Elmore Leonard follows up his major New York Times bestseller Maximum Bob with this razor-sharp story of an arms dealer, a bail bondsman, a pretty working girl--and a bait-and-switch scam as breathtaking as a Florida sunset. "Leonard's best work!"--People.
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Elmore Leonard follows up his major New York Times bestseller Maximum Bob with this razor-sharp story of an arms dealer, a bail bondsman, a pretty working girl--and a bait-and-switch scam as breathtaking as a Florida sunset. "Leonard's best work!"--People.
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Add this copy of Rum Punch to cart. $2.29, fair condition, Sold by Seattle Goodwill rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Seattle, WA, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Dell Publishing Company.
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Add this copy of Rum Punch to cart. $2.36, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Dell Publishing Company.
Add this copy of Rum Punch to cart. $2.36, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Dell Publishing Company.
Add this copy of Rum Punch to cart. $2.36, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Dell Publishing Company.
Add this copy of Rum Punch to cart. $2.36, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Dell Publishing Company.
Add this copy of Rum Punch to cart. $2.36, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Dell Publishing Company.
Add this copy of Rum Punch to cart. $2.36, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Dell Publishing Company.
Add this copy of Rum Punch to cart. $2.36, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Dell Publishing Company.
Add this copy of Rum Punch to cart. $2.36, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1992 by Dell Publishing Company.
Add this copy of Rum Punch to cart. $7.85, very good condition, Sold by Robert Harper Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Hyattsville, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1993 by Dell.
Elmore Leonard's novel "Rum Punch" (1992) tells a tangled tale of crime, violence and double-crossing written in a punchy style with sharp dialogue. The plot is confusing to follow at first, but it works out. Most of the story is set in West Palm Beach, Florida; but the setting is not the primary focus of the book. The main interest of the work lies in the snappy writing and in the characters and their relationships.
While the book is full of sexual scenes and of comments about women, the primary character is Jackie Burke, 44, a flight attendant for a cut-rate airline flying from Florida to the Bahamas. Jackie has been smuggling large sums of dirty money from the Bahamas to Florida derived from the illegal weapons trade. On one eventful trip, she is caught by Florida and Federal law enforcement agents. Jackie is eager to stay out of prison and wants to live through mid-life and beyond in comfort. She is thrice divorced. Jackie works both sides of the fence with law enforcement to stay out of prison and with a group of hard, violent criminals to play them off against each other and to try for a stash of cash. She is a tough, sharp no-nonsense woman in this novel.
When Jackie is first arraigned, she needs the services of a bail bondsman. Max Cherry, 57, has been in the trade for years but is growing tired of it, particularly because his business has been infiltrated by criminal elements. Cherry has long been separated from his artsy-craftsy wife but continues to give her money. When Jackie is bailed out by Ordell Robbie, a hardened criminal in his 40s involved in illegal arms and drugs, she is in danger of her life due to Robbie's fear that she will turn. Max becomes interested in Jackie and becomes involved in her difficult balancing act to save her life, stay out of jail, and walk off with some of a $500,000 stash.
The gritty story builds in tension and complexity with many acts of violence and many twists and turns as the cops, the crooks, and Jackie devise plots and counter -plots to get the money. The story also manages to show human situations, including the feelings of purposelessness expressed by many characters as they age. More than once, a character states that he doesn't know what he wants from life. The relationships of the crooks with each other and of law enforcement with each other also is explored. The developing relationship between Jackie and Max also is worked in to what otherwise would be a brittle, complex story of various groups trying to walk off with a heist.
"Rum Punch" is a fast-moving book which works as effective crime fiction and as writing with its characterization and style. The book was filmed by Quentin Tarrantino under the title "Jackie Brown". The Library of America, which aims to publish the best in American literature, has included "Rum Punch" in its three volume collection of crime novels by Elmore Leonard. It is valuable to see the breadth of American literature, including its tradition of crime writing. Leonard's writing is worth getting to know.
