By: Elmore Leonard Publisher: HarperTorch Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: HarperTorch Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 368 Publication Date: June 01, 2002 Release Date: June 04, 2002
Detroit process server Jack Ryan has a reputation for being the best in the business at finding people who don't want to be found. Now he's looking for a missing stockholder known only as "Unknown Man No. 89." But his missing man isn't "unknown" to everyone: a pretty blonde hates his guts and a very nasty dude named Royal wants him dead in the worst way. Which is very unfortunate for Jack Ryan, who is suddenly caught in the crossfire of a lethal triple-cross and as much a target as his nameless prey.
Con Man with Muscle Elmore Leonard knows con men, almost better than director David Mamet in his movie "House of Games."
In "Unknown Man #89," Leonard introduces us to Mr. Perez, the nicely-dressed, polite, older man from Louisiana. He seems out of his element in Detroit City, but he isn't.
It's our buddy, Jack Ryan, who's in too deep.
Sure, Ryan can serve people papers without getting roughed up. But dealing with Perez and the cute druggie, Denise, is too much for him. Good thing Ryan has a police friend, named Speed, giving him some advice.
Matching wits with Perez, Ryan forgets one important obstacle: Perez has a mean, down-home killer on his side.
And the streets of Detroit are the battleground when Ryan faces off with the big, bad killer, Raymond.
Leonard builds the tension in this one, and Detroit City adds the dark, mean streets for murder.
by Larry Rochelle, author of the Purple Gang mystery, TEN MILE CREEK
Good old standard This is one of the first books I purchased for my Kindle and I really enjoyed Elmore Leonard's reliable tale-telling and character development. As usual, the romance was a bit predictable, but the caper took some interesting twists.
Best I've ever read This may be the best book I have ever read. I'm a big fan of the movies, "Get Shorty" and "The Big Bounce" so I picked this up just because I liked the writer. I just ordered 2 more of his books, I highly recommend Unknown Man #89 though.
A Safe Bet When you're in the mood for an Elmore Leonard book, I recommend reading this one. It definately satisfies, because, A: it's a page turner, and B: the characters are top-notch and the setting is Detroit (mostly). Why do we read Elmore Leonard? Because he is a master of his craft. And nowhere is that more evident than in Unknown Man #89. It's not deep, or life-changing, or life-affirming, but it is a good read. Especially if you hanker to get lost in the world of a seedy 1970's Detroit. I think this is my fourth E.L. book, and I haven't yet read anything he's written past 1979. There seem to be heavy similarities in his books from this era. You always know what you're going to get, kind of like when you buy a Slayer albumn. But, much like Slayer, Leonard rarely disappoints.
First Leonard Read! I have always enjoyed the Elmore Leonard movie adaptations, so I thought I'd give his work a try. I loved "Get Shorty", "Out of Sight", and enjoyed the others as well. I researched the best one to read and based on the reviews here, I chose this one. I'm sorry I can only give it 3 stars. Read on for the reasons!
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There was so much happening throughout the book that could have added some inetresting and exciting action, but instead it just ended terribly. All of the sudden Ryan is in love with Denise? What about his girlfriend he already had? He just up and goes to Florida and then we read where he is in her office telling her he loves Denise while trying to get her to type a fake court injunction for them. And virgil was supposed to be such a tough character and then to just dispose of him and Tunafish so easily along with Raymond. It was as if Leonard didn't know how to end it or what to do with everyone, so he just eliminated the "hardened criminal" types of the plot. So, the end is Ryan, Denise, and Perez just all get together and be friendly and settle the whole deal? Give me a break. Should have done that to begin with and 3 people wouldn't have had to die. And why title it Unknown Man #89? Bobby Leary was not unknown. They knew who he was from the beginning, the morgue tagged him unknown.
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The story had potential, but fizzled out the last half of the book. All those parts of the story that started the book were left unfinished and some, or most, were pointless to introduce in the first place. I only finished it because I kept hoping it would get better and, unfortunately, it didn't. Sorry, I just couldn't buy it.
Needless to say, I'm not going to be picking up anymore Elmore Leonard books. I'll stick to the movie adaptations.
Anything Goes Trivia
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