The Moonshine War: A Novel

Elmore Leonard continues his sojourn from Detroit to eastern Kentucky (6 hours down I-75 by car.) There be lots of interesting characters in the hills and hollers. This time it's pre-weed, Oxycontin, and Raylan Givens, and it's Prohibition time. Leonard stirs in a couple of buddies from WW I (one with a secret and the other with a great big gun), a doctor, a mule-shooter who get's bumped off a little too early and easily, a (sorta) heroic bellboy, a widow, and, of course, the prostitute with the heart of gold--all caught up in the quest for hidden moonshine. As usual, Leonard's dialogue is conceivable, vernacularly appropriate, nicely paced, and flows the story forward, but the secret ain't necessarily that concealed, and, shucks, after all the blastin', things never quite come together to provide an answer to, "Ok, so that was fun, but what's the point?"

Always enjoy reading a Leonard book, and this is one of his older ones (from 1969) I hadn't heard of. Set in Kentucky during Prohibition (1931), it's in many ways very much like his more contemporary crime novels. There's a Macguffin (here it's a legendary hoard of moonshine, worth some $125,000) which may or may not exist, but had drawn the attention of a criminal and his associates. The whereabouts are only known to one Son Martin, a moonshiner of some repute who's not inclined to talk about the buried barrels of booze. Somewhere in all this is grizzled old sheriff trying to keep the peace, and there's a even a pretty dame. The plotting isn't quite as intricate, nor the dialogue quite as crackling, as some of his later books, but it's still plenty of fun and likely to entertain most readers. It was made into a mediocre 1970 film starring a youngish Alan Alda.

Elmore Leonard does for literature what the Lost Dog Street Band and Kris Kristofferson do for music. In a world full of phony Facebook perfection it is refreshing to hear the darker, more real side of life that is often ugly, painful, messy and outright embarrassing. After the incredibly monumental federal power grab by George W.'s Patriot Act I often forget how long the feds have been encroaching on our personal lives and vices. I all too often find myself rooting for the "villain" who is being harassed by some government stooge. I think there is a piece of me that always wanted to be a little more outlaw than I really am. However I was never big, strong, brave or tough enough to actually do the crime, let alone any time in incarceration.

The Moonshine War (1969) is an excellent Elmore Leonard book that recalls the dynamics of his early Western novels, where a flawed by basically noble central character faces off against some pretty evil hombres, who have their own intra-group squabbles that eventually burst into open hostilities. It takes place in the boonies of Kentucky during the Prohibition days of the early 1930s, when indigent backwoods families had to operate illegal stills to feed their families. The story concerns a moonshiner who supposedly has a secret cache of high quality aged whiskey that a crooked Prohibition agent and some bootleggers are determined to get hold of.

Leonard has a great gift for sharp plotting, incisive dialogue and creating scenes of mesmerizing creepiness. There’s one here that’s pretty much a throwaway in terms of the main plot but is a highlight of the book nevertheless. It takes place in a diner where a couple of the villains stop to get lunch.

Some thrillers falter at the end as the writer struggles to wind up his story. Not here. The ending is perfect. If you like edgy pulp stories, The Moonshine War is a must-read.

During the days of Prohibition, moonshiner Son Martin must defend the $125,000 worth of whiskey stockpiled by his daddy for Son's future from an unlikely alliance of scoundrels. Frank Long, an old Army buddy whom Son made the mistake of confiding in, is now an unscrupulous agent of the federal government who wants to sell the whiskey himself. When he sees that he can't do the job alone, he contacts Dr. Taulbee, who seems like a criminal mastermind only because he is smarter than the knuckleheads who work for him.

Elmore Leonard writes a tightly plotted, concisely told tale with a cast of interesting characters. I love his dialogue; it's no surprise that so many of his novels have been filmed since so many of his scenes play out so effortlessly like movies in the mind's eye. I also appreciate his understanding of the criminal mind; they start out with a plan, but lack of discipline and foresight paired with an arrogant predilection for violence causes everything to deteriorate into chaos.

"The Moonshine War," is Grade-A Leonard. Written in 1969, one could say it was written at a time when Leonard was still a wonderful secret, and not yet a trendy discovery for People Magazine. What makes "The Moonshine War" a bit different than some of Leonard's crime novels, is that it is set in the not too distant past - 1931. So to some extent it is a historical novel. The setting is Eastern Kentucky. True, Leonard skates pretty lightly over the regional specifics (dialect, land descriptions, etc.) - the kind of things that make Faulkner or Cormac McCarthy so authentic in a literary sense. But Leonard does throw enough in to make it thriller believable. Authentic details regarding the making of moonshine, historical nods, such as the Spanish flu, WW 1, and the kind of overalls men wore, for the most part root the reader well enough. The characters are as solid as any Leonard has created. Son Martin, the novel's hero, is your typical Leonard tough-guy. Quiet, operating on the edge of things, something of an outlaw himself. The bad guys are what you would expect. Vicious, erratic, and often kind of stupid. Of particular note, however, is Dr. Taulbee, a murderous bootlegger, who is smarter than your average Leonard criminal, and a difficult opponent for Son Martin. But he has a weak spot - Miley, a beautiful (and amoral) prostitute, who's along for the ride, though she's always looking for a reliable man. Son, with his internal code of honor, is closer to fitting that description than the good doctor, and Miley, who recognized this, is in her own way a more admirable character than Mrs. Lyons, Son's long-running love interest from town.

The plot in "The Moonshine War," is pretty simple: bootleggers trying to steal Son's hidden whiskey, and Son's reluctance to let that happen. There are echoes of "High Noon," as Son's friends and neighbors abandon him to the bootleggers. One questions whether mountain folks would abandon one of their own to an assault from outsiders, but Leonard seems to anticipate this, when he has a neighbor of Son's tell him that the difference in their predicament is that Son has no family being threatened. In essence, to what extent Son cares for his neighbors is thus returned, in kind, which makes the ending appropriate, and well done. Leonard's endings can sometimes be disappointing. I have remarked on this myself ("52 Pickup"). But my complaint had more to do with the fireworks leading up to the end of that novel. If you look at the range of Leonard's work, you see an author who likes the open ended ending. It is a deliberate artistic choice by Leonard. At his best (for example, "Valdez is Coming," "City Primeval") he leaves the reader with a vivid, even mythic, tableau that invites the reader in. Leonard loves his High Noon moments, and will often freeze it, in novel after novel, like a photograph of opponents squared away on Main Street, guns drawn, with the sun beating down. "The Moonshine War," to my mind sits up there with the best of Leonard.

Elmore Leonard proves again in The Moonshine War that he is one of the preeminent crime fiction writers of our times. Unlike many such writers who focus on a single character or set of characters in repeated books, all of Leonard’s works are unique with different settings, characters and a wide variety of plots. What is consistent is the excitement his books generate in telling stories that are riveting if often quite violent. The Moonshine War is no exception. The story is set in 1931 prohibition era Kentucky where having a still and making moonshine liquor is a necessity for the hardscrabble life farmers led. Son Martin is more successful than most, making high quality booze that even the local sheriff and his associates can appreciate. More to the point, Son’s father produced some 150 barrels of high-grade whiskey before dying and Son has hidden this treasure with the intent to sell it and use the proceeds to start a life elsewhere with his girl friend.

But trouble comes along in the form of an ex-army associate turned Federal prohibition agent, Frank Long. Son had indiscreetly told Long about the hidden liquor and now Long decides he wants to get it for himself. Accordingly he collects a gang consisting of ex-dentist. Ex-con and womanizer Dr. Emmett Taulbee, his “wife” an 18-year-old ex prostitute, Miley Mitchell, and a gunman, Dual Meadows who simply enjoys killing. Son, of course, refuses to tell Long and his gang where the whiskey is hidden and they plan to force him to do so. Dr. Taulbee recruits more gunman and they set their plan in motion. Of course, everything goes wrong, lots of people die and justice, Elmore Leonard style, prevails.

More than violence Leonard reveals in this book and others a side of life that is not commonly observed. The people making illegal whiskey are just trying to survive hard times as best they can. Son Martin is a kind of hero in that he stands up to pure greed and evil. Moreover the language is real, not contrived and the plot twists and turns so that you really cannot figure out what will happen next. The book is not a “who done it” because we know clearly who does what and there is no doubt who the “bad guys” are. Furthermore the “good guys” are not really good and law-biding and often use the same tactics as the bad guys, but for different ends.

I rate this book at four stars because it is really good within its genre, but I do not think any work of this kind deserves five stars. They are all escapist literature and not worthy, in my estimation, of a higher designation. Elmore Leonard is not for everyone. If you enjoy more intellectual approaches, authors such as Agatha Christie are a better choice; if you like humor with your crime, the Stephanie Plum novels of Janet Evanovich are wonderful. Leonard is for those who like tough, gritty stories with believable characters and language who often act violently and have endings that do not meet the standard requirement of legal justice.

Son Martin has 150 barrels of mooonshine that have been ageing for eight years. It is time to go to market and then Frank Long shows up. He is an old Army buddy plus a Prohibition Agent. Does not take long for Frank to realize he needs to be a partner with Son and get his share of the whiskey money and forget about being an Agent. He calls Dr. Emmett Taulbee, a former dentist and now a mooonshiner his self, to help. Befor long Taulbee, Dual Meaders, his hired killer, an others take over. There is lot of breaking up stills and shooting before it all ends. Son is tough and smart, will he win out? A lot of action, a quick read and you won't want to put it down. I was thinking five stars until the last few pages. It seems like the book just quit. There was no real ending. There are a least four people, that you care about, that you don't know what happened to them. I won't name them so it won't ruin the book for you. I guess it is a five if you write your own ending.

Loved the dialogue, loved the characters, loved the plot. I could taste the sour mash that oozed from the stills in this unabashingly witty novel.Son Martin is another in a long line of Leonard characters that are unforgettable. The little creep, Duel was contemptible and I cheered when he met his demise. The two women characters were stereotypical, but amusing.The Doctor was a nasty villain and the prohibition man was a perfect counterpoint between the Doctor and Son, our hero. I am hooked on Leonard. Looking forward to his next novel.

Elmore Leonard is The great American crime fiction write. Prohibition America of the 1920, small-town Kentucky is thrown into ciaos and murder as a crooked Federal agent teams up with a gang of bootleggers to find steal a stash of premium liquor. A fast and fun read!