THE HUNTED by Elmore Leonard

Finished Tu 9/20/16

This was one of my paperbacks that was purchased at the library book sale on Fr 6/13/99 and never read. I picked it out to read because I only have a day or so before I must tackle the September selection for the Contemporary Book Club.

Leonard is always a pleasant read; excellent dialog and nearly all of his books belong on the silver screen and THE HUNTED is certainly no exception.

Set in Israel during the seventies; the novel was written in 1977

Al Rosen is a businessman living in the witness protection program. He was vacationing in Israel when a hotel fire happened and he got his picture taken and it was published in the newspaper.
Then, The Bad Guys knew where he was and begin their attack.

Rosen also was in Israel to pick up money from his lawyer. This was $195,000.

A Marine who is about to leave the service helps Rosen during the ensuing mayhem.

Dave Davis- Marine stationed at the American embassy who helps Rosen
Atalia (Tali)- young woman who is Rosen's secretary
Mel Bandy- Rosen's lawyer

3 BAD GUYS
Valenzuela (Val)- the boss
Teddy- explosive expert
Rashad- 'Alabama Arab'; converted to Islam in federal prison

Rosen is shot and killed during the final shootout. All the bad guys are killed and Davis takes the money from Mel 'because he can'.  The money belonged to the company and the lawyer doesn't really care (or want to become involved); he did the handoff so he's out of it.

Great read and any Leonard novel is worth a look. The language of the characters is the saving grace- very pithy!