I suspect that one of the main characters, Donnell Lewis — an ex-Black Panther and ex-con who is sort of working a scam as the chauffeur and do-it-all for a rich clueless guy named Woodrow “Woody” Ricks, a guy who spends his days constantly and totally doped up on booze and drugs — was supposed to get blown up by one of the many bombs that are floating around the novel and, yes, exploding.

Freaky Deaky is about two former 1960s student radicals who were in it more for the rush than for any principles and who are now trying to make a big score from Woody and his younger brother Mark, both of whom are acquaintances from their college time at Michigan.

Their method, then and now, involves explosives, and that ends up pulling into the story Chris Mankowski, a former police bomb squad investigator who, it turns out, was also at Michigan and knew of, but didn’t know, the radicals, Robin Abbott and Skip Gibbs.

book lost me when the hero cop was scoping out the girl who came in to report a rape. never really recovered from there. bad guys were good and weird with believable motivations. ( )

How good is Elmore Leonard. Well, so good that usually when I finish a book I donate it somewhere, but Freaky Deaky was so good, I can't think about it leaving me. I may have even read this book in the past.....that's the one (and maybe only) thing good about getting old, you forget what books or movies you may have seen in the past and can enjoy them all over again. ( )

It's no great revelation that Leonard is a master of dialogue and character but this book is basically a series of conversations and it is absolutely perfect. It's a twisty plot of ex-cops, ex-Panthers, and ex-radicals all mixed up in extortion, bombings, and double crossings and Leonard doesn't waste a single word. It's as precise and intricate as it is quick and dirty. The prose is funny, surprising and explosive with every character feeling alive (with some help from the incredible narration of Frank Muller) and utterly believable. You'll feel like you're on the Detroit streets watching it all go down and you'll be more than a little bummed when it ends and you're not in on the cut. Read this book! ( )

Scrittura cinematografica

All'inizio mi ha spiazzato. Ho faticato un pò a rendermi conto, ad ambientarmi. Mi è sembrato un pò come quando mi capita di vedere quei film dove hanno scomposto un puzzle prima che arrivassi e all'improvviso mi piombano addosso tutti i pezzi, ed io, per capirci qualcosa, devo pazientemente ricostruirne il disegno. Pian piano però ho acquistato familiarità con i personaggi anche se la storia va avanti come se essi fossero marionette osservate dall'alto. Tutti cercano di trarre vantaggio dalle situazioni man mano che si evolvono. Un poliziotto indaga su una strana denuncia di stupro e si trova coinvolto in un ricatto a danno di due ricchi impresari teatrali piuttosto inconsueti. Ci sono attentati dinamitardi che vanno a segno, improbabili coppie di criminali e un autista-guardia del corpo-tuttofare che reclama la sua "fetta" della torta. Tutto si risolve, in qualche modo, ma alla fine è come se avessi avuto per le mani una sceneggiatura che poteva essere arricchita ancora. Andrò a vedere cos'altro mi proporrà Elmore Leonard...