- Gebundene Ausgabe: 304 Seiten
- Verlag: William Morrow; Auflage: 1 (13. Januar 2004)
- Sprache: Englisch
- ISBN-10: 0060083956
- ISBN-13: 978-0060083953
- Größe und/oder Gewicht: 21,1 x 14,5 x 2,8 cm
- Durchschnittliche Kundenbewertung: 2.0 von 5 Sternen Alle Rezensionen anzeigen (1 Kundenrezension)
- Amazon Bestseller-Rang: Nr. 716.365 in Englische Bücher (Siehe Top 100 in Englische Bücher)
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It's a dubious proposition from the outset, destined to lead to trouble: Chloe Robinette, a high-end former Detroit call girl, asks her lingerie model roommate, Kelly Barr, to help her entertain a wealthy octogenarian trial lawyer named Anthony Paradiso. By "entertain," she means donning a cheerleader's skimpy skirt, but going topless, and doing rah-rah routines beside a TV set while Paradiso--"Mr. Paradise"--watches videotaped football games. A bit kinky for Kelly's taste, but she finally goes along--only to be caught in the middle of a contract hit on Paradiso and Chloe. Rather than tell what little she knows of these crimes, Kelly buys into a scheme, concocted by Paradiso's right-hand man, Montez Taylor, that could lead to a huge payoff from the lawyer's estate. But only if the 27-year-old Kelly can convincingly assume Chloe's identity ...
Elmore Leonard, who's made his career writing about not-too-bright bad guys, fills Mr. Paradise with several memorable specimens of that breed. In addition to Montez, who'd resented his politically incorrect boss for cutting him out of his will, there's also a bottom-feeding defense attorney, Avern Cohn, who runs a murder-for-hire operation on the side, and his well-armed employees of the month, "tough monkeys" Carl Fontana and Arthur Krupa. Less credibly and entertainingly crafted is Frank Delsa, the widowed homicide detective whose hunt for Paradiso's killers is complicated by his attraction to the curvilinear Kelly. This romantic subplot is overly predictable and deflates early expectations that the cunning young model is playing some deeper game here, working an angle that neither Delsa nor Montez anticipates.
After penning a string of character-propelled novels set in Florida (including Glitz, Out of Sight, and the particularly winning La Brava), it's good to see Leonard exploiting the Detroit backdrop again, as he did so expertly in a few of his earlier successes (City Primeval and Killshot, for instance). Yet while Mr. Paradise is rich with comic dialogue and cop-shop color, it never goes beyond the expectations of a Leonard work. This author is too good not to take more chances. --J. Kingston Pierce
From Booklist
It's time for Elmore Leonard to be outted. He is not a noir writer and hasn't been one since his early Detroit novels (City Primeval). What he does write is a violent, hard-boiled, streetwise brand of romantic comedy, usually starring a hero and heroine who, through an unfailing ability to think on their feet, find their way out of an outlandish mess. Happily-ever-aftering, unimaginable in real noir, remains a tempting if hard-won possibility in Leonard's world. So it is in this tale of a Detroit cop who falls for a sort-of suspect in the double murder of a high-class hooker and an elderly millionaire who likes to watch tapes of University of Michigan football games while a couple of twentysomething beauties, clad in cheerleader outfits, perform cheers with dirty lyrics. Harmless enough, until the game is interrupted by two slow-witted hitmen who kill the millionaire and one of the cheerleaders and--in a quintessential Leonard moment--steal a bottle of vodka. It's left for Detroit cop Frank Delsa to solve the murder and fall in love with cheerleader number two, who can't quite decide if she's committed to the cop or to getting her hands on whatever might be inside the millionaire's safety-deposit box. There's the matter of the loose-cannon hitmen, too, but Frank and his cheerleader think very well on their feet, and if they can just catch a break, might be in line for a little happily-ever-aftering of their own. Leonard virtually invented this genre with Stick (1983), and he's been doing it effortlessly ever since. Pure entertainment. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Einleitungssatz
LATE AFTERNOON CHLOE AND KELLY WERE having cocktails at the Rattlesnake Club, the two seated on the far side of the dining room by themselves: Chloe talking, Kelly listening, Chloe trying to get Kelly to help her entertain Anthony Paradiso, an eighty-four-year-old guy who was paying her five thousand a week to be his girlfriend. Lesen Sie die erste Seite
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LATE AFTERNOON CHLOE AND KELLY WERE having cocktails at the Rattlesnake Club, the two seated on the far side of the dining room by themselves: Chloe talking, Kelly listening, Chloe trying to get Kelly to help her entertain Anthony Paradiso, an eighty-four-year-old guy who was paying her five thousand a week to be his girlfriend. Lesen Sie die erste Seite
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Format:Taschenbuch
In the world of Elmore Leonard, everyone has an angle. The more corrupt the person, the dumber the angle. The role of the police is usually to simply pick up the pieces after the baddies do themselves in.
The best Elmore Leonard books put you at the heart of these schemes and leave you shaking your head about how anyone could be so dumb.
In Mr. Paradise, the viewpoint angle shifts slightly . . . and not for the better. The heroine of the story is lingerie model (Victoria's Secret) Kelly Barr. Kelly is as close to being an innocent as you get in Leonard's world.
Kelly is drawn into the action because the woman she rooms with, Chloe, is the $5,000 a week "girl friend" for eighty-four year-old lawyer, Tony Paradiso, who likes to be called Mr. Paradise. Tony likes to have topless cheerleaders in U Michigan outfits doing dirty chants and dances while the Wolverines win on videotape. Chloe persuades Kelly to come along with the easy money, and Kelly's life will never be the same.
Before the night is over there are two dead bodies and Kelly's life expectancy has never looked worse. How will she respond?
This book could have been called "Seduction of the Somewhat Innocent" and that would have captured its theme better. Kelly is not only put in harm's way . . . she also has her very soul tempted.
The good news for Kelly is that Detective Frank Delsa would like to take her home to meet Mama, and he helps her deal with temptation.
The premise for this story would have been terrific if it had been a short story . . . or if the book had centered on one of the villains (such as attorney Avern Cohn). But as it is put together, it's a boy-meets-girl, boy-falls-for-girl story against the backdrop of criminal cretins. That wouldn't be my first choice for reading material. I plan to check out the Elmore Leonard crime plots a little more carefully in the future before I invest the time to read his latest.
The best Elmore Leonard books put you at the heart of these schemes and leave you shaking your head about how anyone could be so dumb.
In Mr. Paradise, the viewpoint angle shifts slightly . . . and not for the better. The heroine of the story is lingerie model (Victoria's Secret) Kelly Barr. Kelly is as close to being an innocent as you get in Leonard's world.
Kelly is drawn into the action because the woman she rooms with, Chloe, is the $5,000 a week "girl friend" for eighty-four year-old lawyer, Tony Paradiso, who likes to be called Mr. Paradise. Tony likes to have topless cheerleaders in U Michigan outfits doing dirty chants and dances while the Wolverines win on videotape. Chloe persuades Kelly to come along with the easy money, and Kelly's life will never be the same.
Before the night is over there are two dead bodies and Kelly's life expectancy has never looked worse. How will she respond?
This book could have been called "Seduction of the Somewhat Innocent" and that would have captured its theme better. Kelly is not only put in harm's way . . . she also has her very soul tempted.
The good news for Kelly is that Detective Frank Delsa would like to take her home to meet Mama, and he helps her deal with temptation.
The premise for this story would have been terrific if it had been a short story . . . or if the book had centered on one of the villains (such as attorney Avern Cohn). But as it is put together, it's a boy-meets-girl, boy-falls-for-girl story against the backdrop of criminal cretins. That wouldn't be my first choice for reading material. I plan to check out the Elmore Leonard crime plots a little more carefully in the future before I invest the time to read his latest.
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6 von 6 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Leonard's in top form
16. März 2004
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
Leonard is at his snappy, not-a-word-wasted best in this crime-gone-wrong page-turner. The crime is the murder of the title character, a rich, elderly Detroit crime boss. His resentful assistant, Montez Taylor, who has been written out of the old man's will, organized the hit. When he learns that Mr. Paradiso's "girlfriend," high-priced call girl Chloe, is making an unexpected visit, Montez tries to call it off, but fails.
Chloe brings along her friend Kelly, a model, who agrees to help out with a titillating cheerleading routine, and Kelly is upstairs when two gunmen burst in, killing both Chloe and Paradiso. Montez intimidates Kelly into pretending to be Chloe - there's a safety deposit box scam involved - but the nice policeman on the scene, quickly smitten Frank Desla, sees through that pretty quickly.
That's the set-up and from there it's just one thing after another in turn after subplot after switchback after double cross in gritty Detroit. Tightly plotted, but character driven, this is as zany, comic and smart as we've come to expect.
11 von 14 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
An Entertaining Novel
25. Februar 2004
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
What do these reviewers expect? This is the story.
A high-end former Detroit call girl, asks her lingerie model roommate to help her entertain a wealthy octogenarian trial lawyer. By entertain, read she dons a cheerleader's skimpy skirt, but goes topless, while performing pom-pom routines beside a TV set while the lawyer watches videotaped University of Michigan football games.
The plot, to say the least, is imaginative. The characters are unique and unforgettable. The dialogue is snappy and realistic. The story moves and is entertaining.
What did these reviewers expect - a Detroit-based Hamlet? Elmore Leonard is a gifted novelist and Mr. Paradise will add to his reputation as a skilled character crafter.
6 von 7 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Big fun!
14. Februar 2004
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
Shady characters, brilliant dialogue, irony, masterful writing and a lively and humorous story line are what we expect from Elmore Leonard. "Mr. Paradise," a Runyonesque tale, has all this and more...it does not disappoint.
Eighty-four year old retired mob lawyer Tony Paradisio's favorite pastime is watching tapes of classic Michigan football victories with an escort or two cheering topless in ways not athletically encouraging.
After learning that he has been eliminated from Mr. Paradise's will, Montez (Mr. P's main man) arranges a hit that is supposed to look like a home invasion gone wrong.
The perps and Montez are members of the criminal mindless.
Throw in two corpses, a Victoria Secret model witness, an identity switch, assorted lowlifes, a safe deposit box full of loot, the hitmen's "agent" and Frank Delsa (a resourceful Detroit homicide detective)---and the chase is on.
The bad guys feel a sense of entitlement---leading to their demise. Getting caught being the real crime. Double-crosses, scams and deceptions propel the plot.
The tight prose is filled with accurate conversation in the colorful vernacular of the urban scene.
"Mr. Paradise" is a stylistic, unforgettable, witty, fast-paced read. Elmore Leonard is a consistently entertaining writer---do not under rate him just because you like him.
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