Raylan

December 12, 2011
MWA Grand Master Leonard’s fast-paced, darkly humorous third crime novel starring straight-shooting, supercool U.S. marshal Raylan Givens (after 1995’s Riding the Rap) pits Givens, a former coal miner from Harlan County, Ky., against three very different female crooks—a transplant nurse illegally harvesting organs, a viperous coal company vice president, and a poker-playing Butler University coed, who may or may not be robbing banks to support her habit. The author’s trademark witty dialogue and adeptness at developing quirky, memorable characters overshadows the novel’s plot, which reads like a series of interconnected short stories. For example, the plights of perpetually stoned dope dealers Dickie and Coover Crowe; their infamous father, Pervis “Speed” Crowe; and out-of-work miner Otis Culpepper serve to highlight the economic issues affecting Kentucky coal country. Readers will want to see more of the endearing Givens, the focal character of Justified, the popular FX TV series that starts its third season in early 2012. Agent: Jeff Posternak, the Andrew Wylie Agency.

Leonard's Stetson-wearing U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens has been demoted to rural Kentucky, but that doesn't reduce the killing and excitement that always seem to swirl around him. Narrator Brian D'Arcy James expertly voices a broad range of characters. While the listener has some difficulty in discriminating between blacks and whites (especially females) in the Southern drawls, it's a minor problem. James also enhances Leonard's famously pithy dialogue with perfect pacing and timing. The TV series "Justified" is based on the Raylan Givens character. M.C. (c) AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine