Elmore Leonard's Own Kind Of Freaky Deaky
The term "Freaky Deaky" occurs only once in Elmore Leonard's 1988 novel of that unusual name. Late in the book, one of the characters says: "We got a feel for that kind of action, huh? Know when to step outside, so to speak, let them do their own kind of freaky deaky. You remember that sexy dance? Man, we had people shooting each other over it."
Leonard indeed makes his own kind of freaky deaky in this novel which is set in the Detroit of the 1980s combined with the strong influence of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Not usually regarded as a socially conscious writer, Leonard in the novel is strongly critical of the student anti-war, drug-using, rock culture culminating about 15 years before the time of his story. The novel revisits many aging hangers-on to the youth culture who were at the time and who have remained selfish, violent, hard-eyed criminals rather than allegedly idealistic adolescents.
There are few, if any, good guys in this story. The primary and most sympathetic character is a police officer, Chris Mankowski, 38 who had spent time in college on the fringes of the youth movement and who subsequently served briefly in Vietnam. Mankowski, an expert on explosives, works on the bomb squad but is about to transfer to working on sex crimes. Mankowski wants to marry but has had difficulty keeping a lady friend. He gets advice from his aging father. After being dumped by his latest flame, Phyllis, Mankowski quickly becomes involved with an aspiring actress, Greta who has been raped by Woody, discussed below. Throughout most of this novel, Mankowski is suspended from the police force and acts ambiguously and on his own. In addition to his involvement fighting and perhaps being part of crime to a degree, this novel captures Mankowski's loneliness and search for love.
The other characters are more sinister. Skip and Robin are former lovers from the 60s who are indicted, jump bail, and serve prison sentences for their activities. Skip has become a stuntman for films while Robin writes pulp romances under a pen name. They reunite in Detroit with visions of taking out a pair of wealthy brothers, Woody and Mark, the Robin believes may have ratted on them to the authorities back in the day. The older and wealthier of the brothers, Woody, is a lethargic alcoholic who lives in a mansion and is tended to by his driver and aide, Donnell, a former Black Panther who has also served jail time. This shady group of characters, Skip, Robin, Donnell, and Mark share in common a desire to separate the otiose Woody from his money. The characters scheme together and separately. As with many criminals, they fight against one another as much as they work to fleece Woody, and its costs them. As Mankowski remarks in the story, one has to be [explicative] stupid to be a criminal.
The story is set in the streets and bars of Detroit and in the once opulent mansions now owned by bad guys. There is a lot of glitz, superficiality, drinking, and sex. The violence in the story centers around explosives -- on the use and the disarming of dynamite bombs. As in an old cartoon, the characters resort to dynamite frequently with mixed results.
"Freaky Deaky" was one of Leonard's own favorites among his novels and deservedly so. The novel reminded me of the 1960s and the turmoil that time brought to and left with our country. The story moves briskly, with its tangled plot and the machinations of its characters. Each of the primary characters are well-delineated, particularly Mankowski. And Leonard's dialogue is pithy and sharp.
This is a fine book that shows Leonard at his best as a writer about crime and about human character.
Robin Friedman
