 First edition | |
| Author | Elmore Leonard |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press |
Publication date | May 1977 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 264 pp. |
| ISBN | 0-440-09216-7 |
| OCLC | 2425395 |
| 813/.5/4 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.L58 Un PS3562.E55 |
| Preceded by | The Big Bounce |
Unknown Man #89 is a crime novel written by Elmore Leonard, published in 1977, just after his novel Swag , and preceding The Hunted. It is a sequel to The Big Bounce .
Detroit process server Jack Ryan has a reputation for finding men who don't want to be found. A string of seemingly unrelated crimes leads Ryan to the search for a missing stockholder known only as "unknown man #89," but his missing man isn't "unknown" to everyone: a pretty blonde hates his guts, and a very nasty dude named Virgil Royal wants him dead in the worst way. This is very unfortunate for Jack, who is suddenly caught in the crossfire of a lethal triple-cross and becomes as much a target as his nameless prey. Along the way, Ryan butts heads with local police, including six-shooter-carrying Dick Speed. The book is perhaps best remembered for a sequence taken straight from The Godfather , where thug Virgil plants a shotgun in the meeting place of his victim, in this case, the fire escape of Bobby Lear's hotel room. Also of note is homosexual wannabe gangster Lonnie, whose "superfly" haircut was emulated by several of Elmore Leonard's other characters.
According to the revised edition of "Hitchcock" by François Truffaut, Alfred Hitchcock was seriously considering adapting Leonard's novel Unknown Man No. 89, to which he had acquired the rights, as his follow-up film to Family Plot (1976), his 53rd and final project. He abandoned that idea and considered some other novels, but in 1978 Hitchcock closed his offices and dismissed his staff. There never was a 54th film. In 1980 Hitchcock died.
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Elmore John Leonard Jr. was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. His earliest novels, published in the 1950s, were Westerns, but he went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures. Among his best-known works are Hombre, Swag, City Primeval, LaBrava, Glitz, Freaky Deaky, Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight and Tishomingo Blues.
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The Tangerine Bear is a 48-minute animated film for children released on November 11, 2000. direct-to-video It was directed by Bert Ring, and is based on the 1997 book of the same name by Betty Paraskevas and Michael Paraskevas. The voice cast includes famous celebrities Tom Bosley, Jenna Elfman, Howie Mandel, David Hyde Pierce, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Ralph Manza, and Marlon Wayans. The story is narrated and sung by country/western singer Trisha Yearwood. It was produced by Family Home Entertainment and Hyperion Pictures, and distributed by Artisan Entertainment. Entertainment Rights held distribution rights to the film outside the United States.
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