Djibouti

by Elmore Leonard, Tim Cain (Reading)

This rightly-named "Middle East western on water" takes off from Djibouti, a sweltering, downtrodden city at the lower end of the Red Sea. From this inhospitable port, documentary filmmaker Dara sets out into the Indian Ocean to make a movie that presents a sympathetic view of the pirates operating in the region. Accompanied by a towering, resolutely skeptical African sailor, she ventures into dangerous, unknown waters, heading into a tempest far worse than any weather. Trademark Elmore Leonard twists, turn, and wry current affairs commentary.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Mystery, Africa, Thriller, Audiobook, Adventure

8 pages, Audio CD

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Elmore 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.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

The 44th novel by Elmore Leonard (and the next to last he'd publish in his lifetime), Djibouti is like a zoo balloon that's quickly inflated to impressive size, prematurely released from the helium tank and let loose to fly around the gorilla habitat before deflating. Get the kid another balloon, this one's broke. Published in 2010, the rip roaring story attempts to triangulate Somalian pirates, Al Qaeda in the Horn of Africa and an American documentary crew, using Leonard's patented underworld patois in which the bad guys maintain they aren't so bad if only you'd get to know them. Unfortunately, it's a lazy effort that never takes flight.

-- Dara Barr is an Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker who touches down in the tiny African nation of Djibouti, the gateway to the Suez Canal, to make a film on Somalian pirates. Her crew consists of Xavier LeBo, cameraman, grip and logistics expert twice her age at 72. Dara pulled Xavier onstage during the Oscar acceptance speech she gave for her third film, an eye-of-the-storm documentary on New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and the two share such close proximity at sea while making her follow-up in Djibouti that they get very comfortable. Will they or won't they get it on? Why did I feel dirty about this plot development?

-- Ari Ahmed Sheikh Bakar, alias "Harry," is a spokesman for the Djibouti Code of Conduct and works with the International Maritime Organization in an effort to eliminate pirating in the Gulf of Aden. He just so happens to be sitting next to Dara on the plane when she arrives in country. More British than Arab, he's quite smitten with Dara and offers his assistance to her project. Harry is a jet setter who negotiates with pirates.

-- Idris Mohammed is a Somalian pirate, a good looking rogue who attended university at Miami College in Ohio, speaks fluent English and commands a gang of swashbucklers who hijack whatever ships look good. "I think of us as the Coast Guard giving fines to ships that contaminate our seas, thousands of them leaving their waters we once fished." He convinces Dara that the pirates aren't vicious and she considers making the rascals the heroes of her film.

-- Billy Wynn is a shipping magnate from East Texas who comes from three generations of fortune. Billy is personally sailing his ketch Pegaso from Nice, having attended a fashion show in Paris looking for the future Mrs. Billy Wynn. His nominee, a ginger haired model named Helene, is acing her audition, having made it through the Red Sea to Djibouti without getting seasick or pleading to go home. Dara admires her grit. Billy refers to Muslims as "Mohammedans" and is obsessed with monitoring Al Qaeda, using his connections to obtain information which he shares with Dara.

-- Jama Raisuli, alias Jama al Amriki, alias James Russell (pronounced Russell) is a wily Al Qaeda operative with an American passport who converted to Islam in prison, speaks nearly fluent Arabic and is seized by Idris as a crew member aboard a thousand-foot natural gas tanker from the UAE, the Aphrodite. Idris and Harry are in negotiations to turn Jama and his partner, an Egyptian Al Qaeda operative named Qasim al Salah, over for a reward, but Jama demonstrates an ability to escape capture again and again and go gunning for anyone who knows his American name. This includes Dara.

Billy believes that Al Qaeda intend to use the Aphrodite as a bomb. He's had impact scenarios run by chemical engineers and determined that the explosion could be another Hindenburg disaster. (Helene can't watch the tragic blimp footage without crying). Billy brings in a former Navy SEAL and soldier for hire named Buck Bethards to help him blow up the tanker while the pirates have it anchored off the coast. Jama has a phone number that will allow him to remotely detonate the explosives Al Qaeda has placed aboard the tanker, but he passes the time abroad trying to take out Idris and Harry and Dara and anyone else who gets in the way of his Walther P-38.

Djibouti gets off to a colorful start. I always enjoy reading novels propelled by dialogue and Leonard clearly knows his stuff, jetting readers to a strange locale with a group of characters who have interesting professions. Probably the strongest element of an Elmore Leonard novel, for me, isn't so much what happens but the unspoken and largely unseen fabric that binds the characters together. Rather than being thrust into completely implausible situations, I get the strange feeling that I could walk into any bar or hotel lobby in the world and find Elmore Leonard characters there, sipping mimosas and talking.

This novel started to annoy me for a lot of reasons.

Leonard doesn't seem to know who or what this book is about. You'd assume that Billy Wynn was the main character. He's the most colorful, monitoring naval activity like a seafaring birder, sailing with a French model and playing a joke on pirates he invites to fire an elephant gun that has a hell of a recoil. Leonard's research staff does a wonderful job digging up the nuts and bolts of people with compelling professions; the material dealing with Dara's documentary work and methods seems accurate. The problem is that her character keeps intruding into Billy's book. Dara is totally irrelevant to the outcome of the story.

Xavier LeBo is as close to a Gary Stu as I've encountered in an Elmore Leonard novel. There's not a single flaw to this guy. He's 50% Morgan Freeman, 50% an NBA center. He knows seamanship and foreign locales and works for a blonde filmmaker and can still take out a bad guy as well as bed women young enough to be his granddaughter. I might've seen Dara attracted to Xavier in a student-teacher sense--like Michelle Pfeiffer to Robert Redford in Up Close and Personal--if he had something to offer her besides her first good boink in a while. So not only is their May-December fling offensive, worse, it doesn't make any sense dramatically.

Also irritating, Leonard gives Xavier an accent that's something of Cajun blended with black street slang, violating one of his own rules of writing, which is use regional dialects sparingly.

"Girl, they don't care about fishin. They stumble onto piracy," Xavier said, "and can't believe it. They havin fun and gettin rich. They flyin out to take a ship, one of 'em stands up to piss over the side, bottle of Heineken in his hand, drunk as he wants to be--it's part of bein a pirate--drunk and mellowed some by the khat in his jaw, the man dreamin of Ethiopian pussy. Who's gonna stop him? That was what you want to film, what these guys are doin? They enjoyin every minute of it. Gonna keep takin ships till it gets dangerous. A bunch of 'em will quit. The ones stick it out become as dangerous as the gunboats after 'em. Be more navies out here. Won't be long the pirates will come out shootin and your gunboats'll blow 'em out of the sea. I expect some will keep comin, not knowin anything else."

The system bug with Djibouti is that it's just lazy writing. Leonard distills almost all of his exciting information about pirates, the Horn of Africa or seagoing vessels through dialogue. Not showing the reader anything, telling us. One character, usually the Leonard surrogate Xavier, starts by telling another character how he knows that character did something. That character then elaborates on what they did and what was said to another character. Then they both speculate on why that character is like that or what they want. It's goddam incessant.

Xavier said, "You went on the sailboat so you could speak to Helene."

"I got Billy to invite me. He said, 'You want to learn how to sail?' I told him I had to use the head and went below. Helene was sitting at the table in the salon with a bottle of champagne. She said, 'Get a glass. That fucking gunfire--my ears are still ringing. He wants me to fire it, get knocked on my ass."

"Champagne helps now?"

"It can't hurt. I find if I stay ripped it's easier to follow instructions. 'Aye, aye, Captain.' He's teaching me how to sail, in the fucking ocean. I don't know how many times I thought of sticking a finger down my throat."

"But you hung in."

"Still his little sailor. I have to actually mop the fucking deck."

"Part of the trial, eh?"

"He's weird. Always looking for pirates, his elephant gun handy."

"But he doesn't try to shoot them."

The novel threatens the reader with clarity and briefly comes alive starting on page 128/279 when Leonard introduces Jama Raisuli, alias Jama al Amriki, alias James Russell (pronounced Russell), the only character in the book the author seems interested in. Leonard has the guy's voice and pathology down cold. It was a thrill watching Jama figure his way out of ambushes. He's the bad guy, of course, but a story following a Black Muslim to the Middle East to hook up with Al Qaeda might've been far more compelling than pretending the book was about a documentary. It all adds up to a major disappointment late in the author's storied career.

Here's my list of Elmore Leonard novels ranked from favorite to least favorite:

Stick
Killshot
Cuba Libre
Pronto
Be Cool
Get Shorty
LaBrava
Djibouti

[Kemper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humanity has struggled with a lot of problems over the course of history. Most of these are issues that we continue to deal with like war, poverty, disease, discrimination, Sarah Palin, etc. It’s rare that we as a species get a ‘win’ and are able to check something off our To-Do List once and for all, but it does happen. For example, it took a while but it seems like that pesky smallpox issue is under control.

So when the news was dominated by reports of attacks by Somalian pirates, it really pissed me off. Seriously? Freaking pirates? I thought that was one issue that got settled a long time ago. What’s next? Do I have to worry that Spanish conquistadors are going to start looting their way through North America looking for gold? Should we be concerned about the resurrection of the old rum-slaves-sugar triangle trade? We don’t have enough to worry about, goddamn pirates gotta make a comeback??

Oh, well. At least it gave Elmore Leonard a topic for a book. Unfortunately, the results are mixed.

Dara Barr is a documentary filmmaker fresh off an Oscar win, and she’s gone to Djibouti with her assistant Xavier LeBo to get footage of the Somalia pirates in action. In typical Leonard fashion, Dara and Xavier meet a colorful cast of characters, all with their own agendas. Idris is getting rich off piracy, and he’s got a charming but shady colleague called Henry. Billy is a rich Texan sailing the area on his yacht with his companion Helene and an elephant gun, and he thinks that a recently captured tanker filled with liquefied natural gas is involved in an terrorist plot. The two Al-Qaeda operatives on the ship, including a murderous American born ex-convict, seem to confirm Billy’s suspicions.

Leonard’s characters usually see themselves and each other in terms of an on-going story. A Leonard book usually has characters relating events to each other and trying to frame the story to make themselves look cool, and they tend to think in pop culture terms. Get Shorty is a prime example with the main character using the events that are happening as his on-going pitch for a movie.

In Djibouti, Leonard uses a different technique. The book takes a jump in time forward to a point where Dara and Xavier are reviewing footage they shot at sea. As they’re editing and trying to craft a narrative, they’re re-telling the story to each other and trying to make a coherent plot out of it. That continues throughout the book as Dara struggles to put a theme and an ending to her movie. That was a new way for Leonard to frame the story, and it's one of the more interesting aspects of the book.

But he leaves that behind to launch into a pretty typical Elmore Leonard plot, it’s just happening in Africa instead of Florida or Detroit this time. The book consists almost entirely of dialogue, with characters describing the area and events to each other. With an exotic locale, Leonard might have been better served to do a little more descriptive writing.

Plus, the plot gets a little more convoluted and confusing. When the main villain finally emerges from the cast, I had to go back and try to find his introduction to the narrative because I couldn’t figure out when the others had met him. Dara didn’t grab me as a main character, either. Leonard has done some strong female protagonists before like Karen Sisco and Jackie Brown, but Dara just didn’t have the same zing.

Nice to see Leonard playing with his structure a bit, but it was a little sloppy and confusing. I give him credit for leaving his writing comfort zone to try something a little off-beat.

[Vic Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Djibouti" is not Elmore Leonard's strongest work. It is, in fact, predictable as far as plot goes. "Djibouti" doesn't break new ground or possess any clever or unique twists. But the characters are compelling.

From the start the plot is pretty watery. But the characters were so compelling I kept at it. The plot does thicken up as the book passes the half way point but even then it isn't that compelling. An LNG tanker, terrorists, sketchy "diplomats," and a film maker and her assistant. One could just about guess the plot from that alone. But what you would miss is the richly drawn, unique, and enticing characters. Each a jewel in the writer's art. Eccentric, driven, intelligent, nervy, and quirky while remaining entirely believable. They are what makes the book.

I'd recommend for a beach are airliner book. Quick, forgettable, and fun.

[Luciano · Rating 1 out of 5]

Así como sin querer queriendo, se coló esta obra como la última del año. La verdad que un libro bastante lamentable en varios sentidos, como hacía mucho tiempo que no me tocaba leer.
Para empezar, la propuesta narrativa no me convenció para nada: el principal recurso descriptivo utilizado por Leonard son los diálogos totalmente inverosímiles. A lo largo de todo el libro daba la sensación de que cada vez que se encontraban dos personajes, por una fuerza mayor ajena a ellos se tenían que enumerar entre sí las principales características de la vida del otro. Por ejemplo si alguien me viera me diría: "-Hola Luciano, naciste en Uruguay, estudias Historia y Letras, tu banda favorita son los Ramones-". Y recién entonces yo podría contestarle, nombrando a su vez cosas que lo definan o tengan que ver con su vida. Nadie habla así. Durante la primera mitad del libro esto se ve intensificado pues el autor necesita delinear la ambientación de la historia y el aspecto de sus personajes, haciendo la lectura muy tediosa y difícil de llevar a cabo con entusiasmo. Los protagonistas, Dara y Xavier, documentalistas estadounidenses que viajan al Golfo de Adén para registrar los actos de piratería en la zona, repasan en un cuarto de hotel sus videograbaciones y se cuentan a sí mismos lo que vieron y grabaron juntos. Algo que, me parece, no tiene mucho sentido.
Debo reconocer que una de las cosas que me atraía de "Yibuti" antes de comenzar la lectura era que me podría acercar a una realidad desconocida para mí, al tratar el tema de la piratería en las costas de Somalía y la realidad regional de la zona del cuerno de África. Pero esto va perdiendo peso paulatinamente durante la narración, hasta volverse insignificante. Por el contrario, se opta por dar preponderancia a una claramente ficcional intervención del grupo terrorista Al-Qaeda, siguiendo un curso muy lineal y predecible en cuanto al argumento. Todo lo que uno se esperaría que pase, aún sin saber nada del tema, efectivamente pasa. No hay sorpresas ni giros inesperados, los personajes siempre se comportan tal como uno espera que se comporten, sin más.
Partiendo desde la descripción de los mismos hasta el desarrollo de la trama, hay un componente ideológico a veces soslayado y a veces más explícito que me resultó muy preocupante y es el principal motivo de mi calificación lapidaria: "Yibuti" es un libro atravesado por la xenofobia. También hay clasismo, hay racismo, hay sexismo (en menores dosis) pero sobre todo, se lee xenofobia. Un anti-islamismo (si es válido el término) recalcitrante. Mientras los americanos blancos son multimillonarios o jóvenes documentalistas de éxito, los musulmanes son piratas y terroristas. El principal antagonista, Jama, lo tiene todo. Negro, ex-convicto, traidor a la patria, converso al Islam, terrorista, bisexual y asesino inescrupuloso. Termina como era esperable que termine. Gran lección.
Generalmente en el acto de leer podemos ir más allá de lo narrado y visualizar propuestas que tienen que ver con los objetivos de quien escribe y con lo que quiere transmitir. Me surge la duda de qué es lo que quiso hacer Leonard. ¿Escribir por escribir? ¿Sin más? ¿Sin aportar nada más que linealidad, prejuicios y lugares comunes? Párrafo aparte para los momentos de "tensión sexual" entre dos personas que se llevan más de treinta años de edad. Curioso al menos.
Desconozco el resto de la obra del autor, pero sin dudas creo que hubiese sido mejor que se haya ahorrado este libro. Por mi parte me voy decidido a empezar el año con lecturas en las que estoy seguro que me sentiré más a gusto.

[Nigeyb · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s not often I don’t finish a book, especially one that I will be discussing with my book group (which is how I came to have the misfortune to pick this up) but Djibouti defeated me.

I enjoy crime writing, and the best of the genre (e.g. Chandler, Mankel, Rankin) is right up there with some of best reading experiences literature has to offer, both in terms of exploring universal themes and delivering gripping stories. Djibouti turns all that on its head….

Dara Barr (attractive young female documentary maker) and Xavier (her septuagenarian, six foot six African American male minder) tell most of this story in flashback, as they sit reviewing their film footage of Somalian pirates to turn into a new documentary. This process results in some of the most hackneyed, cliche ridden and confusing dialogue I have read. Open this book at almost any page and you will encounter nonsensical, faux hard boiled exchanges between these two thinly drawn characters.

After around 50 pages I couldn’t take any more. I skipped ahead to find out how the story ended and was very relieved not to have wasted any more time on this intensely annoying, badly written story.

Elmore Leonard is very well regarded and, whilst not having read any of his other books, I’ve enjoyed some of the cinematic adaptations of his work (most notably Jackie Brown), so can only conclude this book is an anomaly. Either way, give it a wide berth, it’s atrocious.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the first half of the book, Djibouti felt disjointed; meandering through the mundane in a mix mash of present and past tense that did little but confuse. I got the feeling Elmore Leonard felt the same - to an extent. Enter James Russell, the character that set the book on a path to redemption; a linear plot ensued with Russell at the core along with a terror plot to blow the world into submission.

Dara, a documentary film maker and her cameraman Xavier are trademark characters; full of life, distinction, and color - they jump off the page and immediately bond the with reader. Much the same goes for the wealthy Billy and his model girlfriend-of-the-moment Helene. Elmore Leonard has always written characters and conversations well - in Djibouti it's no different.

Unfortunately it's the early plotting that smeared what would have otherwise been a very good book. The documentary film angle in search of modern day pirates was a interesting concept which lacked a bit of polish in the execution. It was that very concept, however, that linked Russell to Dara and the others, for which I'm glad.

Djibouti is a miss then a hit - for that I give it 3/5.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting premise -- Somali pirates, a sexy documentary filmmaker, Al-Quaeda terrorists, a billionaire playboy that fancies himself a spy, and a highly explosive LNG tanker -- that gets a bit bogged down in its execution.

I found the middle of the book littered with too much talking about action than actual action, breaking the cardinal "show, don't tell" rule of writing. The book did, however, pick up in the final act and had a strong ending.

I can't escape the feeling this book was written almost solely to be optioned as a movie, and after some quick Google searching, I found this review, which says:

You don’t have to read between the lines to tell how badly Leonard aches for a film treatment. Word is he wants “Hurt Locker’’ director Kathryn Bigelow. There would be plenty of action, color, and atmosphere. Whether those would compensate for a lack of characters who matter is a question.

[Kyle Shroufe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elmore Leonard has been called "the best crime writer of our time" and many other titles he seems to be given by esteemed publications and people. I was unfortunate in choosing to make Djibouti my first Elmore Leonard novel. His style, his character development and the general direction his book takes made me somewhat curious. I didn't really understand where the book was heading until at least the 3/4 mark and I'm not saying that as a compliment. Character development was almost non existent and I found it hard to give a shit about a single character in the novel. Not to mention the random sexual refrences that felt forced and far from romantic and the authors strange choice of improper grammer that I can't tell half the time if it's purposfull or just plain unprofessional. Regardless of Leonard's past praise (not that I'm doubting) this book does not live up to the hype by any stretch of the imagination. Although I'm not running out to the book store to purchase a new Elmore Leonard novel, I will give him another chance one of these days because there is a certain charm to his writing that is easy to read yet witty (at times). Here's hoping that his next book is far better though.

[Ray Bearfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m no different than 17 gazillion other people when it comes to Elmore Leonard. He reigns. But I had a tough time getting into Djibouti, maybe because of the foreign setting, maybe the difficulty of trying to relate to Somalian pirates and Indian wheeler-dealers, maybe just a lack of empathy with the apparent protagonist.

But I stayed with it. Now I feel like I read a screen treatment. This one has Movie Rights written all over it, and I found my mind wandering from one actor to another, sizing them up for the roles, all through the last half of the book.

Leonard himself even joins in the fun, punching in a little meta here and there, as when the characters discuss who will play them when the documentary that is the reason for them all getting together is converted to a feature film.

So who’s in it? Morgan Freeman as Xavier, the force who completes the filmmaker, and who owns the story. Leonard mentions Naomi Watts in the role of the documentarian, so who am I to argue? He puts Will Smith in the bad guy role. Makes sense. Add Don Cheadle as a pirate and Brad Pitt as the Texan with the big gun and we’ll make up the rest as we go along.

[Irene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have never read one of Elmore Leonard’s novels nor have I read a book set in Djibouti, so I decided to give both a try. A couple of yahoo Americans head to Djibouti to film a documentary about pirates. Soon they are entangled with a wild bunch of characters. There is a lot of shooting, a lot of drinking, a lot of shooting, a lot of sex, a lot of shooting, a lot of vulgar language and, did I mention, a lot of shooting. Leonard’s famous ear for dialogue was on full display. But the novel did not work for me.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elmore Leonard's latest novel, Djibouti, isn't his best work, but that only means it's still better than 90% of the pop fiction published today.

Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Dara Barr goes to Djibouti intending to make a new film (she dislikes the term "doc") about the Somali pirates. Her assistant, Xavier, has already been in Djibouti awhile and made arrangements to rent a boat. They quickly (almost too quickly to be believed) fall in with one of the pirates, as well as his Arabic arms dealer.

The first third of the book is oddly constructed. Leonard gives us two chapters of straight narrative setup, then leaps forward in time to the point where Dara has finished filming. There is then three or four chapters told in retrospect, as Dara and Xavier watch the raw footage they've shot and discuss how to structure the film. But Leonard finally settles into his groove about midway through the book, and the story unfolds from there.

The problem is that it's also at that point that the action really begins, making everything up to that point feel like fluff or a cheat. The ending, too, wraps up a little too quickly and neatly. And there are a couple of characters who simply disappear from the story without any resolution.

But what I found most lacking from the book was Leonard's trademark banter, his snappy dialogue. There were hints of it from time to time, but overall the characters just weren't very hip or interesting. Which is a shame, because the book is about pirates, so I expected some really cool badasses. However, the pirates barely make an appearance in the book, and when they do, they're not very cool or badass.

If Djibouti were written by anyone else, I'd say the author needed to do one or two more rewrites. But this was written by Elmore effing Leonard, one of the best writers living, so he probably has his reasons for building the book the way he did. I just can't figure them out.

[Wiley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did read the whole book...waiting for something to happen...Hoping for something to happen. The geographical setting and events seemed very promising for a great tale(Somalia, pirates, ship hijackings/captures, World navies counteractions, etc. Page by page i was hoping to get the point of the whole story. Very disappointed. All the pieces were there, but never congealed.


SPOILER SPOILER

SPOILER


At the very end, it was sort of like Leonard said to himself, "Well, I'm tired of this and even I don't have a clue where it is going, where I thought I was heading, so..I'll just stop typing and send this off to the Publisher, and go to bed."

Speaking of bed....

BIGGER SPOILER!


BIGGER


SPOILER

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never thought I'd dislike a Leonard book, but this one was - dare I say it? - a real stinkeroo. It's thinly plotted, disjointed, and almost cynically tries to encompass current events in the Gulf of Aden.

"Dutch" used to be a master of low-life dialogue, but in Djibouti all the characters speak like his Detroit hoodlums of yore; you can't tell who's saying what. And speaking of the characters, nary a one is sympathetic. In summary, this is the first and only Leonard novel, out of dozens, that I quit reading before the end; I just didn't care enough about the outcome.

[Bill Braine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who's better than Elmore Leonard? Uhh, earlier Elmore Leonard. I ditched this one -- and don't get me wrong, I'd read ANYTHING by Leonard, even Killshot -- when it became apparent that a lot of the book was two people watching a video of events that had happened earlier and talking about them to each other. Total yawnsville, despite some quintessential Leonard moments in the first half.

[Elizabeth (Alaska) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to be somewhat of an outlier on this one as some thought this was too awful to even finish. I guess I was just ready for a thriller. Yes, this is a thriller, not a mystery, in my way of thinking. It's all plot. The characters are all fictitious while the setting is real. Off the eastern coast of Africa, ships *were* being hijacked and held for ransom, mostly between 2008 and 2018, but again recently. Leonard sets this thriller in that atmosphere.

Sometimes I didn't know which were the good guys and which were the bad guys. Well, I sort of didn't know. I mean, the guys hijacking the ships were definitely the bad guys. Then there were people on shore who were directing operations and/or funding weaponry and munitions. This is where it wasn't immediately obvious on which side a specific character was on. Or maybe I just wanted some proof. I admit I'm not good at reading between the lines. Anyway, eventually I was able to sort them out, but I liked the ambiguity.

There isn't much in the way of characterization. The writing is only slightly better than OK. Still, the plot kept me turning pages, which is why you read thrillers. This probably isn't a heck of a lot better than 3-stars, but sits toward the top of that group for me.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 2 out of 5]

For an 85-year-old guy who lives in the suburbs of Detroit, Elmore Leonard sure gets around. We've run into him in Miami, of course, and Hollywood, and many other points on the Western side of the compass. He's probably just about as American as a writer can be. So, what on earth is the man doing in the northeastern corner of Africa, mixed up in a messy tale of intrigue and suspense about Somali pirates and Al Qaeda?

Leonard's consummate skill as a novelist is rooted in his mastery of dialogue. Few writers can equal the fidelity of his characters' conversations. In Get Shorty, Hombre, Out of Sight, Mr. Majestyk, and numerous other crime novels, Leonard has created a roomful of utterly believable and entertaining characters. Sad to say, though, he's ventured out of familiar territory -- and apparently out of his depth -- with this foray into the Middle East.

If you want to read a story in which Arabs think and talk in ways that are hard to distinguish from an African-American from New Orleans, read Djibouti. Otherwise, don't bother.

Maybe Elmore Leonard's next book will be grounded safely back within the familiar confines of the United States. We can only hope.

[Barbara Moss · Rating 3 out of 5]

What starts off as investigative journalism about Somali pirates turns out more dangerous and complicated. Little exploration of the motives. But at least it's set in Djibouti.

[Eva Blázquez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ha superado con creces mis expectativas, con una historia que se va desarrollando poco a poco y que se lee con mucha fluidez.

Según empecé el libro, conecté en el acto con los protagonistas, sólo por el mero hecho de lo bien que se llevaban y cómo mi cerebro era capaz de ponerles voz en cada parte del diálogo. No eran necesarios los "dijo Dara" o "dijo Xavier", porque la forma que tenía cada uno de hablar era única. Sabías quién era quién con apenas 5 palabras.

El comienzo del libro consiste en la presentación de los personajes y que te hagas una pequeña idea de como son, pero lo realmente importante, pasa desde la mitad del libro, donde los capítulos no los protagonizan solo Dara y Xavier, sino que tenemos diferentes puntos de vista para no perder en ningún momento el foco donde se encuentra la acción.

En uno de esos focos, la idea que tenía de Billy y de Helene era errónea, sólo era la pequeña punta del iceberg del cómo eran realmente. Billy ha sido el personaje del que más llegas a saber y menos al mismo tiempo cuando terminas de leer, y de quien más incógnitas tengo. En cuanto a Helene, ves que es mucho más que una fachada, como le sucede a Billy con ella, sino que es muy inteligente.

Curiosamente, la parte de la historia que más me ha enganchado no han sido las aventuras de los piratas, sino la del atentado. Es de esos momentos en los que te pones a leer y sigues porque cada vez es más interesante. No sabes qué va hacer a continuación Jama, quién puede caer a continuación o si va a acabar el libro en un final feliz.

En resumen, este libro me ha sorprendido, tanto por los personajes como por la forma en la que se desarrolla la historia.

Reseña en el Blog Los Libros y Eva

[Art · Rating 3 out of 5]

My book-a-day record remains in tact for the year!

Documentary filmmaker Dara Barr is working on a piece about Somali pirates. But then she and her six-foot-six, 72-year-old right hand man wander into an Al Qaeda terrorist plot and a cast of characters that can only reside in an Elmore Leonard book.

It's not his best. But I had missed it along the way and it felt good to reconnect. And one of the villains is a young guy named James Russell. Hey, didn't I know him in college?

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

This wasn’t the worst book I read this year.
This was the worst book I’ve ever read in my life.
The only reason I finished this novel is because the book was a gift but honestly I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. I could go on and on for paragraphs about why I disliked this book but it just doesn’t deserve another moment on my life. I hope I forget it entirely.

[Devon Thurston · Rating 1 out of 5]

racist and misogynistic; a book I would burn in a fire

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried really hard to make it through the entire book, since I received this for free through the First Reads program, but in the end, I failed. Much like the book did overall.

Dara's a filmmaker who arrives in Djibouti to make a documentary about Somali pirates. She's accompanied by a 72-year-old man named Xavier, and the two of them end up meeting a lot of supposedly interesting characters along the way, like some of the pirates, a rich guy sailing his girlfriend around the world, and so on. The characters all fell flat to me; none had any depth, and it didn't feel like the characters were actually real. It was as if the author has decided it would be fun to throw a bunch of different people together and show the reader how crazy life can be - which is great, but there was no plot, and the "craziness" (while perhaps realistic at parts) all felt manufactured.

Another thing about the book that really threw me off was the prose. The narration stays mainly on Dara and Xavier, but it does jump around a little to show the other characters without Dara around. Despite the various narrators (all in third-person), the prose was written kind of the way Xavier spoke - very Creole-ish. It was difficult to read and didn't serve any purpose. Also, the way the book was framed, it starts off with Dara and Xavier arriving, excited to make a documentary, and then jumps to them watching the footage that they shot and discussing everything that they experienced that was now on film. All their dialogue, therefore, was aimed at the reader, not each other.

I liked the idea behind this novel and think it had potential, but between the flimsy plot, the one-dimensional characters, and the poor framing and writing, this is not something I can recommend to others.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis: Documentary filmmaker Dara Barr is at the top of her game and looking for bigger challenges. That’s why she’s come to Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, with her right-hand man, six-foot-six, seventy-two-year-old African American seafarer Xavier LeBo, to film modern-day pirates hijacking merchant ships. But almost no one here is who he seems to be. Dijibouti’s most successful, Mercedes-driving pirate seems to be a good guy, while his pal, a cultured Saudi diplomat, has dubious connections. Texas billionaire Billy Wynn plays mysterious roles as the mood strikes him, especially when dealing with his nifty fashion model girlfriend, Helene. And then there’s Jama Raisuli, a black al Qaeda terrorist from Miami, who’s vowed to blow up something big.

I complained about the pace of the story through the first half of the book. I'll admit the second half was markedly better. Still this was not his best effort and I have to say I am a bit disappointed with it. I've read worse by Leonard, but also read far, far better.

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave up on this turkey after sixty pages of mutual mugging between the two main characters, a cute documentary filmmaker and her 70-year-old photographer and grip. I had read several of Elmore Leonard's earlier books and liked them, but this one just came across as garbled and even a bit lazy. Despite all the press clippings, Djibouti is just not worth reading. Sorry, Elmore. I know it was one of your last books, but I don't have that many years left that I could waste them reading low-quality material.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I have to say I was actually a little underwhelmed by this book. The subject was interesting enough and the characters were pretty good, but I couldn't escape the thought I was listening to an NPR story where they tell you the story, then tell you about the story they just told you about. The Somali Pirate angle was pretty good and the use of real world events to bolster the story was good too, but I think the conclusion left me wanting, like I think there should have been a follow up story (even a short story) to neatly tie up loose ends. All in all I would give this book a solid 3 1/2 stars, but since I can't add a 1/2 to the rating I have to round up since I like the author so much. I would recommend it to people, but I wouldn't recommend this book for those who are just discovering the stories of Elmore Leonard.

[Theophilus (Theo) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome story. Told in a narrative: character 1 says this, character 2 replies, character 3 (in a different scene) says such, and so on. The villian is identified and I the reader cheer for the good guys. But, who are the actual good guys. The ending is what I hoped for, but who actually will give the villian his just dessert? The bad guy is really, really bad. Good plot. Keeps the resder wondering until the very end as to who will stop him. A true page-turner.

[Chuckles]

DNF’d under 100 pages, this was the rare miss for me in a Leonard novel. One of the others which missed, Pagan Babies, also featured an Africa setting (for part of that book) and had the same vibe as this where the story and characters just felt off. Like the author just wasn’t familiar enough with the settings and related current events, and it was completely based on research. This can work for many authors, but EL makes the setting almost its own character, whether Detroit, LA, or South Florida, and here it was a fail. Worse, the characters and dialogue, which is where EL really hits it out of the park, were poorly done. He writes out the slang dialogue of one character, which in today’s writing is never a good idea, and the characters are all just too much, too over the top. There is no subtle coolness. Too bad, I would have loved to enjoy a book set in the horn, this just wasn’t the story I wanted.

[Lawrence Verigin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There isn't an Elmore Leonard book I've read that I didn't really enjoy!!

[Bob Prol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a good read. Leonard has written better, but this one kept my interest once I got past the middle.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penultimate work from Elmore Leonard. Veers away from the typical Leonard story. Shifts locale from his usual Detroit/Miami haunts to Africa, where a documentarian is exploring modern-day piracy (think Captain Phillips, which is referenced throughout).