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The Hunted
“Wonderful…razor-sharp.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Excellent….A plot and a chase as good as anything he has ever written.”—Bergan Record
In Elmore Leonard’s The Hunted, “crime fiction’s greatest living practitioner” (Washington Post) carries the action far from his usual Detroit, Miami, and Los Angeles milieus, all the way to the Middle East. There no lack of excitement and suspense—and the trademark Leonard dialogue—in this superior tale of a fugitive hiding under the radar in Israel, until a well-publicized Good Samaritan act attracts the unwanted attention of well-armed Motown mobsters who are now coming to get him. The author who introduced the world to U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (in his novels Pronto and Riding the Rap, before the lawman became the star of the hit TV drama Justified), the Grand Master shows why the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel calls him “the all-time king of the whack job crime novelists,” and goes on to say that “Elmore Leonard tops them all”…including John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Robert B. Parker, and quite possibly every major mystery writer the U.S. has ever produced.
“Excellent….A plot and a chase as good as anything he has ever written.”—Bergan Record
In Elmore Leonard’s The Hunted, “crime fiction’s greatest living practitioner” (Washington Post) carries the action far from his usual Detroit, Miami, and Los Angeles milieus, all the way to the Middle East. There no lack of excitement and suspense—and the trademark Leonard dialogue—in this superior tale of a fugitive hiding under the radar in Israel, until a well-publicized Good Samaritan act attracts the unwanted attention of well-armed Motown mobsters who are now coming to get him. The author who introduced the world to U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (in his novels Pronto and Riding the Rap, before the lawman became the star of the hit TV drama Justified), the Grand Master shows why the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel calls him “the all-time king of the whack job crime novelists,” and goes on to say that “Elmore Leonard tops them all”…including John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Robert B. Parker, and quite possibly every major mystery writer the U.S. has ever produced.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1977
477 people are currently reading
649 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 161 reviews
April 23, 2025
I cannot remember the last time I finished a book within a day. After reading, Mr.Majestyk last month, I ordered eight Elmore Leonard novels over the last week. The Hunted was the first one to arrive.
Al Rosen is hanging out at luxury hotels in Israel, doing what rich forty five year old single men do - drinking and picking up women. He is also hiding out. After a night in bed with a beautiful American woman, he saves people from a hotel fire and inadvertently gets his photograph in the papers. His enemies do not waste any time coming after him.
Without much description or reliance on history, Leonard gives us a good sense of Israel. Sure it has its luxury hotels and tourist hangouts. But it is also a place with Jews, Christians and Muslims bunched up together. A restive land where danger lingers even in the beautiful luxurious bars and lobbies. Israel is mostly described from the point of view of expatriate characters - Al Rosen, Mel Bandy - a boorish and cunning American lawyer and marine David.E.Davis - an ex-Vietnam war vet who has spent too much time guarding banks and doing embassy duty but has not shed his warrior soul.
The thrills and action are relentless and clever. The dialog between the multi-cultural and multi-racial characters are often hilarious - like when the Black Muslim gangster sent to hunt down Rosen discovers that there is a Jordanaian chapter of Black Panther, from his Jordanian Jewish driver. Or Mel Bandy's impatience with the Israeli staff at the hotel.
I loved reading this. I couldn't put it down. Leonard's dialogs have so much wisdom and depth. Yet not a phony or trite line of dialog escapes the man's pen. The plots and accompanying twists are ingenious. The characters are always up for a drink even in the midst of the gravest of dangers. It is a nice feeling to know that there are so many more Elmore Leonard novels left to be read.
Al Rosen is hanging out at luxury hotels in Israel, doing what rich forty five year old single men do - drinking and picking up women. He is also hiding out. After a night in bed with a beautiful American woman, he saves people from a hotel fire and inadvertently gets his photograph in the papers. His enemies do not waste any time coming after him.
Without much description or reliance on history, Leonard gives us a good sense of Israel. Sure it has its luxury hotels and tourist hangouts. But it is also a place with Jews, Christians and Muslims bunched up together. A restive land where danger lingers even in the beautiful luxurious bars and lobbies. Israel is mostly described from the point of view of expatriate characters - Al Rosen, Mel Bandy - a boorish and cunning American lawyer and marine David.E.Davis - an ex-Vietnam war vet who has spent too much time guarding banks and doing embassy duty but has not shed his warrior soul.
The thrills and action are relentless and clever. The dialog between the multi-cultural and multi-racial characters are often hilarious - like when the Black Muslim gangster sent to hunt down Rosen discovers that there is a Jordanaian chapter of Black Panther, from his Jordanian Jewish driver. Or Mel Bandy's impatience with the Israeli staff at the hotel.
I loved reading this. I couldn't put it down. Leonard's dialogs have so much wisdom and depth. Yet not a phony or trite line of dialog escapes the man's pen. The plots and accompanying twists are ingenious. The characters are always up for a drink even in the midst of the gravest of dangers. It is a nice feeling to know that there are so many more Elmore Leonard novels left to be read.
February 25, 2020
A stand alone novel by Elmore Leonard first published in 1977
Another excellent 4 star thriller from the fertile imagination of Elmore Leonard.
As with most, if not all, of Leonard’s novels dialogue is an essential part of the story telling. The banter between the main protagonists, or the lack thereof, will keep you chuckling under your breath, even the hard stuff has a tongue in cheek quality to it.
The villains lack of seriousness reminds me very much of Pulp Fiction. I wonder if Quinton Tarantino is a fan of Mr. Leonard.
Anyway I digress, Al Rosen (AKA Ross) is living the good life in Israel, living of the fat of the land on money that is sent to him by his firm back in good old USA. But Al is living in a fool’s paradise, there’s a bunch of very unsavoury enforcers looking for him and being nice is not on the agenda.
Enter Marine David Davis, a man who is about to retire from the service but has no idea where he wants his life to go. He has been making a few extra bucks acting as courier for Al, picking up and delivering the money. It’s been a long time since David has been anything much more than a door attendant at the US embassy in Israel. So when it becomes obvious that Al Rosen is being pursued by a bunch of thugs David is just itching to be a part of helping Al survive.
What follows is a thrilling page turning fest.
Apart from the thrill of the read an aspect that I enjoyed was that everybody’s a philosopher. Everybody has their own opinion on the meaning of life and strangely enough a lot of it made sense.
I have no trouble recommending this 4 star entertainment.
Another excellent 4 star thriller from the fertile imagination of Elmore Leonard.
As with most, if not all, of Leonard’s novels dialogue is an essential part of the story telling. The banter between the main protagonists, or the lack thereof, will keep you chuckling under your breath, even the hard stuff has a tongue in cheek quality to it.
The villains lack of seriousness reminds me very much of Pulp Fiction. I wonder if Quinton Tarantino is a fan of Mr. Leonard.
Anyway I digress, Al Rosen (AKA Ross) is living the good life in Israel, living of the fat of the land on money that is sent to him by his firm back in good old USA. But Al is living in a fool’s paradise, there’s a bunch of very unsavoury enforcers looking for him and being nice is not on the agenda.
Enter Marine David Davis, a man who is about to retire from the service but has no idea where he wants his life to go. He has been making a few extra bucks acting as courier for Al, picking up and delivering the money. It’s been a long time since David has been anything much more than a door attendant at the US embassy in Israel. So when it becomes obvious that Al Rosen is being pursued by a bunch of thugs David is just itching to be a part of helping Al survive.
What follows is a thrilling page turning fest.
Apart from the thrill of the read an aspect that I enjoyed was that everybody’s a philosopher. Everybody has their own opinion on the meaning of life and strangely enough a lot of it made sense.
I have no trouble recommending this 4 star entertainment.
August 8, 2019
4 stars for a well done thriller. I have been reading Elmore Leonard books for 40 years. Now, with the help of Goodreads, I am reading the ones that I missed. I borrowed this book on inter library loan and read it in 3 days. The blurb explains that Al Rosen is hiding in Israel after testifying against US mobsters. Except that they find him and are trying to kill him. A US marine, stationed as a US Embassy Guard, comes to his aid.
What happens makes for an enjoyable read.
What happens makes for an enjoyable read.
October 16, 2022
It’s an early one, so more straightforward but doesn’t suffer from it a bit. I’ve said something to this effect before: I will read Elmore write about blistering standoffs and unlikely allies all day long.
Also loved: how, as usual, as always, bring on the criminals and misfits but the only unforgivable crime is a lack of style or imagination.
Also loved: how, as usual, as always, bring on the criminals and misfits but the only unforgivable crime is a lack of style or imagination.
September 4, 2019
For sure this was the first time I'd read this early non-Western Elmore Leonard novel.
Basically this is one of his Western noirs set in then-modern day Israel.
It's kind of amusing - find the "hero"/protagonist in this one before page 100.
You won't even meet him until somewhere around page 56.
Like many early Leonard's, you're introduced to a score of characters before the actual plot unfolds.
You're almost halfway through the novel before it finally gets started.
No complaints here.
It's still early on for Elmore Leonard's non-Western thrillers- the best is yet to come which of course will start with City Primeval.
I find it interesting that both
and
actually came before this -two novels I consider superior to this.
There's also
and
- both of which were his first two non-Westerns and precede all of the above.
I need to read all of those again. It's been years since I last read them.
Dutch Leonard never let a reader down.
Everything written by Elmore Leonard is a must-read.
There's no other author like him.
Basically this is one of his Western noirs set in then-modern day Israel.
It's kind of amusing - find the "hero"/protagonist in this one before page 100.
You won't even meet him until somewhere around page 56.
Like many early Leonard's, you're introduced to a score of characters before the actual plot unfolds.
You're almost halfway through the novel before it finally gets started.
No complaints here.
It's still early on for Elmore Leonard's non-Western thrillers- the best is yet to come which of course will start with City Primeval.
I find it interesting that both
and
actually came before this -two novels I consider superior to this.There's also
and
- both of which were his first two non-Westerns and precede all of the above.I need to read all of those again. It's been years since I last read them.
Dutch Leonard never let a reader down.
Everything written by Elmore Leonard is a must-read.
There's no other author like him.
August 13, 2013
The other day I heard Elmore Leonard had suffered a stroke, so when I had to visit a bookstore to buy a gift, I found myself browsing the section with all of his books on display and thinking back fondly about all the ones I'd really enjoyed. But then I saw an unfamiliar title: "The Hunted." I picked it up and checked the copyright date: 1977. I thought I had read nearly all of Leonard's thrillers, but here was one I'd somehow missed, so I bought it.
I'm glad I did. Chronologically it falls after "Mr. Majestyk," "52 Pickup," "Swag" and "Unknown Man No. 89," but it's not quite like any of Leonard's other modern-day thrillers, and in fact owes quite a bit to his Westerns. It's not set in his usual haunts -- Detroit and Florida -- but rather in Israel, which gives him a whole different landscape and set of character types to play with.
As with all his early thrillers, Leonard moves the story along at a brisk pace, but not without throwing in some great dialogue and scenes that help to flesh out the characters. The two best characters are the two main leads: Al Rosen, the Detroit businessman who's been hiding in Israel for three years after testifying against a couple of mobsters; and Davis, the Marine who was decorated for his service in Vietnam, is bored with embassy duty and is in search of his civilian future.
The weakest character is the ringleader of the bad guys, a Detroit enforcer named Valenzuela, who has come looking for Rosen. We never learn too much about him, unfortunately, and he doesn't say much either. Instead of focusing much on him, Leonard spends far more time with the more talkative of the trio of baddies, Rashad, whose clever and persuasive patter reminded me of Ordell Robbie, the villainous character Leonard puts in both "The Switch" and (more famously) "Rum Punch," which became the movie "Jackie Brown." We also spend a lot of time with Rosen's ridiculous lawyer, Mel Bandy, whose self-assured bumbling contributes to the comedy of the book.
The final showdown takes place in a remote house out in the middle of nowhere, which is what made me think of Leonard's Western novels: a good guy holed up, trying to protect a couple of people, fighting off a trio of bad guys with whatever weapons and wit he can muster. I hope Leonard recovers, and I hope he writes us a few more books as well tooled as this one.
I'm glad I did. Chronologically it falls after "Mr. Majestyk," "52 Pickup," "Swag" and "Unknown Man No. 89," but it's not quite like any of Leonard's other modern-day thrillers, and in fact owes quite a bit to his Westerns. It's not set in his usual haunts -- Detroit and Florida -- but rather in Israel, which gives him a whole different landscape and set of character types to play with.
As with all his early thrillers, Leonard moves the story along at a brisk pace, but not without throwing in some great dialogue and scenes that help to flesh out the characters. The two best characters are the two main leads: Al Rosen, the Detroit businessman who's been hiding in Israel for three years after testifying against a couple of mobsters; and Davis, the Marine who was decorated for his service in Vietnam, is bored with embassy duty and is in search of his civilian future.
The weakest character is the ringleader of the bad guys, a Detroit enforcer named Valenzuela, who has come looking for Rosen. We never learn too much about him, unfortunately, and he doesn't say much either. Instead of focusing much on him, Leonard spends far more time with the more talkative of the trio of baddies, Rashad, whose clever and persuasive patter reminded me of Ordell Robbie, the villainous character Leonard puts in both "The Switch" and (more famously) "Rum Punch," which became the movie "Jackie Brown." We also spend a lot of time with Rosen's ridiculous lawyer, Mel Bandy, whose self-assured bumbling contributes to the comedy of the book.
The final showdown takes place in a remote house out in the middle of nowhere, which is what made me think of Leonard's Western novels: a good guy holed up, trying to protect a couple of people, fighting off a trio of bad guys with whatever weapons and wit he can muster. I hope Leonard recovers, and I hope he writes us a few more books as well tooled as this one.
August 18, 2024
Не е лошо трилърчето, само дето е безкрайно остаряло като сюжет.
October 16, 2016
The thing I like best about Leonard is his consistency. I find it hard to believe that my attention could not be held by any of his books. His ability to write characters that are true to themselves before holding fast to any moral ideal is what makes his characters real and interesting. This is what I have come to expect from Leonard and The Hunted is one more case-in-point.
The story brings the reader to Israel in the late 1970s, however, with only a few exceptions, the setting is timeless. In some ways, the book could serve as a guide to Israel in that it provides a sense of the relative size of the country. The next time I read this story I'll be sure to have a road map with me to follow the travels of the characters, just as one of the characters does in the novel.
The plot may be somewhat cliché with mobsters, hit men, and a briefcase full of money, but the plot is only a delivery system. In the same way that chips were invented to serve up spicy salsa, The Hunted serves up real, flavor-filled people.
The story brings the reader to Israel in the late 1970s, however, with only a few exceptions, the setting is timeless. In some ways, the book could serve as a guide to Israel in that it provides a sense of the relative size of the country. The next time I read this story I'll be sure to have a road map with me to follow the travels of the characters, just as one of the characters does in the novel.
The plot may be somewhat cliché with mobsters, hit men, and a briefcase full of money, but the plot is only a delivery system. In the same way that chips were invented to serve up spicy salsa, The Hunted serves up real, flavor-filled people.
March 15, 2012
Al Rosen, a businessman hiding out in Israel from some criminals he testified against, is found when his picture is printed Stateside. As three killers hone in on Rosen, he meets with a decorated Marine and Vietnam vet who makes Rosen’s safety his business. It’s an exciting action story, interlaced with ruminations on age and confidence and people. And of course it’s liberally sprinkled with that dry, deadpan Leonard dialogue. The ending, unlike that of other Leonard books I’ve read, was just perfect.
March 12, 2025
HUNTED. 1977, crime drama. Written over 45 years ago but reads like it was just written in 2024. It's about human nature.
Elmore Leonard was a master of character-driven stories . It was his approach -
keep the setting to a minimum, character physical descriptions to a minimum.
Let the character’s words and actions do all “the heavy lifting.”
Multi award winning, prolific sales here and abroad, best seller after bestseller ;
Book to screen successes. Apparently there’s something to that approach.
Some things never change…especially human nature.
Elmore Leonard was a master of character-driven stories . It was his approach -
keep the setting to a minimum, character physical descriptions to a minimum.
Let the character’s words and actions do all “the heavy lifting.”
Multi award winning, prolific sales here and abroad, best seller after bestseller ;
Book to screen successes. Apparently there’s something to that approach.
Some things never change…especially human nature.
October 23, 2014
Overall, this was another excellent Leonard story, but it seemed to go on a bit too long. I don't really know anything I'd cut out, though. There was certainly plenty of twisty action all the way up to a perfect ending. Great characters. Leonard likes to have a minimum of them & sketches them out perfectly, then slowly grows them into full fledged beings that just obey their natures & write the rest of the story themselves. Fantastic.
So a 3.5. Great entertainment & well read.
So a 3.5. Great entertainment & well read.
December 10, 2012
My Elmore fixation continues. I used to read him too fast, I think. If you blink you miss something—plot and nuance. Also, I love the way he accomplishes a lot as a writer without seeming to be doing much at all.
Favoring the earlier novels and reading my way forward, gradually. I expect to read them all.
This one was set in Israel.
~“It’s hot here.” “Yes, it’s nice, isn’t it?”~
~“He’s going to have a heart attack,” Davis said. “I hope so,” Tali said.~
~Mel Bandy took his shower in 823. It would be his bedroom. When they got 824 fixed up with a couch and refrigerator, it would be his sitting room, with a single bed in there in case he wanted the girl handy. He didn’t like a girl living in the same room with him or using his bathroom.~
~“Don’t let people scare you; because nine times out of ten they don’t know any more than you do. Or even less. They got there pushing and shoving, acting, conning, bullshitting. If they had to get by on basic intelligence alone—most of the people I’ve done business with—they’d be on the street selling Good Humors and probably fucking up the change.”~
~It had taken him fifty years to learn that being was the important thing. Not being something. Just being. Looking around you and knowing you were being, not preparing for anything. That was a long time to learn something. He should have known about it when he was seven, but nobody had told him. The only thing they’d told him was that he had to be something. See, if he’d known it then, he’d have had all that time to enjoy being. Except it doesn’t have anything to do with time, he thought. Being is an hour or a minute or even a moment. Being is being, no matter where you are. In a house in the Sinai desert at night. But if you have to be somewhere, why not be somewhere good?~
~Yeah, he was feeling better, grinning, thinking sixty-five and five for the job was seventy and he wouldn’t have to blow anybody up for two years.~
Favoring the earlier novels and reading my way forward, gradually. I expect to read them all.
This one was set in Israel.
~“It’s hot here.” “Yes, it’s nice, isn’t it?”~
~“He’s going to have a heart attack,” Davis said. “I hope so,” Tali said.~
~Mel Bandy took his shower in 823. It would be his bedroom. When they got 824 fixed up with a couch and refrigerator, it would be his sitting room, with a single bed in there in case he wanted the girl handy. He didn’t like a girl living in the same room with him or using his bathroom.~
~“Don’t let people scare you; because nine times out of ten they don’t know any more than you do. Or even less. They got there pushing and shoving, acting, conning, bullshitting. If they had to get by on basic intelligence alone—most of the people I’ve done business with—they’d be on the street selling Good Humors and probably fucking up the change.”~
~It had taken him fifty years to learn that being was the important thing. Not being something. Just being. Looking around you and knowing you were being, not preparing for anything. That was a long time to learn something. He should have known about it when he was seven, but nobody had told him. The only thing they’d told him was that he had to be something. See, if he’d known it then, he’d have had all that time to enjoy being. Except it doesn’t have anything to do with time, he thought. Being is an hour or a minute or even a moment. Being is being, no matter where you are. In a house in the Sinai desert at night. But if you have to be somewhere, why not be somewhere good?~
~Yeah, he was feeling better, grinning, thinking sixty-five and five for the job was seventy and he wouldn’t have to blow anybody up for two years.~
February 3, 2018
A good pulpy 70s thriller with hit men, explosives, exotic locales.
December 16, 2024
I've been slowly making my way through Elmore Leonard's books, picking them up at random while trying to avoid his sequels to books I haven't read yet. I like to go in blind so I'm never quite sure what I'm going to get.
While this has Elmore Leonard's usual fast-paced criminal plots and dialogue, it's set in a 1970s Israel, giving the story a more exotic feel to his usual dirty back streets of American cities that I've become used to.
It's a fun, quick read and you know what you're getting with Leonard's books. There's good guys, bad guys and guys in between and the women they fall in love with.
Definitely recommend if you're a fan of his other works.
While this has Elmore Leonard's usual fast-paced criminal plots and dialogue, it's set in a 1970s Israel, giving the story a more exotic feel to his usual dirty back streets of American cities that I've become used to.
It's a fun, quick read and you know what you're getting with Leonard's books. There's good guys, bad guys and guys in between and the women they fall in love with.
Definitely recommend if you're a fan of his other works.
April 22, 2025
I remember reading "Get Shorty" years ago and then watching the film. I decided to give Elmore Leonard a place on my reading list. I picked up a nice lot on Ebay for a good price. I put them in order of years published. I have to say I read this book on a 3 hour plane flight and totally enjoyed it. I have 5 more and looking forward to spacing them out. I put this in my poolside summer reads category. His characters are well written and if you like crime fiction you will not be disappointed. I never give spoilers but I recommend this book. A quick fun read.
October 18, 2007
I love Elmore Leonard books for casual enjoyment. THe Hunted was great fun from the master of fast patter. In this story an American businessman of dubious past is hiding from the Detroit mob as As Rosen, in Israel. A chance encounter brings his whereabouts to the bad guy's attention and they come after him. A loyal Israeli girl who works for Rosen, and a U.S. Marine on leave from embassy duty aid him in his efforts to survive. The plot is interesting, the sense of place is intriguing, and as usual, the dialog is witty and fast. Leonard uses even the most banal conversations to enrich his characters to the point where you are sure you know them from somewhere.
September 21, 2011
A great, vivid read that got me into Elmore Leonard's unique, slick, succinct and accessible style of prose. A taut tale of crime and manhunting, set in Israel but using the place as an interesting locale rather than piling on the politics. One slight continuity error with a military officer's rucksack is the kind of glitch you spot in films, but can be overlooked - see if you spot it!
October 28, 2011
Set in Israel, this novel sucks you in and won't let go. Al Rosen is on the lam, anonymous in Tel Aviv, until his cover is blown and assassins pursue him and the money he's being paid by his company. How does he get away? The story is fun, and you'll be left wanting more.
May 21, 2023
Elmore Leonard goes international. A great set up. A man in witness protection gets hunted by hit men after becoming exposed in a news story in Tel Aviv. A bit more of a standard thriller than his usual crime fare, but very enjoyable nonetheless.
November 5, 2022
Good book!
Takes place in Israel. No spoiler tho. The main character's on the run (but it isn't what you might think) and due to some kind of silly accident, gets found out. When the mobsters from the USA come to get him, he's hunted.
Again, as usual, the real stars here are the side characters who end up helping him. No spoilers!
Takes place in Israel. No spoiler tho. The main character's on the run (but it isn't what you might think) and due to some kind of silly accident, gets found out. When the mobsters from the USA come to get him, he's hunted.
Again, as usual, the real stars here are the side characters who end up helping him. No spoilers!
February 9, 2021
3.5 stars.
It took me 25 books, but I think I know why I love Elmore Leonard as much as I do.
Because even though his books often feature expansive casts of characters working at cross-purposes to outwit the others, they’re actually elegant models of simplicity.
Take The Hunted, for example.
Al Rosen is hiding in Israel after testifying against some mob figures in Detroit. A team of killers has been dispatched to Tel Aviv to get payback. Now Rosen must either evade or confront the men pursuing him.
That’s it.
And it’s great.
There is of course slightly more to the plot, a few additional frills, but whittled to the bone, the story is no more complex than those three brief sentences.
As with all Leonard’s work, those additional frills grow out of character, & the characters are typically Leonardian.
In Rosen, Leonard’s given us a protagonist who’s absurdly confident & seemingly carefree in the face of imminent peril. He’s a smooth-talking lothario who believes in himself so much it seems inconceivable that anything bad could befall him, even with armed men hot on his heels.
We’ve also got David Davis, a Marine stationed in Israel who decides to help Rosen as a way of delaying his own decision to leave the service. There’s Tali, a former Israeli soldier who’s Rosen’s friend & apparently the one woman in Tel Aviv he hasn’t slept with. There’s Rashad, the nominal leader of the team of killers, so bored by his task he takes the phrase “it’s just business” to new extremes. And then there’s Mel Bandy, the sweaty, corpulent lawyer sent to bring Rosen home who finds himself caught in the middle between the man who’s happy in Israel & the team that wants him dead at all costs.
It’s a supremely Leonardy endeavor. The dialogue is as hardboiled & razor-sharp as you’d expect, laced with grim humor & flashes of tough-guy profundity. Rosen is shuttled, cat & mouse-style, between a series of Israeli hotels with Rashad in pursuit, & the whole thing ends with a standoff in the desert that’s straight out of High Noon, only with more explosives & wisecracks.
The Hunted is lean, trim, & built for speed. If you’ve never read Leonard before, there are worse places to begin.
It took me 25 books, but I think I know why I love Elmore Leonard as much as I do.
Because even though his books often feature expansive casts of characters working at cross-purposes to outwit the others, they’re actually elegant models of simplicity.
Take The Hunted, for example.
Al Rosen is hiding in Israel after testifying against some mob figures in Detroit. A team of killers has been dispatched to Tel Aviv to get payback. Now Rosen must either evade or confront the men pursuing him.
That’s it.
And it’s great.
There is of course slightly more to the plot, a few additional frills, but whittled to the bone, the story is no more complex than those three brief sentences.
As with all Leonard’s work, those additional frills grow out of character, & the characters are typically Leonardian.
In Rosen, Leonard’s given us a protagonist who’s absurdly confident & seemingly carefree in the face of imminent peril. He’s a smooth-talking lothario who believes in himself so much it seems inconceivable that anything bad could befall him, even with armed men hot on his heels.
We’ve also got David Davis, a Marine stationed in Israel who decides to help Rosen as a way of delaying his own decision to leave the service. There’s Tali, a former Israeli soldier who’s Rosen’s friend & apparently the one woman in Tel Aviv he hasn’t slept with. There’s Rashad, the nominal leader of the team of killers, so bored by his task he takes the phrase “it’s just business” to new extremes. And then there’s Mel Bandy, the sweaty, corpulent lawyer sent to bring Rosen home who finds himself caught in the middle between the man who’s happy in Israel & the team that wants him dead at all costs.
It’s a supremely Leonardy endeavor. The dialogue is as hardboiled & razor-sharp as you’d expect, laced with grim humor & flashes of tough-guy profundity. Rosen is shuttled, cat & mouse-style, between a series of Israeli hotels with Rashad in pursuit, & the whole thing ends with a standoff in the desert that’s straight out of High Noon, only with more explosives & wisecracks.
The Hunted is lean, trim, & built for speed. If you’ve never read Leonard before, there are worse places to begin.
December 16, 2018
3.7/5
The premise feels like something that could have been a classic Eastwood vehicle from the late 70's, early 80's: a man named Al Rosen, who doesn't want to be found is found by winding up on the wrong side of a camera lens at the wrong time, and soon enough, some figures from his past catch wind of his location in Israel and set out to find him and kill him.
Oh yeah, and there's a big cat-and-mouse game revolving around his final payout from a company that he used to own--a briefcase full of $200,000.
Leonard takes the backdrop of Israel and turns it into a Western battleground, with interesting characters (mostly) trying to outwit and ensnare one another across the Middle Eastern terrain. The siege showdown feels like something out of The Outlaw Josey Wales if someone had thrown a briefcase full of money into the picture.
While I feel that at times the villains weren't worthy foils against our protagonists, I can't say I was disappointed with The Hunted. Its plot was serviceable and Leonard executed it very well, although despite his style and skill I found the story a bit difficult to get into during the first few chapters, but it picked up around chapter six, and from then on I was sold on the whole idea.
The premise feels like something that could have been a classic Eastwood vehicle from the late 70's, early 80's: a man named Al Rosen, who doesn't want to be found is found by winding up on the wrong side of a camera lens at the wrong time, and soon enough, some figures from his past catch wind of his location in Israel and set out to find him and kill him.
Oh yeah, and there's a big cat-and-mouse game revolving around his final payout from a company that he used to own--a briefcase full of $200,000.
Leonard takes the backdrop of Israel and turns it into a Western battleground, with interesting characters (mostly) trying to outwit and ensnare one another across the Middle Eastern terrain. The siege showdown feels like something out of The Outlaw Josey Wales if someone had thrown a briefcase full of money into the picture.
While I feel that at times the villains weren't worthy foils against our protagonists, I can't say I was disappointed with The Hunted. Its plot was serviceable and Leonard executed it very well, although despite his style and skill I found the story a bit difficult to get into during the first few chapters, but it picked up around chapter six, and from then on I was sold on the whole idea.
April 28, 2024
Semper Fi, mofo! What’s a bored marine to do, 16 years in the Corps, now serving as embassy guard in Tel Aviv in 1978 and thinking he’s going to get out of the service, even though 4 more years sets him up with a half pay pension for life.
Enter a smooth operator from Detroit living under the alias Al Rosen, in Israel because he had turned government witness in the US against some really bad guys who now want him killed. A freak occurrence puts Rosen’s picture in the newspaper, his location now exposed, so here come the bad guys, and the marine finds himself up to his regulation haircut in the life and death game of protecting Rosen and his beautiful assistant Talia.
This was my third time reading this book, it’s been 20 years or so, I vaguely remembered bits here and there, but Leonard’s subtle character development and bare bones dialogue, plus his concise descriptions of the Israeli countryside and the relentless tightening of tension, made it a great read.
Elmore Leonard is dead, long live Elmore Leonard!
Enter a smooth operator from Detroit living under the alias Al Rosen, in Israel because he had turned government witness in the US against some really bad guys who now want him killed. A freak occurrence puts Rosen’s picture in the newspaper, his location now exposed, so here come the bad guys, and the marine finds himself up to his regulation haircut in the life and death game of protecting Rosen and his beautiful assistant Talia.
This was my third time reading this book, it’s been 20 years or so, I vaguely remembered bits here and there, but Leonard’s subtle character development and bare bones dialogue, plus his concise descriptions of the Israeli countryside and the relentless tightening of tension, made it a great read.
Elmore Leonard is dead, long live Elmore Leonard!
November 18, 2025
A strange book in his canon, for several reasons. It's set in Israel, of all places, and although it's marketed as a crime novel, by the end it becomes clear that it really fits in best with his early Westerns. So, it's a Western set in Israel. Another strange thing is that it has two main characters, and . There are also a lot of characters, and you don't find out what's really going on between them until page 120.
But that's what Leonard can do - learn the rules, then break them. And, for the most part, it works, although I have a feeling that the book he set out to write is not the book I read. Still, it's worth reading.
But that's what Leonard can do - learn the rules, then break them. And, for the most part, it works, although I have a feeling that the book he set out to write is not the book I read. Still, it's worth reading.
January 10, 2014
Leonard prides himself on his invisibility and this one's a good example why. Simple, elegant and fun, with moments of surprising depth. I can read him all day.
September 12, 2014
Fun, fast read. I'd never read Elmore Leonard before, and now I know why he was lauded.
July 7, 2023
Set chiefly in Israel. A lot of low-lifes & in that sense, it's like the Maltese Falcon. A good read.
June 7, 2018
*** THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS ***
The Hunted is one of the early non-western novels by Elmore Leonard but it has all the right moves of an Elmore Leonard novel. Leonard writes character driven novels about ordinary people with a variety of quirky behaviors and habits which makes them interesting. He also gives his bad guys an element of style.
The Hunted is a story which Leonard lets out a little bit at a time. Al Rosen is a former businessman living in Israel running through various flings with Jewish tourists to the Holy Land. He is hiding out because he talked to the United States Attorney’s Office when they were going after so low-level mobsters. Turns out the case wasn’t that strong so and now the businessman is in witness protection as Al Rosen. His company sends him a monthly payment through a sleazy lawyer, Mel Bandy who works it through Sgt. David Davis a United States Marine at the US Embassy to Tali Rose an assistant of Rosen. The system worked great until Rosen did the heroic thing in a hotel fire and got his picture in all the newspapers. Now Gene Velenzuela is looking for him and he brought company, Clarence Rashad a black Muslim from Detroit by way of Georgia and Teddy Cass a bomber who works for Gene. Plus, the company is through paying Rosen, they are sending Mel with one last golden parachute. So, what is a guy to do with the mob hunting him in Israel. Rosen is lucky that Sgt. Davis is leaving the Corps, has a lot of leave saved up and has no idea what he is going to do.
The format is similar to a lot of Leonard’s westerns but it was well written. The end finishes as expected but there is nothing wrong with that. There are a lot of more famous Leonard stories but the Hunted is well written and a good read. It’s a little dated with the technology but the story is well written.
The Hunted is one of the early non-western novels by Elmore Leonard but it has all the right moves of an Elmore Leonard novel. Leonard writes character driven novels about ordinary people with a variety of quirky behaviors and habits which makes them interesting. He also gives his bad guys an element of style.
The Hunted is a story which Leonard lets out a little bit at a time. Al Rosen is a former businessman living in Israel running through various flings with Jewish tourists to the Holy Land. He is hiding out because he talked to the United States Attorney’s Office when they were going after so low-level mobsters. Turns out the case wasn’t that strong so and now the businessman is in witness protection as Al Rosen. His company sends him a monthly payment through a sleazy lawyer, Mel Bandy who works it through Sgt. David Davis a United States Marine at the US Embassy to Tali Rose an assistant of Rosen. The system worked great until Rosen did the heroic thing in a hotel fire and got his picture in all the newspapers. Now Gene Velenzuela is looking for him and he brought company, Clarence Rashad a black Muslim from Detroit by way of Georgia and Teddy Cass a bomber who works for Gene. Plus, the company is through paying Rosen, they are sending Mel with one last golden parachute. So, what is a guy to do with the mob hunting him in Israel. Rosen is lucky that Sgt. Davis is leaving the Corps, has a lot of leave saved up and has no idea what he is going to do.
The format is similar to a lot of Leonard’s westerns but it was well written. The end finishes as expected but there is nothing wrong with that. There are a lot of more famous Leonard stories but the Hunted is well written and a good read. It’s a little dated with the technology but the story is well written.
February 22, 2016
First audio book ever. Could signal a trend as I'm not getting any younger! My adopted(from the transfer station) stereo(radio,cd and tape player) is only semi-functional and has decided to seize up for a while so I'll have to borrow my old Sony radio/tape player from the workshop. Thing's about 40 years old! Meanwhile the "book" is pretty good and the reader is adept the different voices. The cover of "my" edition is not represented in Goodreads. That happens a lot with oldies!
I'm about halfway through after last night. Maybe I'll finish tonight. So far it's pretty good and why not? Elmore Leonard is a good writer... a pro. The Israeli backdrop is convincing - lots of good details.
I finished listening to this last night and can say that I enjoyed the experience of my first audio-book. There was only one time when my attention faltered and I misunderstood something and had to consider stopping the tape and searching for the part that was befuddling me. Then the fog cleared and all was well. Would have been much simpler if I'd been reading. Mr. Leonard is a consummate pro of course and has many of his stories turned into TV stuff and films. His early career focused mainly on westerns and this thriller could well have been a western itself. It even ended in the desert - in Israel! There was more than a passing resemblance to the plot of the movie version of his "Hombre." The story is also a kind of paean to the Marine Corps. The temporal seems to be about ten years after Viet Nam. The hero is a Viet Vet. I suspect that Denis Johnson boned up on some EL before he wrote "Nobody Move"! The consensus rating of this book is right on. A fine genre read: 3.5* rounds down to 3*
I'm about halfway through after last night. Maybe I'll finish tonight. So far it's pretty good and why not? Elmore Leonard is a good writer... a pro. The Israeli backdrop is convincing - lots of good details.
I finished listening to this last night and can say that I enjoyed the experience of my first audio-book. There was only one time when my attention faltered and I misunderstood something and had to consider stopping the tape and searching for the part that was befuddling me. Then the fog cleared and all was well. Would have been much simpler if I'd been reading. Mr. Leonard is a consummate pro of course and has many of his stories turned into TV stuff and films. His early career focused mainly on westerns and this thriller could well have been a western itself. It even ended in the desert - in Israel! There was more than a passing resemblance to the plot of the movie version of his "Hombre." The story is also a kind of paean to the Marine Corps. The temporal seems to be about ten years after Viet Nam. The hero is a Viet Vet. I suspect that Denis Johnson boned up on some EL before he wrote "Nobody Move"! The consensus rating of this book is right on. A fine genre read: 3.5* rounds down to 3*
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