Killshot / by Elmore Leonard

A resident-native of Detroit, Elmore Leonard began his career writing westerns before expanding into crime and mystery thrillers. Killshot follows a veteran assassin and his ex-con partner after their shakedown scheme is foiled by a middle-aged ironworker and his wife.

Armand Degas, a.k.a.“Blackbird”, knows stealth. Even if he weren’t half-Indian, he’d be aware of the indiscretions which get you caught or dead in this line of work. So how'd he end up next to this trigger-happy punk, fleeing the scene of a botched extortion scam with two witnesses left still breathing? The punk is none other than 30-year-old Richie Nix, a dumb-crazy sociopath who's somehow walking around free despite numerous arrest warrants. When a routine carjacking lands him a new cohort and some unlicensed firearms, it’s all he needs to collect on his $10,000 ‘insurance’ from a local realtor. Even when things get a little hairy—it’s OK; Richie’s never hesitated to take anyone out.

All her mother’s warnings about ironworkers couldn’t keep Carmen from wedding Wayne Colson. It wouldn’t be the last thing her mom was wrong about; eighteen years and her only complaint is Wayne’s seasonal devotion to hunting. Yet when a run-in with some bad guys furnishes their way into the witness protection program (and out of their house), even Carmen’s steady trust that Wayne will do the right thing can’t quiet her deepest fears, fears only heightened after meeting the dimwit US Marshal assigned to them.

No one writes dialogue like Elmore Leonard. If there's a literary equivalent to Quentin Tarantino, it's the veteran master, a man who pairs humor and violence as well as anyone. Not much on themes or symbolism, Leonard's concerned more with who's doing it and how rather than what's happening and why. Still there's an authenticity to Killshot however subtle, flowing through characters and dialogue as much as the third-person narrative. As tediously cautious as Armand is, it's easy to see how Richie's heedless, off-the-cuff attitude grabs his attention while for Richie, who rarely thought once--but never twice--about anything, it's Armand's cool demeanor and professionalism. Together they form a lethal if offbeat tandem of cold-blooded killers out to tie-up their loose ends. (MYS LEONARD)