* * I was doing some online xmas shopping this morning and the latest
Lawrence Block book popped up in my Amazon recommendations. It's a reprint
of two 1999 collections of his early, early work. The Publisher's Weekly
write-up, cut and pasted from Amazon is below. The novellas sound
intriguing. *
*
First published in two volumes by Crippen & Landru in 1999, this collection
of early crime stories from bestseller Block (*Hit and Run*) is a mixed bag.
Part one consists of 25 unremarkable tales, including Block's sole foray
into science fiction. Offering no defense of their quality in his frank
introduction, the author admits that he hasn't reread these stories in
decades. Even devoted fans will struggle not to lose patience at
encountering yet another grim account of a brutal misogynist who ends up on
the wrong end of a gun or a knife. By contrast, the three novellas featuring
New York City PI Ed London, starting with The Naked and the Deadly, are taut
classic hard-boiled noir, with the gumshoe tangling with treacherous women
and lying clients. Closer to the MWA Grand Master's usual level, they blend
suspense, a puzzle and an appropriately cynical first-person narrative
voice, and will leave even newcomers hungry for more. *(Dec.)*
Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All
rights reserved.
http://www.amazon.com/One-Night-Stands-Lost-Weekends/dp/006158214X/ref=pd_ys_cs_all_5
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 02 Nov 2008 EST