Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyed every minute of this interesting book.
Review: Bernie Rhodenbarr does everything with a bit of humor. He's a burglar, a private-eye, a philosopher, and he makes you smile through the whole book.
Rating:
Summary: Bernie hits his stride in this third "Burglar" caper
Review: For many readers of Block's burglar series, this is where it all really begins: THE BURGLAR WHO LIKED TO QUOTE KIPLING introduces Bernie's used bookstore; his comrade-at-arms and partner in crime, Carolyn Kaiser; the series' highbrow "celebrity" titles; and the concept of going after a prize of more than monetary value. Here it's a lost poem by Rudyard Kipling, and before the adventure is finished, the rare manuscript will be found, lost, and found again. Block manages to produce a great slapstick comedy without once sacrificing the air of menace and tension that hangs over the proceedings. By the time he pulls a fair and satisfying solution out of his hat, you want to stand and applaud. Readers of THE BURGLAR WHO LIKED TO QUOTE KIPLING are Block readers for life.
Rating: 
Summary: Good serise
Review: I have to honest to my fellow readers here what makes this series and this book so great is not the fact that the plot is good. The plot in and or itself is fairly mediocre and variations of it have been rehashed in mystery novels before. What makes the book so good is the wonderfully crafted characters(Bernie, Caroline, Ray Kershmen) and the fact that Lawrence Block is such a prolific writer. I mean I just love this guy he can make mundane activities like running from the police, hiding at a friends house and picking a lock into tremdosly funny activities. It is for that reason that I read this series and while I will continue to read it, all the way up to volume 20 hopefully.
Rating:
Summary: Good serise
Review: I have to honest to my fellow readers here what makes this series and this book so great is not the fact that the plot is good. The plot in and or itself is fairly mediocre and variations of it have been rehashed in mystery novels before. What makes the book so good is the wonderfully crafted characters(Bernie, Caroline, Ray Kershmen) and the fact that Lawrence Block is such a prolific writer. I mean I just love this guy he can make mundane activities like running from the police, hiding at a friends house and picking a lock into tremdosly funny activities. It is for that reason that I read this series and while I will continue to read it, all the way up to volume 20 hopefully.
Rating:
Summary: Super series!
Review: I love the wit and witicism of Lawrence Block, as spoken and acted by his character, Bernie the Burglar (or is it bookseller?). This book was so good, I read it in one day. Block does mar the character of Rudyard Kipling, tying him to one of the most notorious people of the 20th century, but I'm willing to forgive him. Bernie and his best friend/sidekick go through a well planned sting operation to uncover the real killer, hiding behind street corners with a Polaroid. By all means, you must try the burglar series, and be prepared for the most original writing in modern American literature.
Rating:
Summary: Super series!
Review: I love the wit and witicism of Lawrence Block, as spoken and acted by his character, Bernie the Burglar (or is it bookseller?). This book was so good, I read it in one day. Block does mar the character of Rudyard Kipling, tying him to one of the most notorious people of the 20th century, but I'm willing to forgive him. Bernie and his best friend/sidekick go through a well planned sting operation to uncover the real killer, hiding behind street corners with a Polaroid. By all means, you must try the burglar series, and be prepared for the most original writing in modern American literature.
Rating:
Summary: The Author Who...
Review: Lawrence Block is a delightful story teller and Bernie is a grand creation. "The Burglar Who" series mix humor with a good old fashioned murder mystery. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to laugh out loud while reading. I've read all the "Bernie" books and laughed out loud at each one. It seems Bernie only gets better with age. Mr. Block is wonderful - if he is anywhere near your town, go see him. It is an evening well spent.
Rating:
Summary: The Author Who...
Review: Lawrence Block is a delightful story teller and Bernie is a grand creation. "The Burglar Who" series mix humor with a good old fashioned murder mystery. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to laugh out loud while reading. I've read all the "Bernie" books and laughed out loud at each one. It seems Bernie only gets better with age. Mr. Block is wonderful - if he is anywhere near your town, go see him. It is an evening well spent.
Rating:
Summary: Bernie, the Bookman, Buys In
Review: Lawrence Block is one of our most talented mystery authors. In the Bernie Rhodenbarr series he explores how an ordinary, but intelligent, "honest" person might go about pursuing a life of crime as a fastidious and talented burglar who isn't proud of what he does, doesn't like to hang out with criminals, and really gets a big thrill out of breaking and entering . . . and removing valuables. As you can see, there's a sitcom set-up to provide lots of humor. But the humor works well in part because Mr. Block is able to put the reader in the Bernie's shoes while he breaks, enters and steals . . . and evades the long arm of the law. To balance the "honest" burglar is an array of "dishonest" and equally easy-money loving cops. As a result, you're in a funny moral never-never land while your stomach tightens and your arm muscles twitch as tension builds. To make matters even more topsy-turvy, Bernie at some point in every story turns into an investigator who must figure out "who-dun-it" for some crime that he personally didn't do. It's almost like one of those "mystery at home" games where the victim comes back as the police investigator, playing two roles. Very nice!So much for explaining the concept of the series. The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling is the third book in the series. I strongly suggest that you begin the series by reading Burglars Can't Be Choosers and follow it up with The Burglar in the Closet. Each story in the series adds information and characters in a way that will reduce your pleasure of the others if read out of order. Although, I originally read them out of order and liked them well enough. I'm rereading them now in order, and like it much better this way. The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza comes next in the series. The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling introduces two major changes into the series, both of them favorable. Bernie is now the proprietor of Barnegat Books in Greenwich Village, which features used hard cover books, some of which are collectibles. After one of his big heists, he has enough to buy the store, which he used to patronize. The former owner heads off to Florida, leaving Bernie with something to do with his spare time. In this book, Bernie mainly spends his time in the store reading. He's not quite sure whether he makes any money or not, but he likes being around the books . . . and he hopes to meet interesting women. With this change, the series shifts to having a bookish angle that I find delightful. The second major change is that Bernie now has a friend, Carolyn Kaiser, who provides an offbeat offset to Bernie's burglaries. She runs The Poodle Factory, where she grooms dogs for a living (while preferring cats in her private life). She and Bernie share lunches, dinners, drinks and good times together. But it's not boy and girl. Carolyn's romantic interests don't run toward men. As a result, you get a sort of Nick and Nora Charles element without the sexual element affecting the couple. It works really well. Mr. Block successfully experimented with having a female sidekick for Bernie in The Burglar in the Closet, but the romantic development showed that it would be hard to sustain in subsequent books so he wisely ended that relationship. This one, on the other hand, can be easily sustained based on mutual interests and friendship. As the book opens, Bernie's trying to convince everyone that he's gone straight, including his crooked cop friend, Ray Kirschmann, who wants to hire Bernie to lift a mink coat for his wife. Then Bernie gets an invitation to lunch at an exclusive club and learns about a rare and obscure work of Rudyard Kipling's with an anti-Semitic slant that someone wants stolen. Bernie can't resist, and the fun begins! Although the burglary is difficult enough, the aftermath soon has Bernie on the run. Carolyn's pressed into helping him, and the misunderstandings and confusion quickly mount. The puzzle's a deliciously complex one, and you'll enjoy seeing unraveled by Bernie (with a little help from his burglar's tools). You'll find the puzzle to be a nice step up from the ones in the first two books in the series. This is definitely a five-star effort and promises many good things to come. This book's theme comes down to things not always being as they seem. I came away starting to question a lot more of my assumptions about whether appearances are honest representations of reality. Look hard for the Potemkin village, wherever you are or whatever you are doing! Donald Mitchell
Co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage
Rating:
Summary: Bernie, the Bookman, Buys In
Review: Lawrence Block is one of our most talented mystery authors. In the Bernie Rhodenbarr series he explores how an ordinary, but intelligent, "honest" person might go about pursuing a life of crime as a fastidious and talented burglar who isn't proud of what he does, doesn't like to hang out with criminals, and really gets a big thrill out of breaking and entering . . . and removing valuables. As you can see, there's a sitcom set-up to provide lots of humor. But the humor works well in part because Mr. Block is able to put the reader in the Bernie's shoes while he breaks, enters and steals . . . and evades the long arm of the law. To balance the "honest" burglar is an array of "dishonest" and equally easy-money loving cops. As a result, you're in a funny moral never-never land while your stomach tightens and your arm muscles twitch as tension builds. To make matters even more topsy-turvy, Bernie at some point in every story turns into an investigator who must figure out "who-dun-it" for some crime that he personally didn't do. It's almost like one of those "mystery at home" games where the victim comes back as the police investigator, playing two roles. Very nice! So much for explaining the concept of the series. The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling is the third book in the series. I strongly suggest that you begin the series by reading Burglars Can't Be Choosers and follow it up with The Burglar in the Closet. Each story in the series adds information and characters in a way that will reduce your pleasure of the others if read out of order. Although, I originally read them out of order and liked them well enough. I'm rereading them now in order, and like it much better this way. The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza comes next in the series. The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling introduces two major changes into the series, both of them favorable. Bernie is now the proprietor of Barnegat Books in Greenwich Village, which features used hard cover books, some of which are collectibles. After one of his big heists, he has enough to buy the store, which he used to patronize. The former owner heads off to Florida, leaving Bernie with something to do with his spare time. In this book, Bernie mainly spends his time in the store reading. He's not quite sure whether he makes any money or not, but he likes being around the books . . . and he hopes to meet interesting women. With this change, the series shifts to having a bookish angle that I find delightful. The second major change is that Bernie now has a friend, Carolyn Kaiser, who provides an offbeat offset to Bernie's burglaries. She runs The Poodle Factory, where she grooms dogs for a living (while preferring cats in her private life). She and Bernie share lunches, dinners, drinks and good times together. But it's not boy and girl. Carolyn's romantic interests don't run toward men. As a result, you get a sort of Nick and Nora Charles element without the sexual element affecting the couple. It works really well. Mr. Block successfully experimented with having a female sidekick for Bernie in The Burglar in the Closet, but the romantic development showed that it would be hard to sustain in subsequent books so he wisely ended that relationship. This one, on the other hand, can be easily sustained based on mutual interests and friendship. As the book opens, Bernie's trying to convince everyone that he's gone straight, including his crooked cop friend, Ray Kirschmann, who wants to hire Bernie to lift a mink coat for his wife. Then Bernie gets an invitation to lunch at an exclusive club and learns about a rare and obscure work of Rudyard Kipling's with an anti-Semitic slant that someone wants stolen. Bernie can't resist, and the fun begins! Although the burglary is difficult enough, the aftermath soon has Bernie on the run. Carolyn's pressed into helping him, and the misunderstandings and confusion quickly mount. The puzzle's a deliciously complex one, and you'll enjoy seeing unraveled by Bernie (with a little help from his burglar's tools). You'll find the puzzle to be a nice step up from the ones in the first two books in the series. This is definitely a five-star effort and promises many good things to come. This book's theme comes down to things not always being as they seem. I came away starting to question a lot more of my assumptions about whether appearances are honest representations of reality. Look hard for the Potemkin village, wherever you are or whatever you are doing! Donald Mitchell
Co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage
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