The Big Bounce Audiobook By Elmore Leonard cover art

The Big Bounce

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The Big Bounce

By: Elmore Leonard
Narrated by: Campbell Scott
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“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!”
—New York Times Book Review

When the all-time greats of mystery/noir/crime fiction are mentioned (John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Robert Parker, etc.), Elmore Leonard’s name invariably tops the list. A true Leonard classic, The Big Bounce showcases all of the Grand Master’s acclaimed skills—twisty plotting, unforgettable characters, dialogue so razor sharp it could draw blood—as he chronicles the misadventures of a larcenous young man in a Michigan resort town who’s irresistibly drawn to a dangerous femme fatale, a rich man’s plaything, and the nasty little caper they plan to pull off together—if they can somehow manage to survive each other. The acclaimed creator of Raylan (aka U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, lately of TV’s smash hit Justified), Leonard has never lost the mojo that makes him “the King Daddy of crime writers” (Seattle Times).

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This is a surprisingly uninteresting book from Elmore Leonard. Jack Ryan, who is an interesting character in several other books, is very blah here. He is led around by the small head by a clearly psychopathic woman named Nancy. The book is set in an uninteresting town in Michigan. Also in the plot is another uninteresting character named Mr. Majestyk, who also appears in other stories. The ending of the book is a pleasant surprise in its brevity, but otherwise the book is...uninteresting. Campbell Scott is a rather cold and bloodless narrator. The son of George C. Scott, he has oddly inherited none of his father's fire in the belly. He can read, but his range is very limited, and he adds no sense of drama or urgency to the plot. Leonard was so prolific, and generally so memorable, that it is a letdown to hear something this weak. There is a bonus short story read by Taye Diggs at the end of the download. Maybe the publishers knew that a bonus would be a good thing. Taye Diggs does have a great voice, but the story is from "When the women came out to dance," a weak collection of Leonard's short stories. All said, I would give this one a pass, as there is so much wonderful Leonard out there, and some of it is read by Frank Muller!

Average Leonard; average narrator.

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The Big Bounce is a very good piece of crime fiction, a very lighthearted piece of crime fiction. I was thrown off by the last half of the audiobook being a short story. So the book is about 90 minutes shorter than what the length of the audiobook says it is. That being said, this is an enjoyable book about a small time criminal being duped by a seductive and cunning woman. I haven’t read anything else by Elmore Leonard but if the rest of his stuff is at these level, I’ll read more

Good book but includes a short story at the end

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Worst performance of any audio book I've ever listened to. The supplemental short story included afterwards was far superior to the novel itself. I am simply referring to the performance, Elmore Leonard is one of the all time greats and this performance didn't do him justice.

Performance is an injustice to Elmore Leonard

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I first got hip to Elmore from Get Shorty, then I saw this as a movie and I started looking into other books. He is by far one of my most favored writers. His way of story telling makes it seem so real. I just cannot get enough of his books!

always a good story from Elmore

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Although the audio book is copyright 2004, the dialog, the characters, and the situations all scream "The 60s!".

Elmore Leonard IS a good writer... but this is not an example of his best work.

I found the reader's voice a distraction as well; weird accents abounded, and the female character's "voice" (breathy and high-pitched) was not believable.

When was this book written?

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