The Hot Kid

This Elmore Leonard endeavor takes place in the mid-west during the 20s and 30s. The main character in the novel, Carl Webster, is only 15 when he witnesses a robbery and killing at a local drugstore by a small time hood. A short time later, Carl shoots a rustler who's trying to steal his father's cattle. These 2 events shape the rest of his life and at 18, Carl joins the U.S. Marshall's Service and begins to make a name for himself as the Marshall who "If I draw my gun, I intend to use it." This phrase catches the attention of the press who start writing stories about him.

Another main character, Jack Belmont, is just bad seed. He is the ne'er-do-well son of an Oklahoma oil millionaire. Jack is instumental in his baby sister's near drowning and subsequent disabilities in the family pool. He's only 18 when he tries to unsuccessfully blackmail his millionaire father by threatening to tell his mom about dad's mistress. Jack eventually begins to rob banks and kill people. His "career" goal is to become as famous as Pretty Boy Floyd. The paths of Belmont and Webster are intertwined throughout the book and eventually there is a showdown between the two.

The Hot Kid has strong character development throughout with all the main players. The women in this book are just as tough as the men and as well written. This book is fast paced, humourous and well written. I felt I was in the depression-era mid-west while reading this. I recommend it.

Elmore Leonard has written seemingly hundreds of books (I read elsewhere on the site that this is in reality his 40th) and they vary in time, place, and most importantly pace. This is a different book for him, in that the setting is the Depression era. Most of his previous books have either been set contemporarily, or in the old West, though I do seem to remember one book about moonshiners in Tennessee or Kentucky.

The current entry has two main characters: Carlos "Carl" Webster, a quarter Cuban and a quarter Indian, and a U.S. Marshal, and Jack Belmont, the bad-seed son of a wealthy Oklahoma oilman who's out to make a name for himself as a bank robber, hoping he can outdo Dillinger. The two characters shoot their way across various states in the dust bowl, at one time allying with one another to oppose a local Klansman who used to be an FBI agent, at other times chasing one another. Both characters have adventures with other people, also, and both have backgrounds that Leonard fully explores. This is where I had my real problem with the book: both Belmont and Webster have enough background to them, told as flashbacks, and frankly they're too long, given that there's nothing to differentiate between the shootouts that are happening in the current part of the story and those in the flashbacks. I also at times thought he had too many characters for this sort of novel. Frankly, when comparing this book to something like Parker's Appaloosa, The Hot Kid doesn't stand up that well. The plot feels like it was shoehorned into the book. The dialog is interesting though, the characters are fun (at times) and generally I enjoyed the overall story. I just think he could have left out the backstory, and made for a shorter, cleaner book.

Leonard's 42nd novel lacks his trademark convoluted double- and triple-cross among the bad guys, the law, and the good guys acting just to the side of the law. Instead we get a down-home good guy with some trademark lines and a bunch of rascals throughout his career in the law. Is it worth it? You bet! Leonard proves his mastery as a storyteller by taking on a totally new setting for this latest crime novel--1930s Oklahoma. The man who perfectly captures Miami gangsters, Hollywood film wanna-bes, high-class urban strippers, and cops everywhere proves that he can do it all again, in new territory, that of the Dust Bowl, bank robbers, speakeasies, US Marshals, Prohibition, and farm girls trying to make their name in Midwest cities.

As I said, there is no masterful all-encompassing crime plot to carry the entire novel, but the reading is engaging nonetheless. The Hot Kid is a series of vignettes in the life of oil-well boy Carl, who witnesses a crime as a child and grows up to become the most respected (and feared) marshal in the state. Carl has run-ins with bank robbers, with crime journalists, with gun molls, with speakeasy owners, and with downright ruthless cold-blooded killers. His nemesis is Jack Belmont, a wanna-be criminal rebelling against his millionaire dad, and the two cross paths repeatedly throughout the novel. Leonard develops a rich cast of characters (as usual, some are on the right side, others on the wrong side, and still others just to the edge of the law) whose lives intersect again and again during US Marshal Carl Webster's career.

The dialogue, as one would expect in a Leonard novel, is outstanding. The characters leap off the page and the reader is transported to another time and place. This is a true winner of a crime novel, and a shining entry in Elmore Leonard's long-standing career at the top of the genre.

In this Prohibition-era western, Elmore Leonard sets Carl Webster and Jack Belmont, two violence-prone young men, on a collision course. Webster, a young U.S. Marshall known as "The Hot Kid," has chosen to align his aggression on the right side of the law, though at times his vanity, supreme confidence and desire for publicity get in the way of his better judgment. Belmont, son of an oil baron, has matured from a deviant adolescent, to small-time bank robber, and finally to public enemy number one. When Webster has Belmont arrested for gunning down a half-dozen Klansmen, Belmont swears he'll come after the showboating U.S. Marshall at the earliest opportunity.

While plowing through the pages to see which man's tragic flaws will prove his undoing, the reader is treated to a series of spicy scenes involving gun molls, bank robberies, and wild-west style gunfights. With a number of memorable secondary characters, including some fast women, an "Unforgiven"-esque journalist seeking true-life crime stories for his magazine, and a lawman who uses his Klan connections to dispense his own brand of perverted justice, Leonard has penned a tale bursting with atmosphere and crackling with his trademark authentic dialogue.

That said, Leonard's distinctively awkward phrasings render the narrative a little ragged at times, his indistinct points of view make it hard to find the voice in some scenes, and his ending is abrupt to say the least. Thus, four stars for what easily could have been five-star material.

-Kevin Joseph, author of "The Champion Maker"

Elmore Leonard has written the kind of old-time morality play that made Westerns so much fun to read and watch. One son of a millionaire has good values and wants to do the right thing. Another son of a millionaire simply wants to get his own way

. . . and won't let anything get in the way.

Carlos Webster is a cannily accurate shooter who decides to become a marshal after two early run-ins with bad 'uns. He's not there to kill though; he's there to see justice done. He'll try to bring a man in so he can get the electric chair rather than gun the escapee down.

Like the best of Elmore Leonard's modern criminal novels, the bad guys are dolts and worse. So there's a Keystone Kops quality to most of the action in the novel that lightens the book's otherwise violent, evil tone.

There is a lot of humor built around having Tony Antonelli of True Detective Magazine trying to get stories about the bank robbers and their gun molls. Some of it is hysterical if you let yourself go. I laughed until I cried in two places.

The book's main drawback is the way that almost all women characters are portrayed as having too easy morals. I doubt if many female readers will find this book to be as funny as most men will. There is also a lot of male fantasy in the book as bad guys pretend to be tougher than they are.

Carl Webster is drawn in interesting ways, but I found him to be a little too perfect to seem to be real.

You'll never find the Dust Bowl to be as humorously entertaining in any other book as in this one. Have a great beach read!

In his fortieth novel Elmore Leonard takes us back to 1930's-era Oklahoma in "The Hot Kid."

The kid is Carl (Carlos) Webster, who became a US Deputy Marshall at age twenty-one...his goal is be "America's most famous lawman."

"If I have to pull my weapon, I shoot to kill," is his trademark calling card. And, he is quite the lady's man as well.

The villain of the piece is millionaire's son, Jack Belmont...as bad as they come...but not a candidate for The Mensa Society. As a teenager he tried to blackmail his father about his mistress---when that failed, he kidnapped the mistress and was surprised when she recognized him. His goal is to be Public Enemy Number 1.

True Detective Magazine writer Tony Antonelli is the chronicler of the events that aid Webster's rise to fame. Carl Webster always makes certain to get credit when he shoots someone in the line of duty.

Like many of Mr. Leonard's works, a stunning ensemble cast vividly emerges to propel the story along with the inevitable showdowns, gunfights and hair-raising turns. Sardonic, witty and sharp dialogue enlivens the narrative.

The so-called heroes are not that much different from the criminals...there are not a lot of noble ambitions on either side of the law. Moral ambiguity and hard-boiled cynicism rule the day.

Nonstop action, sly humor, and the cinematic portraits of the women whose desire is to be a "gun moll" of a famous criminal are other high points in this rousing tale.

Elmore Leonard, one of our most acclaimed crime writers has hit the bull's-eye once again.

Elmore Leonard's novel "The Hot Kid" takes place in 1930's Oklahoma, rather than his usual Detroit or Florida setting. The book is set during the days when bank robberies were abundant. Names of famous bank robbers mentioned in the book include "Pretty Boy" Floyd, John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Bonnie & Clyde. The book is about Carlos "Carl" Webster, "the hot kid" of the marshal service. Carl shot his first felon when he was 15 years old and even ended up shooting a robber named Emmet Long who stole his ice cream cone as a child. Now he's looking for Jack Belmont, the son of an oil millionaire who has began robbing banks in his attempt to impress daddy and become public enemy #1. Meanwhile, Carl falls in love with Louly Brown, a young girl who wants to the world to think she is "Pretty Boy" Floyd's girlfriend (he's actually married to her cousin). There's also Tony Antonelli, a writer for True Crime Magazine, who begins tagging along with Carl and even has his car stolen by Jack Belmont a few times. As usual with Leonard novels, the book is filled with great dialogue and great, very colorful characters. I think it would be hard for few to argue that Leonard is one of the great crime novelists of all time. "The Hot Kid" is an interesting tale and I like the setting of the novel, but it fails to rank with books like Rum Punch, Out of Sight, and Get Shorty. Any fan of Elmore Leonard and even people who have never read any of his books can read this book and enjoy it.

GRADE: B

Two things are certain-an Elmore Leonard novel will never be boring and it'll be hard to put down.

Fortunately, Leonard's novels can be read in a hurry.

That's not to say they're simplistic. His plots are generally as complex as his characters, though this one isn't quite up to form. He has the virtue of never overwriting, one more of us should but don't emulate.

In an interview I read Leonard said he learned early on to "..leave out of his novels the stuff people don't read."

You won't much description of the scenery, how people look or what they are wearing. What you will get are the salient facts and, usually, that's enough for us to visualize the other material.

"The Hot Kid" is the story of Carl Webster, a U.S. marshal in the days of Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. Webster is a crack shot who always gets his man and wants to be America's most famous lawman. His nemesis is Jack Belmont, the spoiled son of an Oklahoma oil millionaire, who wants to become public enemy number one.

Throw in a cast of other baddies, flashy women and assorted other characters and your in for a wild, fun ride.

Elmore Leonard is famed for his flare for dialogue which-along with his plain writing style-have made it easy to translate his works to film. If I have one criticism of this current novel it's that all the characters sound alike; even the women speak with this one voice I sometimes found hard to distinguish from that of the men.

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 time. Along the way he meets the pretty, young Louly who steals his heart. Parallel with Carl's story is the story of Jack Belmont, the son of privilege who turns to a life of crime. As there paths intertwine there can only be one ending. A showdown between lawman and criminal.

The Hot Kid is one of the most enjoyable books I have read yet by Elmore Leonard. The characters leap off of the page. This is one of those books screaming to be made into a film.

Carlos (Carl) Webster sees his first murder at fifteen. A year later, he kills his first man--a cattle rustler trying to steal his herd. When he turns eighteen, he joins the marshall's service. Carl gains a reputation as a man who keeps his cool, but who shoots to kill. Jack Belmont is just a bad guy. When he was a kid, he let his sister nearly drown. Later, he tried to blackmail his father, kidnapped his father's girlfriend, and blew up one of his father's oil storage tanks. Louly Brown had a crush on Pretty Boy Floyd, but he never paid much attention to her. Her brief career as a gun moll doesn't last long when the police, led by Carl Webster, track down the man she's running with.

Set in prohibition America and the depression, THE HOT KID explores a period of American history when Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and Pretty Boy Floyd were active, when gangsters were romantic, and when mobs ruled cities. Author Elmore Leonard spins a deceptively involving story about men who don't say much, who live larger than life, and who keep their cool.

In Leonard's stories, no one is completely good and conventional morality is badly bent. While no one is good, there are those who are completely bad. It is a compelling and disturbing world. Leonard ups the emotional intensity as Jack increasingly disorganizes in his attempt to carve out a place for himself in a world where criminals glory in becoming America's Most Wanted.

Warning: THE HOT KID is hard to put down. I sat down to read it and pretty much didn't do anything else all day.

Carlos (Carl) Webster sees his first murder at fifteen. A year later, he kills his first man--a cattle rustler trying to steal his herd. When he turns eighteen, he joins the marshall's service. Carl gains a reputation as a man who keeps his cool, but who shoots to kill. Jack Belmont is just a bad guy. When he was a kid, he let his sister nearly drown. Later, he tried to blackmail his father, kidnapped his father's girlfriend, and blew up one of his father's oil storage tanks. Louly Brown had a crush on Pretty Boy Floyd, but he never paid much attention to her. Her brief career as a gun moll doesn't last long when the police, led by Carl Webster, track down the man she's running with.

Set in prohibition America and the depression, THE HOT KID explores a period of American history when Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, and Pretty Boy Floyd were active, when gangsters were romantic, and when mobs ruled cities. Author Elmore Leonard spins a deceptively involving story about men who don't say much, who live larger than life, and who keep their cool.

In Leonard's stories, no one is completely good and conventional morality is badly bent. While no one is good, there are those who are completely bad. It is a compelling and disturbing world. Leonard ups the emotional intensity as Jack increasingly disorganizes in his attempt to carve out a place for himself in a world where criminals glory in becoming America's Most Wanted.

Warning: THE HOT KID is hard to put down. I sat down to read it and pretty much didn't do anything else all day.

The Hot Kid is yet another example of Elmore Leonard doing what he does best. Creating fascinating characters and then giving them plenty of authentic sounding dialogue to further enhance their appeal.
Prohibition era Oklahoma is brought to life in the pages of this delightful novel of cops and robbers. The Hot Kid of the book's title is Carl Webster, a youth with nerves of steel, who becomes a Deputy U.S. Marshal working out of the Tulsa, Oklahoma office. Carl likes the idea of bringing bank robbers to justice and in fact he's very good at it. If some folks want to refer to him as a living legend, well who is he to argue?

Another Oklahoman by the name of Jack Belmont is about the same age as Carl. Jack decides to pursue a career as a bank robber despite the fact his father is a millionaire oilman. Sadistic and not very bright, Jack assumes the role of nemesis to the vain but heroic "Hot Kid". Recording much of the action is Tony Antonelli, a reporter for True Detective magazine. Tony is into his work so completely, the two cents a word he receives as payment is merely icing on the cake. One has to believe he'd happily do the same work for free. There are plenty of other interesting characters as well. Like Carl's taciturn father, Virgil. He's a proud veteran of the Spanish-American War who just can't quite figure out how his son came to be such an unreluctant object of hero worship. And those beautiful, brazen gun molls, Crystal, Louly and Heidi. Why their presence alone makes the book worth reading.

The Hot Kid is great entertainment. If you like quirky characters and great dialogue, this is the book for you.

Elmore Leonard has done it again with this delightful novel set in the 1930s featuring a host of unique and unforgettable characters. The Hot Kid is Carlos ("Carl") Webster, who we first meet as a 15-year old shooting a gangster who in the process of robbing a store in Oklahoma, kills an officer and dares to steal Carlos' ice cream! By the time Carlos has become Carl Webster of the U.S Marshall's service, he is one cool dude and a force to be reckoned with, and he certainly meets his match as he tangles with an array of unique and unforgettable characters.

With strong characterization, snappy and fun dialogue, and a fabulous story, Leonard quickly lures us into the world of gangsters and gun molls until we can taste this world and only with regret leave it at the book's finish.

This book is a prime example of why Elmore Leonard's reputation as the best crime fiction writer around is well deserved. A great story -- you will love it!

THE HOT KID is pretty much as advertised; the story of Leonard's Carl nee Carlos, Webster, US Marshall, from the beginning. He's a man of action and with a blazing temper and hidden under a cool exterior. He likes the spotlight and skirts the rules when he decides its appropriate. All In all, an interesting man to hang a novel on. But this one's just filled with too much, the ne'er do well son of an oil man, a couple of girls with questionable morals, 20's style gangster action and the Klan? All in Leonard's terse waste no words style; this just has a lot going on without a real pay-off. Is there any question how this is all going to turn out? This lacks any real suspense and that's a shame, because the idea of a US Marshall in the Roaring 20's is a good one. It's a fun read, but not quite up to Leonard's best work.

Elmore Leonard took a break from his contemporary crime novels to go back in time to the 1930s when bank robbers (Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd et. al.) were the scourge of the nation. It was a time of transition. Al Capone had been put away, but his Italian-American cohorts were gaining steam despite J. Edgar Hoover's insistence that organized crime was not a major threat. The 1930s, at least in the Midwest, was a return to the Wild West days of lawmen tracking down bad guys the old-fashioned way, and Leonard captures the period beautifully without sacrificing his wonderfully spare prose and on-target dialogue. You will see the roots of his US Marshal Raylan Givens (PRONTO, RIDING THE RAP) in US Marshal Carl Webster, the hero of this book. THE HOT KID is another winner from a hottest writer in crime fiction.

This is definitely not your typical Elmore Leonard crime novel. It's a more mellow, peaceful, and lyrical affair that seems to come from another era, specifically the 1930s. Carl Webster, the main character, is shown from the ages of 15-28, as we see his rise from farm boy to US Marshall. His story is interweaved with real crime figures from the era, and some fictional characters as well. The story meanders, taking its time to get from beginning to end, with a healthy dollop of history thrown in so we get the flavor of the era.

There are none of the typical Leonard criminals who back-stab and cheat their crime partners, the humor is less frequent, and the violence is toned down.

I found this to be a gentle, absorbing read, but don't think I'd want to read another with the same main character.

Any dedicated Elmore Leonard fan will remember Carl Webster - indeed, the beginning of this novel - from McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales. That short story is the springboard for this book.

In many ways, this is a different kind of novel for Elmore Leonard. Like his westerns and Cuba Libre, it is a historical novel - set in the twenties and thirties. By grounding his story in famous gangsters of the past, Leonard makes this less of a comedy than his other novels - not that it isn't funny. There isn't really a plot: it recounts the adventures of Federal Marshall Carl Webster - the "Hot Kid" of the title. When a gangster steals his ice cream cone at the age of fifteen, Carl is set on the path of becoming a lawman. Good-looking, and a taste for getting his name in the newspapers, Carl becomes an outlaw's worst nightmare.

Along the way we meet Jack Belmont, a classic Leonard villain - stupid and without empathy. Jack has a rich father and could have all the money he wants if he just asked nicely, but he wants to be Public Enemy Number One instead. Inevitably, Jack and Carl cross paths.

The book isn't about the straight line getting Jack and Carl together - it's about all the diversions along the way. You learn a lot about history and the history of crime reading The Hot Kid...and a lot about writing too.

The novel sizzles with mystery and intrigue as the characters pursue wealth and fame in so many ways in the 1930s.

There is a rich kid who turns to a life of crime, a kid who finds a new identity in fighting crime, a reporter who adds more myth to the mix of covering the cops and robbers, with their lives merging in a closing scene in a book that is one of the finest Elmore Leonard has written.

A number of characters that are introduced in this fast-moving novel propel the action, as good and evil seemingly embrace, then careen off into different directions, only to meet again.

Set in an era of Prohibition, speakeasies, gun molls and tommy guns as hot as the souped-up rides used to rob banks or chase the crooks, The Hot Kid is a great and highly believable novel.

There are writers. There are novelists. There are storytellers. And there is Elmore Leonard who seeming transcends classification.

Leonard is at his lyrical, mythmaking best here as he tells the story of a little Oklahoma boy who is robbed of his ice cream cone by a two-bit bank robber, an event that shapes his future.

Carl Webster grows to be a man and becomes a Deputy United States Marshall during the heyday of bank robbers. Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonny and Clyde capture the nation's attention, while J. Edgar Hoover, Melvin Purvis and - of course - Carl Webster seek their own headlines.

In a millieu of dirt-poor farmers become millionaires through the Oklahoma oil boom, whores with good hearts, a rich man's son turned bad and the muse of Tony Antonelli, crime reporter, all the stories mix and blend thanks to Leonard's gifted pen.

Each of the characters is rich and full-blooded. The scent of Oklahonma's backroads and Kansas City's opulent brothels and their denizens is strong as the trails of bandits, lawmen, rich men, demented mothers, prostitutes and demented sons cross and re-cross.

Elmore Leonard has crafted many a fine tale: but "The Hot Kid" is undoubtedly one of his best and a thoroughly satisfying read.

Jerry

This novel being my first Elmore Leonard, I must say it took me a little while getting use to his minimalist style. Once I got use to it though, the story just played out like a movie. I love it when a book makes you forget that you're actually reading---something that I come across very rarely.

Like many have already stated, Leonard's dialog is phenomenal, and well above any of his competition.

I'm not one who usually seeks out a period story, but with this one, I was so enthralled with what was going on, I didn't notice it, it was wonderful, another character, if you will.

I'm already seeking out my next Leonard novel to read.

Happy Reading.

Elmore Leonard has been a favorite of mine for years and years. He can tell a story about anything and make it fascinating. I got all wrapped up in the characters and took my Kindle with me everywhere I went. Another thing I appreciate about his writing. His women are consistently interesting and not at all what you would expect - not a namby pamby among them. Loved it.

Pretty Boy Floyd
This novel is Elmore Leonard's "Pretty Boy Floyd", only the " Hot Kid" is U.S. Marshal Carl Webster.
This story seems to be one of dogs fighting wolves in human terms. The author is a scholar who has done his homework on names and dates. This wild depression era of the popular bank robbers is told from a cop's point of view. About hard men and real people this is a very readable
book in which Elmore Leonard comes down on the diametrically opposite side he took in "Valdez is Coming" Valdez Is Coming and is probably better even than Pretty Boy Floyd in plot and content.

Life in depression-era America was rough, painfully so. And Oklahoma, smack in the middle of the Dust Bowl, was a particularly bad place to be. Poverty, alcoholism, (despite Prohibition), violence, racism, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, were realities of the times. The phrase, "Brother, can you spare a dime," came to epitomize the humiliation and hopelessness of 13 million unemployed Americans. Severe droughts made farming impossible, and thousands of folks were driven off their land by starvation. Many blamed the banks and the wealthy financiers for the country's economic devastation. Crime rates rose drastically with the advent of the Great Depression and Prohibition, and robbing banks became an up-and-coming career path. In 1933, police jurisdictions ended at state lines, the FBI was in its infancy, fast cars and machine guns were easily available - if not for sale, than for stealing. On hand to take full advantage of this get rich fast manner of money making was a motley assortment of criminal masterminds, sociopaths, romantics, and adventurers. Some of the era's most famous Public Enemies - John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the Barkers - became iconic figures.

Elmore Leonard's latest novel, "The Hot Kid," is set in 1930's Oklahoma, against a backdrop of moonshine, speakeasies, mine strikes, oil wildcatters, gangsters, gun molls, prostitutes and plenty of bank robberies. The plot focuses on Carl Webster and Jack Belmont, two colorful characters who could make Bonnie and Clyde, in fact, the entire Barrow Gang, seem boring in comparison. The men's backgrounds are similar but their paths could not have diverged more.

Carl Webster, born Carlos, is the grandson of a pureblooded northern Cheyenne woman who married a white man. Their son, Virgil, is Carl's father. His mother, Graciaplena, was Cuban. She is deceased. Virgil, a hero of the Spanish American War, is a pecan farmer, who hit paydirt when oil was discovered on his land. When Carl was just 15, he witnessed an armed robbery and murder in an Okmulgee, Oklahoma drugstore. The kid took it personally because Emmet Long, one of the hold-up men, called him and his father breeds and greasers. He also ate Carl's peach ice cream cone - took it right out of his hand. Later that same year, Carl shot and killed a cattle thief. He warned the man first, "If I have to pull my weapon, I'll shoot to kill." This warning, unintentionally, turns into his tag line. Thus, Carl begins to move toward his inevitable career in law enforcement - what else? He eventually becomes a Federal Marshall, who acquires fame early-on for killing a famous bank robber - the very same gangster who once stole his ice cream cone. Webster is also known for possessing a strong code of honor. A clothes horse too, with an enormous ego, he's one hot kid!

Another Oklahoma boy, and a peer of Carl's, is Jack Belmont. To be blunt, Jack is a bad seed - a real psycho. His dad, Oris, is an oilman who, unlike Carl's father, found oil the old-fashioned way - he worked for it. His discovery of black gold was no accident, but the end result of a long arduous process. And he is a very wealthy man. His only son, however, is a major disappointment, and no amount of hard work can change that. At age ten, Jack tried to drown his sister, but only succeeded in crippling her for life. He also tried his hand at rape, assault, a racially motivated shooting, and other shenanigans, before getting down to real business. He attempted to blackmail his dad, when he could have easily gotten the money by asking. When Oris cracks-down and thinks to make a man of Jack by having him do some "boot camp" labor with some of the "hard cases" working the oil rigs, Jack blows up an oil tank in an explosion that can be seen miles away. Tired of the oil business, he embarks on a bank robbing spree across Oklahoma and Kansas. He does try his hand at kidnapping and forgery first. He thinks he is the hottest kid around! Maybe he means hotheaded!

Webster is soon on Jack's trail. And Jack, longing to reach the pinnacle of his career by becoming Public Enemy Number One, hunts Marshall Webster, whom he has sworn to kill. That would bring in plenty of publicity!

Tony Antonelli, another important personage, is a journalist who writes for True Crime, and documents the exploits of Carl Webster and of Jack Belmont. He doesn't particularly want to be "hot," he just wants to become an award-winning writer. And lovely Louly Brown is definitely hot. She had a "thing" for Pretty Boy Floyd, loves our protagonist but is drawn to the outlaw life.

Elmore Leonard's quirky characters are some of the most fascinating around. He paints a vivid portrait of Depression-era life in the Dust Bowl, including some of America's most notorious crime figures, turned folk heroes. As always his dialogue is great, as is his dark humor. However, for some reason I was not as drawn into the plot as I had hoped to be. Leonard's narrative is well written, and I am fascinated by the period. I just kept waiting for the main story to begin, and when I discovered I was in the middle of it, I felt kind of let down. I seem to be the only reader, of the hundreds of thousands who bought this book, who feels this way - so chalk it up to my quirkiness. I definitely recommend the novel and am not at all sorry I read it.

This is Elmore Leonard's 40th novel, proving that some talented, creative people are not slowed down by the process of aging.
JANA

As usual, this Leonard book sings. Set in Oklahoma, you can feel the dust and the heat and the tempo of the times. Leonard's virtuoso dialogue skills, his simple plot turns and unique characters all combine to make this a most enjoyable read. In my mind it's one of his very best. I've never read Leonard's westerns but this hybrid between a western and a modern crime thriller are tantalazing enough that I intend to read the westerns. How dull the literary landscape would be without Elmore Leonard -- despite his age, still, in my mind, the hot kid of literature.

Elmore Leonard is like sex and pizza - even when he's not great, he's very good. I, like a few other reviewers here, was a tad underwhelmed by the plot momentum, but enjoyed the characterizations. There were a few minor twists when what I thought would've been a good climactic scene occurred only partway through the book, but even the characters didn't always seemed interested in what was going to happen next.

That said, it was Elmore Leonard, which is far better than what most writers consider their best work.

Leonard creates a fairly good work here, but the dialogue is really what brings this Prohibition epic its sense of quality. That being said, the book is interesting enough, but isn't anything that hasn't been done before. A minor entertainment that is worth a look but is not nearly as good as something like Out of Sight.

Elmore Leonard has written many a novel in a variety of settings. This one came as somewhat a surprise. 1930's of Oklahoma. Prohibition, gangsters, bank-robbers. What Leonard has done is write a novel that will bring you back and relive life in this era. An entertaining novel that you'll likely read through in a day or two. Great characters and a good plot that will please most Elmore Leonard fans.

Recommended.

This book is up there with Elmore Leonard's Best. I'd rate this book, Just behind "Glitz" and along side "Unknown Man #89", and "City Primeval".

Set in the Depression era "Good Old Boys" Oklahoma. Learned how "Pretty Boy" Floyd received his nickname. Good Father Son Duo.

Elmore Leonard has created another great character - Carlos Webster. Sure hope to read more about him soon. The story moves pretty fast and keeps your interest. No great surprises or twists, just good story-telling and interesting characters. As it takes place in the 30's there is no complicated forensic science; just deduction and logic to track down the bad guys.

This is great read, right up there with Get Shorty. I love the new character and the simplicity of the plot.
TFConfessions of a Catholic Cop

The setting may be Oklahoma; the time is the 1920s and 1930. Yet The Hot Kid is classic Elmore Leonard. Unforgettable characters, engaging dialogue and crisp pacing mark the author's fortieth novel.

Grounded in gangsters and gun molls of the past, this is an historical novel. It is less funny than his previous novels. Yet it is still a great summer read. There is not much of a plot.

It recounts the adventures of Federal Marshall Carl Webster - the "Hot Kid" of the title. When a gangster steals his ice cream cone at the age of fifteen, Carl becomes a lawman. Good-looking, with a flair for publicity, he is an outlaw's worst nightmare.

The Hot Kid may be different, but it hard to put down. A reader cannot expect more than that from Elmore Leonard.

This is great read, right up there with Get Shorty. I love the new character and the simplicity of the plot.
TFConfessions of a Catholic Cop

After you have read all the reviews on the book....It's a good no-brainer...if you like the way Elmore Leonard writes....quick, humorous, reacting to situations the way you can only dream of...read it...

Since reading Get Shorty and other books by Elmore I haven't read any of his books that were as good. Usually a writer writes a good book then others not as good. I was not disappointed with the Hot Kid. It was good. Had lots of adventure, suspense and just the right amount of love interest.