"Elmore Leonard was best known for writing crime fiction, fast-paced novels about ex-cons, aspiring kidnappers, gun dealers and loan sharks, and the world-weary lawmen and -women who chase them and usually catch them, often as not shaking their heads over how damned dumb criminals can be. His novels were always expertly plotted and sardonically funny, but to tell the truth I can barely recall the story lines of the ones I’ve read — except for “Get Shorty,” on account of the improbable device of a gangster turned movie producer. What was impossible to forget about anything Elmore Leonard ever wrote was his voice."

http://www.salon.com/2013/08/20/why_elmore_leonard_matters/