Raylan: A Novel (Raylan Givens Book 3)

Look up "cool" in the dictionary and there you'll find a picture of Elmore Leonard.

Never read a book of his I didn't love. And I've read everything he's written. Twice.

This is my second reading of Raylan. If you like Justified, then you're certain to like this book. Like? Hell, lovvve!

I kid you not.

The thing about Elmore Leonard is that he makes it real. His villains are so devoid of moral character that even a priest would want to shoot them. In this story Raylon is after the Crowes again. They are the stereotypical hillbilly who would consider roasted rat a dining delicacy.
So easy to read it's like sitting in a booth at the corner tavern listening to Elmore tell you the story over a couple of drafts.

I love the FX series, "Justified" and this novel had to be its foundation. Watching a television series is satisfying but reading the novel moves the whole thing into another level. The action is fast, I'd like more character development, but it was a real quick enjoyable read.

This, has none of the witty dialogue or irresistible grittiness that is Leonard. the plot winds around and is disconnected. I lost interest three quarters of the way and skipped through chapters until the end. never before have I done that with his books.....have always hung on every word of dialogue....hard to believe he was really the author

Although this was more like a handful of short stories loosely strung together it was still an entertaining read. However if your only exposure to Marshall Givens was through the Leonard books and stories you might have a difficult time relating to this Raylan.
Although it lists Elmore Leonard as the author, if you have read earlier works by him you get the sense that he may have framed out the story lines but the actual writing might have been done by others. Did not take away from the entertainment level of the novel. Clancy, Cussler, Patterson and many others have done the same.
If you do not try to over analyse this and take it for what it is, you will probably enjoy it as I did.

So-so novel. Interesting characters and story, but the dialog and narration were odd, almost incomplete in structure and i found that distracting. I know some of it the local dialect, but the narration should be better than that. It's just not my style i guess. Some may really like it.

Elmore Leonard has been around for sometime and his novels are intricate, the dialogue conversations are as real and true as you can get. Even in his older age he still has the gift. I found his latest work still exciting, humorous, and a fun read as all of his novels are. There is the usual characters who he portrays perfectly. I would without any caution recooment this book highly

Typical Elmore Leonard- a good read. The character, Raylen, develops a little more from the short story, "Fire in the Hole". If you enjoy Elmore Leonard or Justified, it's definitely worth your time.

Raylan Givens is a hero without trying and funny without realizing it. His down home humor and straight shooting make him one of the most likable law men ever. All his stories written by Elmore Leonard are thoroughly entertaining.

I picked up this novel because of watching Justified. It's interesting to see how many of the character are approached differently in the book. Some, like Boyd and Art, feel less complex and developed. Overall a fun tea that has convinced me to check out more Elmore Leonard books.

I downloaded this one after reading the other 3 "Raylan" books. I finally relented to them because I am such a fan of the show. Though this book meshes several episodes into 1 book and doesn't follow any of them exactly I throughly enjoyed reading each of them. I'm sorry I didn't discover Elmore Leonard's work earlier and that there won't be anymore.

Raglan Givens is the coolest U S Marshall ever. And with Art riding his ads all the time sure makes for some fun come backs on Raglan's part. Do not ever forget Boyd Crowder he is so full of himself but does try to be a decent person.

I like Elmore Leonard stories anyway, but the Raylan stories are pretty amazing. They're funny, interesting and you have to keep reading to find out what happens. That said, if you read these stories, the TV series is not that great to watch afterward. I think the book is better.

Actually the TV series ( I am still enjoying season 3) is better than the books. Elmore Leonard is a fantastic writer and the books were great, but the TV writers, who draw from all of the books have done a really good job of character development. Much should be credited to the casting people that have chosen so well the actors to play the various parts.

Not the tightest story, but enjoyable as hell. Leonard seems to be writing stand alone stories for Justified episodes that link together by characters instead of themes. Still, the result is a bunch of great tales staring one of his best creations, Rayland Givens.

Our (anti) hero Raylan Givens charms his way through another adventure. Mr Leonard gives another tale of the Kentucky born and bread US Marshal, with his usual pace and gift for dialogue once again a delightful tale.

With Elmore Leonard, you can be pretty sure of what you'll get. A gritty story told in local lingo

with us - can't wait to see how Raylan is going to settle things. Fun to read.

Robert Davie

Not the tightest story, but enjoyable as hell. Leonard seems to be writing stand alone stories for Justified episodes that link together by characters instead of themes. Still, the result is a bunch of great tales staring one of his best creations, Rayland Givens.

Our (anti) hero Raylan Givens charms his way through another adventure. Mr Leonard gives another tale of the Kentucky born and bread US Marshal, with his usual pace and gift for dialogue once again a delightful tale.

With Elmore Leonard, you can be pretty sure of what you'll get. A gritty story told in local lingo

with us - can't wait to see how Raylan is going to settle things. Fun to read.

Robert Davie

Someone here said Raylan's character isn't fleshed out enough, that Elmore Leonard relies on the reader to have seen the television program based on the character instead. Excuse me, but that's bogus. I didn't even know there IS a television program based on the character, but I have read all of Leonard's books and Raylan Givens was already known to me.

Leonard's books are a hoot if you enjoy watching total klutzes try to be criminals. I won't say what happens to his suspects in this book - a triptych of interrelated tales of the underbelly of American class and undereducation. Raylan as usual is ultra, ultra cool and collected; his Glock, when he pulls it, is always dead on, you might say. Even a hat gets an intentional bullet through it.

I just wish Leonard would pen a 1,000-page book so I could spend more time inside his story.

Elements from this book have been pulled out for scattered episodes for the past couple of seasons. Thus, there can be a bit of disconnect for regular viewers that this is all in one book but it is also fun because its in Harlan and it is pretty close to the show. This was very enjoyable and a fast read.

So . . . the jacket is covered with blurbs: "the best suspense writer in America"; "the dean of crime writers"; "a master of narrative"; "the best in the business" and the one that's closest to the truth: "his writing is pure pleasure."

I had just finished the newest Robert Crais novel, Taken, and I turned to Elmore Leonard's Raylan. The Crais novel is full-tilt, piledriver suspense; the Leonard novel is pure pleasure. You gulp down the Crais novel a paragraph or page at a time; with Leonard you pause over every delicious word.

Leonard usually writes two kinds of novels--the dark, brooding, soul-searing book like Killshot or the lighter, Runyonesque story of lame criminals who generate more laughter than violence (Freaky Deaky, Get Shorty). Raylan (whose title character is now a fixture in the FX series Justified) is among the latter books, but with a strong regional twist. Leonard can nail Detroit, of course, and both Hollyweird and Miami. Here he nails the Kentucky coal country.

Fundamentally, Leonard is the master of dialogue, dialogue that reveals character, culture, inclination, motivation and essential nature in a single word. Black, white, male, female, wily fox or 78 IQ, hillbilly, faux hillbilly or more-hat-than-cattle Texan . . . he nails them all and always in the language of their time and place. Leonard lives in upscale Detroit; I grew up on the Kentucky border and have been through Shelbyville, Indiana on a Greyhound bus more times than I like to remember and Leonard knows it and feels it better than anybody, including the indigenous population.

Raymond Chandler thought that one of the hallmarks of crime writing was a realist approach to language; characters should speak as the real people of the time speak. Leonard has internalized that notion for almost 60 years. He's pushing 90 and he still has the best ear in the game. Plus, he doesn't shrink from the writing of dialect, which may be the most difficult thing to do in crime writing. It can't be mannered; it can't be distracting; it has to be authentic and it has to be readable, even with the distortions of spelling and grammar that it entails. Leonard is its absolute master.

And the story: it's actually three interconnected stories, with interlacing between what could have been three freestanding novellas instead of an episodic but integrated slice of Raylan Givens' life. The first deals with kidney thefts, the second with coal mining, the third bank thefts and high stakes poker. The third story introduces a character of whom we might see more: Jackie Nevada, Butler University senior and Texas hold `em player extraordinaire. All three of the stories are wonderful; all involve memorable characters who are represented with drop-dead perfect dialogue.

I was a little hard on EL in my review of Djibouti, which had its moments but never quite came together for me. Now I'm on the floor, worshipping. This is as close to perfection in regional crime writing as we're ever likely to get. Do not miss it.

Really interesting if you have seen the Justified series. So much of the lingo would not have clicked for me if I had not seen the series and understood what it "sounds like" spoken. When you know that, then the book really comes alive.

I've read other books by Elmore Leonard and enjoyed them. The story line in this book seemed to get off to a slow start. The characters could have more detail added to their lives to be like "people". Conversations between them were sometimes stilted. Not sure I'll do another.

Basically this book is a mix of three different stories from season 2 of Justified. I had a general idea of what was going to happen as I had already seen the show but Elmore Leonard is such an excellent straight forward writer that I just breezed the this book light and easy.

Wondering if this was written before or after the show Justified-which my husband and I loved. If it was written before,the director(his son??) stayed very true to the book-which was fun-in that Elmore Leonard gory sort of way. How he makes his characters tuen out to be so real is beyond me! I enjoyed reading the book off and on as a sort of pick me up. Its snacking compared to his earlier works. Sorry Mr Leonard has left the building.

This is my first recent Leonard book in a while. The style was unfamiliar to me, but before long I was hooked and read the last 50% in 2 days.
I liked the characters, particularly Raylan Givens.
I look forward to reading more of Elmore Leonard books.

Raylan Givens is my favorite Elmore Leonard character. For those of you who don't know, he's the character the TV series "Justified" is based on. Gripping, gutsy stuff. You can't go wrong with Elmore Leonard.

Purchased in the aftermath of Elmore Leonard's death, it did not disappoint. Is there any better writer of dialogue? His characters aren't so bad, either. The plot sags a little but, hey, nobody's perfect.

Not intended as Elmore Leonard's last book, Raylan stands as a fitting final chapter. Funny, fast, witty. This is one of his best. For fans of Justified, it reads like a secret chapter in that FANTASTIC show. One of the best books I've read this year.

whats not to love about raylan givens? there is a lot of stuff tht is used in the tv show., i like elmore leonard's style of writing like the gun thugs and the redneck pot growers in the hills of Kentucky

I didn’t feel like I missed anything starting with the last book of this series. It was a fun read. A majority of the dialogue was awesome, though in some spots it seemed more like back and forth between high school kids, and while from the Crowes that is almost excusable, from Art and Raylan, not so much.

None the less, all the dialogue is very entertaining, and all will make you, at the very least, smile. The characters are easy to love, all of them, even the criminals. Which is great, as it's a character driven story. Their mountain charm (and tongue) never grew old. There were a few parts the story fell flat, but overall, this short read kept you turning the page.

All of that said, I’d be lying if I didn’t put out there that I found the TV show better. Even still, I plan to read the rest of the books in this series, because I love, love, love, Raylan Givens. He's the best male character I've read in a long, long time.

As a fan of Timothy Olyphant since "Deadwood", I knew I'd like the TV series "Justified". When I found "Raylan" on sale at the store, I knew I'd like it, too. Enjoyed every moment while reading it. Leonard captures the Kentucky vernacular wonderfully. The novel has nowhere near as much sex as the TV series.