Block-list
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When Keller gets off a plane in Louisville, ready to do the job he's been hired for, something about it feels wrong from the start. And when two people are killed in the motel room he's just vacated, he realizes he narrowly missed a setup, but can't figure out why. Then he goes to Boston to do another job, and afterwards dines in a coffee shop where another patron has the misfortune of leaving with Keller's raincoat:
The Globe didn't have it. But there it was in the Herald, a small story on a back page, a man found dead on Boston Common, shot twice in the head with a small-caliber weapon.Keller's agent, Dot, puts the pieces--including the death of another contract killer she books occasionally--together and comes up with the seemingly crazy idea that a greedy hit man is knocking off the competition. In between other legit hits, romancing a commitment-shy artist, visiting an astrologer, and a long stint on jury duty, Keller slowly moves closer to the faceless nemesis he and Dot dub "Roger." But it's Dot, the woman of action, who figures out what to do about him. Though Hit List is too introspective to be a caper novel, and too funny to be noir, it's bound to find a rapt audience with fans of both subgenres. After two such engaging books, can Hit Parade be far behind? --Barrie TrinkleKeller could picture the poor bastard, lying face-down on the grass, the rain washing relentlessly down on him. He could picture the dead man's coat, too. The Herald didn't say anything about a coat, but that didn't matter. Keller could picture it all the same.
Hit List Gets Whacked
Hits in Parts But Misses in OthersBasically this book is about a professional killer named Keller who has some competition. Only problem is that his competition doesn't want any, and it soon becomes apparent to Keller that if he doesn't work out who his rival is and kill him first he will be killed himself. If Lawrence Block had maybe concentrated a little more on this aspect rather than the boring chapters he wrote then this book could have been five stars. Without the editing it barely makes two and a half.
Beautiful writing--interesting but damaged characterLawrence Block is a wonderfully talented writer who manages to make such an inherently unsympathetic character interesting and even sympathetic. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I didn't mind Keller's banter and the jury scene. In fact, I think this is part of Block's trick to make us understand how Keller sees himself--just a guy doing a job. I do agree that the conclusion is just a little knocked off. I would have liked to see a little more cleverness in setting the trap for the killer after Keller. Still, I enjoyed this book a lot.
