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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Another "Issue" Book That's Not Quite Up To Par, 18 Jan 2005
Elmore Leonard is one of the master craftsmen of modern crime writing, and every now and then, he slips in an "issue" book. Back in 1982 it was "Cat Chaser", which wove in U.S. backing of death squads in the Dominican Republic in the '60s. In 2000, it was "Pagan Babies", which wove in the in Rwandan genocide. This book, which was originally published in 1986, weaves in U.S. support for the Contras in Nicaragua. I haven't read "Cat Chaser", but both "Pagan Babies" and "Bandits" seem to suffer in comparison with Leonard's more traditional crime capers. Certainly the elements are in place: a heist caper with a likeable ex-con, a tough pretty lady, supported by a duo of misfits (AARP-eligible ex-bank robber, moody tough-guy ex-con bartender) taking on a thoroughly evil and disgusting bad guy. And yet the pacing just isn't quite right, perhaps because the book seems to be more character-driven than plot-driven. It doesn't help that the book is set in New Orleans, an atmospheric city that never comes to life on the page.The gist of the plot is that ex-model, ex-con Jack is sick of working at his brother-in-law's funeral home. When the pretty nun Sister Lucy enters his life, enlisting his aid in helping a woman escape from a Nicaraguan Contra colonel, he's willing to listen when she proposes a scam. It seems the leper hospital Lucy worked at in Nicaragua was wiped out by Contra forces under the colonel's command, and she's looking for some payback. And since the colonel is on a fundraising trip through the southern U.S., he's going to be loaded... Alas, despite lots of coming and going, things proceed rather slowly. Some of the supporting characters are much flatter than one expects from Leonard, for example the enigmatic Indian Franklin de Dios, and the CIA agent. Meanwhile, other more vivid ones are entirely extraneous to the story, such as the IRA operative who walks into and out of the book within pages. So, while I applaud Leonard's occasional effort to bring to light some of the nasty goings on around the world, these books, while enjoyable enough, just aren't written at the same level as most of his work. PS. There's a cute little moment where the main character busts on the 1969 film version of Leonard's book "The Big Bounce". I hate to think what he would say about the latest version...
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