific job of establishing the details of an incredibly nuanced situation. Because it provides only the briefest of glimpses, it makes clear for readers that different characters will have their own personal "solutions" to the problems they are encountering and does not offer a one-size-fits-all solution. Nor does it glamorize the challenges or motives of the individuals involved. Therein lies some of its elegance. I rate it a 4 1/2-star read.
August 8, 2025
Four Hispanic migrant workers face discrimination from gas station attendants and cops, on their way from California to pick crops someplace different, and find themselves in the middle of a strike, where they can make great wages if they are willing to work as scabs. This story packs quite a few issues into a rather short book.
I am not always a fan of the sort of violent story Elmore Leonard tends to write, but I always admire how Leonard writes, and this novella is a great example. Right from the start this story draws the reader into the scene with all five senses, with no unnecessary filler. The pacing is efficient and keeps the story moving steadily while developing the setting, situation, and characters along the way. This is the sort of writing that aspiring writers should read and study to improve their own storytelling skills.
I am not always a fan of the sort of violent story Elmore Leonard tends to write, but I always admire how Leonard writes, and this novella is a great example. Right from the start this story draws the reader into the scene with all five senses, with no unnecessary filler. The pacing is efficient and keeps the story moving steadily while developing the setting, situation, and characters along the way. This is the sort of writing that aspiring writers should read and study to improve their own storytelling skills.
January 1, 2026
My 30th Elmore Leonard book, this one is an odd duck. It’s less a novella than the first 3rd of a novel - incomplete as it ends short once the numerous characters have been introduced and the first big action sequence has occurred. Originally envisioned as a feature by Dutch and a pair of film producers, the screenplay’s outline found its way into fiction, then morphed into the screenplay and book tie-in of “Mr. Majestyk.”
As it stands alone now, taken from the Leonard vault and finally published, it’s a curious unseen story, but its release hardly calls for a celebration of a “lost” work. It’s a fun little throw-away, not great and not terrible, but marred by its buildup with no proper ending. It’s a quick read for all the Elmore fans out there jonesing for a fix from the master of cool.
As it stands alone now, taken from the Leonard vault and finally published, it’s a curious unseen story, but its release hardly calls for a celebration of a “lost” work. It’s a fun little throw-away, not great and not terrible, but marred by its buildup with no proper ending. It’s a quick read for all the Elmore fans out there jonesing for a fix from the master of cool.
January 4, 2026
5⭐️
Racism, labor rights, and immigration policies, oh my! Elmore Leonard hits them all hard in this short but important novella, a long-delayed work from 1970 finally published in 2025. The reader follows the events of one day in the lives of several key figures in a farm workers’ strike in South Texas, including pickers, strikers, organizers, police and company employees. This is a starkly illustrated story of a fight which has not only never ended, but been brought to even greater attention by recent events in the US under Trump 2.0.
Highly recommended read for historians, activists, journalists, academics, and any fans of Mr. Leonard’s work.
Racism, labor rights, and immigration policies, oh my! Elmore Leonard hits them all hard in this short but important novella, a long-delayed work from 1970 finally published in 2025. The reader follows the events of one day in the lives of several key figures in a farm workers’ strike in South Texas, including pickers, strikers, organizers, police and company employees. This is a starkly illustrated story of a fight which has not only never ended, but been brought to even greater attention by recent events in the US under Trump 2.0.
Highly recommended read for historians, activists, journalists, academics, and any fans of Mr. Leonard’s work.
May 20, 2025
***Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this upcoming book***
It's more Elmore Leonard! What is there to say? It's a little weird when an artist's unreleased works are released posthumously, because their intention might not have been for them to be seen by the public. In this case, I think this book was tangled up in rights issues and Dutch fully intended for it to be released. Anyhow, it's as effortlessly readable though not as interesting as some of his other works. Give this a read if you are an Elmore Leonard fan!
It's more Elmore Leonard! What is there to say? It's a little weird when an artist's unreleased works are released posthumously, because their intention might not have been for them to be seen by the public. In this case, I think this book was tangled up in rights issues and Dutch fully intended for it to be released. Anyhow, it's as effortlessly readable though not as interesting as some of his other works. Give this a read if you are an Elmore Leonard fan!
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