Elmore Leonard was born in New Orleans in 1925. He wrote forty-five books during his phenomenal career, including the bestsellers Mr Paradise, Tishomingo Blues, Be Cool and The Hot Kid. Many have been made into successful movies, including Get Shorty with John Travolta, Out of Sight with George Clooney and Rum Punch, which became Tarantino's Jackie Brown. He is the recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award and the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award. He died in 2013 in Detroit. www.elmoreleonard.com
(The stories) have all the hallmarks of his later career: the laconic authorial voice, the shady characters, the seedy dives - The Times on Charlie Martz Would make a very nice Father's Day present. Hint, hint... - Herald on Charlie Martz The great American writer Elmore Leonard is the crime-writer's crime-writer, king of all he surveys. For sharp plots and spot-on dialogue, he's in a different league The greatest crime writer who ever lived