- Hardcover
- Publisher: Delacorte Press; Lrg edition (Sep 1 1993)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385310870
- ISBN-13: 978-0385310871
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 544 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
In the world of Elmore Leonard novels, cops and criminals get by with a grudging respect for each other's capabilities:
Harry had been arrested by Buck Torres a half-dozen times or so; they knew each other pretty well and were friends. Not socially, Harry had never met Buck's wife, but friends in the way they trusted one another and always had time to talk about other things than what they did for a living.Right now, 66-year-old Harry Arno's in trouble. In order to get at his boss, Jimmy Cap, the feds told Jimmy that Harry's skimming off the sports book he runs, the idea being that Harry will testify in exchange for protection from Tommy Bucks (a.k.a. the Zip), Jimmy's enforcer. But Harry's got a few tricks up his sleeve. Then when a straight-shooting U.S. Marshall decides to spend his vacation tracking Harry down, all hell breaks loose. Set in Miami, Florida, and Rapallo, Italy, Pronto is another brilliantly executed combination of suspense and black humor from the master of crime fiction. --Ron Hogan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
From sly title through breath-stopping climax to funny wrap-up, readers will relish Leonard's ( Maximum Bob ) latest roller coaster ride. South Miami Beach bookie Harry Arno has been skimming from his mafia bosses for years. After a ruthless FBI man spreads a rumor to that effect, in an attempt to get Harry to testify against his boss, "Jimmy Cap," the 66-year-old bookie splits early on his long-planned retirement in Rapallo, Italy. Rapallo is soon mobbed, so to speak, as Harry is joined by his girlfriend, his new bodyguard, Jimmy Cap's Italian-born enforcer "the Zip," a handful of Italian thugs and a deputy U.S. Marshal, Raylan Givens. All engage in a deadly dance before Raylan manages to get most of the good guys back to Miami, where the dance begins again. Leonard's spare language and propulsive plotting still leave room for expositions of Sicilian slang, gamblers' lingo and Ezra Pound's private life. His colorful characters work together splendidly, especially the top trio: Harry, whose drinking, posturing and willfulness endanger everybody; the lethal Zip, who models himself, literally, on Frank Costello; and Raylan, whose Stetson and apparent goofiness mask a hard past in bloody Harlan County, Ky. The only problem with the book is that it ends. BOMC and QPB selection; major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
One evening, it was toward the end of October, Harry Arno said to the woman he'd been seeing on and off the past few years, "I've made a decision. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
One evening, it was toward the end of October, Harry Arno said to the woman he'd been seeing on and off the past few years, "I've made a decision. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,
By John J. Grassi (Norman, Oklahoma United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pronto (Mass Market Paperback)
Miami Beach bookie Harry Arno is used to playing the odds, skimming money from gangster Jimmy "Cap" Capotorto, and socking away a cool million in a Swiss bank account. The game turns sour, however, when the FBI tips off the mob about Arno's skimming in an attempt to scare and 'flip' Harry into becoming a federal witness against Cap. After Cap orders the hit, Harry shoots one of Cap's trigger men and flees to Italy, where he dreams of living an idyllic existence with his girlfriend Joyce in a villa by the sea. Following Harry to Italy is mob enforcer Tommy Bucks and U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens.Elmore Leonard is the best-selling author of more than three dozen novels. His work is often pipelined straight to Hollywood, where his novels have been adapted for several blockbuster films such as Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and Jackie Brown (Rum Punch). 'Pronto' is a strange pot-boiler, the plot driven by three characters: Harry, Tommy, and Raylan. Harry is constantly reminiscing about World War II; Tommy carries a picture of the old crime boss Frank Costello in his wallet; Raylan is a cowboy. All three men are anachronisms, stuck in a world without honor, while pining for a nobler past. Unfortunately, 'Pronto' is primarily the story of Harry Arno, one of the most unlikable protagonists in contemporary fiction. Harry is a self-centered jerk and liar, so lacking in human grace that he seems almost autistic, unable to relate to anyone. Note the following line, after the fortyish, childless Joyce admits to Harry a yearning to be a mother: "You're not the mommy type, kiddo." After Joyce's hotel room is trashed by Mafia killers, she mentions Raylan's kindness after he brings her luggage to the villa. Harry replies: "He's used to picking up suitcases, doing the heavy work. It's the kind of law enforcement he's in." There's an emotional deadness in Harry that makes the flesh crawl. Leonard has purposely cast Harry this way, perhaps as a literary stunt, yet it ultimately cripples what could have been an excellent thriller. When a reader becomes alienated from the novel's main character, any emotional investment in the story is lost. Readers will also wonder why Raylan and Joyce care so much about Harry, who treats both with condescending disdain. After one hundred pages into 'Pronto', most will be rooting for Tommy Bucks, vainly hoping that he will blow Harry's head off. Nevertheless, Leonard has an uncanny gift for staging dramatic action sequences that keeps the reader turning pages until the final bloody climax. When depicting the dark side of human nature, Leonard is masterful; yet he flounders when depicting noble men and women. Raylan is the sheriff in this spaghetti western, and Joyce is the long-suffering hooker with the heart of gold. Yet neither seems as real as Tommy Bucks, the most compelling character in 'Pronto', whose motive and ambition is clear and focused. 'Pronto' is a clever and entertaining novel, yet one senses that a piece is missing, a center to hold everything together. That missing piece is Harry Arno, who is as lifeless and vapid at the end of this novel as he was at the beginning.
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Leonard's best ever!!,
By G. Simmons "GS" (Washington State) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Pronto (Paperback)
This is one of the best Leonard's I have read. I can't understand the previous posts about this book (particularly the most recent one) For anyone who has the slightest comprehension/appreciation of crime/suspense fiction, just read the first chapter--one of the best openings to a crime novel I have ever read. Harry Arno is one of the great Leonard characters.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Uncharacteristically Weak,
By
This review is from: Pronto (Paperback)
Oddly enough, while I enjoyed the followup to this (Riding the Rap), I really didn't like Pronto. I found the prose totally pedestrian and hack. I couldn't really care about the good guys, and the "bad" guys were more interesting, but alas, not funny enough to save the experience. Of the four books of his I've read, this is definitely the weakest.
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