Customer Reviews

Cancelled Czech

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Reading this book was an enjoyable endeavor. It is not nearly close to Blocks better works and the only reason I would recommend this title is if you have become so engrossed with his Matthew Scudder novels and need something to ween you from the series after finishing them all. What you have here is a 1960's james bondish farce. Robert Ludlum wrote some similar works in the 1970's, his 'Road to Gondolfo' for instance. The film version of 'Casino Royal,' or 'Our Man Flynt,' would be other comparisons. This book is better than all that I mentioned above, but it still lacks the edge of the better Scudder work.
Granted, this book was published almost forty years ago according to the copyright date, so it must be one of Blocks first books, and that is almost the only reason to be kind with it.
I am not saying much about the plot here, it is your typical prisoner breakout spy thriller with a ironic humorous tilt. Very unplausible and in many ways terrible outside of the fun banter lacking in Block's later work. Even surpasses the Burglar series humor wise, but lacks the Agatha Christie plots. Dont read this if you have yet read much of his other work. He has about thirty better books.

Do not get me wrong I love Lawrence Block. I have read all the Matt Scudder books and they are great! I recommend them to everyone. This second outing of Evan Tanner is a little to easy for our hero. After reading "The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep," I was looking forward to this book. It was good, but not as enjoyable as the first one. The story was so-so. Most of the characters were forgettable, except for Greta. I know this was written over thirty years ago and Mr. Block has become a brilliant writer since then, I just thought it was not as good as the Evan Tanner debut.

Evan Tanner is assigned to slip in Czechoslovakia o kidnap an old Nazi, in Lawrence Block's "The Cancelled Czech." The book is a reprint of one, which was first published some 20 years earlier. I suspect the series was reprinted recently because of the popularity of "Tanner on Ice," published last year. (Tanner himself returns after all this time.) In "Cancelled Czech," we find Tanner plotting how to get across Europe, enter Czechoslovakia, kidnap Kotacek, turn west, and trek across the continent again to get to Lisbon to complete his assignment. The action takes place during the cold war, which makes the book more interesting. Block also plays the role of historian as he relates to his readers to history of that time, period and hotspots of the world. Although it is not absolutely necessary to read the Evan Tanner Mysteries in sequence reference is made here to the first book, "The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep." Read them both. Enjoy, enjoy!