Customer Reviews

Hit List (John Keller Mysteries)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Keller is a hit man who works to finance his habit ofcollecting stamps. If this isn't a sign of the originality ofBlocks's killer for hire, the contrast between the gentleness of theman and the violence of his job is. While content with his job andand enjoying his verbal fencing with his middlewoman, Dot, a series ofnear misses on his own life cause him to suspect that HE has beenplaced on someone's hit list. Then, just when he thinks that he hasfigured out what's going on, all of his targets start dying before hecan get to them. While it's nice to be earning money without actuallykilling anyone, he soon becomes anxious about who's doing his job andhe and Dot plan how to hit the hitter.

Keller is one of the moreneurotic hit men who has no problem killing so long as it's part ofthe job and not for any personal. The pace moves along nicely, andhis moral debates with the matronly Dot over the ethics of his job arehilarious. Keller is a killer, but he still dutifully reports forjury duty between jobs and has a unique concept of innocentbystanders. A great follow-up to HIT MAN.

I understand the complaints about the banter between Dot and Keller, and I understand the complaints about the lack of a plot. To me, neither of these things are weaknesses because they're very close to being what the book is about. The relationship between Dot and Keller is very close, but at the same time there's a distance and wariness between them that comes through in their digressive, joking discussions. As for the lack of a plot, though this is billed as a novel it's really nearly as episodic and fragmented as "Hit Man," the collection of short stories that introduced Keller. How much you like the book is going to depend a lot on how interesting you find Keller. I find him very interesting, particularly in his inability to face the violence that is central to his life; Keller lives in continual denial of the fact that he is a monster. The thread tying the book together, then, is not the barely-there plot, but Keller's continual, subutle shifts of mood and attitude. Block is going somewhere with this, I hope; there should eventually be a Keller book in which he really has to come to terms with what he does. In other words, this book is very light on the surface, but I think Block--and the attentive reader--are conscious of much deeper levels of meaning.

This book is a bit weird. I wanted to give up so many times - because it was BORING - but bravely soldiered on - because INTERESING bits and pieces kept on popping up.

Still, it's more a miss than a hit, and endless conversations between Dot and Keller reminded me of Waiting for Godot. Was there another point to their dialogue, except to drive everyone crazy? I don't know.

Can't say I recomend it fully, can't say I don't recomend if fully. Hence 3 stars.

It hurts to write this review -- I love Block's work, and have loved it for years -- but HIT LIST is just an awful book.

Other reviewers have commented on the endless, inane banter, and they're right: while Block always sprinkles amusing verbal jokes into his dialogue, here he has dialogues that go on for pages and contain nothing but one pun or joke after another. Though nearly unbearable, this might just possibly have worked in one of his burglar novels, which are basically comedies. But there is no way it could work in a Keller story, since Keller is a serious (almost tragic) character.

Then, too, there is the subject of padding: entire scenes have no bearing on the plot. Unbelievably, Block spends pages on the details of the deliberations of a jury Keller happens to sit on when he's called to jury duty. And it's not even an interesting case -- something about a stolen VCR, with no bearing on the rest of the book.

Then there's the ending: you're waiting for a twist, but what Block comes up with is almost pointless. It feels as though he got to the end of the book without knowing how to finish it, so he tacked on a two-page "explanation" and sent it to his publisher.

Then there's the writing: in HIT MAN, you tolerated that some pieces of information were repeated from chapter to chapter, since each chapter had originally appeared as a stand-alone short story. Here, there is no excuse for it. In chapter 4 you're told something like "Maggie, whom Keller met at an art gallery, was a beautiful woman" -- why in the world say this when the reader *knows* where Keller met her, having just read it in chapter 3??? Dot keeps asking Keller "Did you buy any stamps?" and saying "Well, now you can buy some more," as though Block didn't realize that he had already used these lines of dialogue earlier.

The introduction of seriously-taken astrology and palmistry is another annoyance -- it's just not appropriate in this character's world. But the problem is rampant: Keller is not the same wonderful character here that he was in the first book. He's just a very different character this time, and not in ways that are improvements.

What's going on? TANNER ON ICE was very funny in spots but close to incoherent in terms of plot, with a weak "that's it?" ending. EVERYBODY DIES was not terrible, but it was definitely a weak Scudder novel. Block has been an amazingly good writer for so long -- has he lost his talent completely? It's painful to watch a favorite writer lose his ability, and I have a bad feeling that's what we're starting to see...

Some parts of this book are really interesting and a great read while others you are fighting not to fall asleep as they are so boring. When Keller is actually on the job as a hit man it is fascinating and must turn the next page to find out what will happen next reading, but when he is not on the job his life is very boring. Stamp collecting, visiting an astrologer, jury duty and things like this just aren't interesting.

Basically this book is about a professional killer named Keller who has some competition. Only problem is that his competition doesn't want any, and it soon becomes apparent to Keller that if he doesn't work out who his rival is and kill him first he will be killed himself. If Lawrence Block had maybe concentrated a little more on this aspect rather than the boring chapters he wrote then this book could have been five stars. Without the editing it barely makes two and a half.

John Keller's business requires frequent flyer miles and constant communication with his "agent" Dot. John relaxes by collecting stamps and dreams of one day settling in the towns and cities he frequently visits. If he ever honestly wrote his occupation on a 1040, John would describe his work as a HIT MAN.

John knows that many of his victims are innocent good people, but employment in the new economy has been booming lately as his skills are in greater demand than ever. However, John has a new problem as someone else is beating him to the hit, hurting his lucrative business that depends on reputation and completing the job, customized to meet the objective of the customer. As an unknown assailant hones in on his consulting services, John concludes that he personally has made the HIT LIST of a rival who plans to shut down John permanently.

HIT LIST contains all the humor and action that readers expect from a Lawrence Block novel. The story line is two parts amusement, two parts gloom and doom, and six parts irony. In spite of his profession and his tendency to languish in self-doubt, John retains a likable charm even if readers wonder why he continues to off decent folks. It is the killing of the innocent that leaves HIT LIST not for everyone, but those readers who relish a dark satirical look at life.

Harriet Klausner

I've long been a devoted fan of Block, specifically the Matt Scudder series, but I latched onto Hit Man in '98. A great new character coupled with Block's talent at dialogue. Hit List, however, is filled with so many inane asides and trivial banter that the story suffers. I couldn't help thinking that this book couild have been told in half as many pages had the reader been spared some of the sparring between Keller and Dot--Patrick Picciarelli, author, "Blood Shot Eyes."

I looked forward to reading this book after I read "Hit Man." At best, it was average, with too many Abbott and Costello routines mixed in. What made the first book good was that it was a collection of short stories, which were, in effect, his assignments. Too bad this book couldn't have been more of the same. Also, not that I'm an expert, but his obsession with stamp collecting could lead to his downfall...he's leaving a trail. But maybe he wants to get caught...hmmmm. Read it and you'll see what I mean. I do recommend reading it, but don't have high expectations going in.

Had a couple plane rides last week, so read Hit List by Lawrence Block. Sometimes the brain needs a break. This kind of thing gives it. I usually like Lawrence Block's murder mysteries, but I must admit that this one fell way short. It was a different character than he usually writes about (maybe the only book with that guy since it didn't sell that well). The protagonist is a hit man, a contract killer. He is also a stamp collector (supposed to give him depth and ellicit empathy). Single living in a small non-descript flat in New York. Works for a "suburban housewife" out in New Jersey. Very dispassionate, but not in a cruel way. In a "well, this is my job and I better get it done so I can go to the stamp dealer" sort of way. He is not very complex, although Block tries to make him so. During a couple of his jobs he has a "funny feeling" and strange things happen. Like two people being shot in the head with a 22 in a hotel room he just moved from. And two of his targets getting killed by other means right in front of him without his help. Eventually he figures out that a competitor is trying to kill him and has successfully killed other guys as a way to reduce the competition. Sometimes I wish that tactic were available to my startups. Of course this eventually leads him to try to get the drop on the other guy and I won't bore you with the details there. Lets just say the end peters out into nothingness. Not really a page turner. Not an engaging character. But provides a good break from computer manuals and business plans to change the world.

If I wanted to read a book about stamp collecting I would have bought a book about stamp collecting. When I buy a book about a hitman I want to read a book about a hitman.