Kirjahaku

Kellers MetierKeller ist ein Killer. Durch und durch Profi, cool, selbstsicher, kompetent, zuverl ssig. Aber er ist auch eine vielschichtige Pers nlichkeit: in sich gekehrt und zur ckgezogen, eiskalt und gnadenlos effizient, aber zugleich anf llig f r Selbstzweifel und Einsamkeit, Albtr ume und Zukunftssorgen. Seinem Therapeuten gegen ber gibt er sich als "Troubleshooter" eines gro en Unternehmens aus, aber sein eigentliches Metier ist Mord. Sein Leben ist das eines gut verdienenden, aber einsamen Gesch ftsmanns, sein Habitat anonyme Hotelzimmer, unpers nliche Fastfood-Ketten und lange Autofahrten auf endlosen Highways. Ein geb rtiger New Yorker, tr umt er von einem beschaulichen Leben auf dem Land und spinnt sich an jedem Ort, den er bei seinen "Gesch ftsreisen" aufsucht, in Fantasien hinein, sich dort niederzulassen, um den Stress und die moralischen Verwicklungen, die seine T tigkeit mit sich bringt, hinter sich lassen zu k nnen.Kellers Metier ist das Deb t unseres Helden, das erste von f nf B chern ber ihn, die ebenfalls bald in deutscher bersetzung erscheinen werden. Aber erst einmal ein paar Rezensionen: "Schon seit einigen Jahren dokumentiert Block die Abenteuer des fatalistischen Auftragskillers J.P. Keller. Wenn er im Auftrag des alten Mannes in White Plains von seinem Apartment in New Yorks First Avenue zu einer amerikanischen Stadt nach der anderen aufbricht, schl gt er sich mit der Frage herum, ob er einen Mann t ten soll, der ihm ans Herz gewachsen ist, oder er b gelt sein Versehen aus, wenn er die falsche Zielperson ausgeschaltet hat, h lt als Handlanger f r Killer her, die zun chst gerissener sind als er, oder zerbricht sich den Kopf dar ber, welchen von zwei Auftraggebern, die sich gegenseitig umbringen lassen wollen, er entt uschen soll. Neben seinen methodisch durchgef hrten Eliminierungsaktionen sieht er sich in Oregon H user an, frequentiert einen Therapeuten, beginnt Briefmarken zu sammeln, macht sich Gedanken dar ber, ob es sein Leben bereichern w rde, wenn er mehr ber Pflanzen w sste, kauft der Frau, die seinen Hund ausf hrt, Ohrringe und besch ftigt sich mit der Frage, wie viel Verantwortung er sowohl f r die Frau als auch f r den Hund bernehmen kann. Es ist die Kombination aus den vielen Fragen, mit denen sich Keller befasst, und den vielen Fragen, mit denen er sich nicht zu befassen versucht ("F r moralische Erw gungen ist das die falsche Branche", erkl rt ihm die Sekret rin des alten Mannes), die der Hauptfigur ihren besonderen melancholischen Reiz verleiht. Ist das Endprodukt ein Roman oder ein Zyklus von Erz hlungen? Blocks hei hungrigen Fans, die begeistert sein werden, mindestens drei Meisterwerke ("Keller zu Pferd", "Kellers Therapie" und "Keller in schimmernder R stung") in einem Band vereint zu sehen, d rfte das genauso egal sein wie Keller."Kirkus Reviews"Da schreibt Block also einen umwerfenden Roman ber einen Auftragskiller in der Midlife Crisis ... Block teilt eine Links-rechts-Kombination in Sachen Humor und Innenschau aus ... Im weiteren Verlauf wird sich der Leser dabei ertappen, dass er sich dar ber klar zu werden versucht, warum ihm so viel daran liegt, dass der Killer inneren Frieden findet."Boston Herald"Eine ebenso schr ge wie reizvolle Mischung aus >hard-boiled

Keller, l'Uomo Urbano Solitario degli assassini, fa la sua seconda comparsa in Il Sicario nel Mirino (Hit List), ed veramente un grande ritorno. Ecco come ne parla Kirkus Reviews: "Appena terminato il ciclo di racconti brevi Il Sicario (Hit Man, 1998) in cui era il protagonista, il riflessivo killer di professione John Keller, creato dalla penna di Block, finalmente esaudisce i desideri dei suoi fan con un vero romanzo a lui dedicato. "Bench Keller sia un serio cittadino che colleziona francobolli, si presta a fare parte della giuria in un processo, ed esegua con consumata professionalit ogni omicidio commissionatogli - anche se il cliente tanto sconsiderato da identificare il bersaglio mostrando a Keller un biglietto natalizio con la foto di famiglia della futura vittima - le cose non sembrano andargli per il verso giusto. "Sfuggito per poco alla morte mentre esegue un lavoro a Louisville, torna a New York e accetta un altro incarico che appare come una breve storia interpolata. "Proseguendo i suoi sistematici viaggi per dispensare la morte a Tampa, Boston e nella periferia di Chicago, si distrae soltanto con del sesso occasionale con Maggie Griscomb, un'artista di gioielli, e visitando Louise Carpenter, un'astrologa che lo porta alle lacrime. Ma piccoli dettagli che vanno storti in quasi ogni incarico rendono sempre pi chiaro che Keller ha attirato l'attenzione di un killer rivale, il quale pensa che il paese non sia abbastanza grande per entrambi. "Non attendetevi nelle storie di Keller l'alta tensione prodotta dall'ironia principale, ovvero il contrasto tra la sua micidiale professione e il suo stile di vita e le sue opinioni da impiegato. Seguite invece le conversazioni, egualmente ironiche ma terribilmente contorte, tra Keller e la compassata Dot, che gli programma il lavoro. Questi dialoghi, che sembrano solo chiacchiere, sono per chiacchiere nelle quali l'interazione tra banalit e giudizi olimpici - come in James M. Cain e Quentin Tarantino - costituisce il vero cuore di questa moderna favola di samurai."

On the border between Texas and Mexico, five lives are about to collide - with fatal results. MARTY - the gambler who rolls the dice on a night with...MEG - the divorcee who seeks excitement and finds...LILY - the beautiful hitchhiker lured into a live sex show by...CASSIE - the redhead with her own agenda...and WEAVER - the killer with a razor in his pocket...

THE SCORCHING PULP NOVEL BY LAWRENCE BLOCK, AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 50 YEARS!On the border between El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, five lives are about to collide - with fatal results. You'll meet MARTY - the professional gambler who rolls the dice on a night with... MEG - the bored divorcee who seeks excitement and finds... LILY - the beautiful hitchhiker lured into a live sex show by...CASSIE - the redhead with her own private agenda... and WEAVER - the madman, the killer with a straight razor in his pocket, on the run from the police and determined to go down swinging!This is MWA Grand Master Lawrence Block at his rawest and most visceral, a bloody, bawdy, brutal story of passion and punishment--and of lines that were never meant to be crossed.

In the depths of her blue eyes, he glimpsed...murder.Cashed out from the NYPD after 24 years, Doak Miller operates as a private eye in steamy small-town Florida, doing jobs for the local police. Like posing as a hit man and wearing a wire to incriminate a local wife who's looking to get rid of her husband. But when he sees the wife, when he looks into her deep blue eyes...He falls - and falls hard. Soon he's working with her, against his employer, plotting a devious plan that could get her free from her husband and put millions in her bank account. But can they do it without landing in jail? And once he's kindled his taste for killing...will he be able to stop at one?

Cashed out from the NYPD after 24 years, Doak Miller operates as a private eye in steamy small-town Florida, doing jobs for the local police. Like posing as a hit man and wearing a wire to incriminate a local wife who's looking to get rid of her husband. But when he sees the wife, when he looks into her deep blue eyes...He falls - and falls hard. Soon he's working with her, against his employer, plotting a devious plan that could get her free from her husband and put millions in her bank account. But can they do it without landing in jail? And once he's kindled his taste for killing...will he be able to stop at one?

To escape punishment for a murder he didn't mean to commit, insurance man Don Barshter has to take on a new identity: Nathaniel Crowley, ferocious up-and-comer in the New York mob. But can he find safety in the skin of another man...a worse man...a sinner man...?Long before he became the award-winning creator of Matthew Scudder (A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES) and an MWA Grand Master, Lawrence Block penned this tough, unforgettable crime novel, his very first. But as he describes in a new afterword, the book wound up published only eight years later, under a different title and a fake name -- and was then lost for half a century. Now appearing for the first time under Block's real name, with revisions by the author, SINNER MAN is revealed as a powerful work by a young novelist destined to become one of the giants of the mystery genre.

To escape punishment for a murder he didn't mean to commit, insurance man Don Barshter has to take on a new identity: Nathaniel Crowley, ferocious up-and-comer in the New York mob. But can he find safety in the skin of another man...a worse man...a sinner man...?

MATT SCUDDER RETURNS. More than 40 years after his debut and nearly a decade since his last appearance, one of the most renowned characters in all of crime fiction is back on the case in this major new novella by Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Lawrence Block. Well past retirement age and feeling his years-but still staying sober one day at a time-Matthew Scudder learns that alcoholics aren't the only ones who count the days since their last slip. Matt's longtime partner, Elaine, tells him of a group of former sex workers who do something similar, helping each other stay out of the life. But when one young woman describes an abusive client who's refusing to let her quit, Elaine encourages her to get help of a different sort. The sort only Scudder can deliver. A Time to Scatter Stones offers not just a gripping crime story but also a richly drawn portrait of Block's most famous character as he grapples with his own mortality while proving to the younger generation that he's still got what it takes. For Scudder's millions of fans around the world (including the many who met the character through Liam Neeson's portrayal in the film version of A Walk Among the Tombstones), A Time to Scatter Stones is an unexpected gift-a valedictory appearance that will remind readers why Scudder is simply the best there is.From Booklist (Starred Review): "Block's unlicensed New York City investigator Matt Scudder debuted 40 years ago but has been absent for the last decade... Block has never been predictable, as this novella demonstrates... A superb book and a reminder to his longtime fans that this crime-fiction master hasn't lost his touch."From Publishers Weekly: "If brevity keeps all the usual supporting characters from returning, some nice nostalgic mentions will reassure fans that they haven't been forgotten. It's good to see Matt back in action."This ebook edition of A Time to Scatter Stones also includes as a bonus Lawrence Block's introduction to his new Subterranean Press anthology, At Home in the Dark.

Da quando fece la sua prima comparsa nel 1977 in Burglars Can't Be Choosers (Parola di Ladro, Mondadori, 1979) il ladro e libraio Bernie Rhodenbarr si guadagnato la simpatia dei lettori di polizieschi in tutto il mondo. E' stato protagonista di undici romanzi, l'ultimo dei quali The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons (Il Ladro che Contava I Cucchiai, LB ed., 2018) e i suoi fan sperano sempre di avere qualcosa in pi .Nel corso degli anni, Bernie comparso anche in quattro brevi racconti. Essi sono raccolti qua, con altri nove testi: articoli di giornali, estratti dai romanzi e altre effimere apparizioni. Bernie stato interpretato in modo memorabile da Whoopi Goldberg nel film Burglar (Affittasi Ladra, 1987) e Lawrence Block racconta qui quel curioso episodio in Il Ladro al Cinema. Inoltre, un'introduzione scritta appositamente per questa raccolta narra tutta la storia di Bernie, mentre in una nuovissima postfazione Bernie stesso ci dice che cosa pu riservare il futuro.

Lawrence Block's "lost" stories, complete and uncut for the first time since their original publication The focus and subject matter of mid-century men's adventure magazines (MAMs) could be wide-ranging, and versatile storytellers able to confidently navigate genres, approaches, and authorial voices found regular, lucrative work in their pages. Among those talented writers was a notable newcomer: Lawrence Block-though his initial pieces would see print under various pseudonyms. Not the Lawrence Block you know, who is among the most widely read, respected, and celebrated writers of crime and mystery fiction in the world. A writer internationally read and internationally honored, upon whom The Mystery Writers of America bestowed the title of Grand Master. A writer with over 65 years of professional experience in damn near every kind of writing, whose essays, magazine columns, and non-fiction books focused on the art, craft, and business of writing have endured to inform generations. Not that Lawrence Block. Not yet... The latest release in the acclaimed Men's Adventure Library series, THE NAKED AND THE DEADLY collects Block's earliest fiction and non-fiction for men's adventure magazines (MAMs) in two handsome editions: A pocket-sized mass-market softcover designed to honor LB's many successful paperback releases, and a big, beautiful, full-color hardcover that's packed with bonus content, including additional illustration art, deep background from the editors, and a bonus story by Block A signed and numbered limited edition is also available directly from the publisher while stocks last.

Lawrence Block's "lost" stories, complete and uncut for the first time since their original publication The focus and subject matter of mid-century men's adventure magazines (MAMs) could be wide-ranging, and versatile storytellers able to confidently navigate genres, approaches, and authorial voices found regular, lucrative work in their pages. Among those talented writers was a notable newcomer: Lawrence Block-though his initial pieces would see print under various pseudonyms. Not the Lawrence Block you know, who is among the most widely read, respected, and celebrated writers of crime and mystery fiction in the world. A writer internationally read and internationally honored, upon whom The Mystery Writers of America bestowed the title of Grand Master. A writer with over 65 years of professional experience in damn near every kind of writing, whose essays, magazine columns, and non-fiction books focused on the art, craft, and business of writing have endured to inform generations. Not that Lawrence Block. Not yet... The latest release in the acclaimed Men's Adventure Library series, THE NAKED AND THE DEADLY collects Block's earliest fiction and non-fiction for men's adventure magazines (MAMs) in FIVE handsome editions: 1.) A pocket-sized mass-market softcover designed to honor LB's many successful paperback releases, 2.) an ebook that mirrors the mass-market softcover, 3.) a deluxe illustrated softcover that mirrors most of (but not all) the content in the hardcover, and 4.) a big, beautiful, full-color hardcover that's packed with bonus content, including additional illustration art, deep background from the editors, and a bonus story by Block (A fifth edition, a signed and numbered limited edition, is available directly from the publisher while stocks last.)

Five-time Edgar winner and MWA Grand Master Lawrence Block wrote a monthly column for Writers Digest Magazine for fourteen years. The Liar's Bible consists of previously uncollected columns, chosen to illuminate the often dimly-lit path of the writer of fiction. Here's what one reader said: "I am fascinated by the creative process and there are few excellent examples of this that I have found - there is Koestler's The Act of Creation insightful in a general way- but I have found only two worth their salt about working creators - Trauffaut's interviews with Hitchcock collected in Trauffaut/Hitchcock and Thomas Hoving's two interviews with Andrew Wyeth - published as Autobiography and Two Worlds of Andrew Wyeth - but reading Lawrence Block's collected columns on writing from Writer's Digest I have discovered outstanding examples of this somewhat mysterious creative process. "Now I am anxious to read his other collected columns - Block of course writes so fluidly that, as one Stephen King fan commented, I would probably read his grocery list - but he also asks brilliant questions of himself and does a terrific job answering and commenting on these. "This is a must read for anyone intrigued by writers, artists, the creative process or those eager to write whether already published or hoping to be soon." And here's another: "What an absolute treat it is to re-read these columns, nearly 30 years after I first read many of them in the pages of Writer's Digest. I first started reading WD in high school, and subscribed for years, mostly for Lawrence Block's fiction-writing columns. This book collects all of his pieces from that era. Sure, a few pieces of advice -- mostly related to the marketplace for fiction -- have since become, oh, just slightly dated, but most of the wisdom still applies, not just for fiction writers but for all writers. These columns were, indeed, my bible in the early stages of my writing life. I owe a lot to Block, and I'm glad to have the chance to reflect back on how his writing influenced not just my own wordsmithing but also my life."

For fourteen years, five-time Edgar winner and MWA Grand Master Lawrence Block wrote a monthly column on fiction for Writers Digest magazine. These columns yielded four books regarded as classics: Telling Lies for Fun & Profit, Spider Spin Me a Web, The Liar's Bible...and now The Liar's Companion. Reader reviews: "This recently released treasure from award winning mystery author Lawrence Block is a welcome addition to my bookshelf. ...Block has a gift for casual gems of wisdom that stir my storytelling imagination." "No subject is off limits for Block. From lofty questions (how do writers get their ideas?) to the mundane (how many pages should you write every day?) to the personal (how often should writers exercise? how should writers budget their money?), the advice is practical, funny, and never boring. I do not have a desire to be an author, but these glimpses into the writing life fascinated me." While Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and Spider Spin Me a Web group the author's columns by topic, Block scrapped this approach when preparing The Liar's Bible and The Liar's Companion, feeling the material flowed more naturally by simply running the columns in chronological order. As Block has written, "Bible and Companion consist of my later columns, and as such they seem to me the best representation of my views on the subjects at hand. Telling Lies has always been the bestseller, perhaps because it led the way, perhaps because I'd had the good luck to stumble on a particularly good title...but I think it quite likely that Bible and Companion are the better books."