Bandits was published by Arbor House in 1987 and is Leonard’s most politically engaged novel. Jack Delaney, an ex-jewel thief who now works at a funeral home in New Orleans, teams up with Lucy Nichols, a former Carmelite nun who works at a leper colony, to steal drug money that a Nicaraguan colonel is using to fund the Contras. The plot is typically Leonard — convoluted, populated by memorable eccentrics, and driven by dialogue — but the political context gives it an unusual dimension.
The Novel
Jack Delaney is a characteristic Leonard protagonist: smart, laconic, morally flexible but not without principles. His partnership with Lucy — who has left the convent but retains her moral clarity — creates the novel’s central dynamic: two people who have both lived on society’s margins, one by choice (crime) and one by vocation (religious service), united by their contempt for the real bandits — the politicians and arms dealers who profit from Central American suffering.
The New Orleans setting is rendered with Leonard’s usual specificity. The funeral home, the leper colony at Carville, the Garden District mansions, and the French Quarter bars all contribute to an atmosphere that is both comic and morally serious. Leonard, who typically set his novels in Detroit or Miami, proved equally adept at capturing New Orleans’s distinctive culture of genteel corruption.
The Iran-Contra context — the Reagan administration’s covert funding of Nicaraguan counterrevolutionaries through illegal arms deals — gives the novel a political edge unusual in Leonard’s work. The Nicaraguan colonel is not a cartoon villain but a pragmatic operator in a system that rewards brutality, and Leonard treats the Central American politics with more sophistication than the average thriller writer.
Critical Reception
Reviews were positive, with critics noting the political dimension as a departure for Leonard. Some felt the Central American subplot overcomplicated the caper plot; others appreciated the ambition. The novel sits in the middle tier of Leonard’s output — not as iconic as Get Shorty or Out of Sight, but a solid, entertaining crime novel with more on its mind than most.
Collecting Bandits
First edition (1987, Arbor House, New York): Boards with dust jacket.
Approximate market values:
- Fine/Fine in dust jacket: $50–$150
- Signed first edition: $100–$300
- Without jacket: $10–$20
Value trajectory (2016–2026): Minimal. A minor Leonard title in collector terms.
Projected values (2026–2036): Modest. Signed copies should reach $200–$500.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a political novel? It is a crime novel with a political backdrop. Leonard does not lecture — the Iran-Contra context enriches the plot without dominating it. The politics are present in the same way the casino industry is present in Glitz: as the ecosystem in which the characters operate.
What makes this distinctive among Leonard’s novels? The New Orleans setting, the ex-nun character, and the leper colony — all unusual elements for Leonard, who typically worked with criminals, cops, and lawyers in Detroit and Florida. The novel’s moral framework — stealing from thieves to help genuine victims — gives it an ethical clarity unusual in Leonard’s morally ambiguous world.