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105th out of 529 books
—
316 voters
The Hot Kid (Carl Webster #1)
The Barnes & Noble Review
When the The New York Times calls someone "the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever," that's no small compliment. This talented author has shown an extraordinary range in his work, from westerns to crime stories (both contemporary and historical) to a novel about baseball and more.
In The Hot Kid, Elmore "Dutch" Leonard breaks new gro...more
When the The New York Times calls someone "the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever," that's no small compliment. This talented author has shown an extraordinary range in his work, from westerns to crime stories (both contemporary and historical) to a novel about baseball and more.
In The Hot Kid, Elmore "Dutch" Leonard breaks new gro...more
Paperback, 400 pages
Published
August 29th 2006
by HarperTorch
(first published May 1st 2005)
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Jan 28, 2013
David
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
US marshals, gun molls, privileged little shits who rob banks
My first Elmore Leonard novel. He's a terse, pacey author, and The Hot Kid is pretty much Hollywood in a book, but a nicely-filmed Hollywood with engaging if not terribly deep characters.
It's a 1930s gangster piece. Carlos Webster is the son of a wealthy pecan farmer. At 15 he shot a man who was trying to rustle his cattle. His father observed, "Good lord, this one's got a tough bark on him." He also encounters a wanted felon who, in the course of robbing a store and shooting a tribal police off...more
It's a 1930s gangster piece. Carlos Webster is the son of a wealthy pecan farmer. At 15 he shot a man who was trying to rustle his cattle. His father observed, "Good lord, this one's got a tough bark on him." He also encounters a wanted felon who, in the course of robbing a store and shooting a tribal police off...more
Elmore Leonard is a writer after my own heart. He started with westerns and then turned to crime fiction, becoming one of the best selling crime fiction writers of all time. When I saw the audio book, "The Hot Kid" on the library shelves this time, I just couldn't pass it up because I knew I'd be in for a treat. I also needed a relatively short book this time so I could complete it before the end of the year. It was so good though that I made excuses to go driving just so I could hear more of th...more
This is mainly the story of Carlos (Carl) Webster. He is a US Marshall in Oklahoma in the 1920's and '30's. This is the time of the oil boom in that part of the world, plus the time of big name glamorous bank robbers like Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger. Webster witnesses a famous bank robber kill a policeman he knows in a drug store when he is 15. This convinces him to become a Marshall. Webster's signature line is 'If I have to draw my weapon, I'll shoot to kill.' In his first year as Mars...more
I had been wanting to read Elmore Leonard, and I enjoyed this book, maybe more than I thought I would.
I like the spare, honest, straightforward language Leonard uses to describe characters who are all those things.
There is a hero--a boy who grows up to be a lawman, a dead shot with a gun--he defeats his enemy, but on his terms, and is never diminished by him; he gets his girl; has the love of his dad.
But the story is the farthest thing from simplistic, formulaic fluff. It's a very real portrait...more
I like the spare, honest, straightforward language Leonard uses to describe characters who are all those things.
There is a hero--a boy who grows up to be a lawman, a dead shot with a gun--he defeats his enemy, but on his terms, and is never diminished by him; he gets his girl; has the love of his dad.
But the story is the farthest thing from simplistic, formulaic fluff. It's a very real portrait...more
I have been a huge fan of Elmore Leonard's works since I read "Get Shorty" and "Killshot" back in high school. If those names sound familiar it's because they are two of many of Leonard's novels that have been made into movies, some good ("Out of Sight", "Jackie Brown", "3:10 to Yuma"), some bad ("The Big Bounce", "Be Cool"). Best bet, though? Skip the movies entirely and just read the books. Leonard tells a great crime story with a frenzied pace, coupled with snappy dialogue, and while his char...more
I heard the first chapter of The Hot Kid as an audio book, but had to finish the rest in a "regular" print edition. A good tale in the hardboiled detective of the 20's and 30's style, though there is very little detection going on. Still a great story that is hard to put down, as they say. With great local Oklahoma color and characters. My main criticism would be that the dialog plays better when spoken than read. It feels as if words or punctuation is missing, at least to me, which jars the rea...more
An ELMORE LEONARD (all writers should read his books for a lesson on tight writing) review from my Colorado Springs GAZETTE book column:
Elmore Leonard, where have you been all my life? All the hours I’ve scanned shelves looking for good books, I could’ve been reading yours. And now I will. Every. Single. One.
The above is a copy of an email I sent to author Elmore Leonard. I sent it through Leonard’s researcher, Gregg Sutter, because Leonard doesn’t own a computer. The author’s written more than...more
Elmore Leonard, where have you been all my life? All the hours I’ve scanned shelves looking for good books, I could’ve been reading yours. And now I will. Every. Single. One.
The above is a copy of an email I sent to author Elmore Leonard. I sent it through Leonard’s researcher, Gregg Sutter, because Leonard doesn’t own a computer. The author’s written more than...more
Can't possibly give Elmore fewer than 3 stars-- usually the max I give for a great read that's not 'literature'-- but the old boy is losing steam in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong this is a pleasurable read, great setting, even more believable characters than usual. But. As a fan who's read everything he's written.. & as a student of fiction writing (which causes me to find technical reasons for my issues).. In Leonard's latest books, we learn of more & more of the action remotely, throu...more
Don't get me wrong this is a pleasurable read, great setting, even more believable characters than usual. But. As a fan who's read everything he's written.. & as a student of fiction writing (which causes me to find technical reasons for my issues).. In Leonard's latest books, we learn of more & more of the action remotely, throu...more
Published in 2005, Elmore Leonard recreates the 20’s and 30’s crime underworld of Kansas City in The Hot Kid. Mixing fictional characters with such legends as John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and Machine Gun Kelly, the novel tracks the rise of U.S. Marshal Carl Webster, as he seeks out to become the most famous lawman in America. His chief foe is Jack Belmont, a sociopathic scion of an oil family turned bank robber. Manipulating both is Tony Antonelli, a writer for a lurid True Detective type s...more
WM1: Se vi sono piaciuti The Ghost of Tom Joad di Bruce Springsteen e Fratello, dove sei? di Joel e Ethan Coen, amerete Hot Kid di Elmore Leonard (Einaudi Stile Libero, pp.314, euro 14,50).
Piaciuta la proposizione condizionale? Bene, eccone subito un'altra*: chi subisce il fascino degli anni Trenta americani (la Depressione, le ballads di Woody Guthrie, gli hoboes a bordo dei treni-merci, le lotte del movimento operaio americano, il neonato FBI che dà la caccia a John Dillinger, Warren Beatty...more
Piaciuta la proposizione condizionale? Bene, eccone subito un'altra*: chi subisce il fascino degli anni Trenta americani (la Depressione, le ballads di Woody Guthrie, gli hoboes a bordo dei treni-merci, le lotte del movimento operaio americano, il neonato FBI che dà la caccia a John Dillinger, Warren Beatty...more
I first read this as a short story called "How Carlos Webster Changed His Name To Carl And Became A Famous Oklahoma Lawman". I picked up "The Hot Kid" in an airport, without realizing it was the fleshed out version of a character I had already enjoyed. At first I was afraid it was going to be simply a stretched out version of the short story, but I should have known better. The swirl around the main character, a young federal marshall on the fast track to legend status, only got more like the w...more
Dec 11, 2008
Jason Kurtz
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-detective,
historical-fiction
The Hot Kid is an excellent novel where Leonard has left his somewhat traditional Detroit for the dusty Prohibition Era Tulsa, Oaklahoma. Bank robbers, gun molls, and U. S. Marshals make up the cast of characters that come alive as part of the intricate world that Leonard has created. U. S. Marshal Carl Webster is the at the center of the action, making a name for himself as a marshall who always gets his man. As we see Carl develop as a man and marshall, we see the parallel life of Jack Beaumon...more
I picked up Elmore Leonard's book after getting into the latest TV development of his, Justified. I've been enjoying that treatment of a gunslingin' Marshall out of Harlan, Kentucky, and figured if the characters I liked were from Leonard's writing, then it'd be a good idea to head to the source.
The Hot Kid was certainly an interesting read, and definitely has the same kind of flavor as Justified. Sure, this time it's Carl the Marshall, a hispanic/native american kid passing as a white boy in Ok...more
The Hot Kid was certainly an interesting read, and definitely has the same kind of flavor as Justified. Sure, this time it's Carl the Marshall, a hispanic/native american kid passing as a white boy in Ok...more
All the hallmarks of Leonard's long success are here: mordant wit, lightning-crack dialogue, and an unerring storytelling instinct. It is the same formula that has turned books like Get Shorty into bestsellers and Hollywood favorites. But even in his 80th year, the master is stretching his legs. He finds his path by stepping back in time to his early childhood in Oklahoma and the beginnings of his career as a writer of westerns. All that experience comes to bear on The Hot Kid, which, in a caree
...more
Carl Webster does not waste words with criminals. "If I have to pull my gun I'll shoot to kill" is his famous line. Those criminals who call his bluff learn the hard way that he is not kidding. This book follows the early career of Deputy US Marshal Carl Webster as he tracks down some of the toughest outlaws in Oklahoma during the Great Depression. He shoots it out with bank robbers, gangsters, thugs, and an ex-FBI agent with the KKK. Not bad for a man in the Marshal service for only a short tim...more
It's a little late, so I'll be quick. I reckon there are a zillion Elmore Leonard reviews that are acres better than anything I could even conceive.
I'd never read any Elmore Leonard before I picked this up from my library's sale bin. All of 20p and a few months later, I found myself enthralled in this strange tale of a near-perfect young lawman and his tearaway rich-kid arch enemy as they leave a trail of blood and bullets through speak-easies, robbed banks and whorehouses in mid-west America....more
I'd never read any Elmore Leonard before I picked this up from my library's sale bin. All of 20p and a few months later, I found myself enthralled in this strange tale of a near-perfect young lawman and his tearaway rich-kid arch enemy as they leave a trail of blood and bullets through speak-easies, robbed banks and whorehouses in mid-west America....more
The Hot Kid is a 1930's period piece that tells the story of a young and badass US Marshal straight out of the picture shows, an idiot with disillusioned dreams of spending his days with high-class bank robbers like John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, an Eye-talian journalist who always ends up in the middle of the madness, and a handful of ladies along for the ride; all interwoven in an expansive, Pulp Fiction-esque story.
Going into this I didn't really expect much. I found it on the shelf of...more
Going into this I didn't really expect much. I found it on the shelf of...more
The Hot Kid (audio book) by Elmore Leonard
Genre: Western, Thriller
Start with an equal measure of Prohibition, rum-running, shoot-outs, outlaws and bank robberies. Throw in some heaping spoonfuls of witty, period appropriate language and love stories. Top with the traditional good guy versus bad guy angle and you get the totally engrossing story, The Hot Kid.
The two central characters of this book are Jack Belmont, a wannabe bank robber, and Carl Webster, US Deputy Marshal. These men encounter e...more
Genre: Western, Thriller
Start with an equal measure of Prohibition, rum-running, shoot-outs, outlaws and bank robberies. Throw in some heaping spoonfuls of witty, period appropriate language and love stories. Top with the traditional good guy versus bad guy angle and you get the totally engrossing story, The Hot Kid.
The two central characters of this book are Jack Belmont, a wannabe bank robber, and Carl Webster, US Deputy Marshal. These men encounter e...more
I accidentally read the follow-up to this book, Up in Honey’s Room first, so The Hot Kid felt more like a prequel to me. Either way, both books are great. And for you Justified fans, Carl Webster is very Raylan Givens-esque. Both are U.S. Marshalls who issue nearly identical warnings to their quarry.
Carl Webster “If I have to pull my weapon I’ll shoot to kill”
Raylan Givens “If you make me pull, I’ll put you down”
How cool would it be if Raylan encountered an elderly Carl Webster one day? They wou...more
Carl Webster “If I have to pull my weapon I’ll shoot to kill”
Raylan Givens “If you make me pull, I’ll put you down”
How cool would it be if Raylan encountered an elderly Carl Webster one day? They wou...more
The Hot Kid exists at the intersection of Westerns (it's set in Oklahoma), gangster stories (it's the 30s), and true-crime fiction (in a touch of meta, one of the characters writes for those sorts of magazines). And it's unmistakably Elmore Leonard. Yes, please.
Someday I would really like to meet a protagonist from an Elmore Leonard novel. They're everything I'd like to be: Witty, cool, smart, attractive. Crack shots. Stylish dressers. They don't take any crap and they don't sell it either. But they still manage to retain an irresistible mystique. And they do it all effortlessly.
Not surprisingly, I think my chances of meeting such a person are slim. So I'll just keep reading Elmore Leonard novels like The Hot Kid, imagining myself as a gun moll and wi...more
Not surprisingly, I think my chances of meeting such a person are slim. So I'll just keep reading Elmore Leonard novels like The Hot Kid, imagining myself as a gun moll and wi...more
Being a fan of Elmore Leonard, I picked this book up without bothering to read the synopsis, so it wasn't until I got home that I discovered the book was about a prohibition-era U.S. Marshall. This was a bit concerning for me as I'm not a fan of historical fiction at all. Despite this, I read the book anyway - am I glad I did. Elmore Leonard is at the top of his game with The Hot Kid. Interesting characters, seedy situations and Leonard's trademark snappy dialog definitely make this one the the...more
In this novel "Dutch" takes us away from Detroit hard knocks and Miami hustlers and throws us into the roaring '20's where Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger were the public enemies of the day. This story is classic cops (Carl Webster) and robbers (Jack Belmont) shooting across Fords and Lasalles and on the verge of calling each other dirty rats. I think this is reflective of the types of stories Mr. Leonard read in his youth that brought him into the world of crime novels. Like everything else...more
May 14, 2011
George Nicholis
added it
2009.
This was my introduction to Elmore Leonard, and I'm glad I started here. It's an awesome story set in the world of 1930s gangsters and gun molls, following a young kid, Carl Webster, who grows up wanting to become a U.S. Marshall and catch bad guys because a gangster stole his ice cream cone. Sounds like kind of a goofy premise, but it totally works. What follows is a cool story filled with twists and turns as Carl's foil, spoiled rich kid Jack Belmont, sets out to become America's roughest...more
This was my introduction to Elmore Leonard, and I'm glad I started here. It's an awesome story set in the world of 1930s gangsters and gun molls, following a young kid, Carl Webster, who grows up wanting to become a U.S. Marshall and catch bad guys because a gangster stole his ice cream cone. Sounds like kind of a goofy premise, but it totally works. What follows is a cool story filled with twists and turns as Carl's foil, spoiled rich kid Jack Belmont, sets out to become America's roughest...more
Moment-by-moment it's enjoyable, but I'm not sure what it all adds up to -- there are a lot of characters, but we're essentially following two, one a US Marshall and the other a bank robber, as they start out separately, clash a few times in the middle, and then come together again for a confrontation at the end. But none of it feels very surprising, and it's easy to see how things are going to work out.
It's worth reading for its syntax -- Leonard has a way of writing, word by word, that feels d...more
It's worth reading for its syntax -- Leonard has a way of writing, word by word, that feels d...more
I wanted to read a Elmore Leonard book, picked one that seemed to have some good reviews, but I don't know it just never engaged me.
Weak on plot, slow dialogue I just didn't get into it. "Milk on his mustache" seemed to be the critical image that drove the main character, that I won't even waste a summary on.
I wish I could follow the advice of Robin Sharma when he said "If you find that after reading the first three chapters of a book, you have not gained any worthwhile information or that the b...more
Weak on plot, slow dialogue I just didn't get into it. "Milk on his mustache" seemed to be the critical image that drove the main character, that I won't even waste a summary on.
I wish I could follow the advice of Robin Sharma when he said "If you find that after reading the first three chapters of a book, you have not gained any worthwhile information or that the b...more
Leonard leaves behind the mean streets of Detroit and Miami of his usual crime fare and heads back to Prohibition-era Oklahoma and introduces Carlos Webster. A rancher turned U.S. Marshall that brings to mind the similar character Raylan Givins (Pronto, Riding the Rap). For his debut, Carlos doggedly tracks a mobster he has a personal score to settle with across the midwest. The Webster books allow Leonard to mix his two most famous styles: westerns and crime stories, and the result is a fast-pa...more
I got interested in reading some Elmore Leonard after watching the premiere of the new show Justified , which is based on one of his characters. The main character of this book, Carl, seems much like the main character of Justified . Carl is a hot-shot U.S. Marshal in the late '20s, running down bootleggers and bank robbers in rural Oklahoma. Leonard conjures up a great sense of time and place and I liked his ironically deadpan writing style. I'm not such a fan of crime novels so I don't think...more
I may be a little more liberal with my four and five star reviews than most people, but I can't help it, I get excited. I enjoyed this more than any other audio book I can recall. I love Elmore Leonard now...he has rapidly become one of my favorites, and I'm kicking myself for not believing people when they told me how great he was years ago. The plot of this one zips along pleasantly, the characters are great, and the dialogue is perfect. There are all kinds of great little character moments in...more
I really like Elmore Leonard, so it was difficult for me to decide how I felt about this book. It is a departure from other Leonard books I've read in that it leans heavily towards historical fiction. The humor is darker and drier than I'm used to seeing from the author, but the book is addictive in its own way. I wasn't prepared for the intense representations of bigotry in this book. I'm sure leaving issues of race out of the novel would have been a gross misrepresentation of the time period,...more
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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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