Những Điệp Viên May Mắn tải về miễn phí cuốn sách

Alessandro Piccoli aleddrums — I am a fan of Lawrence Block, whom I rate as a terrific genre writer in the same league as Elmore Leonard and Donald Westlake. Okay, maybe Leonard has a few inches on those two, but they all produce reliably interesting characters and situations, and first-rate, crisp, wry prose. Anyhow, Block has three series characters I admire: the dark one, Matthew Scudder, NYC ex-cop and recovering alcoholic turned private eye; the hilarious one, Bernie Rhodenbarr, burglar-cum-used bookstore owner; and this guy, J P Keller. I met Keller in the two story collections, Hit Man and Hit List, both very good. There is one novel, Hit Parade, which I have not read, and then this one; I think that completes the Keller canon. What makes Keller special? I think it's that he's a hit man, and Block manages to get us to like him and root for him. For Keller, killing is a job. Somebody has to do it, and he's a minor talent in the field. Other than that, he's a pretty regular guy. We get to see how he goes about setting up a hit, and dealing with the inevitable snafus, without getting caught. We also get to meet Dot, his handler back in White Plains; I mean, how does a hit man know whom to kill? He has to find out from the central office. That he can be so blase about it all is part of the confection. And with all that, he's witty, thoughtful, kind, and professional. He collects stamps. He even has a conscience. You would like to have dinner with him, and you'd really like to have dinner with him and Dot. I think Keller as a character might work best in short stories, but this novel (no spoilers — I won't give details) goes through several interesting phases, presenting Keller with a sequence of big problems.