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LaBrava

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Overview

Joe LaBrava first fell in love in a darkened movie theater when he was twelve -- with a gorgeous femme fatale up on the screen. Now the one-time Secret Service agent-turned-photographer is finally meeting his dream woman in the flesh, albeit in a rundown Miami crisis center. When she's cleaned up and sober, though, former movie queen Jean Shaw still makes LaBrava's heart race. And now she's being terrorized by a redneck thug and his slimy marielito partner, which gives Joe a golden opportunity to play the hero. But the lady's predicament is starting to resemble one of her earlier cinematic noirs. And if he's not careful, LaBrava could end up the patsy -- or dead -- in the final reel.

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Author Information

Bio of Elmore Leonard

Elmore John Leonard, Jr., popularly known as mystery and western writer Elmore Leonard, was born in New Orleans on October 11, 1925. English was an early favorite subject and Leonard earned a Ph.D. in the subject from the University of Detroit in 1950. Prior to enrolling in college, Leonard served in the United States Naval Reserve from 1943 to 1946. Leonard wrote short stories and western novels as well as advertising and education film scripts. One of his most famous early short stories, "3:10 to Yuma," a western, was adapted to film in 1967. Leonard continued to publish both westerns and crime novels throughout the coming decades. In 1967, he began to write fulltime and received such awards as the 1977 Western Writers of America award and the 1984 Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe award. His novel Hombre was judged one of the top 25 all-time westerns by the Western Writers of America. It was later adapted to film, starring Paul Newman. In both his westerns and mystery crime novels Leonard often chooses as his main character a person seemingly reserved who eventually seeks justice openly and concretely. Elmore Leonard has been married twice, to Beverly Claire Cline in 1949 and then to Joan Leanne Lancaster in 1979. He has two daughters and three sons. Leonard successfully conquered alcoholism in the 1970s; details of his struggle with the bottle appear in author Dennis Wholey's 1986 book The Courage to Change.

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Additional Info

Imprint

HarperCollins

Filesize

778.42 KB

Number of Pages

432

eBook ISBN

0061185574

Awards

  • Edgar Awards (Edgar Allan Poe Awards)

Excerpt from: LaBrava by Elmore Leonard

1

"HE'S BEEN TAKING PICTURES three years, look at the work," Maurice said. "Here, this guy. Look at the pose, the expression. Who's he remind you of "

"He looks like a hustler," the woman said.

"He is a hustler, the guy's a pimp. But that's not what I'm talking about. Here, this one. Exotic dancer backstage. Remind you of anyone "

"The girl "

"Come on, Evelyn, the shot. The feeling he gets. The girl trying to look lovely, showing you her treasures, and they're not bad. But look at the dressing room, all the glitzy crap, the tinfoil cheapness."

"You want me to say Diane Arbus "

"I want you to say Diane Arbus, that would be nice. I want you to say Duane Michaels, Danny Lyon. I want you to say Winogrand, Lee Friedlander. You want to go back a few years I'd like very much for you to say Walker Evans, too."

"Your old pal."

"Long, long time ago. Even before your time."

"Watch it," Evelyn said, and let her gaze wander over the eight-by-ten black and white prints spread out on the worktable, shining in fluorescent light.

"He's not bad," Evelyn said.

Maurice sighed. He had her interest.

"He's got the eye, Evelyn. He's got an instinct for it, and he's not afraid to walk up and get the shot. I'll tell you something else. He's got more natural ability than I had in sixty years taking pictures. He's been shooting maybe four."

Evelyn said, "Let's see, what does that make you, Maury You still seventy-nine "

"Probably another couple years," Maurice said. "Till I get tired of it." Maurice Zola: he was five-five, weighed about one-fifteen and spoke with a soft urban-south accent that had wise-guy overtones, decades of street-corner styles blended and delivered, right or wrong, with casual authority. Thirty-five years ago this red-headed woman had worked for him when he had photo concessions in some of the big Miami Beach hotels and nightclubs. Evelyn Emerson -- he'd tell her he loved the sound of her name, it was lyrical, and he'd sing it taking her to bed; though never to the same tune. Now she had her own business, the Evelyn Emerson Gallery in Coconut Grove and outweighed him by fifty pounds.