738. La Brava

La Brava
Elmore Leonard
1983
Around 430 pages

I love that Elmore Leonard is sprinkled throughout the List to give us a reprieve from some of the more hard hitting social commentary novels that we have to contend with. Not that his stories are light and breezy, but they are definitely more fun than the Apartheid. 

Joe La Brava is a former secret service agent, who now spends his time capturing Miami street life on camera. He gets knee deep in a case involving a former movie star and organized crime. Jean Shaw was an excellent femme fatale, which is to be expected from a character named Jean Shaw.

Our leading men in these gritty stories are rarely likable, but I enjoyed Joe as a protagonist, and he had a more unique background than just former cop turned P.I. Now I'm in the mood to watch Scarface.

Thrillers are good for my soul. 

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

There was a planned adaptation starring Dustin Hoffman, but it fell through due to contract disputes.

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