Hit List (John Keller Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Lawrence Block (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Few mystery authors have a stable of protagonists as uniformly appealing as Lawrence Block's. Whether Block's taking the reader into PI Matthew Scudder's world of dimly lit bars and basement AA meetings, quirky burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr's used bookstore, or the international hot-spot hangouts of Evan Tanner, the spy who never sleeps, he always provides good company. John Keller, star of Block's 1998 story collection Hit Man, is a typical Block invention: an unassuming, get-the-job-done-and-move-on New York contract killer who collects stamps, does the morning crossword, eats Vietnamese takeout, and falls for the occasional woman.

When Keller gets off a plane in Louisville, ready to do the job he's been hired for, something about it feels wrong from the start. And when two people are killed in the motel room he's just vacated, he realizes he narrowly missed a setup, but can't figure out why. Then he goes to Boston to do another job, and afterwards dines in a coffee shop where another patron has the misfortune of leaving with Keller's raincoat:

The Globe didn't have it. But there it was in the Herald, a small story on a back page, a man found dead on Boston Common, shot twice in the head with a small-caliber weapon.

Keller could picture the poor bastard, lying face-down on the grass, the rain washing relentlessly down on him. He could picture the dead man's coat, too. The Herald didn't say anything about a coat, but that didn't matter. Keller could picture it all the same.

Keller's agent, Dot, puts the pieces--including the death of another contract killer she books occasionally--together and comes up with the seemingly crazy idea that a greedy hit man is knocking off the competition. In between other legit hits, romancing a commitment-shy artist, visiting an astrologer, and a long stint on jury duty, Keller slowly moves closer to the faceless nemesis he and Dot dub "Roger." But it's Dot, the woman of action, who figures out what to do about him. Though Hit List is too introspective to be a caper novel, and too funny to be noir, it's bound to find a rapt audience with fans of both subgenres. After two such engaging books, can Hit Parade be far behind? --Barrie Trinkle --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

John Keller, whom Block introduced in Hit Man, is a killer for hire, with a difference. He's thoughtful, even broody, tends to take a liking to some of the towns where he goes to do his work, dreams of perhaps settling down in one of them one day and collects stamps in his spare time, of which there's plenty. It's a novel idea, and it carried an excellent group of stories in the previous book. A whole novel about Keller, however, who after all walks a very delicate line between likability and horror, is more than he can readily bear, and, almost unknown in Block's work, there are longueurs here. The plot is wryly serviceableAa rival is attempting to corner the market by getting to some of Keller's intended victims first, and clearly has to be disposed ofAbut about halfway through a certain unease creeps in and won't let go. For all Block's usual great skill with goofy dialogue (here between Keller and Dot, the intermediary who takes the orders for his jobs), it's difficult to indefinitely enjoy jokes about the violent deaths of a number of people who, for all Dot and Keller know, are harmless, perhaps even good citizens, but whom someone is willing to pay to remove. Apparently mindful of this, Block keeps the killings mostly offstage, or with a minimum of graphic violence. But an affection for Keller is an acquired taste, and here it proves difficult to acquire. 9-city author tour. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch; First Thus edition (February 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061030996
• ISBN-13: 978-0061030994
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (65 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #266,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hit man you hate to love, October 27, 2000

By	Cynthia Chow (Kaneohe, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hit List (John Keller Mysteries) (Hardcover)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hits in Parts But Misses in Others, January 16, 2004

By	James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Hit List (John Keller Mysteries) (Hardcover)

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.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Staves off boredom but only barely., May 31, 2004

By	Martin G. Tobias (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Hit List (John Keller Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

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.