Elmore Leonard Popular Books
Elmore Leonard Biography & Facts
Elmore John Leonard Jr. (October 11, 1925 – August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures. Among his best-known works are Hombre, Swag, City Primeval, LaBrava, Glitz, Freaky Deaky, Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight and Tishomingo Blues. Leonard's short story "Three-Ten to Yuma" was adapted as 3:10 to Yuma, which was remade in 2007. Rum Punch was adapted as the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown (1997). His writings were also the basis for The Tall T, as well as the FX television series Justified and Justified: City Primeval. Among other honors, he won the 2009 Pen Lifetime Award and the 2012 Medal For Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Anthony Lane wrote that Leonard "was hailed as one of the best crime writers in the land. High praise, but not quite high enough, and some way off the mark. He was one of the best writers, and he happened to write about crime. Even that is not entirely accurate. It's true that his novels (more than forty of them, with another left unfinished at his death) enjoyed the company of criminals and of those who tried to stop them in their tracks. This was seldom hard, since, as Leonard delighted in showing us, crime—more than anything, even politics—allows men of all ages to disport themselves across the full range of human ineptitude. Boy, do they screw up." Early life and education Leonard was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Flora Amelia (née Rive) and Elmore John Leonard. Because his father worked as a site locator for General Motors, the family moved frequently for several years. In 1934, the family settled in Detroit. In the 1930s, there were two news items that would influence many of Leonard's works. From 1931, until they were killed in May 1934, gangsters Bonnie and Clyde were on a rampage. In 1934, the baseball team the Detroit Tigers made it to the World Series, winning the Series in 1935. Leonard developed lifelong fascinations with sports and crime. He graduated from the University of Detroit Jesuit High School in 1943 and, after being rejected for the Marines for weak eyesight, immediately joined the Navy, where he served with the Seabees for three years in the South Pacific, where he earned the nickname "Dutch", after Tigers pitcher Dutch Leonard. Enrolling at the University of Detroit in 1946, he pursued writing more seriously, entering short stories in contests and submitting then to magazines for publication. He graduated in 1950 with a bachelor's degree in English and philosophy. A year before he graduated, he got a job as a copy writer with Campbell-Ewald Advertising Agency, a position he kept for several years, writing on the side. Career Leonard had his first success in 1951 when Argosy published his short story "Trail of the Apaches".: 29 During the 1950s and early 1960s, he continued writing Westerns, publishing more than 30 short stories. His debut, The Bounty Hunters, was published in 1953 and was followed by four more Westerns. His early work already showed his affection for outsiders and underdogs. He developed his characters through dialogue, each defined by their speech. For many of his stories he favored Arizona and New Mexico as settings. Five of his westerns were adapted as movies before 1972: The Tall T (1957), 3:10 to Yuma (1957), Hombre (1967), Valdez Is Coming (1971), and Joe Kidd (1972). In 1969, his first crime story, The Big Bounce, was published by Gold Medal Books. Leonard differed from well-known names writing in this genre– he was less interested in melodrama than in his characters and in realistic dialogue. He wrote the screenplay for, and the novelization of, Mr. Majestyk (both 1974); Lane called the latter "the best novel ever written about a melon grower." The stories were often located in Detroit but he also liked to use South Florida as a setting. LaBrava, a 1983 novel set in the latter locale, was praised in a New York Times review, which said Leonard moved from mystery suspense short story writer to novelist. His next novel, Glitz (1985), an Atlantic City gambling story, was his breakout in the crime genre. It spent 16 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list, and his subsequent crime novels were all bestsellers. In his review of Glitz, Stephen King placed Leonard in the company of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and John D. MacDonald. Leonard believed that his books during the 1980s were becoming funnier and that he was developing a style that was more free and easy. His own favorites were Freaky Deaky (1988), about ex-hippie criminals and the Dixie Mafia story Tishomingo Blues (2002). Some of Leonard's characters appear in several novels, including mobster Chili Palmer, bank robber Jack Foley and the U. S. Marshals Carl Webster and Raylan Givens. At the time of his death his novels had sold tens of millions of copies. Among film adaptations of his work are Jackie Brown, (1997), based on Rum Punch and described as an "homage to the author's trademark rhythm and pace"; Get Shorty (1995); Out of Sight (1998) and the TV series Justified (2010—2015) and Justified: City Primeval (2023—). Nearly thirty movies were made from Leonard's novels, but for some critics his special style worked best in print. Personal life He married Beverly Clare Cline in 1949, and they had five children together—two daughters and three sons—before divorcing in 1977. His second marriage in 1979, to Joan Leanne Lancaster (aka Joan Shepard), ended with her death in 1993. Later that same year, he married Christine Kent and they divorced in 2012. Leonard spent the last years of his life with his family in Oakland County, Michigan. He suffered a stroke on July 29, 2013. Initial reports stated that he was recovering, but on August 20, 2013, Leonard passed away at his home in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills of stroke complications. He was 87 years old. One of Leonard's grandchildren is Alex Leonard, the drummer in the Detroit band Protomartyr. Style and influence Commended by critics for his gritty realism and strong dialogue, Leonard sometimes took liberties with grammar in the interest of speeding the story along. In his essay "Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules of Writing" he said: "My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it." He also said: "I try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip." Leonard has been called "the Dickens of Detroit" because of his intimate portraits of people from that city, though he said, "If I lived in Buffalo, I'd write about Buffalo.": 90 His favorite epithet was given to him by Britain's New Musical Express: "the poet laureate of wild assholes with revolvers". His ear for dialogue has been praised by writers such as Saul Bellow and Martin Amis. "Your prose makes Raymond Chand.... Discover the Elmore Leonard popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Elmore Leonard books.
Best Seller Elmore Leonard Books of 2024
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The Moonshine War
Elmore LeonardProhibition is a big headache for some . . . and a big payday for others, the fearless entrepreneurs with little respect for the law of the land. With $125,000 worth of Kentucky's ...
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Moment of Vengeance and Other Stories
Elmore LeonardThe New York Timesbestselling Grand Master of suspense deftly displays the other side of his genius, with seven classic western tales of destiny and fatal decision . . . and t...
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The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard
Elmore LeonardThe New York Timesbestselling Grand Master of suspense deftly displays the other side of his genius, with seven classic western tales of destiny and fatal decision . . . and t...
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Last Stand at Saber River
Elmore LeonardA quiet, haunted man, Paul Cable walked away from a lost cause hoping to pick up where he left off. But things have changed in Arizona since he first rode out to go fight for the C...
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Charlie Martz and Other Stories
Elmore LeonardA collection of fifteen stories, eleven of which have never been previously published, from the early career of bestselling American master Elmore Leonard.Over his long and illustr...
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When the Women Come Out to Dance
Elmore LeonardThe unrivaled master of crime’s first collection of noir stories. . . . “If you thought you knew all the places Elmore Leonard could take you, think again.”Mike LupicaIn more than ...
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The Elephant of Surprise
Joe R. LansdaleThe latest roaring, rollicking adventure from Edgar Awardwinner Joe R. Lansdale, featuring oddcouple P.I.s Hap and Leonard.Hap and Leonard are an unlikely pairHap, a selfproclaimed...
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The Sacrifice of Lester Yates
Robin YocumFinalist for the 2022 Dashiell Hammett Award for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing Lester Yates is the notorious Egypt Valley Strangler, one of the country’s most pro...
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The Switch
Elmore Leonard“My favorite Leonard book….He writes the way Hammett and Chandler might write today, if they sharpened their senses of ironic humor and grew better ears for dialogue.” Dallas Morni...
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City Primeval
Elmore LeonardTHE INSPIRATION FOR JUSTIFIED: CITY PRIMEVAL ON FX“As gritty and harddriving a thriller as you’ll find….The action never stops, the language sings and stings.” Washington Post...
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Snatch
Gregory McdonaldWhether it’s a Middle East oil crisis in the 1970s or the London Blitz during WWII, world events have a way of breeding trouble on the home front, too. That’s how Toby Rinaldi, son...
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Quiver
Peter LeonardOne of the most riveting and powerful new voices in crime fiction, Peter Leonard delivers a razorsharp debut thriller.Kate McCall's husband has been killed by her son, Luke, in a t...
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Three-Ten to Yuma and Other Stories
Elmore LeonardThe New York Timesbestselling Grand Master of suspense deftly displays the other side of his genius, with seven classic western tales of destiny and fatal decision . . . and t...
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Stick
Elmore Leonard“A slambang, nobull action thriller…and nobody but nobody writes better dialogue.” New York Daily NewsIt’s an established fact: Elmore Leonard is “the uncontested master of t...
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Pronto
Elmore Leonard“Speedy, exhilarating, and smooth. Nobody does it better.” Washington Post“The man knows how to grab youand Pronto is one of the best grabbers in years.” Entertainment WeeklyFans o...
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Glitz
Elmore Leonard“Intense….A higher caliber of entertainment.”New York TimesElmore Leonard’s Glitz is a killer…in the best possible way. “The King Daddy of crime writers” (Seattle Times) electrifie...
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Escape from Five Shadows
Elmore LeonardNew York Times Bestselling AuthorIt was supposed to be impossible. No man could break out of the brutal convict labor camp at Five Shadows. Until they locked up Bowen. He was like ...
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Road Dogs
Elmore Leonard“Road Dogs is terrific, and Elmore Leonard is in a class of one.”Dennis Lehane, author of Shutter Island and Mystic River“You know from the first sentence that you’re in the hands ...
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Split Images
Elmore Leonard“Constant action and topnotch writing.” New York TimesA Palm Beach playboy who amuses himself with murder finds himself on a collision course with a vacationing Motown cop in Elmor...
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52 Pickup
Elmore Leonard52 Pickup is a riproaring thriller from master of crime fiction Elmore Leonard, the New York Times bestselling author of Raylan, Get Shorty, Killshot, and other novels of suspense....
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Get Shorty
Elmore Leonard“A Hollywood hit….Taut, inimitable prose and characters who could have only sprung from the mind of Elmore Leonard.” Detroit NewsThe Chicago Tribune has dubbed Elmore Leonard, “the...
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The Siberian Dilemma
Martin Cruz SmithFrom the awardwinning, bestselling author of Gorky Park and Tatiana comes a breathtaking new novel about investigator Arkady Renko“one of the most compelling figures in modern fict...
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Killshot
Elmore Leonard“[Leonard has] written so many firstrate crime stories that it would be fatuous to say Killshot is his best, but it probably is anyway.”NewsweekThe New York Times bestselling autho...
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The Death of King Arthur
Penguin Books LtdRecounting the final days of Arthur, this thirteenthcentury French version of the Camelot legend, written by an unknown author, is set in a world of fading chivalric glory. It depi...
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Ulysses
James JoyceArguably the greatest novel of the twentieth century, James Joyce's Ulysses remains as much of a shocking and redemptive testament to the human condition as it was when it was firs...
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Raylan
Elmore Leonard“Elmore Leonard can write circles around almost anybody active in the crime novel today.”New York Times Book ReviewThe revered New York Times bestselling author, recogniz...
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Touch
Elmore LeonardTouch is sensational suspense from the master of crime fiction, New York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard. A Michigan woman was blind and now she can see, after being t...
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Hombre
Elmore Leonard“Although known for his mysteries, Elmore Leonard has penned some of the best western fiction ever.”USA TodayGrand Master Elmore Leonard is justifiably acknowledged as one of the v...
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The Accomplice
50 CentThe New York Times bestselling multitalented artist makes his fiction debut with this electrifying novelThe Accomplice combines the imaginative pageturning suspense of S. A. Cosby’...
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Rum Punch
Elmore Leonard“Powerful…clever…astonishing…a delicious read.” Detroit Free PressRum Punch is classic Elmore Leonardthe electrifying thriller that served as the basis for the acclaimed film Jacki...
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Cat Chaser
Elmore Leonard“Cat Chaser is just what one would expect from Elmore Leonardquirky, peopled with oddball characters…and more twists and turns than a roller coaster.”Cleveland Plain Dealer“A super...
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The Hot Kid
Elmore LeonardThe undisputed master of the crime novel strikes again with this powerfully entertaining story, set in 1920s Oklahoma, that introduces one of the toughest lawmen ever to come out o...
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Fire in the Hole
Elmore LeonardIn this superb short fiction collection, Elmore Leonard, “the greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever” (New York Times Book Review), once again illustrates how the line bet...
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The Travels of Sir John Mandeville
John Mandeville & Charles MoseleyOstensibly written by an English knight, the Travels purport to relate his experiences in the Holy Land, Egypt, India and China. Mandeville claims to have served in the Great Khan'...
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Labrava
Elmore LeonardNew York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard delivers his trademark blend of action, sex, violence, humor, and hardboiled suspense in this thrilling crime classic, LaBrava.Joe ...
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Out of Sight
Elmore LeonardJack Foley was busting out of Florida's Glades Prison when he ran headon into Karen Sisco with a shotgun. Suddenly the worldclass gentleman felon was sharing a cramped car trunk wi...
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Riding the Rap
Elmore Leonard“Wicked and irresistible….Elmore Leonard is a literary genius.” New York Times Book ReviewBefore U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens began electrifying TV viewers across America (in the hit...
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The Big Bounce
Elmore Leonard“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!”New York Times Book ReviewWhen the alltime greats of mystery/noir/crime fiction are mentioned (John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Ham...
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Valdez Is Coming
Elmore LeonardTouching on the themes of the popular FX series Justified featuring U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens, Valdez Is Coming is New York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard's classic west...
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The Man from Battle Flat
Louis L'AmourLouis L’Amour brings the Wild West back to life in three unstoppable adventures!“Mistakes Can Kill You” is the story of Johnny O’Day. Halfdead from pneumonia and on the brink of gi...
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Freaky Deaky
Elmore Leonard“Wonderfully wicked…a nonstop, pedaltothemetal romp.” Chicago TribuneOverthehill former counterculture SDS revolutionaries decide to turn bombmakingand detonatingfrom a political s...
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Be Cool
Elmore LeonardGet Shorty’s Chili Palmer is back in Be Cool, a classic novel of suspense from New York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard. But this time it’s no more Mr. Nice Guy.After a sma...
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More Better Deals
Joe R. LansdaleFrom the Edgar Awardwinning author of the Hap and Leonard series, a hardboiled novel set in 1960s Texas in which a nononsense car salesman faces a tempting decision, a dangerous de...
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Mr. Majestyk
Elmore Leonard“Splendid…entirely engrossing.”Los Angeles Times“Firstrate…an excellent thriller…wellplotted and smoothly written…crackles with suspense.”Bergan RecordA classic crime novel, Mr. Ma...
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Mr. Paradise
Elmore Leonard“Sharp as an ice pick….You will love this excellent book.”New York Times Book ReviewElmore Leonard is the undisputed master, the “King Daddy of crime writers” (Seattle Times), in t...
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Elmore Leonard Raylan Givens 3-Book Collection
Elmore LeonardNew York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard's U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens is the mesmerizing hero of numerous books and the hit FX series Justified. Now the first three Raylan ...
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Elmore Leonard Classic 3-Book Collection
Elmore LeonardNew York Times bestselling author Elmore Leonard has written over forty books, including four about U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, the captivating hero of the hit FX series ...