Reviews

LaBrava by Elmore Leonard

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LaBrava is completely different than the one other Elmore Leonard book I’ve read, Djibouti, and more typical of what I expected from him. The title comes from the main character’s name, Joe LaBrava, a former Secret Service agent now living in Miami. Thanks to his friend Maurice, he meets his first childhood love, screen actress Jean Shaw. Unfortunately, this also introduces him to Richard Nobles, a thug who seems to have his eyes set on Jean. LaBrava sets out to save Shaw and quickly finds himself in the middle of what could be a big screen story.

Leonard’s writing is clean and precise. He doesn’t give you much more than the essentials and creates believable characters that are all flawed but still likeable when they are supposed to be the good guys. I’m never a fan of overly flowery prose so I like this about Leonard. I can’t say much more about it without ruining it for you. After reading LaBrava, I would read more of his books. If you are a Leonard fan, I recommend you read LaBrava.

http://iubookgirl.blogspot.com/2011/08/review-labrava.html

stargoddess's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This book definitely feels dated, from the language to the pacing to the attitudes about women. It was honestly difficult to read, but parts of it were interesting and the author certainly has a unique style.

luana420's review

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5.0

Superb! Leonard working at the top of his game in terms of colorful characters, vibrant setting and breakneck pace.

jeremyhornik's review

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3.0

This is great stuff. It's late enough that Elmore Leonard had pretty much mastered that kind of loping, andante crime novel where nobody ever gets too excited and nobody ever lets anything go, either. And it's early enough that he still bothered to plot things out in advance, instead of just seeing where the characters went.

So why just three stars? Well, the hero is pretty much superman: an ex-Secret Service agent who now is a street portrait photographer beloved of Miami's high art galleries, but still is hip to the streets. So honestly, you're pretty sure he's going to take care of everything. Which is basically how I feel about Elmore Leonard: he's going to take care of everything. But it's a little too safe, sometimes... you kind of miss the old Elmore Leonard where the hero might get shot or end up in jail or kill someone nice or something.

zzzrevel's review

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5.0

This is a re-read.
I loved this book. It's slightly different than his normal
Florida crime tales because (IMO) the dialog is not so
'hip-dude' but rather more reflective. The main character
is thinking fondly of an aging actress he meets because of
having seen several of her movies when he was 12, and so
the prose seems to reflect that. Still great reading with
of course, an involved plot with a few bad guys.
Recommended.

gregoryscottdilcox's review against another edition

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4.0

I enjoyed this story, it was a good story, not a great story but what brought the rating from three stars to four for me was LaBrava as a character. This really shouldn't be shocking since great characters and wonderful dialogue were what Elmore Leonard did better than probably anyone else in his genre. For me though there was just something about LaBrava I connected with on an emotional level. Maybe it was something about the rare "good guy" being the center of a Leonard novel as opposed to a likable criminal or conman but I do believe it is more than that. It's no surprise that this novel won the Edgar for Best Novel and sad that this the only LaBrava novel (pretty sure that is the case anyway but Leonard wrote so much) but I'm thrilled this one existed. The failed movie that would have seen Dustin Hoffman play the title character would have probably been great as well.

jakewritesbooks's review

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4.0

Elmore Leonard is not afraid to have powerful female characters (Karen Sisco and Jackie Burke immediately come to mind). While not having read all of Leonard's work, I believe that Burke from "Rum Punch" is the only female who is the main character in his work. I bring this up because while I enjoyed "LaBrava," I think what would have made this good novel great is if the spectacular Jean Shaw was the lead and not LaBrava. For some reason, I really wasn't too taken with LaBrava and his chivalry-for-the-sake-of character. He's at his best in the book when he's lusting for Shaw, his boyhood crush. When he's taking pictures, playing the faux-cop and reminiscing about guarding Harry Truman's wife, he doesn't really stretch much further than stock. Which would be fine if the book wasn't named after him. In my opinion, had Leonard focused more on Shaw and pushed LaBrava in the background, this might have been a more compelling read. It was still good, but that one tweak could have made it great.

thisdarkmaterial's review against another edition

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4.0

Probably best described as "direct", Leonard's prose is not the style I usually gravitate towards. I may have to change my reading habits, though, because LaBrava was an exciting read. When an author writes about characters who fall on the (dark) grey end of the moral scale, they can easily create a plot full of unlikable and unreadable people. Mr. Leonard avoids this by making his diverse cast both colorful and, if not relatable, at least understandable. Set in Miami, this would make a perfect vacation beach read. Snappy and intelligent, without turning convoluted in an attempt to be clever, LaBrava was a satisfying introduction to the works of Elmore Leonard and without a doubt encouraged me to explore more of his novels.