Main description:

Carlos Webster was fifteen in the fall of 1921, the first time he came face-to-face with a nationally known criminal. A few weeks later, he killed his first man—a cattle thief who was rustling his dad's stock. Now Carlos, called Carl, is the hot kid of the U.S. Marshals Service, one of the elite manhunters currently chasing the likes of Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd across America's Depression-ravaged heartland.

Carl wants to be the country's most famous lawman. Jack Belmont, the bent son of an oil millionaire, wants to be public enemy number one. Tony Antonelli of True Detective magazine wants to write about this world of cops and robbers, molls and speakeasies from perilously close up. Then there are the hot dames—Louly and Elodie—hooking their schemes and dreams onto dangerous men. And before the gunsmoke clears, everybody just might end up getting exactly what he or she wished for.

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“...delivers the goods in a top-notch amalgam of sagebrush western and mob drama.”

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“...expertly crafted, deftly balanced.”

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“...Rips along like a bandit’s getaway car...THE HOT KID is Leonard at his best.”

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“Elmore Leonard unspools the definitive portrait of 1930s lowlife”

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“His 40th crime novel—and he just keeps getting better and better. ”

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“Smart writing about dumb crooks.”

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“THE HOT KID brims with the sly humor, sparse prose and razor dialogue we expect from the master”

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“The HOT KID is Elmore Leonard- a master- at his best.”

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“The writing is pitch-perfect throughout...it’s all pure Leonard, and that means it’s pure terrific.”

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“There’s nothing Elmore Leonard doesn’t know about stylish writing, and THE HOT KID is him at his compressed best.”

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“This is a novel that... is all about style, literary and otherwise.”

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“Wonderfully funny and hair-raising...THE HOT KID is splendid.”

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Clear, fast-paced and masterfully structured.”

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Praise for MR.PARADISE:“The dialogue and the characters crackle ...MR. PARADISE is a perfect crime caper from a master.”