Mr. Majestyk

Written by Elmore Leonard

Narrated by Frank Muller

“Splendid…entirely engrossing.”
—Los Angeles Times

“First-rate…an excellent thriller…well-plotted and smoothly written…crackles with suspense.”
—Bergan Record

A classic crime novel, Mr. Majestyk is vintage Elmore Leonard—an edgy, dark, fiendishly compelling tale of a quiet man making a whole lot of noise.  “The best writer of crime fiction today” (USA Today)—the acclaimed author who brought the world Raylan Givens, the  trigger-happy U.S. Marshal who lights up  TV screens across America in the hit series Justified—Leonard makes a big noise himself with this timeless noir tale of personal justice and brutal vengeance. When a war veteran Arizona farmer loses everything, ruined by the local mob, he decides to fight back in this masterful crime fiction thriller—early proof that Leonard not only belongs in the company of John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Robert B. Parker and the other great names in American mystery and suspense…he is, in fact, “The King Daddy of crime writers” (Seattle Times).

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jul 27, 2010
• ISBN: 9780061994708

Elmore Leonard

Elmore Leonard wrote more than forty books during his long career, including the bestsellers Raylan, Tishomingo Blues, Be Cool, Get Shorty, and Rum Punch, as well as the acclaimed collection When the Women Come Out to Dance, which was a New York Times Notable Book. Many of his books have been made into movies, including Get Shorty and Out of Sight. The short story "Fire in the Hole," and three books, including Raylan, were the basis for the FX hit show Justified. Leonard received the Lifetime Achievement Award from PEN USA and the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He died in 2013.

Reviews for Mr. Majestyk

[bjkelley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A different kind of Elmore Leonard book, it sort of straddles his western books with his crime books. Expertly written (of course), only 216 pages so a fairly quick read. Looking forward to seeing the Charles Bronson film of this book.

[delta61 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A well written book, easy to read. A plausible story with our Rambo like hero. Lots of action.

[jlsmither · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I didn’t know much about Elmore Leonard going into this book aside from a general image and the specifics that were brought up in his obituaries. Those specifics were enough to pique my interest, so I thought I’d give him a try. I went to my favorite library and browsed through the books on CD, choosing Mr. Majestyk over some of the others because it was narrated by Frank Muller, who completely enthralled me with Moby Dick (not that I’m trying to compare those books). This one, however, fell flat for me. I never really cared about the characters because I never really got to know them. Through the majority of the book, I felt like I was still waiting for the opening credits to roll. I suppose Majestyk was supposed to be “the little guy,” the guy who just wants to put in a hard day’s work and earn his own living. That’s certainly how the other “bully” characters treat him. But as a reader, we’re never fooled. We see it from the beginning scene when he quietly stands up to the store clerk who won’t unlock the bathroom for the migrants—someone who handles that situation like Majestyk did probably has the ability and confidence to defend himself, if it comes to that. Nancy sees it right away, but we don’t get a good sense of why she can see this in Majestyk when no one else can, including her friends who also witness this scene (and who are never given names). Everyone else plays pretty well exactly the role you’d expect. The small-time thug tries to impress the big-time thug, but messes it up. The big-time thug, who’s just past his prime thug days, gets overzealous and messes up too. His thrill-seeking but constantly bored girlfriend gets scared. And the little guy who everyone underestimates? Well, I don’t want to give it away…I believe that a novel should be able to stand on its own, regardless of its historical/social context or how it came into being or the author’s biography or whatever. That said, I wonder how my reading of Mr. Majestyk would have been affected if I had known that Elmore Leonard wrote it as a screenplay first and then novelized it later. The characters and plot are just as completely unsurprising as the plot and characters in a 1970s action movie, if I can generalize a bit. But 103 minutes of ‘splodey fun (there are explosions on the movie cover, though I don’t recall any in the book… maybe during the bus escape?) can’t really be translated directly into a novel, even one on CD.