For those familiar with Leonard, you know he specializes in unique approaches to crime and this one is right up his alley. Elmore Leonard wrote forty-five novels and nearly as many western and crime short stories across his highly successful career that spanned more than six decades. So you have the tough Chilli Palmer taking centerstage, tracking Leo down easily and relieving him of his money. The story is that Chili Palmer is a Miami loan shark who ends up in Los Angeles, trying to track down a guy who owes him money.

The synopsis on the back cover does the storyline justice - Mob-connected loan shark Chili Palmer is sick of the Miami grind—plus his “friends” have a bad habit of dying there. when I got to the locker scene at the airport, because it's tricky what happens in it, but I got it, I understood it, I admired it. A loan shark nicknamed for his temper in the old days but lately for his cool demeanor, Chili was raised in Brooklyn as an Italian, but due to some Puerto Rican blood, can never become a made guy like the upper level Italians in the organization. Unfortunately, Chili ends up working for Ray who immediately demands that Chili shake down overdue payment from a dry cleaner. I find it intriguing that Leonard followed one of his few humourless novels with one of his funniest and breeziest, but Killshot – tense and unforgiving – was quite possibly a metaphorical exorcism of the rage he felt toward an implacable entity (Hollywood) that had so relentlessly abused his literary offspring.During his life Elmore Leonard was long associated with the movie industry and had some serious run-ins with the moguls of the industry.

A prolific author whose work is widely known but whose name remains under the radar, Elmore Leonard was the master of the popular crime genre, embracing mid-century noir and Americana. Bo soon offers the locker money to Harry as an investment and tells him to send Chili to get the money. Its a 5 star movie and the book although following the plot does not quite measure up to the film interpretation. Chili Palmer is undoubtedly the lovable rouge character - a tough guy who does his best not to resort to violence, a deep thinker, and a guy who takes the big picture into account. The story moves forward, and so do Chili and Leo, to Los Angeles where after many amusing and amazing turns of plot later, Chili ends up getting into the movie business.Published in 1990, Get Shorty might be the book to turn the man on the street from asking, "Elmore who?

To Leonard's credit, when Michael Weir comments that Chili's pitch is the best he's ever heard, I'm inclined to agree. Here we are mid-lock down and I thought why not since my days are a mixture of working from home, reading or watch the TV. Chilli Palmer is a superb character, perhaps a little unfortunately associated with Travolta now, because, for me, he has a little more hardness and a little less smarm.As cool as Chili Palmer, Raylan Givens, Ernest Stickley Jr or Vincent Mora – to name just a few of the laconic badasses who took centre stage at one time or another in his novels. So all the American crime thriller fans who are as phony and pompous as European art film aficionados act like they do not like his novels. When someone asks Chili who the protagonist is, Chili is shocked that it’s not apparent that the loan shark is the good guy because to him it’s obvious that he’s the hero of this story. This pays off even more since so many Hollywood characters are involved that the story is being discussed and thought about as a movie even while it happens. Rather than go into character portrayals, plot lines and story that are different from the film, suffice it to say it's a deep chasm.

Once in Hollywood, Chili becomes entangled with a small-time producer named Harry Zimm and with a former actress named Karen Flores who once stared in several of Zimm's horror/exploitation flicks. As an illustrator his awards have included 27 gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators in New York, and Best-In-Show recognition in New York and Los Angeles Illustrators’ Exhibitions. Bo tells them to move the money into the new picture; Harry says he cannot since the new movie deal is "structured". Here we see Palmer struggling with both a drycleaner who is presumed dead in Los Angeles whilst trying to pitch a movie about his own life. He and his ex-wife Debbie liked the benefits that came with the respect locals and business people had for him when they were aware of who Chili worked for - at least until Debbie got pregnant.

Bones" helps himself to a coat in a coatroom which not only belongs to Chili and contains Chili's car keys but was a gift from his wife, Debbie. Bo later meets Yayo at the limo garage and after Yayo threatens to tell the DEA who Bo is, Bo shoots him.