Skip to main content

Top Mysteries Challenge review: Stick by Elmore Leonard

Year of publication: 1983
Series and no.: Ernest "Stick" Stickley, 2/2
Genre: Thriller, criminal story
Setting & time: Florida, USA, 1980s


Ex-convict Ernest “Stick” Stickley comes to Florida and ends up being nearly offered up as sacrifice when a major narcotics wholesaler and his supplier square up over a deal gone wrong. He isn’t too upset about his friend who got killed instead of him, but wants the money he was promised in exchange for delivering a deadly package, and a guarantee that the bad guys will stop trying to kill him.


Can you say “Gary Stu”? I can, and his real name is Ernest Stickley, Stick to his friends. Stick is too perfect: extremely attractive to women (2 1/2 in one night...), cool under fire, always knows how to handle any situation, smart, and lucky when it comes to things like being in the right place at the right time. In fact, there seems to be no end to his abilities: near the end it wouldn’t have surprised me if he has suddenly exhibited an ability to fly like Superman. The main villain is a much more interesting character than Stick, as is the wannabe-wise-guy yuppie who employs him, while the other villain is as flat a stereotype of a Latino drug kingpin as anyone can imagine. But then this isn’t a character driven story – it is very much plot driven and the characters are merely there for the ride.

The plot is a loose series of interconnected events that slowly bring the reader and Stick towards a resolution, but rather then being about a man hell-bent on revenge, it is more a matter of Stick sort of drifting into a position of being able to get, by crooked means, what he feels he is owed, rather than consciously working towards getting there. But when he finally does take action, it is swift and sharp and brings about an explosive climax to the story.

Despite the flaws, this is a very readable novel, thanks to Leonard's smooth storytelling style and use of language. I will definitely be putting Leonard down on my list of authors I would like to read more books by.

Rating: 3 stars.

Books left in challenge: 75
Place on the list(s): MWA # 67
Awards and nominations: None I know of

P.S. Isn't that just about the most luridly coloured cover you have seen? Pure 80s, reminds me of Miami Vice.
Labels:

Comments

George said…
I've read just about all of Elmore Leonard's fiction. GET SHORTY might be his best book (I liked the movie, too). Leonard's style is unique. But, as you point out, plotting is a little loose.
October 10, 2010 7:05 pm
George said…
I also picked up a copy of Nancy Pearl's BOOK LUST TO GO: RECOMMENDED READING FOR TRAVELERS, VAGABONDS, AND DREAMERS. Terrific! If you like travel books, this is a must-buy!
October 10, 2010 10:07 pm
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

List love: 10 recommended stories with cross-dressing characters

This trope is almost as old as literature, what with Achilles, Hercules and Athena all cross-dressing in the Greek myths, Thor and Odin disguising themselves as women in the Norse myths, and Arjuna doing the same in the Mahabaratha. In modern times it is most common in romance novels, especially historicals in which a heroine often spends part of the book disguised as a boy, the hero sometimes falling for her while thinking she is a boy. Occasionally a hero will cross-dress, using a female disguise to avoid recognition or to gain access to someplace where he would never be able to go as a man. However, the trope isn’t just found in romances, as may be seen in the list below, in which I recommend stories with a variety of cross-dressing characters. Unfortunately I was only able to dredge up from the depths of my memory two book-length stories I had read in which men cross-dress, so this is mostly a list of women dressed as men. Ghost Riders by Sharyn McCrumb. One of the interwove...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bibliophile discusses Van Dine’s rules for writing detective stories

Writers have been putting down advice for wannabe writers for centuries, about everything from how to captivate readers to how to build a story and write believable characters to getting published. The mystery genre has had its fair share, and one of the best known advisory essays is mystery writer’s S.S. Van Dine’s 1928 piece “Twenty rules for writing detective stories.” I mentioned in one of my reviews that I might write about these rules. Well, I finally gave myself the time to do it. First comes the rule (condensed), then what I think about it. Here are the Rules as Van Dine wrote them . (Incidentally, check out the rest of this excellent mystery reader’s resource: Gaslight ) The rules are meant to apply to whodunnit amateur detective fiction, but the main ones can be applied to police and P.I. fiction as well. I will discuss them mostly in this context, but will also mention genres where the rules don’t apply and authors who have successfully and unsuccessfully broken the rules. 1...
9 comments
Read more

Meme: Top Ten Tuesdays: Top Ten Book to Movie Adaptations

This meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish . To see more favourite book-to-movie adaptations, head over there to see which movies the other participants have nominated. I am going to cheat and interpret ‘movie’ as ‘film’, so I can include television adaptations. Oscar and Lucinda , from the book by Peter Carey. Apart from the changed ending it is an incredibly faithful adaptation, with every character perfectly cast. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo , from the book by Stieg Larsson. This one actually improves on the book, which is well plotted but badly written. Cold Comfort Farm , from the book by Stella Gibbons. Perfect casting and quite faithful to the original. High Fidelity , from the book by Nick Hornby. Moving the story to America didn’t hurt it one bit. Fried Green Tomatoes (at the Whistle Stop Café), from the book by Fannie Flagg. Perfect casting and faithful to the story. Pride and Prejudice from the book by Jane Austen, the latest BBC adaptation. Incredibly f...
16 comments
Read more