GLITZ by Elmore Leonard

An Elmore Leonard novel never fails to entertain, and this is no exception.  You can savor the clever dialog or just race through to the finish like I did.  Vincent Mora is a Miami cop on medical leave in San Juan, Puerto Rico, recovering from a bullet wound.  While he is being watched by an ex-con that he sent to prison, Vincent has taken up with Iris, a beautiful call girl who has been promised a job as a hostess in Atlantic City.  The ex-con, Teddy Magyk, wants to kill Vincent but in just the right way.  He has no qualms about murder, but Teddy squanders opportunities throughout the novel to take Vincent out, and somehow Vincent manages not to become aware of Teddy’s intentions.  The action soon moves to Atlantic City, where Vincent uncovers a whole host of illegal activities and mobster-like characters, with equally mobster-like names, such as Jackie Garbo, Moose Johnson, and Tommy Donovan.  Some thrillers are full of twists and turns, but this novel is surprisingly free of all that, and the plot is very easy to follow, as Vincent eliminates suspects one by one, and I don’t mean that he kills them off.  Many novels these days leave a lot of loose ends, but everything here is nice and tidy at the end, leaving you ready for the next Elmore Leonard adventure but not puzzled about how this one ended.  One of my favorite images in this novel is where Vincent, carrying a gun and wearing nothing but his tighty-whities, chases his would-be assailant outside his hotel.  The only person who seems to notice is a drunk, who makes a hilarious remark about Vincent’s lack of apparel.  Only in Atlantic City, I guess.