Riding the Rap is a 1995 crime fiction novel by Elmore Leonard

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...

. It is the sequel to Leonard's Pronto

Pronto (novel)

Pronto is a crime novel written by Elmore Leonard. Leonard introduces three main characters and gets them moving against each other. Harry is constantly reminiscing about World War II. Tommy carries a picture of the old crime boss Frank Costello in his wallet. Raylan is a detective cowboy...

, released in 1993. Like Pronto, Riding the Rap centers around 67 year-old Harry Arno, World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 veteran and book maker, who has been skimming from the mob for decades. The book also features a reappearance of Joyce Patton, Harry's ex-girlfriend and a former stripper

Stripper

A stripper is a professional erotic dancer who performs a contemporary form of striptease at strip club establishments, public exhibitions, and private engagements. Unlike in burlesque, the performer in the modern Americanized form of stripping minimizes the interaction of customer and dancer,...

, and her new boyfriend Raylan Givens

Raylan Givens

Raylan Givens is a fictional character created by American novelist and screenwriter Elmore Leonard.Givens is a Deputy U.S. Marshal and initially appeared in the novels Pronto and Riding the Rap. Leonard later penned the short story "Fire in the Hole". which became the basis for the television...

, an always-gets-his-man old western type law enforcer who later comes to Harry's aid when he discovers the plot set up by Chip Ganz, Bobby Deo, and Louis Lewis. Chip Ganz, who is $16,500 in debt, hatches a plan to steal Harry's millions of skimmed money from a Swiss bank account by taking him hostage

Hostage

A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...

and forcing the money out of him. It's up to Raylan Givens to find Harry Arno before it's too late.