Raylan 

By Elmore Leonard

288 pages

Originally published Dec. 26, 2012 by William Morrow

Raylan, the second of two books I read this month for the Mules, is, in some ways, better than Hombre, which I reviewed on Aug. 26.

It’s a story about a tough deputy US Marshal that returns to the place he grew up in to track down some seriously bad guys. Raylan Givens is a cool cat. Affable and low key – both compassionate and lethal in carrying out his duties among the denizens of the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky.

Elmore Leonard wrote three Raylan novels based on his short story “Fire in the Hole.” This one, interestingly, was written after FX made a television series – Justified – based on the first two. (See my review of Justified, below.)

Neither the book nor the FX series is high art, but they are both smart, well written, and thoroughly enjoyable. I recommend them.

Critical Reception 

* “In addition to kinetic storytelling and spot-on dialogue, Leonard has a cool wit…. Characters roll from scene to scene, urged on by self-interest and greed, bumping against one another and building up steam until they’re smashing together in orgies of violence.” (New York Times Book Review)

* “The smarter crooks give Raylan grudging respect; his fellow lawmen grant him their highest praise: ‘You’re doin’ a job the way we like to see it done.’ The same can be said of the 86-year-old Elmore Leonard.” (Wall Street Journal)

* “[Leonard’s] finely honed sentences can sound as flinty/poetic as Hemingway or as hard-boiled as Raymond Chandler. His ear for the way people talk – or should – is peerless.” (Detroit News)