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Summary: a very different block.....
Review: im a big fan of lawrence block (my favs of his are burgler in the closet, 8 millions ways to die, thief who couldnt sleep, and so many more i cant name em all)! i couldnt put this book down! its disturbingly how interesting a hitman's life could be. you sorta feel for him and hope that somehow his life would be resolved and that he'd answer all his unanswered questions. he tries to find comfort and solace in various things.... but he doesnt kill out of passion or malice, he kills without emotion, he does it because it's his job - just as any other person works at there job, they do theyre work efficiently, but when they turn in their timeslip, they return to doing what they really want to do. except keller really doesnt have anything to do, which is why he feels so miserable and empty.... a rather interesting one at that. block is in fine form here. he has written innumerable great novels and short stories and he has nothing to prove, he knows what he's good at and what he's not, and isnt that when most authors really shine?
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Summary: As usual, a well-written and fun read from Lawrence Block
Review: I enjoyed this book for its page-turning aspects and the high caliber of writing. It was fun to read and the characterizations were good. What disappointed me was that some events occurred without explanation and were just 'dropped' when further development seemed essential to the development of the story. Specifically, I wanted to know more about the end of Keller's relationship and what impact the loss of his girl and his dog had on him. I also did not get a full understanding of 'the old man' and what was ailing him. These things will not prevent me from reading Hit list.
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Summary: What a find!
Review: I'd never read any Lawrence Block before, and picked up "Hit Man" on a whim. What I found was an author who could write circles around a lot of his peers. This is a tight, deft narrative about a man we should despise. Instead, we come to care about Keller, and understand something of what drives him, of what makes him human. I really recommend this book highly, not just for entertainment value, but if you want to learn more about the craft of writing and how an effective narrative is constructed.
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Summary: A Good Poolside Read
Review: I usually look through the mystery section every once in a while but on a recommendation, I started looking through Lawrence Block's writings and was intrigued about Hit Man. Hit Man is a collection of stoires about an assasin named Keller who incidently is going through a mid life crisis. While Hit Man isn't exactly heavy stuff, it is a fun read. I'm looking forward to picking up Block's sequel, Hit List next.
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Summary: All Block's characters now sound the same
Review: Don't get me wrong: I'm a BIG Lawrence Block fan. I've read every book he's published since Matt Scudder's drinking days. But he's gotten soft and complacent in recent books. Yes, all his characters talk exactly the same: they all go into these silly off-topic tangents and have a wry humor that is just fine for Bernie, but is way off the mark for Matt or Keller. Block has drifted far away from his noir roots. Keller is not a cold blooded hit man, he's a transparent piece of cardboard. A real killer would have speculated about killing the kids playing basketball in the driveway, if that's what it took to carry out his contract. This is the first Block book in twenty years that I have put aside unfinished. A major disappointment.
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Summary: HitMan is a Hit
Review: This collection of short stories, most originally published in Playboy, got me hooked on Lawrence Block. As we follow him from one job to the next the ultmate anti-hero, Keller, strikes the reader as a nice guy, unassuming, funny, meticulous, introspective, compassionate, and dedicated to a job well done --the guy next door if you happen to have slightly neurotic New York nieghbors. He's also a killer for hire. There is no black or white here. In the first installment Block sets us up for a warm fuzzy moment as Keller befriends his intended target, and then he knocks our feet out from under us. While there is no overall plot either, Block's fluid style and his skillful character devleopment, combine with the odd situations Keller finds himself in to make this a real page turner.
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Summary: HIT MAN - Misses the mark
Review: In between killing people, 'renaissance' man John Keller likes New York City culture and collecting worldwide stamps. Since being a paid assassin is not a forty-hour-a-week job, Keller also has time for a dog and an occasional romance.But Keller is dead serious about his work, and thus neurotic about the details and nuances of what he does. He meticulously plans his 'hits,' often adding a personal flare to his execution methods. Why use a bullet when you can make a death look accidental? And in a perverse irony, Keller has a strong sense of right and wrong, and sometimes improvises on an assignment to improve a conflicted situation as a result of his deadly deed. What a guy. HIT MAN is the premiere episode of another Lawrence Block book series. It is slow out of the blocks, using valuable prose to set the stage for future installments. The humor gets lost in the mechanics, which is a shame as HIT MAN's sequel, HIT LIST, is a knee slapper. This inaugural episode is worthy of a pass, while the Keller series itself is shaping up to be a fun, clever and humorous look at the life of a 'thoughtful' paid assassin.
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Summary: Maybe you've met a hitman and didn`t know it
Review: THE PLOT Keller is a hit man. He gets jobs and he does them. And he is a pro...no mistakes. The contracts come from White Plains, from the unseen man upstairs and the man's assistant Dot. Life is good. And everytime Keller goes to a new town he gets real estate agents to show him houses he'll never buy. Then he kills the target and goes home. And goes to therapy, gets a dog, gets a girlfriend, meets an agent from the government, and generally cruises through life piling up bodies. But there are always little problems -- like the man who hires him through a front and then neglects to pay the second half. Or the two rivals who both hire Keller and he has to choose which one. Or the three "innocents" that the government has him kill. In the end, he decides to retire. And find a hobby. And even that doesn't work out as planned. WHAT I LIKED The character is interesting and business-like. He has trouble killing a man he likes because he knows the man is waiting for it and Keller had saved his grandson from drowning, so he is somewhat conflicted. And the search for explanations about his life and his past are at once both deep and superficial -- deep questions that Keller can turn away from anytime he wants and simply shrug. And mean it. On the lighter side, he uses various identities when he travels, identities of real people. So, just for fun he occasionally calls the wives from the hotel he is staying in so that when the couple complain to American Express that they weren't there, there is a call home from the hotel, just to screw things up a little more. But then he feels guilty and sends the wife flowers from the husband - charged to the husbands card. And his depictions of some places in New York City were a nice "homecoming" since I was there only a short while ago and know all too well the places he was describing. Favorite lines: - "Keller, what difference does it make how Lyman Crowder pronounces his last name?" "I just wondered." "Well, stick around the funeral. See what the minister says." - There were eight million stories in the naked city, most of them not very interesting, and he was one of them. - "He had killed a thousand miles to ride a woman he'd ever met" (A deliberate misquote of a Louis L'Amour advertistment: "He rode a million miles to kill a man he'd never met). - It was an unusual experience for him to travel under his own name and use his own credit cards. He sort of liked it, but felt exposed and vulnerable. Signing it at the restored downtown hotel, he wrote down not only his own name but his own address as well. Who ever heard of such a thing? WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE Some of the chapters seem somewhat disjointed, which is likely a reflection of the fact that many of the chapters appeared "as is" in Playboy magazine as short stories. The only other complaint is that in a couple of places the story jumps back to New York City a little two fast and the reader is left wondering exactly what happened and how he killed the target. Particularly for the guy who initially stiffs Keller on the second half of his fee -- there is no explanation whether Keller kills him or not. He plans it but then has to go back to New York City suddenly. No explanation. OVERALL RATING A good story, although its hard to get into the character since the character is presented rather cold and superficial. Almost like a description of someone's life in the past, its hard to feel tension or great interest in the day to day happenings. Give it a 3.0 out of 5.0.
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Summary: Boring - man just doing his job.
Review: This book makes me yawn. Basically, this is a story of a guy who likes dogs. He is a contract killer. This could as well be written about a guy who is a postal worker, a programmer, or a manager. You might expect something more -- after all, he is a hit man. But it is a pathetic story of someones pathetic life lightly seasoned with pathetic humour.
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Summary: A cure for cabin fever
Review: Has winter arrived early in your part of the country? Got a touch of cabin fever? Prepare to enjoy being holed up with this riveting book. My new favorite Lawrence Block character--Keller. The hit man who discovers he has a heart (sort of). He receives his orders from a mysterious man in White Plains. Flies across the country whenever he's needed. Generalizes crossword-solving skills to his profession--an efficient problem solver. You'll want to write a fan letter to Lawrence Block(or a review for Amazon) after you've finished this entertaining book. A must read!
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