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Book Summary and Reviews of Hit and Run by Lawrence Block

Hit and Run by Lawrence Block

Hit and Run

A John Keller Mystery

by Lawrence Block

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  • Published:
  • Jul 2008, 304 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Keller's a hit man. For years now he's had places to go and people to kill.

But enough is enough. He's got money in the bank and just one last job standing between him and retirement. So he carries it out with his usual professionalism, and he heads home, and guess what?

One more job. Paid in advance, so what's he going to do? Give the money back? In Des Moines, Keller stalks his designated target and waits for the client to give him the go-ahead. And one fine morning he's picking out stamps for his collection (Sweden 1-5, the official reprints) at a shop in Urbandale when somebody guns down the charismatic governor of Ohio.

Back at his motel, Keller's watching TV when they show the killer's face. And there's something all too familiar about that face. . . .

Keller calls his associate Dot in White Plains, but there is no answer. He's stranded halfway across the country, every cop in America's just seen his picture, his ID and credit cards are no longer good, and he just spent almost all of his cash on the stamps.

Now what?

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Block's trademark blend of humor and violence is a good fit for the deadpan Keller." - Publishers Weekly.

"Starred Review. Before it's all over, though, the old guys (both Keller and Block) show they've still got what it takes to teach the youngsters a thing or two in this brisk, suspenseful, and funny romp." - Library Journal.

"From the first, Keller assumes this hit will be his last case. Readers can only hope it isn't so." - Kirkus Reviews.

This information about Hit and Run was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Lawrence Block Author Biography

Photo credit: Athena Gassoumis

A Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, Lawrence Block is a four-time winner of the Edgar Allan Poe and Shamus Awards, as well as a recipient of prizes in France, Germany, and Japan. He received the Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writer's Association - only the third American writer to do so. The author of more than fifty books and numerous short stories, he is a devout New Yorker who spends much of his time traveling.

Lawrence Block has been writing crime, mystery, and suspense fiction for more than half a century. He has published in excess of 100 books, and no end of short stories.

He is best known for two long-running New York-set series, about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, respectively.

Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB ...

... Full Biography
Link to Lawrence Block's Website

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