Get Shorty is one of Elmore Leonard's most entertaining novels with a cast populated by a group of great characters. I love the way Leonard usually introduces a character, keying in on some unusual facet of their personality, but I can tell when I'm not with a novel when I feel no compulsion to update my Goodreads status feed with a paragraph and I didn't here. The characters that we meet are all really well crafted and instantly memorable as a result, with Leonard taking care to flesh out details like these that really makes things interesting. He put on his black leather gloves going up the stairs to the third floor, knocked on the door three times, waited, pulling his right-hand glove on tight, and when Ray Bones opened the door Chili nailed him. Twelve years later, Chili’s boss was killed and Barboni’s boss put Barboni in charge of the loan racket.

After serving in the navy, he studied English literature at the University of Detroit where he entered a short story competition. A., applying pressure to Catlett to make good for what he owes and accelerating the story to even more delightful speeds. I've got quite a few more Leonard books on my TBR so I will definitely pick up another novel of his.Adapted from the book jacket: A novel that proves the successful crook has all the job skills required to make it in Hollywood. His style of intimidation is quiet, making the victim imagine bad things will happen if he doesn’t pay. Featuring a fascinating introduction by Val McDermid and new illustrations by Juan Esteban Rodríguez, each copy has been signed by both the introducer and the illustrator. Folio commissioned Hokyoung Kim for the artwork, while the late author’s wife, Wendy Benchley, provides a fascinating new introduction. 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.

I was intrigued that Chili was able to talk to an A-list movie star when others couldn’t get to him.

Unfortunately, Bo Catlett has also been dreaming of breaking into the film industry and starts trying to drive Chili away from Harry with the idea of taking over the project. His Ten Rules are in full effect here and they contribute to a rollicking, roller-coastering read that completely blew me away when I read it for the first time (and the second time, and the third). It is very interesting that during the script discussions, all the Hollywood types were rooting for the Leo character.

To Leonard's credit, when Michael Weir comments that Chili's pitch is the best he's ever heard, I'm inclined to agree. Some, I've even seen scripts where I know words weren't spelled right and there was hardly any commas in it.

A twisted trail eventually leads Chili to LA where he gets mixed up with Harry Zimm, a small-time producer of horror movies who has a new script that flighty superstar actor Michael Weir has expressed an interest in.