Status
Available
Series
Genres
Publication
William Morrow Paperbacks (2012), Edition: Reprint, 400 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. HTML: "Speedy, exhilarating, and smooth. Nobody does it better." â??Washington Post "The man knows how to grab youâ??and Pronto is one of the best grabbers in years." â??Entertainment Weekly Fans of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of the hit TV series Justified are in for a major treat. The unstoppable manhunter with the very itchy trigger finger stars in Pronto, a crime fiction gem from the one and only Elmore Leonard, "the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever" (New York Times Book Review). The Grand Master justifies the overwhelming acclaim he has received over the course of his remarkable career with an electrifying thriller that sends the indomitable Raylan racing to Italy on the trail of a fugitive bookie who's hiding from the vengeful Miami mob. The legendary Leonard, whom the Seattle Times lauds as the "King Daddy of crime writers," proves that all comparisons to American noir icons John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, and James M. Cain are well deserved with this tale of very dirty doings and extremely dangerous men coming together in the birthplace of Puccini, Garibaldi, and La Cosa Nostra.… (more)
Media reviews
Wise guys, maybe. Bright guys, no. Elmore Leonard has captured them perfectly, a culture of vainglorious goons who have had their heyday.
User reviews
LibraryThing member bookworm12
Stephen King has written a monthly column for Entertainment Weekly for years now. Every so often he writes about his love for audiobooks and recommends some great ones. One name that he has mentioned frequently is Elmore Leonard. He says Leonard writing is even better in audio than on the page. So
Harry is a bookie in Miami when his shady mafia boss decides to have him whacked. He heads to Italy to escape and is pursued by his girlfriend, the hit man and a US Marshal. Interestingly Harry quickly becomes a supporting character in his own story. He’s a self-centered jerk and as a reader you don’t really care if he makes it or not.
Raylan Givens, on the other hand, is the US Marshal searching for Harry and he steals the show. He’s a cowboy with perfect manners and he seems to be a bit slow at first. Soon his determination and resourcefulness surprise everyone and you realize there’s more to him than meets the eye.
If you like Sue Grafton’s alphabet mysteries I think you’d like Pronto. It has the same kind of rapid pace, funny quips and quirky characters. I’ll be listening to more from Mr. Leonard.
Side Note: I didn’t find out that the FX series Justified is based on the character of Raylan until I’d already finished the book. I would think a show about him would make a great TV series.
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for my first book by Leonard I just had to try the audio version. Harry is a bookie in Miami when his shady mafia boss decides to have him whacked. He heads to Italy to escape and is pursued by his girlfriend, the hit man and a US Marshal. Interestingly Harry quickly becomes a supporting character in his own story. He’s a self-centered jerk and as a reader you don’t really care if he makes it or not.
Raylan Givens, on the other hand, is the US Marshal searching for Harry and he steals the show. He’s a cowboy with perfect manners and he seems to be a bit slow at first. Soon his determination and resourcefulness surprise everyone and you realize there’s more to him than meets the eye.
If you like Sue Grafton’s alphabet mysteries I think you’d like Pronto. It has the same kind of rapid pace, funny quips and quirky characters. I’ll be listening to more from Mr. Leonard.
Side Note: I didn’t find out that the FX series Justified is based on the character of Raylan until I’d already finished the book. I would think a show about him would make a great TV series.
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LibraryThing member gazzy
Fast, sharp - his books are the best movies you can read. A depiction of florida gangsters running around in Italy.
LibraryThing member snat
Why did I love this book? Two words: Raylan Givens, my favorite kick ass modern day cowboy with a fondness for ice cream.
Pronto, however, is not exclusively Raylan's story, though he figures as a prominent character once he does arrive on the scene. This is actually the story of Harry Arno, a
Harry's plan seems simple and obtainable, but, in true Leonard fashion, things go caddiwompas. The police want to bring down Harry's boss, Jimmy Cap, a 350 lbs. mob boss with a penchant for butterflies and sun tanning. So what do they do? They indirectly inform Jimmy that Harry's been skimming from him. The problem is that Harry has been skimming--for years, in fact. Jimmy Cap puts out a hit on Harry and, ciao, baby, Harry decides to move up his retirement date and leave the country. Raylan Givens is the U.S. Marshal who decides to go to Italy and try to save Harry from himself and from the hitman he knows has followed Harry.
I will readily admit to knowing nothing about the character of Raylan until watching Justified on FX. On the series, Raylan is a BAMF in a Stetson. That's played down a bit in the book, but I enjoyed it just the same. In the novel Raylan comes off as being a few bricks shy of a load, a good ol' boy in over his head, until you begin to realize that's the persona he's trying to project. It catches people off-guard and gives him an edge. No one knows exactly how to take him, but, make no mistake, Raylan is smarter than your average bear and is capable of extreme violence if necessary. If Raylan has a flaw it's that his sense of justice is so old school black and white that it creates a type of naiveté. In a world where words mean little, Raylan still expects a promise to mean something (after all, it's his willingness to take Harry Arno's word that allows Harry to elude Raylan's grasp twice and thwart his hopes of a promotion with the Marshals service). With his Old West code of ethics and hardscrabble Kentucky coal mining background, Raylan is a complex and entertaining character who makes for an intriguing juxtaposition with the world of Miami's crime syndicate. I'll definitely be reading Riding the Rap and tracking down the Raylan Givens' short stories to sustain me until the next season of Justified.
Pronto, however, is not exclusively Raylan's story, though he figures as a prominent character once he does arrive on the scene. This is actually the story of Harry Arno, a
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bookie who has decided that in one more year he's going to retire and go to Italy. Italy holds a special place in Harry's heart because he once shot a deserter there during World War II and it was there that he saw Ezra Pound (not once, but twice!). This leads to a peculiar obsession for a man like Harry--he's an expert on Ezra Pound (the English teacher in me loved this quirky little twist), can quote lines and reads Pound biographies despite the fact that he doesn't really understand his poetry (does anyone, really? And if you thought to yourself, "Why, yes, yes I do", then I think you're a damn liar). It's also amusing how his fixation on Pound affects those around him (his girlfriend, Joyce, memorizes all of the terrible things about ol' Ezra and even Raylan, after being assigned to escort Harry, goes to the library and checks out some of Pound's poetry, though he's puzzled by everything he reads and soon gives up). But I digress.Harry's plan seems simple and obtainable, but, in true Leonard fashion, things go caddiwompas. The police want to bring down Harry's boss, Jimmy Cap, a 350 lbs. mob boss with a penchant for butterflies and sun tanning. So what do they do? They indirectly inform Jimmy that Harry's been skimming from him. The problem is that Harry has been skimming--for years, in fact. Jimmy Cap puts out a hit on Harry and, ciao, baby, Harry decides to move up his retirement date and leave the country. Raylan Givens is the U.S. Marshal who decides to go to Italy and try to save Harry from himself and from the hitman he knows has followed Harry.
I will readily admit to knowing nothing about the character of Raylan until watching Justified on FX. On the series, Raylan is a BAMF in a Stetson. That's played down a bit in the book, but I enjoyed it just the same. In the novel Raylan comes off as being a few bricks shy of a load, a good ol' boy in over his head, until you begin to realize that's the persona he's trying to project. It catches people off-guard and gives him an edge. No one knows exactly how to take him, but, make no mistake, Raylan is smarter than your average bear and is capable of extreme violence if necessary. If Raylan has a flaw it's that his sense of justice is so old school black and white that it creates a type of naiveté. In a world where words mean little, Raylan still expects a promise to mean something (after all, it's his willingness to take Harry Arno's word that allows Harry to elude Raylan's grasp twice and thwart his hopes of a promotion with the Marshals service). With his Old West code of ethics and hardscrabble Kentucky coal mining background, Raylan is a complex and entertaining character who makes for an intriguing juxtaposition with the world of Miami's crime syndicate. I'll definitely be reading Riding the Rap and tracking down the Raylan Givens' short stories to sustain me until the next season of Justified.
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LibraryThing member ExtremelyAvg
I loved how Nicky finally got up the nerve to kill someone, and it was completely meaningless.
LibraryThing member mmtz
I’m trying to get caught up with Elmore Leonard’s novels. This one is a lean mean tale featuring U.S. Marshall Raylen Givens and bookie Harry Arno. The feds make trouble for Arno and his boss wants him dead. Arno runs to Italy in Ezra Pound’s old neigborhood and Givens decides to go after
Published in paperback by Dell.
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him. A satisifying story.Published in paperback by Dell.
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LibraryThing member nikon
A satisfying good bounce around story that gets you thinking ahead what may and may not happen
LibraryThing member AHS-Wolfy
Harry Arno runs a sports book in Miami for Jimmy Cap. The Feds want to take down Harry's boss so use him as bait by letting it be known that Harry is skimming off the top. Jimmy tells his enforcer, Tommy Bucks aka The Zip, to take care of it. When Harry manages to kill the guy who they send after
This is the first appearance of the US Marshal with a cowboy hat and a fondness for ice cream that has now become more famous for the TV show Justified starring Timothy Olyphant. It's pretty much a typical [[Elmore Leonard]] book with a few twists and turns in the story that keep you guessing and reading until the last page. He does throw in a few clunkers every now and then but I'm glad to say this isn't one of them. I've yet to watch the TV show but after reading this I definitely want to and I will also be reading the next book in the series at some point too.
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him is when the story starts to get interesting. Harry is arrested but manages to make bail and is being looked after by a US Marshal who goes by the name of Raylan Givens. Harry, for the second time in their lives, manages to give Raylan the skip and flies off to Italy to escape from it all having a fondness for the place due to an incident in his past. Raylan is none too happy about Harry doing a runner so uses some personal time to go after him. However, he's not the only one following the trail that Harry leaves and soon all the major players are in Rapallo and it's only a matter of time before things come together.This is the first appearance of the US Marshal with a cowboy hat and a fondness for ice cream that has now become more famous for the TV show Justified starring Timothy Olyphant. It's pretty much a typical [[Elmore Leonard]] book with a few twists and turns in the story that keep you guessing and reading until the last page. He does throw in a few clunkers every now and then but I'm glad to say this isn't one of them. I've yet to watch the TV show but after reading this I definitely want to and I will also be reading the next book in the series at some point too.
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LibraryThing member jawalter
I picked up the book due to my recent obsession with the new show based on Raylan Givens, and it was interesting to think about the ways the character was changed for television. I don't know if the book's version of Raylan would work in a different medium.
Actually, I'm not entirely sure he works
Nevertheless, aside from this one quibble, I enjoyed the book. Leonard seems to have a talent for seamlessly blending genres, as Pronto jumps between comedy, drama, suspense, and action as easily as its characters seem to jump between Miami and Italy. It's a slight read, but enjoyable.
Actually, I'm not entirely sure he works
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in this one, because I spent most of the book scratching my head over why Raylan is so invested in helping Harry. I can understand why he'd want to protect him, but Harry's such a loathsome character that his relationship with Raylan serves primarily to diminish the man.Nevertheless, aside from this one quibble, I enjoyed the book. Leonard seems to have a talent for seamlessly blending genres, as Pronto jumps between comedy, drama, suspense, and action as easily as its characters seem to jump between Miami and Italy. It's a slight read, but enjoyable.
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LibraryThing member ecw0647
An incongruous story at best. A modern cowboy wanna-be, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, has taken off for Italy in pursuit of Harry who is being sought by a number of felons who want to do him harm.
I started reading the Raylan Givens series after reading an interview with Elmore Leonard who remarked
But Raylan in Italy, the quasi-hick from Kentucky, just didn't make it. Italy was irrelevant (and Italy should *never* be irrelevant. Had it been set in Montana, it would have worked better.
It was certainly interesting to see how they pulled isolated incidents from the books and melded them into a coherent set of episodes on the TV show. The early scene in the pilot for example where Givens gives the bad guy 24 hours to leave town, is from Pronto, and Boyd's use of the rocket to wipe out the drug-dealing church, just after yelling "fire in the hole," is from the eponymous short story.
Givens is an interesting invention, although I kept looking around for the horses.
I started reading the Raylan Givens series after reading an interview with Elmore Leonard who remarked
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that the writing and character of Givens in the TV series was spot-on. I watched a couple of the "Justified", liked them, and then have been reading the Givens books. Generally, they are pretty good, except for the idea of shoot-em-up happy U.S. Marshals wandering around. But Raylan in Italy, the quasi-hick from Kentucky, just didn't make it. Italy was irrelevant (and Italy should *never* be irrelevant. Had it been set in Montana, it would have worked better.
It was certainly interesting to see how they pulled isolated incidents from the books and melded them into a coherent set of episodes on the TV show. The early scene in the pilot for example where Givens gives the bad guy 24 hours to leave town, is from Pronto, and Boyd's use of the rocket to wipe out the drug-dealing church, just after yelling "fire in the hole," is from the eponymous short story.
Givens is an interesting invention, although I kept looking around for the horses.
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LibraryThing member JBreedlove
Best Raylan novel yet but 4 typos and a little too much about Ezra Pound. Moved fast and provided good background for the start of the Justified series. He stayed well in character.
LibraryThing member Stahl-Ricco
I just want to say, that if it really is to be believed that Harry Arno took 47 years to plan his "retirement", he sucks! What a terrible plan! But deputy United States marshal Raylan Givens, now there's the man! The Zip shoulda' listened! But the Ezra Pound stuff, yuck.
LibraryThing member brone
Elmore is the man
LibraryThing member bjkelley
It's Elmore Leonard, so of course the writing is A-1. As far as the story goes, it was interesting, but I never like the Leonard books that travel outside the country as much as the books that all stay inside the USA. Just a personal idiosyncrasy.
LibraryThing member KittyCunningham
NOT the Raylan Timothy Oliphant plays on Justified. A little duffier, a little less together; still very groovy.
This was fun.
This was fun.
LibraryThing member A.Godhelm
It's probably a disservice to the book coming at it backwards from the series. Raylan is like a sidekick in this first outing, and even if the familiar stoic cowboy is there in outline, the show is a different, better, beast.
It's still an enjoyable read and Leonard's snappy dialogue has a very
It's still an enjoyable read and Leonard's snappy dialogue has a very
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evocative noir sense. Be prepared for a Sopranos episode's worth of italian mobsters and slang. Show Less
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Original language
English