The Switch

By Elmore Leonard

Categories: Literature & Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

The Switch (1978) is Elmore Leonard's crime novel in which Detroit crooks Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara kidnap the wife of a corrupt real-estate developer for ransom. They soon learn that husband Frank Dawson has no intention of paying, having already filed for divorce to marry his young mistress. Mickey Dawson, the captive wife, proves sharper than either man expected, and the three turn the failed scheme into a plan to take Dawson for everything he has. Ordell and Louis later return in Rum Punch.

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• Quentin Tarantino: “The Switch was the very first book I'd ever read, so even before Rum Punch was published, I was like, "Oh shit! Ordell, Lewis, Melanie, Jesus Christ!"... I was doing a little adaptation of The Switch in my mind when I was fifteen, when I read it.”