LAWRENCE BLOCK - THE BURGLAR WHO PAINTED LIKE MONDRIAN (1983)

 

Synopsis/blurb ...

Bernie Rhodenbarr - By day he sells books in his Greenwich Village store - by night he's a master of illegal entry. But this time Bernie didn't do the burglary ... but one missing painting worth a cool quarter of a million dollars, two corpses and a very clever frame up put him on top of the most wanted list!

Another caper in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series and this time it concerns a painting. There's the usual cast of characters in addition to Bernie himself; we have Carolyn and the inevitable appearance of Ray, the purchasable cop. This time his lawyer, Wally makes more than a fleeting appearance and Bernie gets to consult with him, usually when jogging - something which Bernie tries to avoid. Par for the course there's also a body or two.

I think I'm running out of things to say about the series. 

Repetition, repetition, repetition. That's me, not the books, though there is a kind of formula to the plots. 

Bernie gets wind of or is hired to steal something. He gets his hands on the goods or he doesn't, or when he does they get reappropriated from him very quickly. Either way there's a dead body and Bernie half in the frame for the murder and having to solve the crime himself, to escape the clutches of the law. It's usually achieved with the connivance and the greasing of our aforementioned cop's palm. 

And do you know what? I don't actually care. 

I enjoy Block's writing ...... his characters, his wit, his New York of the 70s, 80s and 90s as I run through the series.... the bars, the subway journeys, the cab rides and the chats with the drivers and the regularity with which the same driver seems to keep appearing whenever Bernie needs a cab, the coffee shops, the customers in the book shop, the lunches with Carolyn, the trysts with various women that flit in and out of his life, never lingering too long, the games with the shop cat Raffles, the mentions of books and authors that he or Carolyn might be reading, or that he might have sold to a customer.

I like the mechanics of Bernie's illegal profession - the different locks, the different techniques he uses and the methods and routines he undertakes, pre-burglary and during the commission of his crimes. I enjoy his furtiveness and his cunning and also his aversion to violence. For a bad guy, he's a good guy.

Another solid series entry and like the previous ones - 4 stars from 5

Previously enjoyed...

Burglars Can't Be Choosers

The Burglar in the Closet

The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling

The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza

Read - August, 2022

Published - 1983

Page count - 320

Source - owned copy

Format - Paperback

ALLEN ESKENS - THE STOLEN HOURS (2021)

Synopsis/blurb…

Lila Nash is on the verge of landing her dream job—working as a prosecutor under the Hennepin County Attorney—and has settled into a happy life with her boyfriend, Joe Talbert. But when a woman is pulled from the Mississippi River, barely alive, things in the office take a personal turn.

The police believe the woman’s assailant is local photographer Gavin Spenser, but the case quickly flounders as the evidence wears thin. It seems Gavin saw this investigation coming—and no one can imagine how carefully he has prepared.

The more determined Lila is to put Gavin behind bars, the more elusive justice becomes. Battling a vindictive new boss and haunted by the ghosts of her own unspeakable attack, which she’s kept a dark secret for eight long years, Lila knows the clock is ticking down. In a race against an evil mastermind, it will take everything Lila’s got to outsmart a killer—and to escape the dark hold of her own past.

The Stolen Hours is my latest encounter with author, Allen Eskens’ work. Needless to say, having enjoyed all my previous reads of his - The Life We Bury, The Heavens May Fall, The Shadows We Hide, The Deep Dark Descending - Mr Reliable doesn’t let me down here.

  

It's a cracking story which combines a murder investigation with elements of a legal thriller and also has a sort of cold case feel along with a sympathetic heroine, overcoming events of her past while slaying a few demons in her present.

Story, pacing, twists, surprises, a small reliance on a little bit of coincidence perhaps, a creepy super smart predator, and a super smarter adversary. Blended, meshed, mixed up and gelled to perfection. 

Eskens gives us - court scenes, prison scenes, back story, a methodical investigation, planning taken to the nth degree, strategies, plans, control, fear, suspicion, family issues, career, ambition, victimisation, strength and healing, and more.

I liked the dynamics between the prosecuting office and the police detectives on the case. Lila's past traumas added an extra dynamic to the proceedings. 

Tense, exciting, gripping and deeply satisfying. Definitely recommended. 

Lila's boyfriend here, Joe Talbert has a minor role. He's a regular feature in some of Eskens' earlier books.

4.5 from 5

I'm revisiting the TBR stacks to see what else of Eskens I may be inadvertently sitting on.

Read – (listened to) August, 2022

Published – 2021

Page count – 321 (10 hrs 1 min)

Source – Libro trial

Format - Audible

LAWRENCE BLOCK - THE BURGLAR WHO STUDIED SPINOZA (1980)

Synopsis/blurb ...

Bernie Rhodenbarr is after the prized coin collection of one Herb Colcannon and he has the inside information to help him liberate it ... or so he thinks! But the Colcannon house is a set-up and he's not the first to think of the heist. What's more the collection consists of just one coin ... worth over $250,000 ... so who is Bernie going to sell it to and how is he going to get away with it?

Another enjoyable outing in the company of Lawrence Block, Bernie Rhodenbarr and best friend sidekick, Carolyn. Well, I think it was enjoyable as I can't actually recall too much about it a little more than six weeks after reading it. 

Hmm. either I read too much and things kind of blur into one, particularly as it was the fourth Bernie book in a matter of a month and I've since read another three in the series, or I have to accept that I'm getting on a bit and my memory is diminishing. I can't recall feelings of boredom, disappointment or anxious page counting until the end. 

Anyways, it was Lawrence Block and never having encountered a book of his I didn't enjoy, a good time was almost certainly had.

Bernie, a coin to steal and a burglary and something inevitably going pear-shaped. 

Block's trademark wit, characters, New York setting and an entertaining if not gripping story were undoubtedly present. I like the lighter touch of the Bernie books compared to the Matt Scudder series. I like them both equally though. I don't have a favourite, I can just enjoy the differences between the two while savouring an author who never lets me down and has a multitude of strings to his bow.

4 from 5

The first three in the series were - Burglars Can't Be Choosers, The Burglar in the Closet and The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling. Hopefully I can remember more about the next one when I come to pen a few thoughts.

Read - August, 2022

Published - 1980

Page count - 224

Source - owned copy

Format - Paperback

ADAM PLANTINGA - POLICE CRAFT (2018)

 

Synopsis/blurb...

A veteran police officer gives his thoughtful, balanced views on police shootings, racial profiling, community relations, and every other aspect of policing―and he’ll change what you think about the police. From the author of the acclaimed 400 Things Cops Know, Police Craft is a thought-provoking and revelatory examination of policing in America, as seen by a working police officer. Adam Plantinga, a 17-year veteran sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department, gives an inside view of the police officer’s job, from handling evidence and conducting interrogations to coping with danger, violence, and death. Not hesitating to confront controversial issues, Plantinga presents the police officer’s views on police shootings, racial profiling, and relationships between police and the community―and offers reasoned proposals on what the police and the public can do better.

A bit of non-fiction with some reflections on policing in the community from a serving sergeant in the San Francisco Police Department.

Thoughtful, topical, interesting, and entertaining, even though not all of Adam Plantinga's attempts at a bit of brevity hit the mark. I was interested in what he had to say and it was good to get a perspective on modern policing in the US from one of the boys in blue.

He discusses training, tactics on the street, interviewing techniques, evidence gathering, protocol, family, neighbourhoods, public interactions, cameraderie, experience and how the job changes people, 9/11 and a lot more besides.

Most of the times you read about the police in the US and the UK, where I live, it's because of some catastrophic event, usually a failure - an abuse of the power entrusted to them, an over reaction to a protestor, or the use of racial profiling in stop and search tactics disproportionately affecting minority communities and racism in the ranks, not always punished by the authorities. In the US, it will often be because of a controversial and always saddening fatality.

You don't very often read about the vast majority of serving officers, who do just that - serve their community. Plantinga tells their stories and presents examples of his colleagues that have gone above and beyond during his years of service.

He doesn't shy away from condemning the rotten eggs that we've heard about though he perhaps comes across as a bit defensive at times of his colleagues. That said I don't envy the job he or his colleagues does in serving the public. What's the saying? Unless you've walked a mile in another man's shoes....

Educational, informative and a really worthwhile read with a great narration from Steve Marvel.

4 stars from 5

Read - (listened to) August, 2022    

Published - 2018

Page count - 250 (10 hrs 26 mins)

Source - Audible download during Libro trial

Format - Audible

KEITH BRUTON - THE LEMON MAN (2022)

Synopsis/blurb...

TASKS:

1. Buy Food. 2. Visit Ma. 3. Kill Henry O’Neil

The Lemon Man is Patrick Callen, a bicycle-riding hitman with mild O.C.D. in Dublin, Ireland whose carefully ordered life is totally upended when he becomes the accidental caretaker of a baby boy. Now he’s got to balance his daily to-do list of errands and murders-for-hire with his unexpected domesticity, which impacts him and his work in ways he never expected…and that could get him killed.

"Keith Bruton's passion for his hometown of Dublin and for crime fiction shines like a beacon in hiis glorious debut novel ... bringing to mind some of Donald E. Westlake's vintage efforts. His quiet, domestic set pieces are as rewarding, and as exciting in some ways, as his riveting action scenes." Mystery Scene Magazine

Dublin - my old home town, a hitman (I do like a hitman book) and a baby - not his own but one he has assumed responsibility for - what's not to like? I'm also a list-maker and the main character is exactly the same. I could easily identify with him. 

Really good fun. Great storyline where our hero, Patrick Callen seems beset by accidents, misadventure and pure bad luck, while he cycles around the city doing his thing. His thing being killing people. 

And after making a newborn an orphan, acquiring the additional title of kidnapper and stand-in-dad-parent-unofficial guardian. It's kind of hard to strike the correct work-life balance when you've a newborn baby to care for and you haven't got a scooby on how to go about it.

I loved seeing Dublin through Keith Bruton's eyes. I never knew it had so many rivers. 

Why should I though - I haven't lived there for over 50 years.

Fresh, funny, original, satisfying. I look forward to seeing what Keith Bruton turns up with next.

4.5 from 5 

Read - August, 2022

Published - 2022

Page count - 268

Source - review copy from publisher Brash Books

Format -  Paperback

LAWRENCE BLOCK - THE BURGLAR WHO LIKED TO QUOTE KIPLING (1979)

 

Synopsis/blurb …

Bookseller, thief – Bernie Rhodenbarr can’t resist the lure of a long lost Kipling poem, even if it locked inside a millionaire’s high security library. So Bernie goes browsing and sure enough he liberates the object in question … but also finds a dead redhead and is caught with the proverbial smoking gun by those boys in blue, who are ready to book Bernie for Murder One!

Another day, another Bernie burglary and another Block curveball that sees Bernie minus the loot and coming to after being slipped a mickey. He has a gun in his hand, a dead dame opposite him and the cops are kicking down the door.

Bernie and lesbian friend Carolyn must get to the bottom of the mystery while dodging cops and an assortment of miscreants and their henchman seeking a Kipling book, of which there is only one known copy.

New York, a bookstore and Bernie a bookstore owner, an unsuccessful shoplifter who pays, a friendship, a job, an initially successful caper, a rude awakening, a death, an escape, a hideout, more amateur sleuthing, a phone that doesn’t stop ringing, a jealous girlfriend, a car that keeps getting stolen, a wealthy Maharajah, a Sikh heavy, a book dealer gone AWOL, some tiresome poetry, a handy Polaroid camera, a few more B&Es, and a familiar cop willing to help as long as his palm gets greased.

Good clean fun. I like the dynamics of Bernie’s friendship with Carolyn. I liked her willingness to break the law to help Bernie. I enjoyed the denouement when Bernie has the cast of possible murderers all assembled at his bookstore.

I’m not that familiar with Rudyard Kipling’s work. I’m intrigued enough to see if the scarce book that causes Bernie’s problems here – The Deliverance of Fort Bucklow - exists or is a figment of Lawrence Block’s imagination. I did also like the references to Richard Stark’s Parker capers throughout this one. (Another series I ought to get reacquainted with.)

Roll on #4 in the series. 

4 from 5

Burglars Can’t Be Choosers and The Burglar in the Closet were previously enjoyed.

Read – July, 2022

Published – 1979

Page count – 208

Source – purchased copy

Format – Paperback

MARC OLDEN - KILL THE REPORTER (1978)

 

Synopsis/blurb….

Harker uncovers a cult whose members believe in peace, love, understanding, and torture.

Rudolph Franklin thinks his biggest problem is re-election. A battle with a fellow senator about military spending is getting ugly, and if he can't scrap out a victory, his career will be dead in the water. He calls Harker, a crack investigative reporter, to leak a story for him. Franklin thinks his problems are political -- until his daughter disappears.

In Barbarann's bedroom, Harker finds pamphlets for the Children's Crusade, a hippy-dippy cult best known for selling buttons and hard candy on street corners. But Harker learns about the crusade's darker side -- the enforcers charged with keeping members in line, and keeping the press from asking questions. His first warning is a dead cat, hung from the ceiling of his hotel room, paw sliced off. If he crosses the Crusade again, the next paw they take will be his own.

Another outing with investigative journalist Harker tackling a cult with overlaps into a big money defence contract coming up for renewal and the rumours that the $100m defence spend is going to be wasted on a turkey.

70s, politics, a missing report, an imminent contract, big bucks, pressure, influence, control, a cult, brainwashing, kidnapping, secrecy, a gang of violent enforcers, a missing person, torture, coercion, blackmail, and more.

This one is the fourth and last in the Harker series and it's a book and series that I've really enjoyed. I liked Harker as a man, with his belligerent refusal to bow to intimidation or pressure, though when his ex-wife is threatened here he's just about to throw the towel in. Something breaks, which conveniently offers another way out. 

There's a decent blend of action and intellect as the story runs its course. Harker at various points is intimidated over the phone, burgled, has a dead cat with a missing paw to contend with, is drugged while confronted on an exposed high rise hotel under renovation and forced out the building over the edge and is also kidnapped and held under gunpoint. In the course of his investigation we have the usual verbal sparring and confrontations with his powerful targets.

There a real one man against the machine vibe that I like. Though again, Harker has his allies and can't do it all single-handedly.

A great book and series.

4 from 5

The first three are - The Harker File, Dead and Paid For and They've Killed Anna. I'll be continuing to work through another of Olden's series - Narc - about the drugs trade and a lead detective. The first in the series, the cunningly titled Narc has been enjoyed as well. 

Read – July, 2022

Published – 1978

Page count – 160

Source – Kindle Unlimited

Format – Kindle