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Elmore Leonard is my second-favorite author next to Stephen King. Given (no pun intended!) that fact, that I loved Pronto will come as no surprise. What is surprising is how deftly Leonard switches settings in this tale. We begin in Miami, head over to Italy for a substantial chunk of the novel, then return to Miami. And all the while, Leonard is juggling characters, their motivations, and their desires. Making this juggling act an even greater feat is the fact that the characters' motivations and desires are constantly shifting.

Raylan Givens is our hero; what struck me about him was how fallible he was early in the novel. With a lesser writer, Raylan's metamorphosis into a gritty, witty hero would seem implausible at best; however, because Leonard repeatedly demonstrates Raylan's inherent kindness--and more importantly, his willingness to trust others and forgive them for their sins--we come to understand that Raylan doesn't really metamorphose as much as he simply learns from his mistakes and digs down deep to find a better version of himself. Yes, he is a changer, but he's not a transformer (unless you count the way he transforms an ex-stripper named Joyce into a person who wants more than the lot for which she has previously settled).

I'll stop now before I give too much away, but in conclusion I'll say that while this novel wasn't my favorite Leonard book, it easily deserves its five stars. Leonard writes better stuff in his sleep than most writers do when surcharged with Red Bull, coffee, and a head full of writing rules. Dutch is a national treasure!