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110th out of 150 books
—
50 voters
52 Pick Up
Detroit businessman Harry Mitchell had had only one affair in his twenty-two years of happy matrimony. Unfortunately someone caught his indiscretion on film and now wants Harry to fork over one hundred grand to keep his infidelity a secret. And if Harry doesn't pay up, the blackmailer and his associates plan to press a lot harder -- up to and including homicide, if necessa
...more192 pages
Published
(first published 1974)
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Blackmailers have factory owner Harry Mitchell over a barrel. Either he pays them $105,000 a year or they turn over an incriminating film of him cheating on his wife to the police and press, and more, if he doesn't pay up. Too bad Harry Mitchell has ideas of his own...
Elmore Leonard sure knows how to weave a serpentine tale, doesn't he? He takes a story that seems simple on the surface, that of some blackmailers hitting up a pigeon for money, and turns it into something else all together. It was...more
Elmore Leonard sure knows how to weave a serpentine tale, doesn't he? He takes a story that seems simple on the surface, that of some blackmailers hitting up a pigeon for money, and turns it into something else all together. It was...more
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Harry Mitchell could be a poster boy for the Greatest Generation. He was a World War II ace fighter pilot and afterwards started his own manufacturing firm that’s become a successful business while he and his wife Barbara enjoyed a happy marriage and raised two kids.
Ah, but the mid-life crisis has made more than one man stupid, and Harry has a fling with a woman half his age. Just as he is about to break it off, Harry is confronted by a trio of blackmailers who have films that show his infidelit...more
Ah, but the mid-life crisis has made more than one man stupid, and Harry has a fling with a woman half his age. Just as he is about to break it off, Harry is confronted by a trio of blackmailers who have films that show his infidelit...more
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52 Pickup is a rip-roaring thriller from master of crime fiction Elmore Leonard, the New York Times bestselling author of Raylan, Get Shorty, Killshot, and other novels of suspense.
Detroit businessman Harry Mitchell has had only one affair in his twenty-two years of happy matrimony. Unfortunately, someone caught his indiscretion on film and now wants Harry to fork over one hundred grand to keep his infidelity a secret. And if Harry doesn’t pay up, the blackmailer and his associates plan to pre
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If Elmore Leonard is the greatest living thriller writer (as I am told on the back cover of this novel), then I must be tremendously unappreciative. I couldn’t take a steady diet of his work. I often feel punched in the gut by what happens to his characters, even when I believe they sort of deserve what they’re going through as some kind of karmic payback or poetic justice. In the case of 52 Pick-Up, the protagonist finds himself in a bit of a pickle because he couldn’t keep his pickle (wink, wi...more
I’ve been reading a lot of Leonard lately and this earlier novel is a true gem. Leonard can be relied upon to deftly carve a scene, write engaging dialogue and come up with original characters and in this regard, 52 Pick Up is no different. But where this novel really excels is in the emotional connection between the protagonist, Harry Mitchell and his wife. There is a subtlety that Leonard brings to the scenes between these two characters which shows a real understanding of marriage. Leonard of...more
It all started with Timothy Olyphant:
Timothy plays Raylan Givens in the FX series Justified. (He's also my latest mid-life crisis, as anyone who gets my updates will know. ) That series is based on characters created by Elmore Leonard, and specifically a short story called "Fire in the Hole".
So after watching 2 seasons of Justified (all in the course of 3 weeks, but who's counting?) I was curious. I vaguely remembered that the movies Get Shorty and Out of Sight were based on his books, but until...more
Timothy plays Raylan Givens in the FX series Justified. (He's also my latest mid-life crisis, as anyone who gets my updates will know. ) That series is based on characters created by Elmore Leonard, and specifically a short story called "Fire in the Hole".
So after watching 2 seasons of Justified (all in the course of 3 weeks, but who's counting?) I was curious. I vaguely remembered that the movies Get Shorty and Out of Sight were based on his books, but until...more
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Wealthy business owner is caught being an adulterer. Three dregs of Detroit society try to blackmail him. The girl with whom the businessman had the affair was a stripper in a club...owned by one of the blackmailers.
A lot of reviewers write that they felt the ending was a letdown. This is partially true because the story progressing with the final climax, there's one sarcastic line, and the book abruptly ends. However, the action keeps the reader glued throughout novel and the dialogue makes the...more
A lot of reviewers write that they felt the ending was a letdown. This is partially true because the story progressing with the final climax, there's one sarcastic line, and the book abruptly ends. However, the action keeps the reader glued throughout novel and the dialogue makes the...more
Here's something stupid about reading this book. I went into it thinking it was a movie from the '80s starring Roy Scheider. It was a movie I never saw, but a friend described it to me as terrific. The main character was a special effects magician, and he put down his enemies in all sorts of awesome ways. So, I'm reading 52 Pickup, which is filled with the typical Leonard streetwise awesome characters, and just thinking about how much they must have changed the story for the movie. Near the end...more
This is the third earlier Leonard book that I have picked up, and like the other two (MOONSHINE WARS and MR. MAJESTYK), it is a solid read. Fast, violent, and fun.
All three books share one very distinct Leonardian quality: precision. There is nothing extraneous in any of the stories. Leonard tells only what is necessary and then moves on. It keeps the novels short and fast.
I would also argue that same quality keeps the books from reaching past a ceiling they always seem to hit. While they are go...more
All three books share one very distinct Leonardian quality: precision. There is nothing extraneous in any of the stories. Leonard tells only what is necessary and then moves on. It keeps the novels short and fast.
I would also argue that same quality keeps the books from reaching past a ceiling they always seem to hit. While they are go...more
My reading of an Elmore Leonard book was a long time coming. And what a nice one to start with. The story is straight out of a film noir movie, man gets caught cheating on his wife by three hoodlums who blackmail him for $100,000 ... things get out of hand and revenge is taken. While the subplots do get in the way of the main story ("wife deals with husband's infidelity" and "union manager uses thug before contract talks" add very little in comparison to what they subtract from the book), this w...more
Mixed feelings about this one. I've read a lot of Leonard's books and generally like them very much. The style here is the usual laconic, charming one he emplys in all his books. The start is a little slow, as it usually is, but the mundane nature of the main guys life, and the slightly humdrum nature of his indiscretion (cheating on his wife with a younger woman) didn't really do much for me.
Then the blackmail plot took off and I got caught up in it, the bad guys while nothing special, no mate...more
Then the blackmail plot took off and I got caught up in it, the bad guys while nothing special, no mate...more
My fiance suggested I read this author and this is the one we had on the shelf.
The story was pretty interesting; there were some aspects of it that were a bit unexpected, but all in all it was a rather Hollywood - dark Hollywood - plot. Some sex, some drugs, some booze, some violence, resolution. However...
Elmore Leonard is a master of dialogue. The storytelling itself is brusque and often just a rough sketch, but the dialogue is so real and compelling it translates to the characters themselves...more
The story was pretty interesting; there were some aspects of it that were a bit unexpected, but all in all it was a rather Hollywood - dark Hollywood - plot. Some sex, some drugs, some booze, some violence, resolution. However...
Elmore Leonard is a master of dialogue. The storytelling itself is brusque and often just a rough sketch, but the dialogue is so real and compelling it translates to the characters themselves...more
When ever I try to read a book which I am not enjoying, I tend to take a break from reading altogether rather than just give up on the book.
When ever that occurs, I tend to look for an author that I admire and usually enjoy to break the impasse.
I have bogged down trying to read a couple of novels over the past few months (A Loyal Spy and The Passage). In order to break that cycle, I picked up this novel by Elmore Leonard....... and it worked like a charm. I am reading again.
Not one of Elmore's...more
When ever that occurs, I tend to look for an author that I admire and usually enjoy to break the impasse.
I have bogged down trying to read a couple of novels over the past few months (A Loyal Spy and The Passage). In order to break that cycle, I picked up this novel by Elmore Leonard....... and it worked like a charm. I am reading again.
Not one of Elmore's...more
Week 6 read-
This was my first exposure to Elmore Leonard's work and I am hooked! Leonard does a wonderful job of writing a crisp and tight story that still sucks a reader in and hooks them. I really enjoyed the way that the characters were drawn with small and specific images which made them stand out right away. The plot was also well thought out and complex while maintaining believability. The plot was like a corn maze; just when you think you're going to have to turn right, you have to turn l...more
This was my first exposure to Elmore Leonard's work and I am hooked! Leonard does a wonderful job of writing a crisp and tight story that still sucks a reader in and hooks them. I really enjoyed the way that the characters were drawn with small and specific images which made them stand out right away. The plot was also well thought out and complex while maintaining believability. The plot was like a corn maze; just when you think you're going to have to turn right, you have to turn l...more
"Harry Mitchell doesn't get mad. He gets even."
Thats what the synopsis reads. This is the story of how Harry extracts from his wife's wrath after having an affair, from blackmailing criminals who have killed his mistress after pinning the blame on him, and from a labour relations officer who is gunning for Harry's head. Not to mention a friend whose got his eye's on a pissed off Mrs. Mitchell.
52 Pickup got me hooked on to Elmore Leonard, and along with Cat Chaser it is on the top of the rankin...more
Thats what the synopsis reads. This is the story of how Harry extracts from his wife's wrath after having an affair, from blackmailing criminals who have killed his mistress after pinning the blame on him, and from a labour relations officer who is gunning for Harry's head. Not to mention a friend whose got his eye's on a pissed off Mrs. Mitchell.
52 Pickup got me hooked on to Elmore Leonard, and along with Cat Chaser it is on the top of the rankin...more
Three pimps and porn merchants try to blackmail an assembly plant owner. When that doesn't work, they kill his girlfriend and threaten to frame him for murder. That's when he decides to take some names and kick some ass. This is a very tight novel with interesting characters. The revenge plot's a bit straightforward; also, a subplot involving striking workers goes out with hardly a fizzle, but other than that, it's an exciting book. Of course, I couldn't put it down.
Probably my favorite novel (after reading Rum Punch, Pagan Babies, and Glitz, the latter of which I found overrated) that I've read of Leonard's. It's a lot of fun and full of surprises. Oftentimes, Leonard will have a lot of characters and I'll have a problem remembering who is who, but that was not a problem here. The story flowed wonderfully, I had a hard time putting it down.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This will have to stand for the various Elmore Leonard's I've read, because I can never remember the titles for 5 minutes, apart from this one. Excellent hard-boiled 'tec novel with a strong sense of place and excellently drawn characters. The kind of thing George Pelecanos does so well these days.
Another amazing thriller--if you are looking for quality writing and a plot that keeps you guessing, this is your book. It certainly is not a literary masterpiece along the same lines as an Earnest Hemmingway novel or other classic author, but it is an easy read and the guy has talent.
One of Leonard's earlier Detroit works and it shows as his writing style isn't what it would become. Which is not a negative, it's a good read and is more action-packed than most of his other works. What it lacks in length, it makes up for in suspense.
In Elmore Leonard's best novels, an ordinary working man is pitted against baddies, and ends up showing more grit than expected. 52 Pickup is set in the mean streets of Detroit, with a working class hero attempting to thwart some truly skanky low-lifes.
The end left me feeling empty. Nasty mistakes. I imagined, after the book ends, the characters are permanently scarred and increasingly unhappy.
The references to Polaroid cameras and Oldesmobiles and Pontiacs will soon be lost on the youngsters....HA!
The references to Polaroid cameras and Oldesmobiles and Pontiacs will soon be lost on the youngsters....HA!
52 Pickup is a typical, workmanlike, compelling Leonard novel. No one writes dialogue better. Like other Leonard protagonists, Mitchell is both flawed and heroic. Gritty realism is a game Leonard plays with precision.
This is a fine read I would recommend to about anyone, even romance fans. Both sad and inspiring was the utter lack of faith in police the main character showed in dealing with multiple threats to his family and business.
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A tale of bloody minded blood and revenge so damn hard boiled all 88% of the water that makes up my body turned to steam while reading it.
Jesus. Damn. Chrast.
Ed
Jesus. Damn. Chrast.
Ed
I've read many of Elmore Leonard's books, and while I've enjoyed them all, this is my favorite, and the one whose ending made me say F Yeah! out loud.
Elmore writes the same book...this one I liked a bit less, mostly because the impact of the dead girl was largely, and I felt strangely, ignored.
Vintage Leonard written back in the seventies and set in Detroit. Blackmail, double crosses, and a bit of engineering made the plot hum along at a good pace.
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Elmore John Leonard lived in Dallas, Oklahoma City and Memphis before settling in Detroit in 1935. After serving in the navy, he studied English literature at the University of Detroit where he entered a short story competition. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into m...more
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