Valdez Is Coming: Amazon.ca: Elmore Leonard: Books

Product Description

They laughed at Roberto Valdez and then ignored him. But when a dark-skinned man was holed up in a shack with a gun, they sent the part-time town constable to deal with the problem -- and made sure he had no choice but to gun the fugitive down. Trouble was, Valdez killed an innocent man. And when he asked for justice -- and some money for the dead man's woman -- they beat Valdez and tied him to a cross. They were still laughing when Valdez came back. And then they began to die. . .

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Tricked into shooting an innocent man by a wealthy landowner, constable Bob Valdez is determined to make the landowner pay the dead man's wife for his wrongful death. Reissue. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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First Sentence
Picture the ground rising on the east side of the pasture with scrub trees thick on the slope and pines higher up. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Good western adventure, Dec 23 2003

By	Brent Wigen (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Valdez Is Coming (Mass Market Paperback)

Elmore Leonard is largely known for his crime novels, but through the years, he's managed to squeeze in a few westerns. Valdez is Coming is one of these, and is an excellent adventure story.

Bob Valdez is a local part-time constable whom nobody really notices. When a shady character tricks him into killing an innocent man, he asks those responsible to share in the burden of supporting the dead man's wife. They refuse, beating and humiliating Valdez in the process. This pushes Valdez over the edge, and he kidnaps the bad guy's girlfriend and begins a killing spree against his gang of thugs.

As in all Leonard books, the dialogue here is great. The story is also very well-written. I enjoyed this book over the course of an evening; it's a very entertaining and quick 256 pages.

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5.0 out of 5 stars his finest, Oct 31 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Valdez Is Coming (Audio Cassette)

I've read a handful of other Leonard books and I've enjoyed them all. So far, this is his best. Yes, this is a western, but don't let that turn you away. It's just a good setting for a great story. Here, the law rests not with the police, but with a powerful, dislikable land owner, not with Valdez, the town's part-time constable. Valdez is tolerated, but laughed at, even bullied. When he and the landowner finally face off, Valdez proves himself tougher than anyone expected. Leonard has a gift for observing people and putting that observation to page. As always, he writes great bad guys, but here they are especially believable. You can understand their motivations. Leonard is a master at deadpan humor, and here its fully realized. You don't even know he's making a joke--until you start laughing. Read it and enjoy.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story, Sep 30 2003

By	William J. Tennison (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Valdez Is Coming (Audio Cassette)

Even though this was written in 1970, the setting is at the turn of the century. The book has a timeless quality. Leonard has a great knack of developing all of his characters.

I heard this on Cassette. The reader and production were a joy to listen to.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Elmore's Work in a Different Era
'Valdez is Coming' is classic Elmore Leonard, in more than one way. First, it was written in 1970, and was about the eighth novel (out of about three dozen) that he has written... Read more

Published on Jul 26 2003 by DJK ver 2.0

5.0 out of 5 stars Innocent
In this great western Leonard tells of Roberto Valdez who accidently kills an innocent bystander. Valdez is holed up in an old shack, and those who want him dead send in the local... Read more

Published on April 18 2003 by Max Inman

5.0 out of 5 stars solid
Elmore Leonard probably didn't become fashionable, or at least, a best seller until the last ten years. But I believe the novels he wrote in the 70's are his best. Read more

Published on Dec 29 2000 by James P. Hunt