Elmore Leonard: The Switch (UK 2025)

From the Publisher:
Mickey is bored and angry with her life as a housewife in suburban Detroit, trapped with her dreary, golf-obsessed husband. Then she is kidnapped by a deeply unimpressive criminal gang who want to trade her for a huge ransom from her -- as it turns out -- crooked husband. But what if she doesn't really mind being kidnapped?

Elmore Leonard: The Switch. Penguin Modern Classics, ISBN: 9780241755426 (June, 2025), 208 p., £10.99, eBook £5.99.

Elmore Leonard: The Switch (USA 2012)

From the Publisher:
"MY FAVORITE LEONARD BOOK... . HE WRITES THE WAY HAMMETT AND CHANDLER MIGHT WRITE TODAY, IF THEY SHARPENED THEIR SENSES OF IRONIC HUMOR AND GREW BETTER EARS FOR DIALOGUE." -- DALLAS MORNING NEWS

Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara hit it off in prison, where they were both doing time for grand theft auto. Now that they're out, they're joining forces for one big score. The plan is to kidnap the wife of a wealthy Detroit developer and hold her for ransom. Looks good until they learn the lowlife husband doesn't want his wife back. So it's time for Plan B and the opportunity to make a real killing -- with the unlikely help of a beautiful, ticked-off housewife who's hungry for a large helping of sweet revenge.

"Mr. Leonard dazzles as he sprinkles his work continually with unexpected convolutions... . His people are real, with nary a stereotype in the pack." -- New York Times Book Review
"The best writer of crime fiction alive." -- Newsweek

ELMORE LEONARD
has written forty-five books during his highly successful writing career, and many of his novels have been made into movies. Leonard is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from PEN USA and the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives in Bloomfield Village, Michigan.

Elmore Leonard: The Switch. A Novel. William Morrow Paperbacks, ISBN: 9780062206138 (August, 2012), 288 p., $14.99.

Elmore Leonard: The Switch (UK 2004)

From the Publisher:
Black Ordell Robbie and white Louis Gara have lots in common - time in the same gaol, convictions for auto theft, and a grand plan. They're going to snatch the wife of a Detroit developer and collect some easy ransom money. At least that's what they think...

What they haven't figured on is the fact that the husband has a secret mistress and has absolutely no desire to get his wife back. So now it's time for Plan B. With the help of one seriously ticked-off housewife they are going to take the scumbag for everything he's got...

Elmore Leonard: The Switch. Phoenix, ISBN: 0753819635 (December, 2004), 224 p., £6.99.

Elmore Leonard: The Switch (USA 2002)

From the Publisher:
Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara hit it off in prison, where they were both doing time for grand theft auto. Now that they're out, they're joining forces for one big score. The plan is to kidnap the wife of a wealthy Detroit developer and hold her for ransom. But they didn't figure the lowlife husband wouldn't want his lady back. So it's time for Plan B and the opportunity to make a real killing - with the unlikely help of a beautiful, ticked-off housewife who's hungry for a large helping of sweet revenge.

Elmore Leonard: The Switch. Harpertorch, ISBN: 0060082208 (June, 2002), 304 p., $7.50.

Elmore Leonard: The Switch (USA 1990)

From the Publisher:
"THE FINEST THRILLER WRITER ALIVE." -- The Village Voice
"MR. LEONARD DAZZLES AS HE SPRINKLES HIS WORK CONTINUALLY WITH UNEXPECTED CONVOLUTIONS... HIS PEOPLE ARE REAL, WITH NARY A STEREOTYPE IN THE PACK." -- The New York Times Book Review

Black Ordell Robbie and white Louis Gara have lots in common--time in the same slammer, convictions for grand theft auto, and a plan for a big score. They're going to snatch the wife of a Detroit developer and collect some easy ransom money. They don't figure on a bum of a husband who has a secret mistress and no desire to get his wife back. Or on his crazy, beautiful broad of a housewife who's going to join Ordell and Louis in the slickest, saviest crime of all...

THE SWITCH

"ELMORE LEONARD IS THE REAL THING... HE RAISES THE HARD-BOILED SUSPENSE NOVEL BEYOND THE LIMITS OF THE GENRE... HE PAINTS AN ACUTE PICTURE OF THE WORLD THAT IS ALL TOO REAL AND RECOGNIZABLE. -- The Washington Post

Elmore Leonard: The Switch. Dell, ISBN: 0440208319 (June, 1990), 216 p., $4.95.