Raylan: A Novel

Raylan

I love Elmore Leonard and I love the FX series Justified, led by one of the greatest TV characters, Raylan Givens. Inspired by the excellent series, Leonard decided to write a new novel featuring Givens, a U.S. Marshall in Harlan County, Kentucky. Raylan, as all Leonard's novels do, features spectacular dialogue, which is always entertaining to read, along with characters that are always interesting to follow as they go through several double-crosses and gunfights. Raylan isn't as much a novel as it is a book with inter-twined novellas. Reviews for the book have said that there are three "novellas", but from what I read, there are clearly four, excellent, fun novellas in Elmore Leonard's most recent criminal masterpiece.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Loved it!

It's Elmore Leonard...what's NOT to love??!!!

2 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

More Cornpone

Resurrecting Raylan Givens, the U.S. Marshall from Kentucky given to wearing a Stetson cowboy hat and shooting instead of apprehending, Elmore Leonard once again uses his unusual talent for writing droll dialogue and creating amusing and unusual characters to entertain the reader. This time, he begins in Harlan County, where marijuana is king instead of coal (100 pounds of weed can fetch $300,000) which apparently doesn’t satisfy two nincompoop sons of the dope-grower who turn their attention to reaping and selling body parts.

Then the author goes on to tell us about another cast of characters, with the slyness only he can muster. It’s a world only people created by Leonard inhabit, and they talk as only he can make them speak. Read it and laugh. Highly recommended.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Glad I watch the television series

I don't often think a television series or movie is better than the book but this is one of those times that I could have skipped the book. While I like the character Raylan Givens, the characters in the book are not well developed so if I had not already been familiar with them by watching "Justified" the book would have been very weak indeed. Also, the story seemed to have no cohesiveness. As a previous review mentioned, it was like two episodes written into a book. However, in this case there was no character development to meld the two together. I commend the producers of "Justified" for "seeing" promise in Raylan because this book was disappointing after watching the series.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I have really enjoyed the first two Raylan Givens book, where he

I have really enjoyed the first two Raylan Givens book, where he is a spectacular ensemble character with a winning attitude for deciding good and evil.  In this third book, entitled RAYLAN,  I have mixed feelings.  I liked it but don't particularly like the "combined short story" feel of Raylan in this book.




The great theme of stealing kidneys from living people, and selling the kidneys back to their owners, was a great start to the book, but it needed more fleshing out before Raylan got involved.  I really hope Leonard will stick to expanding on his ideas for books rather than writing to the "money" because the TV show based on the first Raylan books is so successful!!  I suppose I am too hard on this terrific author, but I say this because he IS a terrific author!!!

Raylan, Just Raylan

Fan's of FX TV channel's hit show, Justified, will be excited to read Elmore Leonard's new book, Raylan. Justified is based on a short story by Leonard where the characters in the show were introduced. Raylan Givens is a U.S. Marshall who grew up in Harlan County, Kentucky. He worked in the coal mines as most men did, but got out as soon as he could and ended up in law enforcement. After a showdown in Florida where he shot and killed a fugitive, he is transferred back to Kentucky.

Raylan is back with the folks he grew up with; his family and former friends, but things are not the same. Many of those he knew break the law routinely, and he is now responsible for bringing them in when they do so. The book is full of shady characters, from pot-growing and Oxcy selling drug dealers to a female coal-mine owner's thug, from poker players to men who will do anything for a buck. One of the more interesting characters is Boyd Crowder, a former miner who is now The Head of Disagreements for the coal mine owners. There are female bank robbers and a kidney-stealing ring who steals kidneys from the owners and then ransoms them back.

Raylan is a laconic Marshall who speaks little but what he says others need to listen to. He is known for his ability to outdraw and shoot to kill when needed. The violence is casual but deadly, and the stories in the book contain betrayal and loyalty, shifting alliances and an underworld of criminals who are determined to rule the area. This book is recommended for crime novel readers.

Weird collection of interlinked stories. Not as good as the pre

Weird collection of interlinked stories.
Not as good as the previous Raylan book "Pronto" or the story "Fire in the Hole." Nor as good as the series. But, a decent read nonetheless. Almost as if Leonard was writing treatments for the series (especially since the first story line in the book resembles parts of the second season).

The Series is much better

The plot is simple minded, it read like the author phoned it in. Skip this book. I've read a few Elmore Leonard books in the past, none of them have been "literature", but this one is further away than most.

Leonard's usual fine style!

Loved it, love Raylan Have read Leonard for years, then rediscovered him when my husband and I got hooked on TV's "Justified". A great read, great characters, and close to authentic Southern accents and mind-sets. Loved it.

If you enjoyed the tv series, "Justified" you must read this one!

Elmore Leonard fans will surely not want to pass this one up. I was not disappointed, even after watching all the tv episodes of "Justified" before reading the book. This character Rayland is really entertaining. U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens illustrates law enforcement in the most cynical and aggressive mode. A modern day Wyatt Earp on steroids.

Justified

When I read this story I can help but imagine the characters from the TV show Justified. Everything in the story is brought to life comparing it to the TV show.

Loved it!

If you like the tv series 'Justified' you will love this book.

pretty lame

This book filled some time and that's all it was really good for. I almost didn't finish it but had nothing else to read at the time.

Raylan was a great Elmore Leonard read. Leonard's distinctive st

Raylan was a great Elmore Leonard read. Leonard's distinctive style comes through with Raylan's one sentence dialog. The book is very reminiscent of the TV show. I listened to the audio of this book and the music and delivery of the lines were like the TV show also. Very good book.

When the book started off with kidney kidnappings, I wasn't too

When the book started off with kidney kidnappings, I wasn't too sure it was for me. But that was just the beginning, and several wild tales followed, keeping me entertained. It would be 3 stars, but the interesting characters make it a 4.

If you are a fan of Justified

This will kill some time, but no surprises..

Raylin,,,,a good book!

This book is written for everyone who enjoys law enforcment type action.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Leonarf Elmore and Raylan

Would have been better with a stronger central plot. But even when its not his best work, Elmore Leonard is always fun.

Book vs. Show

Fans of Elmore Leonard will be familiar with Raylan Givens, the US Marshall who was featured in Leonard's previous books Pronto and Riding the Rap. At eighty six years old, Elmore Leonard shows no signs of slowing down. He's just released his latest book - Raylan. Raylan is also the star of the hit television series Justified. (I'm hooked on the show and Timothy Olyphant)

Harlan County, Kentucky is hurting from the closure of coal mines. Entreprenurial folk have now made marijanua the county's number one cash crop. Raylan is familiar with most of the players, having grown up in Harlan County. But two enterprising souls have discovered yet another lucrative sideline - body parts, mostly kidneys. How to stop this dogged US Marshall that's hot on their trail? Well, he does have two perfectly good kidneys...And that's just one of the three storylines Leonard has penned for Raylan. Although they were loosely connected, each felt like a separate novella.

Now, Raylan released after the mid season break of Season Two of Justified. I found some of story lines and characters from television repeated in the book, albeit with a few changes. Or did the television series borrow heavily from the book? So, part of the storyline was not new, but parts of it were. No matter, fans will still be captured.

The audio version of Raylan features Brian D'Arcy James as the reader. As a fan of Justified, I have come to associated certain actors and voices with the characters. I was concerned that I wouldn't identify with new voices. But that concern was unfounded. James employed a great accent for each of the characters, almost matching those I knew. His tones and inflections immediately brought Harlan County to life. Leonard's strength is in his dialogue and James did it justice.

Raylan is a walk tall, talk soft, draw your gun and use it kind of lawman. Fans of Jack Reacher and Joe Pike would enjoy the character of Raylan Givens. A gritty, down and dirty tale filled with Leonard's trademark whip smart dialogue.

Really, Really good story

One of the best books I have read this year!