RIDING THE RAP by Elmore Leonard

This is my favorite of Elmore Leonard’s books featuring Raylan Givens, and it is basically a sequel to Pronto.  Harry Arno, retired bookie, is back in this one, as is Harry’s old girlfriend Joyce, who is now with Raylan.  Harry’s debt collector, Bobby Deo, decides to join forces with Chip Ganz, who owes Harry money, and Chip’s friend, Louis Lewis, to turn the tables on Harry.  They enlist Dawn, a young psychic and my favorite character, to help them corral Harry so that they can hold him hostage until he gives them 3 million dollars.  This is basically a kidnapping where the person being kidnapped has to pay the ransom.  Harry finds himself blindfolded and locked in a room of Chip’s house, but Joyce, concerned about Harry’s whereabouts, encourages Raylan to find him.  Raylan proves that his intuition is almost equal to Dawn’s psychic skills, as he tracks down Harry and the no-goods who have absconded with him.  Elmore Leonard’s books are always entertaining, but they are not as dark and sinister as most crime novels.  The criminals are violent but inept and not keen on playing nice with each other.  In other words, their trust in each other wears thin eventually, and it’s every man for himself when the going gets tough.  Raylan, on the other hand, is almost too loyal, standing by Joyce even though she is obviously more concerned about Harry’s welfare than Raylan’s.