In Maximum Bob there are many echoes of previous Leonard novels, partly because since Gold Coast he has set a number of his plots in Florida, including Split Images (1981), Cat Chaser (1982), and LaBrava (1983). In Split Images, Robbie Daniels, like Dr. Tommy Vasco in Maximum Bob, is a millionaire who lives in a Palm Beach oceanfront estate and has a penchant for luxury automobiles. Vasco's houseman, Hector, recalls Woodrow Ricks' servant and jack of all trades Donnell Lewis in Freaky Deaky (1988) and Cornell Lewis in Stick (1983). Baker and Hammond are patterned after many dedicated and righteous law enforcers in earlier novels. Alcoholics and drug addicts also are frequent Leonard character types, so Dr. Tommy, Hector, Elvin, and Earlene have as predecessors such people as Jack Ryan and Denise Leary in Unknown Man No. 89 (1977) and Skip Gibbs and Woodrow Ricks of Freaky Deaky.