Having heard instructors rave over Leonard's writing style at two writers' conferences, I decided that I'd better read a book by this "master of dialogue" for my edification. By chance, this one was just being published. I immediately noticed his choppy writing style. By the time I had slogged through 15 pages my head ached. I was so distracted by the choppy sentences and sentence fragments that I couldn't follow the story. Maybe other readers will eat it up, but this kind of writing turned me off. Why he has such a great reputation I'll never know. Sorry, Elmore, you're not my cup of tea. Give me Dan Brown any time.