Road Dogs
By Elmore Leonard
William Morrow, $26.99
ISBN: 978-0-06-173314-7

Elmore Leonard brings back three characters from prior novels in this amusing tale of subterfuge: Jack Foley from "Out of Sight," Cundo Rey from "La Brava," and Dawn Navarro from "Riding the Rap." Jack and Cundo are serving time in a Florida prison and become friendly, taking care of each other, watching each other's back, in prison parlance, "road dogs." Jack is serving a 30-year sentence, Cundo seven-and-a-half. Then Cundo retains his lady lawyer to bring an appeal for Jack. She gets his sentence reduced to three months, with Jack scheduled to be released a short time before Cundo, who pays his way to Venice, CA, and lets him live in one of his two homes there (one worth $4 million, the other $2.5 million).

Dawn Navarro lives in the other home, supposedly waiting for Cundo, celibate, for seven-and-a-half years. Sure. What she is doing is waiting to cash in on Cundo's wealth, scheming with anyone she can find or think of. When Cundo finally returns to California, the fun just begins, and Jack is caught in the midst of all the plotting and scheming, using his wits and intuition to stay ahead.

As in all Elmore Leonard books, the novel is written with panache, plotted carefully and is very funny. It is also highly recommended.

Review by THEODORE FEIT

©2009 Lorie Ham. All rights reserved.