Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 3/7/2019 + 1223 more book reviews

Elmore Leonard is another of my favorite crime fiction authors. I've read and enjoyed many of his works dating back to 52 Pickup and Cat Chaser in the 1980s. His novels are always gritty and pack a punch. The Hot Kid takes place in depression era Oklahoma in the 1930s. Carlos Webster came face to face with a hardened criminal, Emmett Long, when he was 15 who called him a greaser, stole his ice cream cone, and killed an Indian Cop. He later uses the name Carl and decides to be a U.S. Marshall after killing a cattle thief who was rustling his dad's stock. It is the era of the famous bank robbers of the time including Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson, and John Dillinger. Carl is the "hot kid" making a name for himself as one of the famous lawmen of the day. He ends up killing Long and many believe it was because of their meeting years before. He then ends up in a hunt to bring Jack Belmont to justice. Jack is the son of an oil millionaire who wants to be public enemy number one. Along the way he meets up with some gun molls and falls for Louly, who is related to Pretty Boy Floyd's wife. He also gets fame by being chronicled in True Detective magazine by a local writer.

Overall, I did enjoy this. However, sometimes I thought the storyline seemed to drag and was a little repetitious. It also never really had a real wow moment or conclusion as in most of Leonard's other novels. Some of the characters, especially the women, seemed also to be interchangeable. I did like the Carl Webster character who reminded me a lot of Raylan Givens, one of my favorite Leonard characters. I will be reading the followup to this novel, Up in Honey's Room soon.

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