When Lou wins some money in the casinos, two thieves break into their home to rob them and it’s their bad luck that they pick Lou and Karen. During the robbery, Karen tempts Bobby with some of the $300,000 if he’ll help her steal Samir’s safe. Bobby is greedy (and dumb enough) to agree. Samir is also a business man and a lot of people, including Bobby, owe him money. One of the men he uses to collect the money is O’Clair, a former cop who has done time and Samir’s not so bright nephew Ricky. 

Bobby should never have trusted Karen because she, of course, double crosses him. Nnow everyone is after Karen, some people are after Bobby and Karen continues to think she’s ahead of everyone, running as fast as she can, convincing others they can “trust her” and leaving a trail of dead and or maimed people in her wake. 

Trust Me is unlike Peter Leonard’s first novel Quiver, but very much in the style of his father Elmore Leonard.  The pace is very fast, everyone is chasing someone, and no one is sure who has the money. The characters are either too trusting or too dumb, or a little of both.  Everyone is trying to stay one step ahead of everyone else and Karen is always two steps ahead of everyone with very little planning. 

O’Clair and Karen’s sister Virginia end up being sympathetic characters, though some of the thugs are stupid enough that readers may feel sorry for them because they just don’t know any better. 

There are a few surprises, though after the first few they become easier to anticipate. Fans of Elmore Leonard will be pleased to see like father like son; readers who enjoyed his more suspenseful first novel will find something very different this time out.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry