Slightly Sluggish Plot spiced with Nice Banter

Biting wit and funny banter are Leonard's strength and there is enough of that in this book, but it is not enough to make it one of his outstanding ones. Even Peter Francis James with his excellent performance and great voice cannot change that. The story is a little bit too close to "Get Shorty", the plot feels a little bit forced and most of the banter and dialogue is funny enough, but lacks the sting, which makes some of his books so great.

Yes, it is nice to meet Jack Foley, Cundo Rey and Dawn Navarro again, but somehow I liked them better in their first appearance. Jack, the notorious bank robber champion and Cundo, the rich crooked Cuban midget become friends, while they are doing time in a Florida prison, they become "road dogs". Jack's reputation allows him to protect Kundo from all kinds of unfriendly attention by his prison mates and in return Kundo spends some money on a smart lawyer to work on an earlier release from prison for Jack. In no time at all Jack is a free man and lives in a nice house in LA with a prepaid credit card and his only obligation is to keep an eye on Dawn, Cundo's wife. This is not as easy as it sounds. Dawn is highly attractive and a free spirit and her wily nature in combination with Jack's weakness for women make it very difficult to limit their relationship to mere surveillance. Things get more complicated yet, when Lou Adams, a slightly obsessed FBI agent, hefts himself on Jack's tail to wait for the next bank robbery and the murderously jealous Cundo announces his imminent release from jail.

The consecutive mayhem is entertaining enough and the characters are as bizarre and wacky as usual, but regardless of that, the novel does not hit you right between the eyes, like some of his best ones do.

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