Lawrence Block - Free Library Land Online - Biography

Tanner on Ice

Wed, 10 Jun 1998 16:11:53 +0300

Once, Evan Tanner was known as the thief who couldn't sleep, carrying out his dangerous duties for a super-secret intelligence agency. Then someone put him on ice -- for about twenty-five years. Returning to the world (and trying to catch up with a quarter century's worth of current events), Tanner is about to embark on a new covert assignment that will take him to the exotic Far East, where mystery and menace are a way of life . . . . Now, whether he's dodging double crosses or disguising himself as a monk, Tanner is learning that when it comes to power games, pretty women, and political wrangling, some things never change. And he's making up for lost time -- with a vengeance.

Hit Me

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 16:12:13 +0300

A man named Nicholas Edwards lives in New Orleans renovating houses, doing honest work and making decent money at it. Between his family and his stamp collection, all his spare time is happily accounted for. Sometimes it's hard to remember that he used to kill people for a living. But when the nation's economy tanks, taking the construction business with it, all it takes is one phone call to drag him back into the game. It may say Nicholas Edwards on his driver's license and credit cards, but he's back to being the man he always was: Keller. Keller's work takes him to New York, the former home he hasn't dared revisit, where his target is the abbot of a midtown monastery. Another call puts him on a West Indies cruise, with several interesting fellow passengers-the government witness, the incandescent young woman keeping the witness company, and, sharing Keller's cabin, his wife, Julia. But the high drama comes in Cheyenne, where a recent widow is looking to sell her husband's stamp collection. . .

Two For Tanner

Mon, 10 Jun 1985 16:11:56 +0400

Evan Tanner can't sleep. Ever. Which gives him plenty of free time to get involved in lots of interesting endeavors in all sorts of exotic locales. Now Tanner's in Thailand with a partially baked plan and a butterfly net, hoping to snare a beautiful missing chanteuse who's metamorphosed into an international jewel thief. Tanner hopes everyone will buy his disguise as a rare butterfly researcher. And everyone does . . . Except the guerilla band holding him captive. They intend to remove his head when the sun rises, so Tanner must put his fate in the hands of a randy Thai youth who will do anything for a woman, even set a suspected spy free. Soon they're running through the jungle together, chased by bandits, soldiers, and yellow fever, and racing headlong into the heart of darkness—and into the flames of war.

The Canceled Czech

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

The second adventure of Evan Michael Tanner -- back in print!"The Canceled Czech" finds the sleepless adventurer on a mission to Czechoslovakia to liberate a dying man, who turns out to be a Nazi. For his troubles, he finds himself leaping from a moving train, tangling with an amorous blonde, and playing the role of a neo-Nazi propagandist. Just another typical work day in the life of "the thief who couldn't sleep".

Me Tanner, You Jane

Tue, 10 Jun 1986 16:11:54 +0400

It's a jungle out there.Literally. At least for Evan Tanner, eternally sleepless sometime superspy, who finds himself in Africa on the trail of the AWOL ruler of tiny Modonoland. It seems the petty despot's gone missing, and he's taken the state treasury along with him.No stranger to impossible missions and international peril, Tanner's been in over his head before. This time, however, he's in imminent danger of being buried alive. And it all has to do with the CIA, white supremacists, moderate revolutionaries . . . and a blond jungle bombshell named (no joke!) Sheena. Tanner's always been a sucker for a pretty face and a curvaceous body, especially one that's wrapped in leopard skin. But this red hot renegade daughter of a local missionary is a maneater.Which means this time Tanner's goose is well and truly cooked. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Quotidian Keller

Sun, 19 Nov 2017 04:17:30 +0200

As Dark as Christmas Gets

Mon, 03 Feb 1997 21:05:37 +0200

As Dark as Christmas Gets: A Christmas Story

AS DARK AS CHRISTMAS GETS. The Mysterious Bookshop, 1997. Privately printed by Otto Penzler as a Christmas gifts for colleagues and customers, this is the first appearance of the Chip Harrison short story, bound as a 20-page pamphlet.

Tanners Twelve Swingers

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

Out of print for fifteen years, Lawrence Block's third book in his hilarious Tanner series is back. . . And this time the intrepid spy is up to his neck in a dozen leggy beauties and a life-and-death smuggling assignment out of the cold corners of Russia.

Cinderella Sims

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:05:41 +0200

There’s no glass slipper in this fairytale—just a damsel in distress, a bag of cash, and a whole lot of dead bodies

Reporter Ted Lindsay is trying to forget his ex-wife, and New York City’s tough streets are just what the doctor ordered. They’re also filled with alluring women, but only one catches Ted’s eye. Cinderella Sims is not only beautiful, she’s on the run and she needs Ted’s help. She’s got a bag full of cash and some very angry people staking out her apartment. Before long Ted’s forgotten his heartbreak and is launched into the dark streets of crime with Cindy at his side.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Lawrence Block, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from his personal collection, and a new afterword written by the author.

From Publishers Weekly

Originally titled $20 Lust and published under the pseudonym Andrew Shaw by Nightstand in 1961, this early Block novel has its quirky charms. As the MWA Grandmaster explains in the Lawrence Block Bibliography: 1958¤1993, "much of the work in question was bad, and categorically so... in the early sixties I wrote a soft core sex novel every month, designed to titillate but not to inflame, with a requisite sex scene in every chapter." Strip away the requisite sex scenes and one is left with a dark, clever crime story that shows Block's emerging strengths: good storytelling, a bright sense of humor and more than a few flashes of good writing. Ted Lindsay, a reporter for the Louisville Times, loses his wife to another man, then to a fatal accident. He relocates to New York in order to get a new start. He's unsuccessful until he sees "the girl." The girl turns Ted's life upside down, setting him on a path of treacherous lies, deceptions and dangers as they try to outwit the gang that's after her. The sex scenes, mild by today's more graphic standards, are more likely to amuse than titillate. Readers who have not yet discovered the joys of Block - bookseller/thief Bernie Rhodenbarr, PI Matthew Scudder, hitman John Keller, etc. - should skip this one. But established Block fans should enjoy this peek at the author's obscure apprentice work and be grateful that he moved on to create better books.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ted Lindsay settles for a numbing routine while he heals from a painful marital breakup. Then he meets a woman who can make him forget his ex-wife, and life is once again filled with desire and passion. Cinderella Jones is on the run from a gang that pulled a casino scam to the tune of fifty large. While they were congratulating themselves, she ran off with the booty. She is willing to trade half the money and her body for Ted's help. They escape across the country, making frequent stops for passionate 1950s-style volcanic release sex. That's important because this is one of current best-selling author Block's early learn-the-trade, pay-the-bills sex novels. It predates his Matt Scudder and Bernie Rhodenbarr series, but readers will recognize the noir sensibility, the subtle humor, the surprisingly complex characters, and the relentless advancement of the plot. The release of this 40-year-old quickie is more of a curiosity than a publishing event, but it will attract considerable interest from Block's devoted readership. And, dated or not, it's still a pretty good crime caper. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

The Sins of the Fathers

Wed, 14 Sep 1977 21:47:48 +0300

The hooker was young, pretty. . . and dead, butchered in a Greenwich village apartment. The prime suspect, a minister's son, was also dead, the victim of a jailhouse suicide. The case is closed, as far as the NYPD is concerned. Now the murdered prostitute's father wants it opened again-and that's where Matthew Scudder comes in. But this assignment carries the unmistakable stench of sleaze and perversion, luring ex-cop-turned-investigator Scudder into a sordid world of phony religion and murderous lust where children must die for their parents most secret, unspeakable sins.

Keller's Horoscope

Tue, 19 Nov 2013 04:17:29 +0200

The Collected Mystery Stories

Mon, 08 Feb 1999 22:00:53 +0200

The 71 tales in this indispensable volume represent the complete short fiction of one of the genre's giants....like all the best short stories, each of them, from the badger game turned murderous to the fatalistic ex-con trying vainly to go straight, seems less created than discovered, dug up from dark places and carved to gemlike brightness. Lots of suspense writers can keep you turning pages far into the night. But how many others can keep you starting story after story, popping just one more poisoned chocolate, hours after you meant to turn out the light?

All the Flowers Are Dying

Fri, 10 Jun 2005 16:11:59 +0300

"A man in a Virginia prison awaits execution for three hideous murders he swears, in the face of irrefutable evidence, he did not commit. A psychologist who claims to believe the convict spends hours with the man in his death row cell, and ultimately watches in the gallery as the lethal injection is administered. His work completed, the psychologist heads back to New York City to attend to unfinished business. " Meanwhile, Matthew Scudder has just agreed to investigate the ostensibly suspicious online lover of an acquaintance. It seems simple enough. At first. But when people start dying and the victims are increasingly closer to home, it becomes clear that a vicious killer is at work. And the final targets may be Matt and Elaine Scudder.

Hit and Run

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:12:13 +0300

Keller's a hit man. For years now he's had places to go and people to kill. But enough is enough. He's got money in the bank and just one last job standing between him and retirement. So he carries it out with his usual professionalism, and he heads home, and guess what? One more job. Paid in advance, so what's he going to do? Give the money back?In Des Moines, Keller stalks his designated target and waits for the client to give him the go-ahead. And one fine morning he's picking out stamps for his collection (Sweden 1-5, the official reprints) at a shop in Urbandale when somebody guns down the charismatic governor of Ohio. Back at his motel, Keller's watching TV when they show the killer's face. And there's something all too familiar about that face. . . . Keller calls his associate Dot in White Plains, but there is no answer. He's stranded halfway across the country, every cop in America's just seen his picture, his ID and credit cards are no longer good, and he just spent almost all of his cash on the stamps. Now what?