LaBrava
Encyclopedia
LaBrava, the 1983 novel by author Elmore Leonard
, follows the story of Joe LaBrava, former Secret Service
agent. This novel won the 1984 Edgar Award
for Best Novel.
Jean Shaw, whom he admired as a twelve year-old boy staring at a movie screen, when he discovers that she is being harassed by thug Richard Nobles and his partner Cundo Rey.
of The New York Times
, "What's unusual about LaBrava is that no matter how complicated its implications grow, it remains firmly rooted in its realistic milieu. And despite all the double-crossing mayhem it metes out, nobody gets hurt who doesn't deserve to. The only innocent victim is the dream of Florida as a golden sunset for the old and infirm to fade peacefully into."
, Florida. Maurice Zola wistfully recalls the heyday of the 1930s and 1940s when the area had a cachet with movie stars. By the 1980s the area had fallen into disrepair and drug activity was rife. Movies such as "Scarface
" and T.V Series such as "Miami Vice
" showed this seamy side of South Beach. It is in this era that "LaBrava" is set. From the 1990s the area became gentrified.
Elmore Leonard
Elmore John Leonard Jr. , better known as Elmore Leonard, is an American novelist and screenwriter. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.Among his...
, follows the story of Joe LaBrava, former Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
agent. This novel won the 1984 Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for Best Novel.
Plot summary
Joe LaBrava gets involved with former movie starMovie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
Jean Shaw, whom he admired as a twelve year-old boy staring at a movie screen, when he discovers that she is being harassed by thug Richard Nobles and his partner Cundo Rey.
Reception
According to Christopher Lehmann-HauptChristopher Lehmann-Haupt
Christopher Lehmann-Haupt is an American journalist, critic and novelist who has worked in the field of books all of his professional career. He began as an editor for various New York City publishing houses, among them Holt, Rinehart and Winston and The Dial Press, from where he moved in 1965 to...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, "What's unusual about LaBrava is that no matter how complicated its implications grow, it remains firmly rooted in its realistic milieu. And despite all the double-crossing mayhem it metes out, nobody gets hurt who doesn't deserve to. The only innocent victim is the dream of Florida as a golden sunset for the old and infirm to fade peacefully into."
Characters in LaBrava
- Joe LaBrava – former Secret Service agent, photographer
- Richard Nobles – rent-a-copSecurity guardA security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...
- Cundo Rey – Marielito partner of Richard Nobles
- Jean Shaw – former movie star
- Maurice Zola – friend of Joe LaBrava and Jean Shaw
- Paco Boza – Man who travels around in a wheelchair he stole from Eastern Airlines
- Franny – Girl who sells beauty products. Has eye on Joe.
Location
The setting of "LaBrava" is South BeachSouth Beach
South Beach, also nicknamed SoBe, is a neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, United States. It is the area south of Indian Creek and encompasses roughly the southernmost 23 blocks of the main barrier island that separates the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay.This area was the first...
, Florida. Maurice Zola wistfully recalls the heyday of the 1930s and 1940s when the area had a cachet with movie stars. By the 1980s the area had fallen into disrepair and drug activity was rife. Movies such as "Scarface
Scarface
Scarface may refer to:*Scarface , a film based on the life of Al Capone and starring Paul Muni**Scareface, by Armitage Trail, the novel the 1932 film was based on...
" and T.V Series such as "Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
" showed this seamy side of South Beach. It is in this era that "LaBrava" is set. From the 1990s the area became gentrified.