Elmore Leonard strikes me as being the finest thriller writer alive primarily because he does his best to efface style, and has done this so successfully that few readers know about him at all. Since 1953, Leonard has written a remarkable series of novels, Westerns as well as thrillers, the latest of which is Split Images…. There are no wisecrack-eloquent detectives or over-wrought similes in Leonard's writing. His characters are often lower-middle-class people who fall into crime because it's an easier way to make money than that tedious nine-to-five. Leonard's favorite plot is the revenge story—someone exploited by criminals commits a bigger better crime that ruins his or her victimizers….
[In] Split Images, Walter Kouza, a 21-year veteran of the Detroit police force, leaves his job to become a chauffeur for Robbie Daniels, a demented millionaire whose hobby is planning the assassination of a larcenous Latin American fat cat. Kouza knows he's asking for trouble, but figures that being well-paid and enjoying a few upper-class comforts is worth enduring a little of his employer's madness. What he doesn't realize is that Daniels is more than a right-wing eccentric—he's a peevish killer who uses his gun collection to plug anyone who annoys him. Pretty soon, another cop—honest plodder Bryan Hurd, the hero of the tale—is on the trail of both of them.
This is a free excerpt of 220 words. There are 923 words (approx.
3 pages at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Leonard, Elmore 1925–: Critical Essay by Ken Tucker Access Pass.
