Metacritic Books

The Hot Kid
by Elmore Leonard

ISBN: 0060724226
William Morrow, 320 pages, $25.95
Fiction General Literature & Fiction
Released 05/01/2005

The author's 40th novel is set during the Prohibition era, in a world of bank robbers, gangsters, lawmen, the women who love them, and the men who write about them.

Overall Metascore

This is an average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

82 / 100

Critic Reviews

Outstanding Boston Globe Stephen King
You certainly wouldn't expect him to have produced his best novel at the age of 79, but he seems to have done it.
Outstanding Entertainment Weekly Gilbert Cruz
Leonard shows little sign of losing his ability to write crackling dialogue and create endearing, slightly tainted heroes. [13 May 2005, p.92]
Outstanding Los Angeles Times Denise Hamilton
"The Hot Kid" brims with the sly humor, spare prose and razor dialogue we expect from the master. [8 May 2005, p.R3]
Outstanding Library Journal Thomas L. Kilpatrick
A winner in the tradition of Get Shorty and Be Cool. [15 Apr 2005, p.74]
Outstanding Publishers Weekly
The writing is pitch-perfect throughout. [28 Mar 2005, p.55]
Outstanding The Onion A.V. Club Scott Tobias
A smooth-running tour through a vibrant period in American history, The Hot Kid hopscotches from one memorable setpiece to another.
Favorable Washington Post Patrick Anderson
In The Hot Kid , Oklahoma is his version of Shakespeare's enchanted isle in "The Tempest," a brave new world where maids and monsters, outlaws and oilmen, strange creatures all, act out their dubious destinies.
Favorable Daily Telegraph Susanna Yager
If you wonder why so many superlatives have been used to describe his books, you only have to read this one to find out.
Favorable Daily Telegraph James Walton
While I've read more straightforwardly thrilling Leonard novels, The Hot Kid is among the richest and most satisfying.
Favorable The Guardian Peter Guttridge
It's a straightforward tale, more western than contemporary story, but Leonard's every page sparkles.
Favorable Booklist Keir Graff
As always, Leonard's prose seems effortless, his dialogue is perfect, and his humor is as dry as a moonshine martini. If there's anything that keeps The Hot Kid from catching fire, it might be that the Hot Kid is a little too hot. [15 Mar 2005, p.1246]
Favorable Houston Chronicle Andrew Dansby
Familiar and strange, The Hot Kid is an expertly crafted, deftly balanced crime novel that engages with its contradictions.
Favorable The New York Times Janet Maslin
A quieter, deeper, more sanguine novel than ''Get Shorty'' fans are used to, one with more heft but less hair-trigger repartee than Mr. Leonard usually delivers.
Favorable The New York Times Book Review Charles McGrath
Where so much of Leonard's recent fiction has a sharp, almost hyperrealistic quality, ''The Hot Kid'' is noirish and even a little pulpy at times, in the fashion of 30's movies and detective magazines.
Unfavorable San Francisco Chronicle David Lazarus
This is still Elmore Leonard, make no mistake -- the man could write a phone book onto the best-seller list. But there's little sizzle to "The Hot Kid" and precious little emotional clout.

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