Last Stand at Saber River

Elmore Leonard (1925—2013) began his long and extraordinary career as a writer of Westerns, most famously a story which was made into the film 3:10 To Yuma. He then became known for his remarkable sequence of crime novels, generally set in Michigan or Florida. A master of funny and threatening dialogue, his influence has been incalculable. Leonard received the Lifetime Achievement Award from PEN US and the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

In Last Stand at Sabre River, a Civil War veteran returns home to find a Yankee's private army living on his land, while another enemy waits to strike... 
 
Paul Cable has fought - and lost - for the Confederacy but when he returns home he finds that his own war is far from over. The Union Army and two brothers - and a beautiful woman - have taken over Cable's spread and are refusing to give it back. But Cable is determined that no one is going to take his future away - not with words, not with treachery, and not with guns.

Valdez is Coming

Valdez is Coming is a stunning tale of morality and justice in which a simple, honest man is transformed into a killer - and begins a long journey of revenge against those who scarred his soul for ever. 
 
Elmore Leonard's Western novels stand as some of the most vivid writing of his career. With all of his trademark sharp dialogue and set against a beautifully evoked landscape, this is a classic work that captures the wild and glorious spirit of the American West.

Cat Chaser

A lean and mean thriller about one man and the Mob from 'the crime laureate' INDEPENDENT 
 
The last time Florida motel owner George Moran was in the Dominican Republic he was in a uniform and people were shooting at him. Years later he's back looking for a girl he lost - and finding one he'd be better off without. Mary de Boya may be beautiful, but she's also the wife of a former death squad general in exile with mob connections. So much for the trip down memory lane - now Moran finds himself in a cat's cradle of drug deals, swindles, vengeance and murder.

The last time Florida motel owner George Moran was in the Dominican Republic he was in a uniform and people were shooting at him. Years later he's back looking for a girl he lost - and finding one he'd be better off without. Mary de Boya may be beautiful, but she's also the wife of a former death squad general in exile with mob connections. So much for the trip down memory lane - now Moran finds himself in a cat's cradle of drug deals, swindles, vengeance and murder.

52 Pickup

From the bestselling author of GET SHORTY and JACKIE BROWN a thriller spiced with blackmail and revenge 
 
 Detroit businessman Harry Mitchell is a self-made man, happily married for over twenty-two years and a pillar of the community. But then he slips - he meets a young 'model' and begins an affair. One night he arrives at his girlfriend's apartment and finds more than he bargained for. Two masked men have caught his misdemeanours on camera and now they want a cool hundred grand. But they've picked the wrong man, because Harry Mitchell doesn't get mad - he gets even.

Detroit businessman Harry Mitchell is a self-made man, happily married for over twenty-two years and a pillar of the community. But then he slips - he meets a young 'model' and begins an affair. One night he arrives at his girlfriend's apartment and finds more than he bargained for. Two masked men have caught his misdemeanours on camera and now they want a cool hundred grand. But they've picked the wrong man, because Harry Mitchell doesn't get mad - he gets even.

City Primeval

'As gritty and hard-driving a thriller as you'll find . . . The action never stops, the language sings and stings' Washington Post 
 
Clement Mansell knows how easy it is to get away with murder. The crazed killer is back on the Detroit streets - thanks to some nifty courtroom moves by his lawyer - and this time he's feeling invincible enough to execute a crooked Motown judge. Homicide Detective Raymond Cruz thinks the 'Oklahoma Wildman' crossed the line long before this latest outrage, and he's determined to see that the psycho does not slip through the legal system's loopholes a second time. But that means a good cop is going to have to play somewhat fast and loose with the rules - in order to manoeuvre Mansell into a showdown that he won't be walking away from.

Clement Mansell knows how easy it is to get away with murder. The crazed killer is back on the Detroit streets - thanks to some nifty courtroom moves by his lawyer - and this time he's feeling invincible enough to execute a crooked Motown judge. Homicide Detective Raymond Cruz thinks the 'Oklahoma Wildman' crossed the line long before this latest outrage, and he's determined to see that the psycho does not slip through the legal system's loopholes a second time. But that means a good cop is going to have to play somewhat fast and loose with the rules - in order to manoeuvre Mansell into a showdown that he won't be walking away from.

Picket Line and Other Stories

Three stories - the never-before-published 'Picket Line', along with 'Chick Killer' and 'Ice Man' - showing Elmore Leonard at his most terse and thrilling 
 
There are some lines you should never cross... 
 
Trouble is in the air at Stanzik Farms, Texas. The workers have gone on strike and tensions are threatening to boil over. As secrets come to a head and migrant workers, cops, foremen, agitators and union bosses collide at the picket line, things start to get very rough indeed. Elmore Leonard’s brilliantly orchestrated, never-before-published story Picket Line is accompanied here by two more terse tales of ruthless enforcers and tense stand-offs, riffing on the thing that made him great: his extraordinary ear for dialogue, and for creating situations where the stakes could not be higher for the loser.

These three stories--'Picket Line', 'Chick Killer' and 'Ice Man'--show Elmore Leonard at his most terse and harsh, able to conjure up a sense of profound unease and injustice in just a few words. 
 
The main story 'Picket Line' describes a tense stand-off between migrant workers in Texas, police and labour organisers in a brilliantly orchestrated series of arguments and negotiations, with the potential for terrible violence lurking in every exchange. 'Chick Killer' and 'Ice Man', set in Florida and California are two riffs on the thing that made Leonard great: his extraordinary ear for creating dialogues of negotiation, where the stakes could not be higher for the loser.

Elmore Leonard

Leonard has penned some of the best Western fiction ever.

A remote stage-coach station is closing down and a small group of travellers are thrown together on the last wagon out: the mysterious Doctor Favor and his wife, a traumatised girl, a brutal stranger called Braden, the station manager, the sharp-eyed young narrator and John Russell, known simply as 'Hombre'. The reader can be quietly confident that some of these travellers will not be reaching their destination alive. 
 
This superb Western, published in 1961, was one of the novels that made Elmore Leonard's reputation as someone who had single-handedly revived the genre. It was made into a film starring Paul Newman. 
 
Also included is Leonard's celebrated short story 'Three-Ten to Yuma'.

Elmore Leonard

Praise for Hombre & Three-Ten to Yuma

Leonard has penned some of the best Western fiction ever.

Books by Elmore Leonard

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