Saturday, June 13, 2015

Charlie Martz and Other Stories: The Unpublished Stories by Elmore Leonard

I've always liked Elmore Leonard's stories so finding some of his early work was a treat to me.  I grabbed this one for review and I'm glad I did.

William Morrow and Edelweiss allowed me to read an ebook for review (thank you).  It will be published June 16th, so you don't have long to wait to get a copy for you.

These stories were written while Mr. Leonard had a regular day job.  He wrote wherever he found the time and made time when he didn't have any.  While friends and family carried on around him at picnics and trips to the beach, he was in his own world handwriting stories that were held on to for years.  Seeing them published now made me glad there was still a bit more to read.

My favorite stories are about the sheriff here in Dona Ana.  I live between Dona Ana and Las Cruces and it was like visiting back in time.  Every local reference he made I recognized.  It might be fiction but it was fun!

One thing Mr. Leonard does is make his characters fallible; they have faults just like we all do.  Most of them don't have regrets.  They just go on in life and see what other lemons they might be handed.

The author's son points out these were early writings and have the same writer's problems that Mr. Leonard pointed to other promising authors later in life.  I didn't see any problems.  I enjoyed reading these as much as I did reading his later work.  Why don't you give this anthology a read and let me know what you think?

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