Elmore Leonard Reading Update

A few folks have asked how I'm doing on the challenge. I have completed 22 books to date. That still leaves 24 to go. Below is a list of the books I have finished:

The Bounty Hunters
The Law at Randado
Escape From Five Shadows
The Moonshine War
Glitz
Killshot
Get Shorty
Maximum Bob
Pronto
Riding the Rap
Pagan Babies
When The Women Come Out To Dance
Tishomingo Blues
A Coyote's In The House
Mr. Paradise
The Hot Kid
Comfort To The Enemy
Up In Honey's Room
Compete Western Short Stories
Road Dogs
Djibouti
Raylan

It's impossible to rate, but for pure pleasure and fun my top five so far:
Road Dogs
The Hot Kid
Get Shorty
Pagan Babies
Mr. Paradise



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A King of Infinite Space by Tyler Dilts

A brutal killing of a school teacher starts off this novel from first time writer Tyler Dilts. Detective Danny Beckett usually spends his weekends trying to drown the loss of his wife in a bottle of Vodka, but when his partner Detective Jennifer Tanaka calls him he is ready. With no strong suspects and almost no clues the investigation seems hopeless. On top of that nightmares about his wife's death in a car crash continue to haunt him. He believes that there is more to this case than meets the eye. He only hopes to catch the murderer before he strikes again.

A King of Infinite Space is an enjoyable book. Mr. Dilts has create some characters who, while not compelling, are enjoyable. Mr. Dilts, an English instructor, infuses the work with literary references. The title referes to the line from Hamlet "I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space--were it not that I have bad dreams." While the story is well written for the most part there are some issues that the author should take into account. For a short novel there are a lot of extraneous sub-plots added. For example, the relationship of the victim and her sister to her father make for an interesting aside, but are unnecessary and ultimately unbelievable.  The ending of the story also feels a little rushed.

Those few issues aside it is still an enjoyable book and I look forward to reading more about Detectives Beckett and Tanaka.

Wild Child by Mike Wells

Wild Child is a fascinating story about Kyle, a young college student, and Briana, his fun-loving girlfriend. During a swim in the lake Briana is horribly injured. She find a strange underwater cave that contains a strange spring that saves her life. Now Kyle has a lot of questions unanswered. What is in this water, how has it helped Briana, why do the effects wear off so soon, and who are the Government agents who want to find the spring.

This short book is faced paced and well written. For a first time try Mike Wells certainly hit a home run. It is a short book. It took me very little time to read it. There is a great backstory to the creation of the novel. I highly recommend this book. It is a great Young Adult book. Print versions are hard to find, but it is available on ereaders.