Sometimes They Bite (Audio Cassette)

by Lawrence Block (Author), Bruce Weitz (Narrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
A collection of eighteen new stories by the Edgar Award-winning author offers a darkly comic vision of a world inhabited by drifters, grafters, and assassins. Reprint. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile
Suspense writer Lawrence Block doesn't need to use the supernatural to give listeners the creeps. Mortal avarice, desperation and brutishness achieve the same effect in this gleefully misanthropic pulp fiction. Bruce Weitz, who played Belker on TV's "Hill Street Blues," has ghoulish fun with this collection, nicely giving character to the ample dialogue. Despite his adenoidal growl and occasional signs of hasty production, he's surprisingly expressive and easy to listen to. Particularly apt is his tone--as if he's sharing some cosmic dirty joke on the human race with a fellow avenging angel. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: DH Audio (November 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886464293
• ISBN-13: 978-0886464295
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,657,254 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 6 in The Matthew Scudder Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Block must have inspired Stephen King, February 25, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Sometimes They Bite (Paperback)

Stephen King has the knack of turning common occurances intospine chilling stories. However, years before King's storieswere published, Lawrence Block proved his ability to do the same. How diverse to go from a story about two guys fishing peacefully (which results in spine-tingling murder) to an unscruplous lawyer to a burglar to an unwitting hit man finding a new occupation! You'd think Block lived each of these experiences by the way they are described in such vivid detail. No one has led that interesting a life so I'd have to credit these stories to Block's vivid imagination. This book is a must read for all Lawrence Block Fans. If you like this one, you'll also enjoy "Like A Lamb To Slaughter" as well as "Some Days You Get The Bear," both excellent short story collections in their own right.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good short story collection, August 15, 2001

By	Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Sometimes They Bite (Paperback)

For my money, Stephen King is the best short story writer of the last thirty years. I've never read a short story anthology by any other author to match his "Night Shift," or "Skelton Crew" collections. But Lawrence Block comes close with "Sometimes They Bite." Block may be a crime writer, but some of his stories, like the excellent title story, read similar to King's horror work, especially his non-supernatural horror work. Private Detective Matthew Scudder makes one fine appearance in this collection, as does Bernie Rhodenbarr of Block's "Burglar" series. The rest are a hodgepodge of stories told from the point of view of victims, perpetrators and cops. Some work better than others, of course, but there isn't a dud in the lot.

Fans of Lawrence Block should check out this book for a different view of an author who normally produces great novels.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Single Author Anthologies Out There!, September 19, 2008

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

This review is from: Sometimes They Bite (Paperback)

I've read a few of Lawrence Block's novels but haven't widely read his work. Sometimes They Bite is my first encounter with Block as a short story writer and I have to say, he is up there with the greatest writers of the short tale. I'll definitely be checking other anthologies of either his own work or various author collections he has contributed to. Sometimes They Bite is full of ingenious criminals, nasty villains, terrorists, schemers, unexpected plotline twists and just really good stories. Some are a little predictable due to the fact you've been exposed to the twists of former stories and are expecting another, other than that I can't fault this collection.

Since Amazon doesn't provide a list of the stories inside here they are -
Sometimes They Bite
The Ehrengraf Defense
Strangers on a Handball Court
Like a Dog in the Street
A Bad Night For Burglars
Nothing Short of Highway Robbery
One Thousand Dollars a Word
The Gentle Way
The Ehrengraf Obligation
When This Man Dies
Collecting Ackermans
The Dettweiler Solution
Funny You Should Ask
Like a Thief in the Night
Going Through The Motions
This Crazy Business of Ours
And Miles to Go Before I Sleep
Out the Window

If you like Block's style I'd also recommend checking out the author Donald E. Westlake.