SUMMARY:A previously published mystery follows New York City sleuth-for-hire Chip Harrison as he confronts his first case, in which five beautiful sisters--one of them a former flame--are hunted down by their wicked The third book in a four-novel, humorous mystery series written in the 1970's by Lawrence Block and featuring Chip Harrison, a teenaged, one-man anti-chastity movement training to be an Archie Goodwin to NYC private detective Leo Haig.. Original.

Amazon.com ReviewBernie Rhodenbarr, burglar with a heart of gold, returns for this 10th installment in a reliable Burglar on the Prowl, Bernie is recruited by an old friend to burgle the home of a crooked plastic surgeon, removing some off-the-books cash from a wall safe. A simple enough job, but Bernie complicates matters by going "on the prowl" one restless evening―-randomly cruising for an easy job. While he's pawing through a woman's empty apartment, she returns home; Bernie hides hastily, only to overhear an act of violence that draws him into a hunt for the perpetrator and a deepening role in the victim's life.Lawrence Block's prose is merely serviceable, but his plotting and storytelling are first-rate. He constructs a complex puzzle, yet weaves in each new development so seamlessly that you almost don't see it happen. Like its Bernie predecessors, The Burglar on the Prowl is droll and charming, and at times you can feel Block trying a bit too hard with the charm. However, a few truly horrific bad guys and some ugly violence keep the sweetness from cloying. And it's impossible not to like Bernie, a gentleman criminal with few peers in contemporary fiction. --Nicholas H. AllisonFrom Publishers WeeklyYou'd think that Block, with more than 50 books to his credit, would run out of ideas, but as this 10th in his Burglar series shows (after 1999's The Burglar in the Rye), he's as fresh, witty and inventive as ever. The author builds his plot on stupefying coincidences, but not to worry—everything eventually meshes. A friend asks Bernie Rhodenbarr, confirmed New Yorker, used-book dealer and gentleman burglar, to rob a mob-connected plastic surgeon who stole the friend's mistress. He agrees, and cases the doctor's house in Riverdale, the Bronx. But Bernie is restive and, uncharacteristically (because he plans carefully), he breaks into a Manhattan apartment on a whim and almost gets caught, hiding under the bed while a woman is date-raped. Next day a customer is shot near his bookstore, a mysterious émigré couple is murdered, a former Latvian war criminal is reported in New York and Bernie's apartment is ransacked. These crimes seem unrelated in such a large city, but Bernie finds a common thread. In the end, Bernie assembles 22 people (including lawmen) in the surgeon's living room and, Charlie Chan style, explains each participant's role and, where appropriate, crime. Lesser hands would not bring off this breathtaking performance, but in Block's it's seamless and hilarious. Quirky characters like Bernie's pals Carolyn Kaiser, the dog groomer, and cop Ray Kirschmann; an insider's love of New York; and a slew of wonderful puns add to the fun.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Publishers WeeklyMaster mystery writer Block has dabbled in his time in many genres, and early in his career, back in 1971, he published a handful of paperback erotic novels under a pseudonym; this is one of them. He wanted, he says, to have fun with an epistolary novel, and this is written entirely in the form of letters by a fired magazine editor, Larry Clarke, to his former wife, his previous employers, his previous wife's lover and so on. Block's knack of keeping things moving was prodigious even then, and the novel is a rapid and often amusing read, in which Larry Clarke takes sharp potshots at all and sundry, to often delicious effect. The erotic part is less successful, however; Larry (Clarke or Block) was under the impression, common to pornographers, that women crave anal penetration, which makes some of the sex scenes rather distasteful and far from aphrodisiac in effect. It's an interesting glimpse, nonetheless, of the early skills of one of our great noir stylists. (Feb.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.Review“Block is one of the best!” —The Washington Post

An assassin targets the political leaders of the United States, causing a domino effect that could bring down the government and alter our way of life forever Assassinations, political upheaval, student riots, and conservative rage. In the thick of the Cold War it was the perfect recipe for revolution, and it only took a gentle push to send a nation toppling into dictatorship. But what if it happened in the Untied States? Miles Dorn can make it so. A hired killer with no past and no future, he steps out of retirement and sets his sights on the political leaders holding America back from the brink. A Louisiana governor, a Detroit mayor, a bleeding-heart senator, and finally the vice president himself. When they fall, a tyrant will step forward and Dorn will disappear again. But as the death toll rises, he finds himself growing close to a civilian, a Summer of Love idealist who makes him question his path. Can he turn back before it’s too late for him—and too late for America? 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.

SUMMARY: Bernie Rhodenbarr is a personable chap, a good neighbor, a passable poker player. His chosen profession, however, might not sit well with some. Bernie is a burglar, a good one, effortlessly lifting valuables from the not-so-well-protected abodes of well-to-do New Yorkers like a modern-day Robin Hood. (The poor, as Bernie would be the first to tell you, alas, have nothing worth stealing.) He's not perfect, however; he occasionally makes mistakes. Like accepting a paid assignment from a total stranger to retrieve a particular item from a rich man's apartment. Like still being there when the cops arrive. Like having a freshly slain corpse lying in the next room, and no proof that Bernie isn't the killer. Now he's really got his hands full, having to locate the true perpetrator while somehow eluding the police -- a dirty job indeed, but if Bernie doesn't do it, who will?