Elmore Leonard’s The Hot Kid rolls right through its story like a Tommy gun through a bank guard. Yes, it’s gangsters and a dapper U.S. Marshal in the Prohibition Midwest, and the bank robbers, oil wells, road houses, and more just keep life (and death) humming along. Overall, a well-written romp, although without the cleverness of some of the “modern” era crime novels where Leonard has earned his reputation. Wait for the paperback…I’ll be returning this hardcover copy to the library this week.