- Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Harper; First THUS edition (Dec 17 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060008776
- ISBN-13: 978-0060008772
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.6 x 2.6 cm
- Shipping Weight: 181 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #851,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
After 30-odd novels, one might think that Elmore Leonard has nothing left to prove. But Pagan Babies, a novel filled with his signatures (tight plotting, scathing wit, and that grittily realistic dialogue), shows once again why he sets the standard against which other crime novels are measured. In fact, Leonard has raised the bar. How many authors would dare use the Rwandan genocide as backdrop for a story that moves gaily between romantic comedy and a massive, labyrinthine con? More to the point, how many of them would pull it off?
Father Terry Dunn doesn't have qualms about substituting punishment for penance. If that means killing four Hutu murderers who slaughtered his Tutsi congregation, so be it. Being an instrument of divine wrath has certain disadvantages, however, so Dunn breaks camp and heads for Detroit, where he's welcomed by family, a five-year-old federal indictment for tax fraud, and a fast-talking fireball named Debbie Dewey. Fresh from a stint in prison for assaulting her former fiancé, Randy, with a Ford Escort, Debbie is out for revenge:
"I still can't believe I fell for it. He tells me he's retired from Merrill Lynch, one of their top traders, and I believed him. Did I check? No, not till it was too late. But you know what did me in, besides the hair and the tan? Greed. He said if I had a savings account that wasn't doing much and would like to put it to work... He shows me his phony portfolio, stock worth millions, and like a dummy I said, 'Well, I've got fifty grand not doing too much.' I signed it over and that's the last I saw of my money."It's only a matter of time before Debbie's desire for cold, hard cash and Dunn's fundraising for Rwandan orphans join forces in a carefully plotted financial assault on Randy's benefactor, Tony Amilia, who just happens to be the last of the old-school Detroit Mafia. Throw in a couple of hit men to whom loyalty is a foreign word, and you've got vintage Leonard: a fast-paced, roller-coaster ride of a novel where deceiver and deceived are gloriously shifty signifiers. --Kelly Flynn --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Buscemi offers a standard, dry reading of Leonard's sly new tale, which is appropriate (though his attempt at producing African accents is unconvincing) for the opening scene: Rwanda after its rabid interethnic violence. Unordained priest "Father" Terry Dunn ministers to the local congregants (47 of whom were slashed to death) and shacks up with his housekeeper until he decides to take matters of justice into his own hands. Having arrived in Africa on the lam from a criminal charge in the U.S., Terry returns home to Detroit under similar circumstances. But Buscemi's tone never becomes as lithe as Leonard's tale does in Detroit; his best effort at atmosphere is the smart-alecky tone he gives to Terry's confederate Debbie Dewey, an aspiring stand-up comic just released from prison for having tried to run over the ex-boyfriend who scammed her out of thousands of dollars. Debbie intends to scam him back and joins up with Terry, who has his own shady operation. Debbie's ex fronts for the mob and is in cahoots with a witless hit man called Mutt, who in turn allies himself with an ex-smuggling partner of Terry's. Everyone tries to protect his or her own interest in the rapidly circulating money. One can't help feeling that the abridgement has cut out some vital material before Terry's final return to Rwanda. All in all, though, this is a hugely entertaining story by LeonardAalbeit one conveyed only moderately well by Buscemi. Simultaneous release with the Dell hardcover (Forecasts, July 3). (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
THE CHURCH HAD BECOME a tomb where forty-seven bodies turned to leather and stains had been lying on the concrete floor the past five years, though not lying where they had been shot with Kalashnikovs or hacked to death with machetes. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
THE CHURCH HAD BECOME a tomb where forty-seven bodies turned to leather and stains had been lying on the concrete floor the past five years, though not lying where they had been shot with Kalashnikovs or hacked to death with machetes. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pleasurable,
By
This review is from: Pagan Babies (Mass Market Paperback)
This novel is in one way fascinating; I found it hard to understand at first as the characters are darkly funny and colourful. The author peppers his writing with stimulating details which makes the reading pleasurable.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Leonard's best!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Pagan Babies (Mass Market Paperback)
I've read 7 or 8 of Leonard's books, and this one is certainly the his highest achievement. The story is taught, the characters well drawn, and the writing some of his best.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Much better than The Hunted,
By Peter von der Stetten (Hannover) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pagan Babies (Mass Market Paperback)
I didn't like Leonard's last published book The Hunted at all (which was actually written a long time ago). Considering that this novel also moves its protagonists out of the US and even chooses genocide ridden Rwanda as a backdrop, I wasn't feeling too good about this one when I picked it up. I'm glad to report that I was wrong.In Pagan Babies, a fake priest returns from Rwanda to set up a con which isn't as huge as some of the other reviews might seem to declare, but which brings back familiar Leonard traits: great dialogue (even though even the african housekeeper seems to have adapted well to the characteristic talk of the protagonists), a likable hero (who is described in a wonderful way, which just about describes just about every Leonard hero I can remeber (and I have read about 25 of his books): "he was confident in a very low-key way, not trying to be cool and yet he was"), an interesting heroine, some dumb mafia guys and just enough plot to keep everything moving. It's not up to par with Leonard's best work, and the ending is a little sudden and not all that logical. But it's a huge improvement over the last book. Finally, I was one of the doctors who went to Rwanda after the genocide to help, and his description of the situation which could have been awkward works pretty well, especially considering the context of a crime caper. This I definitely didn't expect. And it made me wonder where Mr Leonard got his information.
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