Lawrence Block
Bookselling burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr doesn't generally get philosophical about his criminal career. He's good at it, it's addictively exciting—and it pays a whole lot better than pushing old tomes. He steals therefore he is, period.
He might well ponder, however, the deeper meaning of events at the luxurious Chelsea brownstone of Herb and Wanda Colcannon, which is apparently burgled three times on the night Bernie breaks in: once before
...Bernie Rhodenbarr is actually trying to earn an honest living. It's been an entire year since he's entered anyone's abode illegally to help himself to their valuables. But now an unscrupulous landlord's threat to increase Bernie's rent by 1,000% is driving the bookseller and reformed burglar back to a life of crime — though, in all fairness, it's a very short trip. And when the cops wrongly accuse him of stealing a priceless collection of
...A philosophical yet practical gentleman, Bernie Rhodenbarr possesses many admirable qualities: charm, intelligence, sparkling wit, and unwavering loyalty. Of course, he also has this special talent and a taste for life's finer things. So he's more than willing to perform some vengeful larceny for a friend — ripping off a smarmy, particularly deserving plastic surgeon — for fun and a very tidy profit.
But during a practice run
...In the dark days, in a sad and lonely place, ex-cop Matt Scudder is drinking his life away — and doing "favors" for pay for his ginmill cronies. But when three such assignments flow together in dangerous and disturbing ways, he'll need to change his priorities from boozing to surviving.
Gulliver Fairborn's novel, Nobody's Baby, changed Bernie Rhodenbarr's life. And now pretty Alice Cottrell, Fairborn's one-time paramour, wants the bookselling, book-loving burglar to break into a room in New York's teeth-achingly charming Paddington Hotel and purloin some of the writer's very personal letters before an unscrupulous agent can sell them. Here's an opportunity to use his unique talents in the service of the revered, famously reclusive
...26) Tanner's Virgin
The CIA, the FBI, the KGB, Interpol—not one of the world's premier intelligence organizations knows quite what to make of Evan Michael Tanner. Is he a spy, a mercenary, a footloose adventurer, or simply a screwball sucker for hopeless causes?
(Actually he's a little bit of all of the above. Plus he never sleeps. Ever.)
One thing's for sure: Tanner's a true romantic, which is why he can't refuse a distraught mother who begs him
...It's a jungle out there.
Literally. At least for Evan Tanner, eternally sleepless sometime superspy, who finds himself in Africa on the trail of the AWOL ruler of tiny Modonoland. It seems the petty despot's gone missing, and he's taken the state treasury along with him.
No stranger to impossible missions and international peril, Tanner's been in over his head before. This time, however, he's in imminent danger of being buried alive.
...It's not that used bookstore owner and part-time burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr believes the less legal of his two professions is particularly ethical. (It is, however, a rush, and he is very good at it.) He just thinks it's unfair to face a prison term for his legitimate activities. After appraising the worth of a rich man's library — conveniently leaving his fingerprints everywhere in the process — Bernie finds he's the cops' prime suspect
...Sometime spy Evan Tanner has accepted impossible assignments for many reasons: money, thrills, to have something to occupy his waking hours (twenty-four of them every day, in fact, since battlefield shrapnel obliterated his brain's sleep center). But this might be the first time he's put his life on the line . . . for love.
Tanner's agreed to smuggle a sexy Latvian gymnast—the lost lady love of a heart-sick friend—out of Russia.
...Evan Tanner can't sleep. Ever. Which gives him plenty of free time to get involved in lots of interesting endeavors in all sorts of exotic locales.
Now Tanner's in Thailand with a partially baked plan and a butterfly net, hoping to snare a beautiful missing chanteuse who's metamorphosed into an international jewel thief. Tanner hopes everyone will buy his disguise as a rare butterfly researcher. And everyone does . . .
Except the guerilla
...31) Random Walk
A fantastic journey starts one step at a time Guthrie's got a voice in his head, and it's telling him to go for a walk. So he does—across America. Along the way he meets up with other souls searching for something more from life. And at his side is Sara, a woman whose natural sight has been lost but replaced with mystical visions. Before long remarkable things are happening to all of the walkers. Meanwhile, Mark, a successful businessman
...Famed detective and mystery writer Lawrence Block (A Walk Among the Tombstones, 8 Million Ways to Die) takes the helm as guest editor for DARK CITY LIGHTS, the fourth edition of the Have a NYC series. Twenty-three thrilling, hilarious and poignant short stories—all based in New York City—written by new and acclaimed fiction masters, including Robert Silverberg (Hugo and Nebula Award multiple winner;
...33) Deadly Honeymoon
Raped on her wedding night, a bride must take her own vengeance Dave and Jill Wade come to Pennsylvania, the ink still wet on their marriage license, expecting three weeks of lakeside honeymooning bliss. All is lovely until gunshots shatter their first night together. Killers have come for the man in the next cabin, and afterward they decide to silence the happy couple, battering Dave and dragging his virgin bride into the dead man's bedroom. The
...34) Lucky at Cards
A good card mechanic is hard to find and even harder to change His dentist's poker game is the last place that card shark Bill Maynard expects to find another hustler. But that's just what Mrs. Murray Rogers, the scheming wife with her eye on her husband's fortune, is. The only problem is her husband's still alive, and she'll have to enlist the help of Bill in order to get what she wants. They've got a plan, but will Bill stick with it, or will
...Evan Tanner ran head-first into a piece of shrapnel in Korea, and now he can't sleep. Ever. Which can be an asset for a dedicated linguist, term paper forger, thief, lost cause enthusiast . . .
Spy.
Tanner takes on jobs for a covert intelligence organization so secret that...
36) Ariel
There is something scary about Roberta Jardell's Charleston home—and it's not just the presence of a ghost Every night the apparition of a woman with a baby visits Roberta Jardell in her room. And her adopted daughter, Ariel, leaves her cold. Now that she has given birth to a son she feels even more alienated from the girl. Is her imagination getting the best of her, or does the strange child know more than she lets on? Suspenseful and filled
...When a stripper is murdered onstage, Chip Harrison must put his sexual frustration aside to seek out the mobster responsible
One hundred and twenty-three murders. That's the statistic that gets Chip Harrison's attention—that and the girl who reports it: a statuesque stripper and amateur ichthyologist who has come to him for help catching the killer of her 123 rare fish. But it's the 124th victim—this time a human—who draws Chip and his
...38) Borderline
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...
Rejected by the CIA, an ex-commando fresh from the jungles of Vietnam attempts to retire to a jungle island, but is lured back into action with an offer of unfathomable profit and unlimited danger Do nothing. That's what Paul Kavanagh wants to do—absolutely nothing. Ten years of jungle combat have left him numb to mankind, and the only way he seems to keep from hurting people is to stay as far away as he can. He flees to an isolated patch of
...Trapped in a room with a dead body and no memory, an ex-con must get out of town before he becomes the next victim Alex awakes, an ex-con sleeping off a drunk in a fleabag Times Square hotel, with an evil hangover that he forgets as soon as he notices the blood on the floor—and the corpse that it came from. It's a woman, a whore, and Alex assumes he's responsible for her state even though he doesn't recall meeting her, much less killing her.
...