I was introduced to the crime fiction author Elmore Leonard in my late teens at around the same time that I discovered Quentin Tarantino as a film director.

Leonard’s huge influence on Tarantinois evident in all of his films. From the first page of Freaky Deaky the writer captivated me with the way that he described characters by what they said rather than what they did.

The book manages to finely balance a real threat of violence, a bizarre situation and variety of charming but morally corrupt street talking characters.

Since reading Freaky Deaky I have read and loved many more of Leonard’s books, all of which tell his stories through sharp dialogue, most of it hard-boiled, almost all of it delectably funny.