Split Images audiobook

I just reread this book, and I liked it even better than I did when I wrote this review ten years ago, so I'm rating it four stars instead of the original three. I don't know what I was thinking then--must have been having a bad day or something, but this really is a fun read. My original review is below:As is almost always the case in a book by Elmore Leonard, the characters in Split Images take precedence over the plot. Robbie Daniels made millions in the Detroit industrial company that he inherited from his father. But Robbie has little interest in being a captain of industry. He much prefers the role of Palm Beach playboy. He especially likes golf, women and guns. He also likes killing people.Robbie fantasizes about the idea of killing truly despicable bad guys who are beyond the reach of the law. He recruits Walter Kouza, a former Detroit policeman, to assist him in his mission. Walter has relocated to Florida, but he's bored with his wife and his life and he sees the opportunity of going to work for Robbie as his last chance at a better life, even if Robbie does have homicidal intentions. Angela Nolan is an attractive journalist who's interviewing Robbie for an article on how rich people live while Detroit homicide detective Bryan Hurd is vacationing in Florida, hoping without much luck, to get away from homicide for a couple of weeks.The four characters find their lives intersecting in a story that moves back and forth between Florida and Michigan. Each has his or her own objectives and inevitably this will produce complications. As always, it's fun to watch a master story teller at work as Leonard throws these characters together into the boiling pot and then stands back to see what might come bubbling up to the surface.

Most of the Elmore Leonard novels I read score 4 stars, I've noticed. He seems incapable of writing a 2 or a 5 star book, at least so far. I will never reread an Elmore Leonard book, because there will always be another Elmore Leonard book to read.If I somehow managed to finish them all, I'm sure the Estate of Elmore Leonard would release a dozen more posthumous works recovered from one of his desk drawers.Leonard is a very consistent writer. His books have consistency. This one, like the others I've read, reads flowingly, quickly, and snappily. His novels are like good HBO dramas, with the accompanying profanity. He is like Chandler, but rated R instead of PG-13.The characters in this book are especially interesting. You can put yourself in their shoes. The way the author depicts their despicable actions plainly, and allows us to learn about them through dialogue, is as effective as I have come to expect.The downside of Leonard is, the more of him you read, the more the novels begin to blend together. This means that the intricate plot twists begin to seem less fresh and the surprises are not in any way mind-blowing, but you just have to keep coming back for the characters.You get the feel for his grimy streets, and in this novel, the posh streets and parking lots, the haunted Palm Beach backyards, and his singular talent is nowhere more evident than in his priceless dialogue. 90% of his book is typically dialogue. I can picture the characters most of the time by what they say alone. Dialogue is king in crime fiction, I guess, and Leonard has it down.Usually, the set-up comes early, and the plot unfolds in a more believable fashion than most other noir-ish yarns. I can totally see a jaded millionaire acting like that, and the suspicious people surrounding him fit the bill nicely. It is best to sit back and enjoy this novel in real time. Read it quickly if you can, and if it is your first Leonard novel, it just might get you hooked.

There’s just something here that really gets me. I like this era of Elmore’s work so much, the era of The Hunted and Swag and Gold Coast and Mr. Majestyk. I like his quiet men and the nuances of heat and loneliness in his relationships. It’s not storybook. It’s real. It’s lived-in. Here, there’s a guy who maybe wants to kill people (he definitely wants to kill people) and the part that sings is his hired ex-cop stalking the intercoastal waterway beleaguered with clunky cameras and bug bites. Everybody’s got a thorn in their side. Everybody’s got a cross to bear. Everybody’s got a bone to pick with their father. And because of the love between Angela and Bryan, there’s maybe the most terrible, beautiful line I’ve had from Elmore yet:But he wasn’t going to outscream the ocean. Nobody was going to do that.- - - May 2014: Each time through I find something a little extra to love. This time, it’s the way Bryan’s small lies don’t even merit a comment. They don’t backfire, they don’t affect the plot, he doesn’t get found out, it doesn’t put him at a crossroads or cause a crisis of conscience. It’s just a part of who he is and he’s a good man through and through.

There are writers that use their characters to explore the nature of humanity. They dissect their character's thoughts and actions in order to get to the The Heart of the Matter. They work for small bits of truth in a sea of reality and they often succeed, if they are good.But humans do not fall open to scrutiny so easily. Often in life, the person in front of you simply acts without any hint as to the reasons why. There is no narrator speaking from above and their complexity is protected by their skin, their eyes, and the depths of their mind. For what we see, they simply act and it is only after the fact that we can contemplate their actions. But their actions are human because that is what we all are.This is Leonard's approach to Split Images. His characters are complete in their complexity. Their actions are beholden to no explanation other than some mysterious thought process that remains their own. Leonard takes a wedge out the world, puts it between the front and back covers, and lets his readers see life play out on every page. It takes a subtle hand to create such a reality in words, but Leonard seems to know that life is seldom more than the sum total of the actions of the people living it.

Most Detroit-ass book I've ever read, right down to the corrupt Polish cop from Hamtramck who is scared that his old neighborhood is now full of punks.Anyway, this is also the most Elmore Leonard of the Elmore Leonard books I have read, in that it's about Detroit trash who hang out a lot in Florida and commit crimes in both states but also have snappy conversations about philosophy and music. Like this is the stereotype in your head when you think about what Elmore Leonard writes about.

His name was Chi Chi. I figured he was a golf pro, gigilo , or band leader.Split Images, what would Thomas Wolfe had called it?Right up the with Djibouti and Road dogs.

Standard Elmore fanfare, very much enjoyed Bryan Hurd’s character and his reporter counterpart, but the main plot and protagonists lagged a bit in spots.

Split Images is my favourite book by one of my favourite authors because it's kind of a different book from his other works and goes into some unexpected directions.The book that features probably on of Elmore's more despicable characters who's a monster just because he enjoys it and can get away with it because of his money and status and the cop who starts to suspect that something is off with him. The story goes into lots of unexpected places including featuring a lot of heart which isn't something Elmore does very often and because the book has heart that fates of some of the characters really hit you in the hurts because you generally want to see everything work out for them. The book is also fun because it features some crossover characters from some of his other works and if your a eagle eye Leonard freak like I am you will spot them right away. If your still reading this review, WHY? Go read this book! Look it up at the library, order it online, READ THIS BOOK!!

I eventually fell in with Mr. Leonard's somewhat jumpy flow and enjoyed the action and the dialog. However, some tragic events occurred during the story and I'm not sure the ending resolved them to my satisfaction.

Rather than a whodunit, Leonard has crafted a sort of character study / exposé in this entertaining novel. Robbie Daniels, a rich, unscrupulous and, essentially, antisocial personality disordered asshole who enjoys killing people and using others to facilitate his evil hobby is the focal point. Walter Kouza, a beleaguered cop of 21 years who falls prey to Robbie’s charms and offer of private employment, only to recognize his mistake too late, serves as a counterpoint to the other central character— a Detroit homicide lieutenant called Bryan Hurd. And rounding out the cast is Angela Nolan, a journalist, doing a piece about rich people who forms a love interest with Bryan. The story really shines as it reveals each of these individual’s personalities and builds tension. The reader knows that Robbie and Walter are planning a murder, but not when or where or who, exactly. It’s fun to watch Bryan, Detroit’s most skilled detective, begin to form a theory and , eventually, act on it. To say much more might spoil the story, so suffice it to say that Leonard knows how to manage dialogue and action. The reader might sense how things will turn out, but I think that’s not really the point. It’s more important to become connected with these four people as their drama unfolds. Good stuff!

I liked this one a lot. Kind of a typical Elmore Leonard story, but also not. I'm always a little shocked when one of his characters gets killed *snap* just like that; this had a death that I totally didn't expect even when I knew it was happening; I think that is good writing. Both Bryan Hurd and Angela Nolan were likable lovers to be doomed, Robbie Daniels and Walter Kouza are equally unlikable antagonist. If you are a Elmore Leonard fan like myself, I can't see this one disappointing you. Recommended.

Moves back and forth from Florida to Detroit as multi-millionaire Robbie decides he wants to be a hit man, journalist Angela Nolan is trying to interview him, and Detroit police detective suspects him of murder and falls in love with Angela. (view spoiler)[Surprise when Angela is murdered, but now Bryan is determined to get his man. (hide spoiler)]

A well written crime fiction with believable characters. Really holds your interest!

My second EL book and there will be many, many more. Compulsive page turner, gritty characters, great crime prose.