In this fine adaptation of Leonard's best-selling novel, Wayne and Carmen Colson's quiet life shatters following their involvement in a failed extortion scheme. To escape from hit man Arman "Blackbird" Degas and his sidekick Richie Nix, the Colsons enter the Federal Witness Protection Program. They soon find out the program contains as many predators as does the underworld. As with all of Leonard's (Cuba Libre, Audio Reviews, LJ 6/15/98) works, it is his character development and dialog that propel the simple plot toward its chilling conclusion. Bruce Boxleitner's reading adds a special effect to the story, and the adaptation captures all the power of the original novel. Highly recommended for all collections containing Leonard's past works.‘Stephen L. Hupp, Urbana Univ. Lib, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Crime fiction doesn't get any better than Leonard's new thriller, which, while it breaks no new ground, is a welcome retreat to his more direct style of classics such as 52 Pickup and Unknown Man #89 . When Carmen Colson and her ironworker husband Wayne stumble onto an extortion scheme run by Armand Degas, half Ojibway Indian, half French Canadian hit man, and his temporary partner Richie Nix, a talkative sociopath, the two killers set out to eliminate them, hiding out with Nix's girlfriend Donna, a former prison guard who collects stuffed animals and believes that Elvis is alive. In detailing the killers' relentless pursuit of the terrified couple, Leonard builds suspense with a deft, master hand, inducing an instant--and sustained--response of sweating hands and a racing heart. Even the most jaded reader will be swept along on the roller coaster of impending violence punctuated by heart-stopping crises. As always, Leonard writes with a natural ear for offbeat speech and a terrific sense of locale, moving the action from Toronto to Detroit and into Michigan and Ohio, telling the story almost totally through the thoughts and dialogue of the characters. In the Colsons, Leonard presents a more mature and realistic portrayal of a relationship than he has in the past, and he stirs up an uncomfortable fondness for the cruel but mellowing hit man Degas, all the while drawing the reader deeply into these ordinary lives. A bravura performance. Literary Guild dual main selection. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Leonard's 27th novel, and his old mastery glows as he offers yet another variation of his popular formula that pits quirky psychos against offbeat heroes. Wayne and Carmen Colson (he's a skyscraping ironworker; she's a real-estate agent) are a fetching near-middle-aged Algonac, Mich., twosome who have the bad luck to run up against Armand ""the Blackbird"" Degas and Richie Nix--classic Leonard bad guys. Armand, part Ojibway, is a contract hit man, cold and calculating, while Richie's a hotblooded punk who kills on a whim. Together, they aim to extort Carmen's rich boss out of $10,000; but when they go to collect, they find Wayne instead--at the real-estate of rice to apply for a white-collar job at Carmen's request. Not one to be bullied, Wayne slaps down Armand and tosses Richie out a second-floor window. Obeying Armand's dictum of ""killshot""--never leave unslain prey--the bad guys, now holed up with Richie's Elvis-obsessed girlfriend, vow vengeance, shadowing the Colsons' house as Wayne works the high steel and shares his fears and anger with brainy, loving Carmen. Tension mounts until Richie shotguns the Colsons' picture window, driving the couple reluctantly into the Witness Protection Program in a small Missourian town--where they mn up against a loutish federal officer who comes panting after Carmen when Wayne's new job as a riverboat worker takes him away for a night. Frightened, Carmen races back to Algonac--and smack into a nerve-jangling final stalk-and-shoot with Armand and Richie. Showcasing all of Leonard's strengths--the dead-on dialogue, canny pacing, mesmerizing villainies, ironic social commentary--and, at the novel's heart, something more: a couple who, in the tough wisdom of their marriage, add a new warmth and depth to the author's work. One of Leonard's best, then, and certainly his finest since Glitz. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.