Rum Punch - Hardcover

Leonard, Elmore

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385307659 ISBN 13: 9780385307659

Publisher: Delacorte Press, 1992

When the feds arrest her for running machine guns for gun dealer Ordell Robbie, former flight attendant Jackie Burke must decide whether to keep quiet about her boss or spill the beans and face his wrath. (Adventure & Suspense).

Review:

Readers who come to Rum Punch after having seen Quentin Tarantino's 1997 film adaptation, Jackie Brown, are in for a few surprises. Mainly, Jackie Burke is a 44-year-old white woman (but just as hard-boiled as Pam Grier), bail bondsman Max Cherry has a much more prominent role in the proceedings, and the novel takes place in Miami--not Los Angeles. The core of the story, however, remains the same: when the cops try to use Jackie to get at Ordell Robbie, the gunrunner she's been bringing cash into the country for, she hatches a plan--with help from Max--to keep the money for herself. It all comes together in the traditional Elmore Leonard style, where the conversations are as crisply written and suspenseful as the action scenes. --Ron Hogan

From the Publisher:

"Unputdownable ! Beneath its fast moving surface, Rum Punch is a novel about growing old, about the way that time changes us, about the old dream of starting over again and its cost."
-- The Washington Post Book World

"Expertly blended...potent Dutch"
-- Chicago Sun Times

"Rum Punch is Leonard's best work! He brilliantly reaffirms his right to the title of America's finest crime-fiction writer."
--People