Riding the Rap: A Novel (Raylan Givens Book 2)

Ellmore Leonard can't be beat for character development and pacing, but he's asleep at the wheel on this one. Good to see Raylan Givens in action again. He's even more confident in this book. The bad guy, Chip Ganz, wasn't completely believable, but his no good sidekicks were. Lots of cross/double cross action. I'm ambiguous about the psychic character (which is probably how the author meant her to be).

"Riding The Rap", "Fire In The Hole" and "Pronto" have all been adapted, in some way, to the small screen for the terrific series, "Justified". Although, for some reason, some of the characters' names have been changed, you are essentially getting authentic Elmore Leonard stories and dialogue in the series. "Riding The Rap" tells the further adventures of Harry Arno, Raylan's bookie buddy (?) after the events of "Pronto". Many of the elements of Pronto were adapted for the series without the Italy locale. In this story, A stoner, a muscle man and their ruthless leader kidnap Arno because a psychic woman has confirmed that Harry has money somewhere stashed away. These three ne'erdo-wells want it, and Raylan Givens needs to find Harry before something really bad happens. In the series, Harry Arno's character is a younger man named Arnold Pinter (get it? Harry, as in Harold, Arnold, as in Arno, Pinter, as in Harold Pinter), but the story is, although edited down for TV, essentially the same. It's a page turner, so enjoy!

Originally published in 1995, Riding the Rap is the sequel to Elmore Leonard's 1993 novel Pronto. Both books feature Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, the character who now stars in the television series Justified. This second installment picks up where Pronto left off, and Harry Arno is in trouble again. Looking to finally retire for good, Harry the bookie sets out to collect all the outstanding debts from his clients. When he goes missing, his ex-girlfriend Joyce worries that foul play might be involved, so she asks her new boyfriend Raylan to look into it.

Pronto was very much a character driven novel. Leonard introduced us to a crop of intriguing personalities, complete with complex pasts. In Riding the Rap, the characters are already established, and Leonard does little to develop them further. They are merely chess pieces arranged in an intricate cat and mouse game. Little is revealed about Raylan, Joyce, or Harry that we didn't already learn from the first book. In fact, Raylan's story tends to take a back seat to the interaction between the brutal yet bumbling criminals. The bad guys in this book are nowhere near as interesting as the mobsters in Pronto. Only one new character, Reverend Dawn the psychic, stands out as a compelling new addition to the cast. Despite all the twists and turns in the plot, there are few surprises, as Raylan spends the entire book working to find out things that Leonard has already revealed to the reader.

Despite my complaints, Leonard is an entertaining writer. His snappy prose is an effortless joy to read. Like a yummy bag of junk food, once you pick up the book it's difficult to put it down. Upon completion, however, you may scratch your head and ask, "Is that it?" Riding the Rap is a better than average crime thriller, but should by no means be considered a must-read by fans of Justified or other Leonard enthusiasts.

One of the best known characters created by Elmore Leonard is undoubtedly federal marshal Raylan Givens. Raylan's fame, however, rests less on the role he plays in Leonard's writings, but as the star of the brilliant F/X television series JUSTIFIED, easily one of the most critically acclaimed series on television. To the best of my knowledge (based on my own perhaps flawed reading) Raylan appears in three of Leonard's novels and one of his short stories. He was initially in the novel PRONTO, in which he intervenes to save the life of a Miami bookie and then later in RIDING THE RAP, in which he once again tries to save the life of the same bookie. Both are very good novels, though I would not rate either among his very best books, like SWAG or LaBRAVA. Raylan reappeared later in the short story "Fire in the Hole," which I have in his great short story collection WHEN THE WOMEN COME OUT TO DANCE, which is going to be reprinted shortly as FIRE IN THE HOLE. Clearly the publisher is trying to take advantage of the free publicity offered by the TV series.

The Raylan Givens of the books occupies a slightly different universe than the Raylan Givens of the television series. While Leonard has been enthusiastic about the series (although he is listed as an executive producer, he actually does no work on the show at all, the title undoubtedly being a part of the agreement for the producers of the show using his character), saying that Timothy Olyphant delivers his lines precisely the way he envisioned when writing them, he does insist that they didn't get the hat right. This is not a bad thing, in my opinion. Think of the photos you saw of Lyndon Johnson wearing his hat in the sixties. That is precisely the kind of hat that Leonard had in mind.

Apart from the hat, there are odd parallels between the two Raylan Givens. This is due in part to the fact that the TV series has borrowed liberally from the two novels and short story in which Givens originally appeared. For instance, Harry, the bookie in the two novels, appears on the TV series in a much younger incarnation. Several scenes in the books appear in the show. For instance, in an early Season One episode two gunmen are hired to go after Raylan. Encountering him on a road they try to approach him from a distance. One keeps saying, "We just want to talk." Raylan tells him that if he takes another step closer he is going to shoot him. He takes a step and Raylan shoots him. That scene original appeared in PRONTO. The entire plot of the novel RIDING THE RAP is utilized in a Season One episode, with a number of minor modifications. Nonetheless, the resemblances between the episode and the novel are deep and profound. The plot of the short story "Fire in the Hole" provides the narrative for the TV series Pilot, the only major difference being that Boyd Crowder did not die in the series. In fact, due to the TV series Boyd, who unquestionably was killed in the short story, was retroactively resurrected from the dead, the gunshot miraculously not damaging any major organs, all so that this enormously popularly character was able to appear in the novel RAYLAN.

There is a major difference between the three earlier Raylan Givens stories written by Leonard and the new novel RAYLAN. The first three clearly exerted enormous influence on the series, excepting the style of the hat. In the new novel, the TV series perhaps influenced the book more. The plot is not quite consistent with events in the TV series. I'm going to avoid many specifics because to delve into them would be to raise up spoilers for either the book or the series, so let me just say that characters in the book die who do not die in the series, while at least one character who dies in the show dies differently in the novel. It is almost as if the two exist in parallel universes, much like the DC superheroes in Earth One and Earth Two. The show and the novel are both alike and very different.

I'm not entirely clear on whether Leonard wrote the book prior to Season Two of the show (though I suspect he did) or whether he wrote it afterwards. I believe he probably wrote this last winter and that there is a chance he showed the manuscript to the show's writers. Either way, reading the novel after having seen Season Two of JUSTIFIED is a rather schizophrenic experience. As a result, while I love Leonard as a writer, I found I enjoyed this Raylan Givens story considerably less than the previous ones. There are some splendid moments (one involving a bathtub and a kimono is an example), but it almost felt as if in this book Leonard was trying to write about a character who had taken on a life of his own. It is as if Raylan has been publically redefined in a way over which Leonard has minimal control.

RAYLAN is really not a novel so much as a collection of overlapping short stories. The main stories are 1) the story of a group of thieves who steal kidneys off people and then try to sell them back, 2) Carol, born to a miner but now working for the mining company, and her employee Boyd Crowder try to pull off a deception about a crime, 3) a petty thug who forces young women to rob banks for him, and 4) a young woman who plays high stake poker, funded by a local horse breeder. None of the stories are at all bad, none quite like the TV series (though there are definite resemblances and it will be interesting to see if any of the new stories will feature in Season Three of the show), but none especially unforgettable.

All in all, I would rate RAYLAN the weakest of the four Raylan Givens stories I've read so far. I would rank them all in this order: "Fire in the Hole," RIDING THE RAP, PRONTO, and RAYLAN. Mind you, RAYLAN isn't bad; it simply isn't up to Leonard's highest standards. That is still higher than most of the books published today.

This is Leonard's second Raylan Givens novel, that the show 'Justified' is based on. Once again, Raylan seems to spend most of his time going off on his own, rather than sticking purely with his US Marshall services job.

Harry, from 'Pronto' , the first Raylan Givens' book, is a retired bookie who returns In this book. After running from the mob in book one, he is kidnapped by a trio of truly strange characters in this book. Raylan gets involved with a beautiful young psychic; an old woman whose memory has gone, and her druggie son who is selling everything out of her mansion; a brash you man who dreams of killing situations that make him look macho; and a truly crazy enforcer.

Raylan continues to be his own man. This quality makes him, and his stories, uniquely interesting. Sometimes I wish Elmore Leonard wasn't so stereotypically racist with every group one could possible think about in his books. The saving grace with this, I believe, is to show the stupidity of these attitudes. Gently macho is definitely in, as Raylan determines his own means of justice!!

"Riding the Rap" by Elmore Leonard is the sequel to his novel "Pronto" which I think it easily Leonard's funniest novel out of the ones that I have read. "Riding the Rap"

is not as funny as it's predecessor, but it's just as entertaining. We pick up with Harry Arno. Harry is an ex-bookie who has now retired from the business but is going around collecting outstanding debts with help from gardener turned gangster Bobby Deo. When Bobby goes to pick up a debt from a man named Chip Ganz, Chip gives Bobby a proposition (kidnap Harry and steal his three million dollar fortune) Bobby obliges. With the help of one of Chips "henchmen" whose name is Louis Lewis and a beautiful fortune teller named Dawn Navarro, Chip kidnaps Harry and puts him in his attic. They don't think anyone will care that Harry is missing, but they end up being wrong.

Harry's ex-girlfriend Joyce (Joy, when she was a topless dancer) misses him and asks her current boyfriend, cowboy hat wearing US Marshall Raylan Givens.

Raylan doesn't really care that Harry is missing but agrees to Joyce's request and begins to try to track down Harry. Now, Riding the Rap, is equipped with all of Leonard's spectacular dialouge, plot twists, and offbeat characters and it is just as good as "Pronto" but I just think "Pronto" was funnier. Due to the fact that the characters

Tommy Bucks and Nicky Testa (who hilariously critisized each other in "Pronto" are absent for reasons you'll discover after reading "Pronto"). But still a great read...

B+.

O.K. This one follows rayon, Harry, and the girlfriend about one year after Pronto left off. Basic back story is that in Pronto, Raylon took it upon himself to save Harry and girlfriends asses, saw someone who he befriended get killed in front of his eyes, then went back to Miami, and offed him (The Zip 'Tommy Bucks.)

This book has more characters than the first which makes it a little hard to follow if you aren't used to Elmore Leonard's writing style where he tends to stop whatever is going on, to tell some back story. It's like reading Snatch, or Once Upon A Time In Mexico, writing traits that I do not share with Elmore.

Riding the rap turned out to be a great read as I am used to this type of writing. The story follows Raylon Givens as he investigates the kidnapping of his friend Harry Arno, all the while dealing with the anguish of having killed a man almost out of cold blood, his girlfriend Joyce's opinion of that, and dealing with the fact that Joyce used to be intimate with Harry and now there is some tension in her and Raylon's relationship.

It seems quite comical some of the scenes involving the bad guys, Chip Ganz, Louis Lewis, and Bobby Deo, all of whom will be recognized from the show, but however, many things are different than the show and play out in different ways, this makes it quite enjoyable even though I watch Justified religiously, The story is still quite different and the surprising twists and turns still have Elmore Leonard's desired effect.

All in all, Riding The Rap is a great book, and I am now officially hooked on Elmore's writing. Four and a half stars!!!!!

What we have here is typical Elmore Leonard, but I mean that as a compliment. He has written another short but interesting story featuring mostly people whose lives would be easier if it weren't for all those silly rules society imposes on them. As they put it in "Goodfellas", people who can't turn to the police for help with their problems.
This one features a character from a former book, Harry Arno. He sends someone to collect a gambling debt, but gets the tables turned on him, at least temporarily. The collectee, instead of paying, talks the hired collector into joining him in a kidnap for profit (is there any other kind) scheme. And guess who the first kidnappee will be? Try initials H.A.
Leonard's books are delightful because most of the time the characters are interesting enough to want to get to know better. Harry's not a REALLY bad guy. He's fairly cultured, and prefers the finer things in life. He just has habits that happen to be against the law. So when the tables are turned, at least for the first time, we sympathize with him. And so on and so on, until things are more or less resolved, and we've gotten to know a few people we wouldn't ordinarily get know just a little bit better.

For those who care about writing, character development or are just plain are hooked on the FX series "Justified" this is a worthy read.

Elmore Leonard sets some standards for what pulp fiction can be: layers of plot, complex characters and non-stop action. However, lots of folks think this is not Leonard's best, and I defer to their more qualified reviews of this genre.

It would be enough to just get some insight into how Leonard came up with Raylan Givens, and how this original vision relates to Timothy Olyphant's portrayal on the television series (the show is built on Leonard's short story "Fire in the Hole"), but Leonard delivers more, with good men stuck making bad decisions and bad men, showing a touch of good, humans expectantly irrational to the end.

From where I sit, Olyphant's portrayal is dead center with the way Leonard wrote Givens into life.

Riding the Rap by Elmore Leonard

Even though I never read crime thrillers, I read the first chapter of this novel as a short story in the New Yorker and thought it was one of the best things I'd ever read. Not only does Leonard have the perfect ear for a certain kind of dialogue, but his talents extend to description, plot and even purpose.
The story just trips along, light in tone but building sympathy for the good guys, and for the bad guys--not sympathy, but a kind of humorous condescension, knowing as we do that they're going to lose.
Actually, there is a sympathetic moment for one of the crooks, who suffers with dignity a death in the family, when it turns out he is being wrongly suspected of a crime for racist reasons. But no worries: Rayland Wayans, the hero, gets it all sorted out. He's the perfect modern cowboy lawman: cool, terse, and stoic.
He makes a point--on which the title is based--about taking the consequences of one's actions; thus, the crooks he catches learn it's not personal.
Profoundly, Wayans himself must ride the rap: although he is as brave and virtuous as a person can be, he does use a gun for lethal purposes in the line of work, and this fact alone costs him the affections of someone important. Worse, he risks all to rescue a worthless man who turns out to be his rival in romance. It's his job.
But you leave the story feeling that all's right with the world, however unfair things may look. The book does a beautiful job of contrasting those who think life's not fair, and can't be reconciled, with those who get it. Here's Wayans explaining things to two carjackers and a third criminal:
"I don't take what you did personally. You understand? Want to lean on you. Or wish you any more state time'n you deserve. What you'll have to do now is ride the rap, as they say. It's all anybody has to do."

Elmore Leonard's writing is just fantastic as usual. As a fan of the show Justified I have been trying to read the series the show is based on. The FX show has done such a great job of capturing Leonard's writing and bringing it to life.

Compared to the truly wonderful Elmore Leonard classics, like City Primeval or Fifty-two Pickup, Riding the Rap doesn't come anywhere near the mark. It's disappointing and kind of flat, but very cinematic; surely it will make a good movie because with enough name-brand actors, the plot-line will acquire some lacquer that the book itself lacks. Nothing much happens. The characters are shallow, as if painted in watercolor, rather than the dense oil paints Leonard once used. All in all, it's a pity--disappointing in the extreme.

I love Elmore Leonard novels. I am always pleased to find a new one. I save them to read when I have a chance to savor them. However, sequelizations, even good ones, always leave me cold. I would swear even the bad guys are familiar, particularly Chip, although the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Don't get me wrong! Any Elmore Leonard book is worth reading, and this one was definitely very enjoyable

Add up a simplistic plot, an extremely small set of characters, some underdeveloped dialog and you get 'Riding the Rap'. As a fan of Eddie Bunker, Dannie Martin, Leonard, Tarantino, et. al., I was expecting more effort on EL's part. It's almost as if this was written in a few weeks to fulfill some clause in a contract.
Don't expect one of his finer works if you do pick this one up. It's cardboard-thin compared to his other works.

Elmore Leonard considered one the premier crime writers of our generation doesnt let up in Riding the Rap.

The usual dynamic relentless pacing is apparent which gives the books no dry spells.

The best part of this book has to be the characterizations and dialogues. Whacky characters include a Peurto Rican gardener gangster, a middle aged pothead gangsta wannabe, and a female psychic looking to make it.

As mentioned before, the pacing makes this book a gauranteed blast, highly recommended.

Having read other books by Leonard, I found "Riding the Gap" to be weak in comparison. The book is a tale of three unlikable hoods who kidnap a bookie with the intention of getting him to give them money he has in an offshore account. The kidnapping is investigated by a marshal, Raylan, who is a likable main character, but that's about it. He seems to stumble thorugh his investiagtion. There are few plot twists and little surprise. If this is the first Leonard novel you read, then you will probably enjoy it more than a seasoned reader and writer of hard boiled mysteries like myself. Instead of reading this book, try get "Get Shorty" by Leonard and then come back to this one. You will then recognize the tremendous skill of this writer.

Riding the Rap is classic Leonard. Loveable drunk ex-bookie Herry Arno is in trouble again! When two ex-cons and a rich boy pot head come up with a plan to make easy money, Harry is kidnapped! Can his former wifes stenson wearing cowboy cop boyfriend save him from certain monitary loss? Find out in this souped up sequel to Pronto!

...light, quick, entertainment reading that's always well written, stylish and effortlessly absorbing. I finished it in less than a day.

One does not pick up an Elmore Leonard book hoping to find Dostoyevsky. You don't want to read too many of his books at one time because after a while they quickly feel repetitive; but once every month or two is just about right. Would be great for a transcontinental flight.

Along with Rum Punch, this is the greatest book I have ever read. Leonard kept me turning the pages and the bad guys were the funniest I have ever read about(or met). The most greatest thing about this book was that I felt sorry for some of the sleaze-ball criminals. Read and enjoy.

It is unfortunate that I enjoy the TV series "Justified" so much. It made the book seems like a run of the mill detective novel. I don't think that I will purchase any more of Elmore Leonard's works.

In this sequel to PRONTO, Leonard brings back his favorite hero, US Marshal Raylan Givens. Leonard creates a collection of realer-than-life crazies, oddballs, and losers, deftly mixes them together, and comes up with another winner. The man never fails to please.