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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780060512224
ISBN number: 0060512229
Label: HarperTorch
Manufacturer: HarperTorch
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: February 01, 2003
Publishing house: HarperTorch
Release Date: January 28, 2003
Sale Popularity Level: 339544
Studio: HarperTorch
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The last time Florida motel owner George Moran was in the Dominican Republic he was in a uniform and people were shooting at him. Years later he's back looking for a girl he lost -- and finding one he'd be better off without. But that doesn't matter to George while he's sleeping with beautiful Mary de Boya -- only when he discovers his lover is the wife of a former death squad general in exile with solid mob connections. Now George is bringing big trouble back with him to the Sunshine State -- as his nostalgic trip down memory lane has tangled him up in a cat's cradle of drug deals, swindles, vengeance and murder . . . and a love that's not only blind but lethal.
Amazon.com Review:
In the world of Elmore Leonard novels, two ex-soldiers can sit around a hotel swimming pool in Florida and, as if it were perfectly natural, chat about a friendly fire incident during an 'interventionist action' in Santo Domingo. His characters have learned the futility of complaining about a life where deadly violence and moral obligations are all too frequently intertwined. In Cat Chaser George Moran is the hotel manager who got shot at back then; now, he's rekindling his intimate acquaintance with the wife of Andres de Boya, a former Dominican military enforcer who currently invests in real estate with a healthy sideline in drugs.
A dizzying series of plot twists involving various grifters and strongmen (both hired and freelance) leads to the grimly comic suspense action that Elmore Leonard fans have come to know and love. But as always, it's Leonard's impressive ear for dialogue that raises Cat Chaser above the herd of crime novels. An example: 'That's correct,' Scully said, 'I'm a consultant... I advise people on business matters, act as a go-between, bring people together that want to make deals... things like that. You want to know any more, come by my office, we'll have a coffee sometime. Okay? Right now I'm going to see Mr. Pradi. Where you come in--I'm gonna knock on his door, he don't open it then I might have to kick it in. I mean the business I got with him is that pressing. So you can give me a key and maybe save yourself a door. What do you think?'
Well, what do you think? --Ron Hogan
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Rated by buyers 
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George Moran is a man who married into money and divorced out of most of it. Earlier in life, he served in the military and saw some brief action in the Dominican Republic. Now running a small motel, he returns to the Dominican Republic to see the places where he fought without the stress of combat and also to search for a girl who was his enemy at the time but who also intrigued him. While there, he meets up with the wife of a former Dominican general who was also known to him when he was married. The two had always had a connection of sorts and they end up in a passionate affair. I won't give away any more specific plot details but there is a fair amount of intrigue as well as the near-constant threat of violence and murder.
Elmore Leonard is well known as a master of prose and the narrative here is certainly clear and crisp. Most of the characters were interesting, even some of the minor ones that are barely part of the story. While the author is sometimes classified as a mystery writer, this is neither a mystery nor a detective story. It's crime fiction featuring a more or less ordinary guy getting caught up in a mess and trying to work his way through it.
The plot was the weak spot for me. The Dominican angle wasn't that interesting to me to begin with and the whole angle with the girl there never really went anywhere. I also found it difficult to empathize with George's lover who carries on an affair and wants to leave her husband but keeps waiting around because she hasn't had time to write out the perfect goodbye speech yet. She knows that he's had many people killed and that he knows about her affair but won't leave for far too long.
The story takes several turns but most felt muddled, instead of being suspenseful twists. I don't want to overstate the case, this is not a bad book. But it was a disappointment because I had heard a lot of good things about Elmore Leonard and I can't say that I was enthralled with my very first experience reading him. Established fans may enjoy it, but if you're looking to try the author for the very first time, I'd recommend looking at one of his other works.
Rated by buyers 
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Pageturning at it's most compulsive. Elmore Leonard returns to South Florida for another twisted tale of greed, death and love set in a world of ex-marines, ex-Generals, gangsters and a variety of lowlifes.
Yet again, Mr. Leonard's plot and dialogue are scarily believable; I fear he knows more than he lets on!
Rated by buyers -
I think Leonard is still cranking out good stuff, but if you want to catch Leonard before the serious buzz started to attach to him, Cat Chaser is a great place to start. George Moran, ex-Marine, ex-Detroit native, and owner of the Coconut Palms Resort Apartments, is like so many heroes in Leonard's world, a guy looking at middle-age who, nevertheless, holds to a personal code, even as he stands at crossroad that has him looking back and looking forward, while sharks snap all around. With his moral compass intact, he always seems to know what to do in any situation, even if he makes it up as he goes along. Enter another ex-grunt and ex-actor Nolan Tyner (who is a dead ringer for Owen Wilson - 15 years before Wilson even appeared in a movie!), who is now an alcoholic private investigator staked out at pool side, and things start to happen.
Oh, there's a lady that needs saving, Mary de Boya. Like Moran, she's an ex-Detroit native and, complicating things, wife to a former torturer from a south American country and now Florida real estate magnate, Andres de Boya. There's another bad guy named Jiggs Scully, who is lethally memorable - even by Leonard's villain-meter. And, of course, a lot of money under the torturer's bed , and page after page of great dialogue. (As a subplot, it's very interesting to see who is the most dangerous bad guy - de Boya or Scully, their conversations together were for me the high points of the novel. Two killers playing chess.) To tell you more would be to cheat you a bit.
Rated by buyers 
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As good as most of his books. One of the best modern classics around.
Rated by buyers -
This was the very first Elmore Leonard novel I've read, though I SAW Out of Sight and Get Shorty. Obviously, I felt like I knew what to expect before I opened the book: numerous plot twists, character's who've seen better days and tight dialogue. I'm not a fan of "detective" fiction, so I can't really compare it to that. I found the setting to be compelling: motel in South Florida, the Dominican Republic. I thought the main character's experience with the Marines in the Dominican Republic was interesting. Frankly, as a 28 year old, I wasn't even aware that Marines were in the Dominican Republic at that time.
Book is a quick read, no matter how you slice it. Despite the "adult" subject matter, it occurs to me that Leonard novels would make a good read for a certain kind of high school student. Leonards books are always cheap to pick up and widely available.
The rythym of the dialogue in "Cat Chaser" is above average.
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