Re: RARA-AVIS: Practical tips from hardboiled dicks

From: Bleed272@aol.com
Date: 06 Nov 2000


Thanks to Juri, James Rogers, Neil Smith, Jim and Bill Hagen for sharing tips. They're perfect--especially the ones about always having different business cards on hand.

This will be in the piece, but here's a tip from the Scudder series, straight from Lawrence Block himself:

"What comes to mind is a scene in Everybody Dies. T.J.'s been wounded in a gun battle in Brooklyn, and Matt hails a gypsy cab and orders the driver to take them to Manhattan. The driver doesn't want to ride around with a bleeding passenger. Matt holds the gun on the guy and tells him that he'll give him a hundred dollars for the trip, or he'll shoot him in the head and drive there himself, his choice. The driver, terrified, complies.

"En route, Matt gives him the $100, so the guy won't worry about getting stiffed, and when they arrive he gives him a second $100 to sweeten the deal. The driver thanks him and gives him his card, inviting Matt to call him when he needs a driver. I thought that showed how working relationships form and evolve. And I liked that driver. I wouldn't be surprised if Matt keeps his card and hires him again."

Best,

Duane Swierczynski

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