Most of his books are peppered with references to cinema, as the characters try to find the line where their movie-influenced personas meet their true selves. Mary Shelley's darkly disturbing tale is illustrated by Angela Barrett and newly introduced by Richard Holmes. The story moves forward, and so do Chili and Leo, to Los Angeles where after many amusing and amazing turns of plot later, Chili ends up getting into the movie business.

When the movies tried to transpose the plot to the screen without giving the characters their full due, they failed. The coat incident earns Chili a visit from Bones, who takes a couple of shots at him before Chili creases the dumbbell's skull with a bullet from his . From the very first page the reader is plunged headfirst into the action, in the room with mob enforcer Chili Palmer and his cronies.

He does this with his trademark mix of characters – whether hoodlum, Hollywood tycoon, or both – who seem amazingly authentic and dialogue that that seems genuine. I find it intriguing that Leonard followed one of his few humourless novels with one of his funniest and breeziest, but Killshot – tense and unforgiving – was quite possibly a metaphorical exorcism of the rage he felt toward an implacable entity (Hollywood) that had so relentlessly abused his literary offspring.

Heading the group is a Miami loan shark named Chili Palmer who winds up in Hollywood while chasing down a guy who owes him money and who has done a great disappearing act.In the book, Chili meets Weir not through Karen but through Weir's girlfriend, a rock musician who remembers Chili from when she worked in Miami.