f you’ve ever seen Justified on the web or streaming services, you know that cool main character, Federal Marshal Raylan Givens, a Gary-Cooper-like lawman who casually blows away Southern tire-biters who have it coming (meaning they are trying to draw against him). He’s a cool dude. And he’s the creation of Elmore Leonard, a crime writer of great renown. He’s written a string of books about this character and they are all as smooth as moonshine.

It’s a very unconventional storytelling method. First off, you nearly have to read it out loud. From a grammar standpoint, it isn’t proper English. However, if you settle into the story and allow yourself to drift among the crazy Southern characters of Harlan County, Kentucky, suddenly it’s reading right. In this format, Ralyan comes across as dead-pan smooth, and his chief rival/ally (it’s a very complex relationship) Boyd Crowder is cracker dry. In this, the dialog is funny and sharp.

Further, the storyline isn’t the classic arch to climax you were taught in Literature 101. There are several mini-stories that seem to bump and jostle along, one about organ stealers, one about coal mining companies, all of them detached yet interlinked, a great and weird mash of southern crimes and reluctant heroes.

I’m telling you, this one was short, sharp and sweet.

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