Safe Return Doubtful

Leonard’s writing is all about the dialogue and this is a good example of him at his best.

An unlikely couple team up as business partners, car salesman Frank Ryan and Ernest Stickley, Junior, (‘Stick’), an unemployed cement-truck driver who had the temerity to rip him off right on his lot. Their new venture is armed robbery, to knock off supermarkets and liquor stores, which will give them plenty of time to sip cocktails in the sun and entertain women in their bachelor apartment.
Even though they are living the high life, Stick is edgy; two guys living together, working together and playing together, inevitably get on each other’s nerves.
After their 31st robbery, Frank decides to break some of his previously strict ten rules in order to rob the biggest department store in Detroit. This involves them working with other criminals who are more professional and more ruthless. It seems bound to end in tears.

Leonard invests much more time with his characters than the plot, which makes this different and a stand-out in its very large field. Another aspect is that it’s a crime novel, told from the perspective of the criminal, a rare thing.

My GoodReads score 4 / 5