Killshot

A economical and fierce crime novel from a master of the genre.
As he’ll later explain to a fellow thug in Elmore Leonard’s typically gritty Killshot, “(o)ne shot, one kill” is something of a motto for Armand Degas. A systematic hired gun, Degas is living in a cheap motel when the novel opens, but soon he’ll be back at work, charged with the task of removing a guy known as Papa in exchange for a blue Cadillac.

Job done and car keys in hand, Armand takes to the road, crossing paths with a dopey deadbeat named Richie Nix. When they meet, Richie is in the process of running an extortion scam on a real estate broker. Armand and Richie decide to visit the salesman at his office, quietly pick up a bag of cash and leave without making too much trouble. But things go wrong, and suddenly the criminals are caught up in a violent struggle witnessed by several onlookers. Intent on removing any and all witnesses, Armand and Richie embark on a messy journey that will involve a home invasion and more bloodshed.

Leonard has written about 50 books, mostly crime novels, since the 1950s, and this one is as economical and fierce as just about any of them. The dialogue is brusque and feels authentic. He finds humor in characters who unwittingly say amusing things when they’re trying to be hard-edged tough guys. And the storyline feels real too, like one of the anatomies of a “crime gone wrong” that appear in tabloid newspapers.

Bruce Boxleitner, the former TV star, narrates, and though the different voices he uses for various characters sometimes bleed through to his straight narration, he does a solid job of reading Leonard’s superb crime story.