Rum Punch


Author: Elmore Leonard
Genre: Crime Fiction


I was pretty confused as I began reading this novel a few days ago. Why did these characters seem so familiar, why did I think I knew what was going to happen, and how come one of the characters just screamed Sam Jackson… obviously, this book has been made into a movie. Rum Punch is probably known best to the film world as Tarentino’s muted classic Jackie Brown. Actually I had known that a few of Elmore Leonard’s works had been made into films, but the only one I could think of was Get Shorty, regardless I was pleasantly surprised to find a really good read ahead of me. Rum Punch is a mystery, a thriller, a fun crime novel, and a great escape from the seriousness of life.

The story follows Jackie Burke, a flight attendant who is involved with a nasty gun runner named Ordell. She has just gotten busted at the airport with $10 000 in dirty money and a bunch of cocaine. She now has to make a deal with the ATF, and police to take down Ordell, or spend a few years in jail. Once she gets romantically involved with max Cherry a bail bondsman who works at times for the mob, things get even more complicated; and Jackie begins to hatch a plan that to double and triple cross virtually everyone and make off with a cool half million. But can she pull it off?

In fact, the plot get more complex than that by far, and by the end I was a little lost at times. There were so many ulterior motives and so much subterfuge it was hard to follow it all the time. But that didn’t detract at all from my enjoyment of this book. Leonard is a very smart writer, and I liked how well drawn his characters were. Perhaps they weren’t entirely realistic all the time, but they sure were entertaining. I suppose the best way to classify this book would be as a crime drama, but it was really fun and exciting too. It didn’t fall into the morbid trappings of too much tension, or seriousness. For the most part this book didn’t have time for that, because once it gets going it practically doesn’t stop to take a breath. Rum Punch was definitely a worthwhile, very readable novel that will make you want to read more.

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