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The Moonshine War
It was Prohibition, and a big, hell-raising Son Martin had himself something $125,000 worth of Kentucky's finest home-made whiskey, no one was going to steal it. Because when it came to shooting, fighting, and outsmarting the Big Boys, Son Martin wasn't just good. He was bad... dangerous... and deadly.
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
361 people are currently reading
1097 people want to read
About the author
Elmore Leonard
211 books3,700 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 211 reviews
May 12, 2013
Bootlegger Son Martin has 150 barrels of whiskey his dad made stashed away somewhere and his old war buddy, Frank Long, now a crooked prohibition agent, has his sights set on them. Will Son cave in under the pressure and hand over the whiskey or will he put Long and his cronies into the ground?
Reading an Elmore Leonard book is like bullshitting with an old friend on their front porch. In this case, it would be whiskey we'd be drinking instead of a couple frosty beers.
Rural Kentucky in the 1930's is far from Elmore Leonard's usual haunts but after watching several seasons of Justified, I figured he could handle it. I was right.
The Moonshine War plays out like a lot of Elmore Leonard books. The promise of violence keeps building until the glorious shitstorm at the end. Frank Long trying to strongarm Son Martin out of his valuable whiskey is more of the same. It went a little differently than I thought it would near the end, which is always a plus for me.
The country dialog is very well done and drives the plot forward. Like in most Leonard books, Son Martin is just a little slicker than Frank Long and the others.
Son reminds me of Raylan Givens a bit of Raylan was running moonshine instead of being a US Marshall. He's a conflicted character, his young wife dying from the flu while he was in the army leaving him somewhat directionless. He's got a bit of that Givens inner rage going as well. When his neighbors started turning on him when he wouldn't roll over for Long and the others, I knew the violence was coming. The Moonshine War actually feels like a western more than anything else.
Any gripes? Not a one besides wanting to read more about Son Martin. 3.5 stars.
Reading an Elmore Leonard book is like bullshitting with an old friend on their front porch. In this case, it would be whiskey we'd be drinking instead of a couple frosty beers.
Rural Kentucky in the 1930's is far from Elmore Leonard's usual haunts but after watching several seasons of Justified, I figured he could handle it. I was right.
The Moonshine War plays out like a lot of Elmore Leonard books. The promise of violence keeps building until the glorious shitstorm at the end. Frank Long trying to strongarm Son Martin out of his valuable whiskey is more of the same. It went a little differently than I thought it would near the end, which is always a plus for me.
The country dialog is very well done and drives the plot forward. Like in most Leonard books, Son Martin is just a little slicker than Frank Long and the others.
Son reminds me of Raylan Givens a bit of Raylan was running moonshine instead of being a US Marshall. He's a conflicted character, his young wife dying from the flu while he was in the army leaving him somewhat directionless. He's got a bit of that Givens inner rage going as well. When his neighbors started turning on him when he wouldn't roll over for Long and the others, I knew the violence was coming. The Moonshine War actually feels like a western more than anything else.
Any gripes? Not a one besides wanting to read more about Son Martin. 3.5 stars.
December 31, 2024
Well, that was fun.
I wasn't sure I was going to like this, or even finish it at all, as my reading these days is more geared toward lighter, happier novels. I left suspense and crime in the past. But what the heck, it was a free download on Hoopla, and it was Elmore Leonard, so I gave it a try.
I got pulled in by the characters and dialogue, a different sort of crime, and wondering who would win this war. Moonshiners were the good guys here, bootleggers and a crooked prohibition agent on the other side.
Who knew Leonard could write a southern novel that equals his western work?
I wasn't sure I was going to like this, or even finish it at all, as my reading these days is more geared toward lighter, happier novels. I left suspense and crime in the past. But what the heck, it was a free download on Hoopla, and it was Elmore Leonard, so I gave it a try.
I got pulled in by the characters and dialogue, a different sort of crime, and wondering who would win this war. Moonshiners were the good guys here, bootleggers and a crooked prohibition agent on the other side.
Who knew Leonard could write a southern novel that equals his western work?
January 19, 2025
Sometimes you read a book to learn something you didn’t know anything about. Sometimes it’s to transport yourself to another place and time. Sometimes the beauty of the prose makes you shake your head with wonder. I get that. If you are lucky, your choice may give you insights into your own life or the human condition. It might even give you a slant on things that could change your current course.
But sometimes, you come across a book that is just damn good storytelling, and all you want to do is keep reading. That is what I found in The Moonshine War, pure entertainment, and that’s just what I needed today.
I am giving this book 4.5 stars, rounded down, because, after all, there were no great take aways — just a day or so of delightful reading fun. I may spend some more time with Elmore Leonard in the future.
But sometimes, you come across a book that is just damn good storytelling, and all you want to do is keep reading. That is what I found in The Moonshine War, pure entertainment, and that’s just what I needed today.
I am giving this book 4.5 stars, rounded down, because, after all, there were no great take aways — just a day or so of delightful reading fun. I may spend some more time with Elmore Leonard in the future.
August 26, 2013
My review of this one and some thoughts about Elmore Leonard now up at Shelf Inflicted.
March 30, 2024
All the trouble was caused by forty-five hundred gallons of eight-year-old whiskey. Chekhov's Browning Automatic Rifle first appears in Chapter 1. The Tommy gun with its puny pistol cartridge might be preferable for bank robbery and trench sweeping, but the B.A.R. with its 2,000 extra foot-pounds of energy is a better tool for defending your shack from besieging bootleggers and corrupt revenuers.
Leonard had so many opportunities to throw in hic-lit tropes, but thankfully he refrained. He gives each character some unusual, memorable feature. There is an unforgettable scene where Leonard introduces the baddest bootlegger by showing him terrorizing an innocent young couple at a diner.
Leonard had so many opportunities to throw in hic-lit tropes, but thankfully he refrained. He gives each character some unusual, memorable feature. There is an unforgettable scene where Leonard introduces the baddest bootlegger by showing him terrorizing an innocent young couple at a diner.
October 30, 2010
One of Leonard's lesser known novels, The Moonshine War is, nevertheless, Grade-A Leonard, well worth seeking out. Written in 1969, one could say it was written at a time when Leonard was still a wonderful secret, and not yet a trendy discovery for People Magazine. What makes The Moonshine War a bit different than some of Leonard's crime novels, is that it is set in the not too distant past - 1931. So to some extent it is a historical novel. The setting is eastern Kentucky. True, Leonard skates pretty lightly over the regional specifics (dialect, land descriptions, etc.) - the kind of things that make Faulkner or Cormac McCarthy so authentic in a literary sense. But Leonard does throw enough in to make it thriller believable. Authentic details regarding the making of moonshine, historical nods, such as the Spanish flu, WW 1, and the kind of overalls men wore, for the most part root the reader well enough. The characters are as solid as any Leonard has created. Son Martin, the novel's hero, is your typical Leonard tough-guy. Quiet, operating on the edge of things, something of an outlaw himself. The bad guys are what you would expect. Vicious, erratic, and often kind of stupid. Of particular note, however, is Dr. Taulbee, a murderous bootlegger, who is smarter than your average Leonard criminal, and a difficult opponent for Son Martin. But he has a weak spot - Miley, a beautiful (and amoral) prostitute, who's along for the ride, though she's always looking for a reliable man. Son, with his internal code of honor, is closer to fitting that description than the good doctor, and Miley, who recognized this, is in her own way a more admirable character than Mrs. Lyons, Son's long-running love interest from town.
The plot in The Moonshine War is pretty simple: bootleggers trying to steal Son's hidden whiskey, and Son's reluctance to let that happen. There are echoes of High Noon, as Son's friends and neighbors abandon him to the bootleggers. One questions whether mountain folks would abandon one of their own to an assault from outsiders, but Leonard seems to anticipate this, when he has a neighbor of Son's tell him that the difference in their predicament is that Son has no family being threatened. In essence, to what extent Son cares for his neighbors is thus returned, in kind, which makes the ending appropriate, and well done. Leonard's endings can sometimes be disappointing. I have remarked on this myself (52 Pickup). But my complaint had more to do with the fireworks leading up to the end of that novel. If you look at the range of Leonard's work, you see an author who likes the open ended ending. It is a deliberate artistic choice by Leonard. At his best (for example, Valdez is Coming, City Primeval) he leaves the reader with a vivid, even mythic, tableau that invites the reader in. Leonard loves his High Noon moments, and will often freeze frame it in novel after novel, like a photograph of opponents squared away on Main Street, guns drawn, with the sun beating down. The Moonshine War, to my mind sits up there with the best of Leonard.
The plot in The Moonshine War is pretty simple: bootleggers trying to steal Son's hidden whiskey, and Son's reluctance to let that happen. There are echoes of High Noon, as Son's friends and neighbors abandon him to the bootleggers. One questions whether mountain folks would abandon one of their own to an assault from outsiders, but Leonard seems to anticipate this, when he has a neighbor of Son's tell him that the difference in their predicament is that Son has no family being threatened. In essence, to what extent Son cares for his neighbors is thus returned, in kind, which makes the ending appropriate, and well done. Leonard's endings can sometimes be disappointing. I have remarked on this myself (52 Pickup). But my complaint had more to do with the fireworks leading up to the end of that novel. If you look at the range of Leonard's work, you see an author who likes the open ended ending. It is a deliberate artistic choice by Leonard. At his best (for example, Valdez is Coming, City Primeval) he leaves the reader with a vivid, even mythic, tableau that invites the reader in. Leonard loves his High Noon moments, and will often freeze frame it in novel after novel, like a photograph of opponents squared away on Main Street, guns drawn, with the sun beating down. The Moonshine War, to my mind sits up there with the best of Leonard.
August 28, 2012
People did crazy things where whiskey was concerned. It being against the law to drink wasn't going to stop anybody. They'd fight and shoot each other and go to prison and die for it...
I suffer from ELADS - Elmore Leonard Attention Deficit Syndrome. His books grab me at the get-go, then leave me drifting away somewhere in the middle. His fault or mine? I don't know, but this one was different. I was gripped tightly, in a good way, the whole way through this thrilling read.
Like his father before him, Son Martin makes shine. The town's sheriff has a taste for the stuff, so things work out for everybody, until Son's old army buddy shows up. He's not exactly there on a social call. He's now a Prohibition agent. What follows is a clash of wills that leads quickly to an all-out war.
The book is well-paced with plenty of unsavory characters doing lots of unsanitary things. It also includes this little speech by the sheriff that I just love:
"People around here have built their stills and drunk whiskey for more than a hundred years. They believe if a man plows the ground and sows it and raised corn, it's not the place of another man to tell him he can eat it but he can't drink it. That's what we think of your Prohibition law."
All right! It's The Man telling off The Other Man!
Have I been cured of my ELADS? Don't know, but I'm willing to give it another shot.
I suffer from ELADS - Elmore Leonard Attention Deficit Syndrome. His books grab me at the get-go, then leave me drifting away somewhere in the middle. His fault or mine? I don't know, but this one was different. I was gripped tightly, in a good way, the whole way through this thrilling read.
Like his father before him, Son Martin makes shine. The town's sheriff has a taste for the stuff, so things work out for everybody, until Son's old army buddy shows up. He's not exactly there on a social call. He's now a Prohibition agent. What follows is a clash of wills that leads quickly to an all-out war.
The book is well-paced with plenty of unsavory characters doing lots of unsanitary things. It also includes this little speech by the sheriff that I just love:
"People around here have built their stills and drunk whiskey for more than a hundred years. They believe if a man plows the ground and sows it and raised corn, it's not the place of another man to tell him he can eat it but he can't drink it. That's what we think of your Prohibition law."
All right! It's The Man telling off The Other Man!
Have I been cured of my ELADS? Don't know, but I'm willing to give it another shot.
May 10, 2016
#2016-usa-geography-challenge: KENTUCKY
*3.5 stars. Well, now I've finally read an Elmore Leonard book! I've been wanting to do that since watching the movie Get Shorty. This suspense story is a fun, quick read set in the days of Prohibition in the hills of Kentucky, where nearly every farmer has a still. Son Martin has inherited 150 barrels of the best aged whiskey that his father made while Son was in the army. These are hidden on his property, probably in one of the old coal mining shafts, and are now worth a fortune. Unfortunately, Son told a friend in the army about them while drunk and now that old buddy works for the United States Federal Government as a Prohibition agent and wants Son to turn in the whiskey. And so the war begins...
The most interesting part of this story was the moral dilemma Son Martin faced--to do what was best
for him or for his neighbors.
*3.5 stars. Well, now I've finally read an Elmore Leonard book! I've been wanting to do that since watching the movie Get Shorty. This suspense story is a fun, quick read set in the days of Prohibition in the hills of Kentucky, where nearly every farmer has a still. Son Martin has inherited 150 barrels of the best aged whiskey that his father made while Son was in the army. These are hidden on his property, probably in one of the old coal mining shafts, and are now worth a fortune. Unfortunately, Son told a friend in the army about them while drunk and now that old buddy works for the United States Federal Government as a Prohibition agent and wants Son to turn in the whiskey. And so the war begins...
The most interesting part of this story was the moral dilemma Son Martin faced--to do what was best
for him or for his neighbors.
May 25, 2013
If this book is anything, it is certainly entertaining, and reading for the pure enjoyment of a story is something that every reader should do from time-to-time. While I seem to be obsessed with searching out that next morsel of wisdom or insight from my next book, I also need to remember that I would not be the book-geek that I am today if it were not for John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series and the enjoyment that I drew from those mystery novels.
But there is more here for readers that are indeed looking for that next morsel of wisdom or insight. Our country is a diverse place that is comprised of many geographical locations and each of these regions has its own distinct culture. In visiting these places we may be amazed by the food, but eating green chili in New Mexico is only a clue to the deeper feelings and mannerisms of those that actually live there. The same must be true for the South.
The Moonshine War illustrates aspects of Southern culture. For those that view the South from afar, like me, the story highlights an approach to life that finds enjoyment in the smallest of things. Things like family, neighbors, serenity, and moonshine take precedence over things like Facebook, ‘those people next door,’ happy hour, and Chivas Regal Scotch. It’s the depiction of this way of life that makes me wonder if more of life can be enjoyed in the absence of everything else that is desired by other cultures in other regions, and contemplation is the mark of a good story.
But there is more here for readers that are indeed looking for that next morsel of wisdom or insight. Our country is a diverse place that is comprised of many geographical locations and each of these regions has its own distinct culture. In visiting these places we may be amazed by the food, but eating green chili in New Mexico is only a clue to the deeper feelings and mannerisms of those that actually live there. The same must be true for the South.
The Moonshine War illustrates aspects of Southern culture. For those that view the South from afar, like me, the story highlights an approach to life that finds enjoyment in the smallest of things. Things like family, neighbors, serenity, and moonshine take precedence over things like Facebook, ‘those people next door,’ happy hour, and Chivas Regal Scotch. It’s the depiction of this way of life that makes me wonder if more of life can be enjoyed in the absence of everything else that is desired by other cultures in other regions, and contemplation is the mark of a good story.
September 14, 2019
Bumped it up to 5 stars.
Action packed from start to finish.
Complicated buddy-action movie for the literate.
By this point Elmore's relying on his Westerns style of allowing dialogue to push along the narrative.
Not Dutch Leonard's best work but way up there and a personal favorite.
Worth even the casual fan's time.
A must for Elmore Leonard die-hards.
Action packed from start to finish.
Complicated buddy-action movie for the literate.
By this point Elmore's relying on his Westerns style of allowing dialogue to push along the narrative.
Not Dutch Leonard's best work but way up there and a personal favorite.
Worth even the casual fan's time.
A must for Elmore Leonard die-hards.
Bud's dad, at the table across from Mr. Baylor [the sheriff], said, "Now wait a minute before you say too much."
Mr. Blackwell had once been as smart-mouthed and sure of himself as Bud; he was an older, smaller version, now balding and wearing a Teddy Roosevelt mustache to make up for his bare expanse of forehead. "[Frank] Long had a gun on Bud when he hit him."
"Is that right?" Mr. Baylor said. "Well, if you were there, then you saw your little sonny boy pull a bone-handle knife before he got his ears beat off."
"Who told you that?"
"Your other boy, Raymond. Now, if you're through I'm going to tell you how things are."
"They aren't going to sneak up on us," Bud Blackwell said. "You wait and see when they try it on us."
Every once in a while, Mr. Baylor remembered his blood pressure and his seventy-three-year-old heart and would make himself breathe slowly with his mouth closed. To fall dead while beating Bud Blackwell with a pick handle wouldn't be too bad; but to go out screaming at him and slobbering and popping all the veins in his face would leave the memory of a mess they had to clean up before they put him in a box.
Mr. Baylor said to Bud, "What happens if you shoot a federal Prohibition officer?"
"They bury the son of a bitch," Bud grinned. "If'n they can find him."
Mr. Baylor had breathed slowly in and out enough that he was still in control, a kindly and wise old man. He said, "Bud, honey, that's true. But you know what else happens? Whether they find him or not, you got the whole United States Government after you, because they know where that boy was going and who he was to see."
Frank Long and Son Martin served together in the Big War. They're not exactly close friends. Son's sitting on a hundred and fifty barrels of primo corn whiskey that's been aging for at least eight years back home in Marletta, Kentucky.
It's worth more than 150 thousand dollars in Prohibition era money.
Everyone wants to know where Son's late father's whiskey horde is hidden but Son's not a guy given to casual conversation.
Except for just that one time, back in the war getting drunk with his then-good buddy Frank Long, Son was drunk and let slip the secret of the magic horde.
Since then, Son's sworn a vow of silence akin to "Frank Mansfield" in Charles Willeford's Cockfighter.
Frank Long wants that whiskey but makes a massive miscalculation and engages the services of a Dr. Taulbee - bootlegger from Louisville with connections to all the big, bad, wooly boys from big cities as far away as Cincinnati.
Everything goes to bloody hell.
Highest Recommendation
October 26, 2013
During the days of Prohibition, moonshiner Son Martin must defend the $125,000 worth of whiskey stockpiled by his daddy for Son's future from an unlikely alliance of scoundrels. Frank Long, an old Army buddy whom Son made the mistake of confiding in, is now an unscrupulous agent of the federal government who wants to sell the whiskey himself. When he sees that he can't do the job alone, he contacts Dr. Taulbee, who seems like a criminal mastermind only because he is smarter than the knuckleheads who work for him.
Elmore Leonard writes a tightly plotted, concisely told tale with a cast of interesting characters. I love his dialogue; it's no surprise that so many of his novels have been filmed since so many of his scenes play out so effortlessly like movies in the mind's eye. I also appreciate his understanding of the criminal mind; they start out with a plan, but lack of discipline and foresight paired with an arrogant predilection for violence causes everything to deteriorate into chaos.
Elmore Leonard writes a tightly plotted, concisely told tale with a cast of interesting characters. I love his dialogue; it's no surprise that so many of his novels have been filmed since so many of his scenes play out so effortlessly like movies in the mind's eye. I also appreciate his understanding of the criminal mind; they start out with a plan, but lack of discipline and foresight paired with an arrogant predilection for violence causes everything to deteriorate into chaos.
April 10, 2024
This is, by far, the best Leonard novel I have read to date. It feels like a cross between his excellent Western novels and his later crime-related ones. Wonderful characters, excellent plot and mounting tension and uncertainty throughout. Highly recommended: if you have read some Leonard but not this novel, read it as soon as you can; if you have never read a Leonard novel before this is clearly the best.
Thanks to WJEP for his awesome review which prompted me to jump on this one. Makes me want to read more Leonard to see if there are other gems I have yet to disover.
Thanks to WJEP for his awesome review which prompted me to jump on this one. Makes me want to read more Leonard to see if there are other gems I have yet to disover.
May 1, 2014
Before I finally came to realization that I am not an audiobook person I tried to listen to this via Audible.com but I didn't get far. The story was engaging but I just don't have the attentiveness to listen to books on tape. I am horrible at multitasking and my commute to work is only 5-8 minutes so it is not feasible to listen while driving. So I abandoned the audio and told myself that I would continue reading it in proper book form. The only problem was that it took me six months to get around to checking it out from the library.
This is a riveting tale of a battle of wits over 150 barrels of whiskey hidden in the Kentucky hills during Prohibition in 1931. The dialogue and characterizations were excellent. I kept guessing who would win the war up til the last couple paragraphs with the great suspenseful ending. Son Martin is not one to mess with.
This is a riveting tale of a battle of wits over 150 barrels of whiskey hidden in the Kentucky hills during Prohibition in 1931. The dialogue and characterizations were excellent. I kept guessing who would win the war up til the last couple paragraphs with the great suspenseful ending. Son Martin is not one to mess with.
December 8, 2012
A very peculiar semi-fictional world of masculine struggle for relevance and self-esteem is exposed by the genius author Elmore Leonard in his usual grand style. The backdrop for this peacock display of virility in this early book by Leonard consists of extreme 1931 Tennessee poverty, isolation, lack of oversight and American male machismo. In Spain, machismo is defined by bullfighting, in Russia and China they have hierarchical domination, but in America it's the loner.
Being female, I recognize the displaying of tail feathers that is as much about the thumping of the male's chest as displaying sexual prowess. Anyone familiar with America's ways knows that the movie character of Clint Eastwood is THE male icon for our men, with his display of large pistols and silent judgement. Nobody captures this image in more clever ways than Elmore Leonard, and no one can skewer it with style of smirking intellectualism while helplessly admiring it at the same time as Leonard. I also find myself helplessly full of admiration while a sneer is on my lips.
Son Martin is living on a forested mountain farm hollowed by mine shafts, passed down to him by his father. The art and living of making moonshine, hard liquor, has also been passed down, along with a secret cache of superb whiskey hidden for 8 years and reputed to be worth $150,000 in this Prohibition time. If it exists, Son has never sold it, but envious rumors abound in this small community of poor moonshiners spread out among the trees.
A different kind of prodigal son returns in the form of a Federal Prohibition agent, Frank Long. He is eager to make a name for himself in Washington, D.C. by recovering this hidden whiskey and he doesn't care how he does it, short of murder. When threats only get him a silent stare, he decides to hire some of the thugs he has arrested in his career, particularly a sociopathic dentist, who had served time for raping his unconscious female patients under ether, to harass all of the moonshiners to force a showdown. Long thinks if he burns down everybody else's stills, the entire community will put pressure on Martin to give up the whiskey. It works as far as organizing the neighbors to talk to Son about giving the cache up, but Son Martin politely says no.
This is a big mistake. For who, I'm not going to say (politely staring, polishing my gun).
Being female, I recognize the displaying of tail feathers that is as much about the thumping of the male's chest as displaying sexual prowess. Anyone familiar with America's ways knows that the movie character of Clint Eastwood is THE male icon for our men, with his display of large pistols and silent judgement. Nobody captures this image in more clever ways than Elmore Leonard, and no one can skewer it with style of smirking intellectualism while helplessly admiring it at the same time as Leonard. I also find myself helplessly full of admiration while a sneer is on my lips.
Son Martin is living on a forested mountain farm hollowed by mine shafts, passed down to him by his father. The art and living of making moonshine, hard liquor, has also been passed down, along with a secret cache of superb whiskey hidden for 8 years and reputed to be worth $150,000 in this Prohibition time. If it exists, Son has never sold it, but envious rumors abound in this small community of poor moonshiners spread out among the trees.
A different kind of prodigal son returns in the form of a Federal Prohibition agent, Frank Long. He is eager to make a name for himself in Washington, D.C. by recovering this hidden whiskey and he doesn't care how he does it, short of murder. When threats only get him a silent stare, he decides to hire some of the thugs he has arrested in his career, particularly a sociopathic dentist, who had served time for raping his unconscious female patients under ether, to harass all of the moonshiners to force a showdown. Long thinks if he burns down everybody else's stills, the entire community will put pressure on Martin to give up the whiskey. It works as far as organizing the neighbors to talk to Son about giving the cache up, but Son Martin politely says no.
This is a big mistake. For who, I'm not going to say (politely staring, polishing my gun).
July 30, 2009
Fun, quick read. One of Leonard's early novels feels like it was actually written even earlier that the 1969 copyright. The setting and the execution have an easy charm. Almost feels like an Erskine Caldwell novel.
The writing is a little clunky, but the characters are strong and the story simple and without many wasted words (as expected).
The writing is a little clunky, but the characters are strong and the story simple and without many wasted words (as expected).
December 24, 2024
3.5⭐ Everything here seems over the top but it is entertaining.
July 15, 2017
Audio book while the characters are plausible and the story was well delivered, it is forgettable. Having said that, my time was not wasted and as usual, Leonard's stories are best suited for audio and visual.
June 19, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK 195 (of 250)
A crime novel? The era of prohibition led to sensational amounts of crime in Mid-Century North America, definitely. In this genre read, I've encountered numerous novels/novellas about the transportation and storage of booze, the underground bars, etc. and this novel goes right to the root of the issue: lots of people making a living on the manufacturing of moonshine. This story is timeless: substitute 'Pot' for "Moonshine" and this novel works just fine in 2019 as it did 50 years ago in 1969.
HOOK - 3 stars:>>>"The war began the first day Saturday in June 1931, when Mr. Baylor sent a boy up to Son Martin's Place to tell him they were coming to raid his still. The boy was sixteen and had lived in the mountains all his life, but at first he wasn't sure he wanted to go up there alone."<<<
A very good opener: we know there will be booze and a big shoot-out and a young man to root for as we've all been sixteen years old and not sure about the world. (40 years later and I'm still scrambling to understand things.)
PACE - 3: Sturdy until the final chapters in which said shoot-out occurs: the extended 'big climax' had me groping for who was where in a barn, a house, cars, the forest, a graveyard, etc.
PLOT - 3 stars: You know this story because you hear this story today: people are arrested for growing pot by people who have surely 'inhaled' in college. Here, in "Moonshine War", a sheriff might make a visit and either join you in a drink or arrest you for having it...or both, depending on who you are and how much you're paying the law to look the other way. The economy of Broke-Leg County, Kentucky (great name for a county that never recovered from the Great Depression) depends on moonshine: generations of families have survived by hiding their stills. They argue that if they can grow and eat it (corn), they should be able to drink it. (Same argument holds for pot: it's out there naturally growing, lots of products can be made from it such as fabrics or rope, so why can't we cook up a batch of brownies with ingredients right from God's green earth?) Here, the government sends a Prohibition Agent to bust up the stills, and in the process locate a legendary horde of 150 gallons of aged whiskey. A classic story that Elmore Leonard spins to a classic ending.
CAST - 2: Lowell Holbrook, Jr., is the aforesaid 'boy' mentioned in the opening lines. He is confused, as Mr. Baylor (town lawman) has offered him the use of Sheriff's Department's Ford to go up the mountain and warn Son Martin of an impending raid. Son Martin might know the location of the hidden barrels of whiskey his own father, John, had manufactured and hidden. The LOVELY LADY (there MUST be one or two) of the story works at the local inn, but Leonard empowers her, Mrs. Lyons, to actually own and run it. Another young, lovely lady named Miley (18, but equally confused like Lowell) might be playing both sides, or all sides. Hence, the novels big flaw: too many people leading to the massive cast involved in the final shoot-out. Somewhere, we lose track of Lowell but he returns and makes a big move. An unfortunate use of a racial slur from a bad guy might have been okay once or twice, but Leonard is writing in a post-Civil Rights America, and the slur's ongoing utilization is pointless once Leonard has established his characters. Overall, though, this cast is much too big for this story.
ATMOSPHERE - 2: This story is about moonshine stills. Little is said about the manufacturing process and I wanted to understand the basics: why is a character boiling beer, for example. There is much said about the quality of whiskey/moonshine, but I wanted to know what makes it good/bad. Some like it freshly made, some like theirs aged a few months. After all, people are killing each other over 'good whiskey'. Might be just me, but it's my review.
SUMMARY: 2.6. This is a good story. But more character development on just a few central characters would have worked better for me. And, relativity strikes again. Another riff on this story was published earlier (in 1966) entitled "The Secret of Santa Vittoria" in which a small Italian town must hide a million bottles of wine from a German invasion. "Santa Vittoria" centers on a central character, the town's odd, goofy guy - Bambolini -and stays with him throughout the novel: here in "Moonshine War", I wish Leonard had stuck with Lowell, Mrs. Lyons, and Son. "Santa Vittoria" is sensational and I've read it numerous times as I MUST again relive the story of Bambolini (sp?) and revisit Santa Vittoria.
BOOK 195 (of 250)
A crime novel? The era of prohibition led to sensational amounts of crime in Mid-Century North America, definitely. In this genre read, I've encountered numerous novels/novellas about the transportation and storage of booze, the underground bars, etc. and this novel goes right to the root of the issue: lots of people making a living on the manufacturing of moonshine. This story is timeless: substitute 'Pot' for "Moonshine" and this novel works just fine in 2019 as it did 50 years ago in 1969.
HOOK - 3 stars:>>>"The war began the first day Saturday in June 1931, when Mr. Baylor sent a boy up to Son Martin's Place to tell him they were coming to raid his still. The boy was sixteen and had lived in the mountains all his life, but at first he wasn't sure he wanted to go up there alone."<<<
A very good opener: we know there will be booze and a big shoot-out and a young man to root for as we've all been sixteen years old and not sure about the world. (40 years later and I'm still scrambling to understand things.)
PACE - 3: Sturdy until the final chapters in which said shoot-out occurs: the extended 'big climax' had me groping for who was where in a barn, a house, cars, the forest, a graveyard, etc.
PLOT - 3 stars: You know this story because you hear this story today: people are arrested for growing pot by people who have surely 'inhaled' in college. Here, in "Moonshine War", a sheriff might make a visit and either join you in a drink or arrest you for having it...or both, depending on who you are and how much you're paying the law to look the other way. The economy of Broke-Leg County, Kentucky (great name for a county that never recovered from the Great Depression) depends on moonshine: generations of families have survived by hiding their stills. They argue that if they can grow and eat it (corn), they should be able to drink it. (Same argument holds for pot: it's out there naturally growing, lots of products can be made from it such as fabrics or rope, so why can't we cook up a batch of brownies with ingredients right from God's green earth?) Here, the government sends a Prohibition Agent to bust up the stills, and in the process locate a legendary horde of 150 gallons of aged whiskey. A classic story that Elmore Leonard spins to a classic ending.
CAST - 2: Lowell Holbrook, Jr., is the aforesaid 'boy' mentioned in the opening lines. He is confused, as Mr. Baylor (town lawman) has offered him the use of Sheriff's Department's Ford to go up the mountain and warn Son Martin of an impending raid. Son Martin might know the location of the hidden barrels of whiskey his own father, John, had manufactured and hidden. The LOVELY LADY (there MUST be one or two) of the story works at the local inn, but Leonard empowers her, Mrs. Lyons, to actually own and run it. Another young, lovely lady named Miley (18, but equally confused like Lowell) might be playing both sides, or all sides. Hence, the novels big flaw: too many people leading to the massive cast involved in the final shoot-out. Somewhere, we lose track of Lowell but he returns and makes a big move. An unfortunate use of a racial slur from a bad guy might have been okay once or twice, but Leonard is writing in a post-Civil Rights America, and the slur's ongoing utilization is pointless once Leonard has established his characters. Overall, though, this cast is much too big for this story.
ATMOSPHERE - 2: This story is about moonshine stills. Little is said about the manufacturing process and I wanted to understand the basics: why is a character boiling beer, for example. There is much said about the quality of whiskey/moonshine, but I wanted to know what makes it good/bad. Some like it freshly made, some like theirs aged a few months. After all, people are killing each other over 'good whiskey'. Might be just me, but it's my review.
SUMMARY: 2.6. This is a good story. But more character development on just a few central characters would have worked better for me. And, relativity strikes again. Another riff on this story was published earlier (in 1966) entitled "The Secret of Santa Vittoria" in which a small Italian town must hide a million bottles of wine from a German invasion. "Santa Vittoria" centers on a central character, the town's odd, goofy guy - Bambolini -and stays with him throughout the novel: here in "Moonshine War", I wish Leonard had stuck with Lowell, Mrs. Lyons, and Son. "Santa Vittoria" is sensational and I've read it numerous times as I MUST again relive the story of Bambolini (sp?) and revisit Santa Vittoria.
March 11, 2013
One of Leonard's earlier story's, and he was already writing good novels. Proabition going on in 1931 in the hills of Kentucky. Moonshine was a good but illegal business, but you had to feed your family somehow.
Son Martin was said to have 150 barrels stashed somewhere on his property, that his daddy had made. Eight years later, the well aged whiskey was getting some attention. Leonard is just a darn good (as they would say back then) writer, storyteller,a with some thrills thrown in.
Son Martin was said to have 150 barrels stashed somewhere on his property, that his daddy had made. Eight years later, the well aged whiskey was getting some attention. Leonard is just a darn good (as they would say back then) writer, storyteller,a with some thrills thrown in.
August 26, 2023
My first non-Western Elmore Leonard and coincidentally it reads very much like one of his Westerns. Small town face off between some whiskey stillers vs. out f town bootleggers during the prohibition era.
A quick, entertaining read. Leonard is one of those ideal authors for breaking out of slumps or just taking it easy after reading some chunky bastard of a book
A quick, entertaining read. Leonard is one of those ideal authors for breaking out of slumps or just taking it easy after reading some chunky bastard of a book
February 18, 2018
Can't really go wrong with Master Leonard. I'd like to know if this story was somehow re-imagined many years later as Justified.
July 20, 2024
It’s always a pleasure to read an Elmore Leonard. Hell of an ending to a good book
June 7, 2023
Not bad, everyone can come up with their own conclusion to the ending.
October 18, 2022
All that hard work for shine!
January 1, 2011
Listened to this in the car, really liked it, and the reader was great (Mark Hammer). My wife didn't care for the slow development but I really loved the Elmore Leonard dialogue. I put off listening to it until I was alone. Leonard as usual captures the characters and gets you involved in the times. Small town Kentucky life. Son Martin is sitting on 150 barrels of prime moonshine left him by his father. Rumors about where it is hidden, and what it is worth. Frank Long, an acquaintance of Son's from the army shows up as a prohibition agent. Seems Son told him about the barrels while drunk in the army, and Frank has designs on getting the moonshine for himself (some agent!). Frank brings in some gangster bootleggers who plan on forcing Son to tell where the stuff is hidden. He focuses on Son's neighbors, busting up their stills and the only source of their income, until the neighbors join in and want Son to give up the 150 barrels. A real showdown develops, and the tension builds to a surprise ending. A good yarn.
October 30, 2019
I freaking LOVE Elmore Leonard! Starting reading him back when I was in school. Skipping classes to read Glitz, The big bounce, 52 pick up, and my all-time favorite Freaky Deaky.
I came to The moonshine war late, getting it as a Christmas present last year, and with any of Dutch's work the bad guys are fun; and dialogue is the best. Nobody comes close with Elmore Leonard the dialogue, jumps off the page and sizzles with so much authenticity, it makes you think if you overheard two street people or cons talking like this this is how it would sound. But then again, unless you're in that scene how are you to know?
I love this book and is defiantly going to be reread some point in the future. And because everything in this book is tight, coming in at just under 210 pages its easy to do. The only thing that makes me sad is because of Elmore Leonard's death no more great books like these aren't going to hit the shelves.
I came to The moonshine war late, getting it as a Christmas present last year, and with any of Dutch's work the bad guys are fun; and dialogue is the best. Nobody comes close with Elmore Leonard the dialogue, jumps off the page and sizzles with so much authenticity, it makes you think if you overheard two street people or cons talking like this this is how it would sound. But then again, unless you're in that scene how are you to know?
I love this book and is defiantly going to be reread some point in the future. And because everything in this book is tight, coming in at just under 210 pages its easy to do. The only thing that makes me sad is because of Elmore Leonard's death no more great books like these aren't going to hit the shelves.
February 18, 2012
The Moonshine War is the story of Son Martin a Prohibition Era bootlegger in rural Kentucky. Son's father hid over $100,000 of top grade moonshine. Now Frank Long, an old army buddy of Martin's is looking for it. Long is now a prohibition agent and wants the whiskey for himself. Long brings in some bootleggers to help him and things get hot.
This book was published in 1969, but like all great books, still holds up to repeated readings. This has Leonard's classic style. Heavy emphasis on dialogue, interesting characters, and sudden explosions of violence.
I listened to this as an audiobook. Mark Hammer gave a wonderful reading of the text. His voice captures the sound of the hills and the rhythm of Leonard's prose.
December 28, 2018
It’s Prohibition in Kentucky, and Son Martin has a small fortune’s worth of 8-year-old finest home-brewed whiskey hidden away. His mistake was to tell his army-buddy about it, and the army buddy’s mistake is to enlist the help of a bootlegger to try to take it from Son. I’m reading my way through all Leonard’s novels. This one (1969) isn’t his best, but pretty good, with his usual spare style and humorous touches. I can never quite follow the choreography of his shoot-outs, but I don’t much mind, plot and character more than compensate. His women tend to be angels or tarts – one of each in this book; I’m hoping he'll do better by us in his later books.
March 1, 2012
If you have read no Leonard then you should read some others before this so you can appreciate how different it is from most of his books. Really good plot, characters and prose in a setting he's not known for. Highly recommended.
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