Swag audiobook

Frank Ryan is working as a used car salesman when he catches Ernest Stickly, Jr.--"Stick"--boosting a car from the lot. Frank picks Stick out of a lineup, and the cops seem to have Stick dead to rights, but when the case comes to trial, Frank takes the stand and claims that he's no longer sure about his identification. Without Frank's testimony, the case collapses and Stick goes free.Frank later catches up with Stick and says that he admires his talent and the only reason that he even called the cops was because he felt like Stick was punking him by stealing a car right under his nose. Frank is looking for a partner to go into the armed robbery business together. He's made a careful study of crime and has concluded that armed robbery provides the best returns with the least amount of risk. He's also compiled a list of ten rules that he believes will guarantee success in this endeavor. (This book was first published as Ryan's Rules.)Stick signs on and the pair pull a string of successful robberies in the Detroit suburbs during a very profitable summer. The two are living large in an apartment complex where there are always nubile women around the pool and where there's always a party going on. But then Frank comes up with a grand scheme to knock over a department store. This would by a large step up from the liquor and grocery stores that have been their principal targets thus far. More important, it would require that they violate at least a couple of Ryan's Rules. Stick is reluctant, but Frank says that now they are experienced criminals they can adjust the rules to take advantage of new opportunities.This may or may not be a good idea for Frank and Stick, but it's great fun for the reader. This is one of Leonard's earlier crime novels after a career of writing westerns, and it may not be quite the equal of some of the books that Leonard would write later, but it contains all the traits that one looks for in a book by EL, including great characters and dialogue that could only be written by Leonard.Leonard was much more interested in writing about bad guys than good ones, at least until he created Raylan Givens, and he excelled at creating small-time crooks who lived on the margins and dreamed of making a big score. Frank Ryan and Ernest Stickly, Jr. are great examples, and this is a book that will appeal to virtually any fan of crime fiction.

Dialogue can really make or break a novel for me. Good thing Elmore Leonard could write it so well I'd imagine even Tarantino gets jealous occasionally. In fact, this novel as a whole reminded me of 90s-era Tarantino, to the point where I was actually picturing Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs characters while reading. The setup is pretty basic. We follow two charismatic, low-level hoods in Detroit who decide to team-up, knocking off liquor stores, bars, grocery stores, etc, taking more risks the better and more experienced they get. Of course they eventually get in over their heads when they plan to move on up to the big time with a department store heist that involves bringing a few other criminals into the mix. Things maybe don't go as smoothly as they'd hoped.So, somewhat typical, plotwise, but what elevates it all is the well-drawn characters and the aforementioned dialogue, which makes you feel as if you're there. The characters talk and act like real people, which allowed me to connect with them even though we the reader are not given much backstory or setup at all. We're sort of just dropped right in, but I got a good feel for Stick and his partner Frank after only a handful of pages.There are plenty of tense moments -- virtually every "job" they go on is riddled with them -- and I found it amusing that I'd get scared for their safety even though they're pretty much scumbags (nice, charming scumbags overall, but still scumbags). It's also a good "hangout novel," in that the pages in between all the action and double-crosses are almost as much fun, just hanging out with Stick and Frank and their various friends and associates. This is my first Elmore Leonard novel since reading Killshot back in the day, but I'll definitely be checking out more after this one.4.5 Stars.

If you're looking for fast reads and entertainment, Leonard is your man. I was shocked by how quickly I finished Swag. For entertainment alone I'd give it five stars, the reason I am only giving it four is that it didn't have any emotional draw for me. It's not like I felt a connection with any of the characters, including during the (view spoiler)[betrayal (hide spoiler)] at the end. The plot rapidly progresses from moment of meeting between the two characters to the peak of their success to their ultimate undoing. So I'll say it again, if you're looking for a beach read during your getaway winter vacation, Leonard is a good place to start looking. RIP buddy

"After the first few weeks he began to take it in stride. They were pros, that's why it was easy. They knew exactly what they were doing." - Elmore Leonard, SwagI've read several of Leonard's 90s crime novels (Get Shorty, Out of Sight, etc) but I was given Elmore Leonard's Four Novels of the 1970s for my birthday (thanks Keith) and decided to start with 'Swag'. It was great, gritty Detroit crime fiction. So, in honor of this novel, here are ten rules for Detroit hardboiled fiction:1. There needs to be a list of rules.2. There has to be multiple women.3. There has to be some racial tension.4. The book can't be longer than 250 pages5. Dialogue must be both funny and sharp.6. There needs to be several twists.7. Drugs and alcohol must be consumed or discussed.8. There has to be several exit ramps that are missed.9. Cars have to play a role, even if minor.10. All rules must eventually be broken.

Typical Elmore Leonard: quirky characters, a farcical plot, and a satisfactory ending. A used car salesman teams up with a fumbling car thief, and after drawing up 10 rules, claims to have a formula for foolproof robberies. The first rule is "Always be polite on the job and say please and thank you." But then, after a spell of knocking over liquor stores and supermarkets, they get greedy, and gradually the rules are abandoned. From then on, the reader is caught up in the suspense of finding out what's in store for our two goofy characters.Breezy pace, criminal shenanigans, sharp dialogue - what's not to like?Not a genre crime novel, not a gumshoe story, not a police procedural, just Elmore.

I’m blown away by my first Elmore Leonard and must soon read another. On the face of it ‘Swag’ is a smallish story, sparely told, about two small-time crooks in 1970s Detroit, but Leonard’s subtle art makes it so much more. He trusts the reader to know what isn’t written – the laughs, the plot implications, the dilemmas, the deepening psychology. I found myself caring a lot for I-won’t-say-whom without once being told to care, Leonard’s methods are so unobtrusive. The characters are real, flawed, funny. The dialogue is to die for. The plot is clever but unforced. It had me gripped to the last, very satisfying line. As tight as a Greek tragedy. Bravo—and shucks! Elmore Leonard was my Facebook friend – I wish it wasn't too late to be the millionth to tell him what a master craftsman he is.

#17 in my Top 20 Books I Read in 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIWkw...This is how you write a thriller: gritty, brutally real, fun fun fun, and SHORT by God, the kind of book you can read during an afternoon on the beach and still have time for a swim and a game of beach volley. Leonard's up there with the very best.

Very few have done "Noir" better than the late Elmore Leonard...He ranks right up there with the greats, Chandler, Hammett, etc....this one has an unlikely, mixed-race paring of a car salesman & small-time criminal who enter the criminal world of armed robbery & stub their toes when seeking the "big one!"...good read as always

Earnest “Stick” Stickley Jr. and his partner in how to achieve success and happiness in armed robbery, Frank Ryan? Yes, please.

I may be on a Leonard kick for the rest of the Summer. It started with his most recent book, Road Dogs, which led me -- probably via an Amazon.com recommendation, to one of his first published crime stories. Set in Detroit, Swag is the first of what becomes a series of stories about a car thief turned armed robber named Stick. Stick is a cool guy and like most of Leonard's work, this story just moves.In fact, I was late to work one day this week because I got caught up in the last 3rd of the book and had to finish. That's usually a behavior I only reserve for Harry Potter and Fables trades. It's the dialogue and the shifting points of view that I enjoy the most. These are not characters filled to the brim with smarts or complex motivations. They are caught up in situations they don't want to be in or think they can control but they are never in control.They just don't know it until it's too late.When I return this to the library on Sunday, I believe I'll be replacing it with what I think is the next in the "Stick" stories, the appropriately titled—Stick. It was also a film starring Burt Reynolds.Swag is highly recommended but you knew that. Who doesn't like Elmore Leonard novels?

The comedic stick-up team. The first names alone remind me of the newspaper comic strip Frank & Earnest. The fun starts with an Abbott and Costello style car theft. The line-up and arraignment hearing just continues the humorous story. This is the first appearance of Frank Ryan (Luke Wilson) and Ernest "Stick" Stickley (Burt Reynolds). I'm not sure if Frank is any relation to the Jack Ryan of The Big Bounce and The Unknown Man #89. They are obviously no relation to Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan.

I’m not familiar with the crime fiction genre, so I can’t comment on it in those terms. But as an easy summertime book-club read, it works quite well. It starts out with Frank and Stick taking a very professional business-like approach to armed robbery, and it works well for them. But success brings its own challenges, mainly the temptation to try to move beyond that which has worked so well. A good deal of what follows is predictable but entertaining, but there’s a lot that’s not predictable and even more entertaining.