30 September 2009

Short Review: Hit Man by Lawrence Block


John Keller is a hit man. He's also a regular kind of guy going through a midlife crisis. It is a bit bizarre to describe a book about murders and a paid assassin as being fun, but that's the word I used when I finished this book in 2005. Keller is a hoot! Recommended for fans of black humor.

I don't remember the plot well enough to write a summary, so here's one from Powell's:

Keller is a killer. Professional, cool, confident, competent, reliable. But he is also a complex person: Guarded and reclusive, icy and ruthlessly efficient, he is prone to loneliness and self-doubt, nightmares and career worries. He is known to his therapist as a "corporate troubleshooter," but Keller's real business is murder. He lives the life of a well-paid but lonely traveling businessman, a habitue of impersonal hotel rooms, bleak stretches of highways in rental cars, and anonymous eateries. A born New Yorker, he nonetheless fantasizes about the good life in the country, and in every place he visits, he dreams of setting up a home, away from the pressures and moral complexities his line of work entails.
Hit Man, the first in a series, was published by HarperTorch in 1998. Robert Forster read the audio skillfully, adding to my enjoyment of the book.

Hit Man at an Indie


Reading at the Beach is the host for this meme: Each week she invites us to spotlight a book whose title begins with the featured letter. This week it's H.

16 comments:

Unknown 9/30/09, 7:08 AM  

This book sounds like it's right up my alley... will try to find it!

here's mine

Julie P. 9/30/09, 8:33 AM  

Sounds like a juicy one!

Care 9/30/09, 9:19 AM  

I do like a short review now and then. Love the new loo, btw.

Nise' 9/30/09, 11:16 AM  

Your new look is wonderful! Very easy to read and navigate. I am inspired!

My son, who loves Dexter, would like this one!

Kristen 9/30/09, 11:28 AM  

Murderous hit men and fun. Hmmm. That is indeed a rather intriguing combination.

Irene 9/30/09, 11:58 AM  

I think this might be one of my TBR books, love a humorous book now and then even if the subject matter is dark.

bermudaonion 9/30/09, 1:09 PM  

If you described it as fun, it must have been a real page turner!

Anonymous,  9/30/09, 2:18 PM  

Sounds like one I should definitely get ahold of.

Anonymous,  9/30/09, 2:24 PM  

Very interesting. Another one to add to my list.

Thanks for playing this week!

Dawn @ sheIsTooFondOfBooks 9/30/09, 3:23 PM  

I had to laugh at you questioning your description of "fun" for this book. Just this week I called a memoir about breast cancer "funny," then figured people would question my sanity for juxtaposing the two phrases. I kept it in, the author *is* funny. I'll get out the thesaurus next time ...

me again 9/30/09, 4:54 PM  

I just requested this from the library ... it looks like my kind of book! Thanks for the heads-up!
:-)
==lennie==

Anonymous,  9/30/09, 5:43 PM  

I've not tried Lawrence Block, but your review makes me think I'd like this one.

Sandy Nawrot 9/30/09, 5:47 PM  

There is funny in just about everything with the right author. I felt the same way about Beat the Reaper...insane, in a crazy funny way.

Veens 9/30/09, 7:37 PM  

Sounds like a good one to me!

Alice 9/30/09, 11:26 PM  

This sounds like a good series. I'm starting on reading Dexter soon so I'll try to get this series when I'm done with Dexter.

Jenners 10/1/09, 8:14 PM  

Black humor??? Me likes! I'll have to look for this.

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