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A review by saareman
Hit List by Lawrence Block
3.0
Keller is Hunted
A review of the Harper Collins eBook (October 13, 2009) of the William Morrow & Co. hardcover original (2000).
This second book in the series with the neurotic hitman John Keller has more of a novel story arc although you could still say it is a novel in short stories. Each story is usually 2 to 4 chapters and I made notes in order to follow the overall arc. I mostly titled the stories according to which city Keller travels to for each assignment. I didn't do individual ratings, but the early setups from Chapters 1 to 14 were the best and would be 4s. The later stories and the ending are somewhat downbeat due to the unlikely coincidences and the "collateral damage," so you don't feel that great about the resolution. So 2's for those, resulting a 3 rating overall.
All throughout, Keller continues his stamp collecting and the somewhat tedious banter with his contractor Dot. The stamp collecting is a parallel with author Lawrence Block's own hobby for which he wrote a series of columns collected in [b:Generally Speaking: All 33 columns, plus a few philatelic words from Keller|50134287|Generally Speaking All 33 columns, plus a few philatelic words from Keller|Lawrence Block|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1577681111l/50134287._SY75_.jpg|75084245] (2019).
The following notes provide my story capsulations and chapter groupings. I have spoiler blocked it, although I'm not giving away too many details.
Chapters 1-4 The Louisville, Kentucky Job Keller stays at a motel while planning the job. He changes rooms due to noise. After finishing the job, he hears that the people in his old room were murdered.
Chapters 5-7 The New York City Job Keller scopes a job at an art gallery. He meets an artist named Maggie and begins an affair.
Chapters 8-10 The Tampa, Florida Job Keller learns about his astrology and (according to palmistry) that he has a murderer’s thumb. Consulting an astrologist he is warned that he is in danger from an unknown person.
Chapters 11-14 The Boston Mass. Job Wearing an olive green trench coat, Keller does the job and goes to eat at a coffee shop. As he is leaving he discovers his coat has been stolen. Afterwards he reads that a man wearing a green coat was murdered. Keller and Dot piece together that there is another hitman out there who is trying to reduce the competition.
Chapter 15 The Forest Hills, Illinois Job Keller goes to do the job but the target has a car accident. The client thinks it was genius, but it was just blind luck.
Chapter 16 The Albuquerque, New Mexico Job Keller travels to a supposedly impossible job with the victim under witness protection. Again, a lucky break solves the problem for Keller.
Chapter 17 The Breakup No job, but Maggie from The New York City Job breaks it off with Keller.
Chapter 18 The La Jolla, California Job Keller flies in but before he can do the job, the victim himself commits suicide. He returns home and six weeks later there is The St. Louis, Missouri Job. Keller does the job quickly before learning that the client had called it off.
Chapters 19-23 Jury Duty and the Fells Point, Maryland Job Dot has a job but Keller initially turns it down because he has been called for jury duty. He agrees to scope out the job on weekends. During the trial Keller and another juror Gloria make a connection and when sequestered at trial's end they have a one-night stand. Keller does the job during one of the weekend breaks from the trial.
Chapters 24 to 30 The Inside Job Dot and Keller set a trap for the unknown hitman back in New York City.
Trivia and Links
I read a considerable number of Lawrence Block books in my pre-GR and pre-reviewing days. Probably 40 or so out of the 100+ that are available. That included all of the Matt Scudder books, several of the Bernie Rhodenbarrs, several of the Evan Tanners, several of the Kellers, a dozen or so standalones and some of the memoirs. There were even a few of the earlier pulp novels which were originally published under pseudonyms. This re-read is part of an ongoing look back at some of those.
Lawrence Block (June 24, 1938 - ) considers himself retired these days, but still maintains an occasional newsletter with the latest issued in August 2024. He self-publishes some of his earlier works that have otherwise gone out of print, using his own LB Productions imprint.
A review of the Harper Collins eBook (October 13, 2009) of the William Morrow & Co. hardcover original (2000).
This second book in the series with the neurotic hitman John Keller has more of a novel story arc although you could still say it is a novel in short stories. Each story is usually 2 to 4 chapters and I made notes in order to follow the overall arc. I mostly titled the stories according to which city Keller travels to for each assignment. I didn't do individual ratings, but the early setups from Chapters 1 to 14 were the best and would be 4s. The later stories and the ending are somewhat downbeat due to the unlikely coincidences and the "collateral damage," so you don't feel that great about the resolution. So 2's for those, resulting a 3 rating overall.
All throughout, Keller continues his stamp collecting and the somewhat tedious banter with his contractor Dot. The stamp collecting is a parallel with author Lawrence Block's own hobby for which he wrote a series of columns collected in [b:Generally Speaking: All 33 columns, plus a few philatelic words from Keller|50134287|Generally Speaking All 33 columns, plus a few philatelic words from Keller|Lawrence Block|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1577681111l/50134287._SY75_.jpg|75084245] (2019).
The following notes provide my story capsulations and chapter groupings. I have spoiler blocked it, although I'm not giving away too many details.
Spoiler
Chapters 1-4 The Louisville, Kentucky Job Keller stays at a motel while planning the job. He changes rooms due to noise. After finishing the job, he hears that the people in his old room were murdered.
Chapters 5-7 The New York City Job Keller scopes a job at an art gallery. He meets an artist named Maggie and begins an affair.
Chapters 8-10 The Tampa, Florida Job Keller learns about his astrology and (according to palmistry) that he has a murderer’s thumb. Consulting an astrologist he is warned that he is in danger from an unknown person.
Chapters 11-14 The Boston Mass. Job Wearing an olive green trench coat, Keller does the job and goes to eat at a coffee shop. As he is leaving he discovers his coat has been stolen. Afterwards he reads that a man wearing a green coat was murdered. Keller and Dot piece together that there is another hitman out there who is trying to reduce the competition.
Chapter 15 The Forest Hills, Illinois Job Keller goes to do the job but the target has a car accident. The client thinks it was genius, but it was just blind luck.
Chapter 16 The Albuquerque, New Mexico Job Keller travels to a supposedly impossible job with the victim under witness protection. Again, a lucky break solves the problem for Keller.
Chapter 17 The Breakup No job, but Maggie from The New York City Job breaks it off with Keller.
Chapter 18 The La Jolla, California Job Keller flies in but before he can do the job, the victim himself commits suicide. He returns home and six weeks later there is The St. Louis, Missouri Job. Keller does the job quickly before learning that the client had called it off.
Chapters 19-23 Jury Duty and the Fells Point, Maryland Job Dot has a job but Keller initially turns it down because he has been called for jury duty. He agrees to scope out the job on weekends. During the trial Keller and another juror Gloria make a connection and when sequestered at trial's end they have a one-night stand. Keller does the job during one of the weekend breaks from the trial.
Chapters 24 to 30 The Inside Job Dot and Keller set a trap for the unknown hitman back in New York City.
Trivia and Links
I read a considerable number of Lawrence Block books in my pre-GR and pre-reviewing days. Probably 40 or so out of the 100+ that are available. That included all of the Matt Scudder books, several of the Bernie Rhodenbarrs, several of the Evan Tanners, several of the Kellers, a dozen or so standalones and some of the memoirs. There were even a few of the earlier pulp novels which were originally published under pseudonyms. This re-read is part of an ongoing look back at some of those.
Lawrence Block (June 24, 1938 - ) considers himself retired these days, but still maintains an occasional newsletter with the latest issued in August 2024. He self-publishes some of his earlier works that have otherwise gone out of print, using his own LB Productions imprint.