Hit Me

My first Lawrence Block book but definitly will not my last.I enjoyed (Keller) and will spend the winter reading his series.

A redemption ending for the main character. Actually two! First it has the false ending of the character giving up on assassinations in favour of stamp collecting and then another one when he becomes some secret avenger killing bad people. Both are disappointing.

You could argue the previous book was an ending of sorts and this book only gets him out of retirement only to end it again.

Lots about stamp collecting but a good finish to a likable series.

It's been a while since I read a Lawrence Block book, because I had previously read everything by him I could get my hands on, so I really had forgotten what a great writer he is...I mean c'mon who else can make stamp collecting interesting! Each of the "hits" in the book flow together to make one novel, but each one could easily stand on its own as a short story. Great Book, highly recommended.

This fifth in series featuring hitman Keller finds him living in post Katrina New Orleans with a new identity, a wife and daughter. At first his new career if rehabbing houses was a lucrative one, and he was able to semi retire from his former profession of killing people for money.When the economy begins to affect the construction industry, Keller finds himself conversing with his former contact, who gave him his assignments and finds himself drawn back into his former profession.The novel reads more like a short story collection, with Keller's adventures in Dallas, Florida, Wyoming, and New York, his old stomping ground.I enjoy this series almost as much as the Matthew Scudder series, but not quite. However, I did find the endless detail about the character's stamp collecting, which is his hobby, a little tedious.The ending left an opening for the possibility of another sequel, which I am sure that I will read, hopefully with less stamp collecting detail.

I find myself more interest in the marketing of this book than its contents. Essentially it is a collection of novellas disguised as a novel. At no point is it called a novel--except in very small print on the title page--and each story represented here does keep its original title, but now each new scene is labeled as a chapter--unbroken across the book--so that the last section of the last story is Chapter 51. I can’t claim to have been misled because A) I would have bought it anyway, and B) I flipped through the book before making the purchase. Some of the stories had moments of meandering but I enjoyed them just the same. As usual.

Keller, the somewhat reluctant philatelist hit man. Okay, I'll admit I've always adored this character, complicated and strangely believable as he is, with a rather unique moral code. This continuation of his story doesn't disappoint. He's moved from New York to New Orleans and gained a wife and daughter. Such is his spousal relationship that he can't bear to keep secrets. The author's done a bang-up job of making her just as complicated and strangely believable as her husband. Then there's Dot, the hit broker... Fun, funny, oddly compelling. If you haven't read one of the five Keller titles (Hit Man, Hit List, Hit Parade, Hit and Run, Hit Me) give it a try. Betcha can't read just one...

Enjoyable finale(?) to the Keller series.

Really short stories, all revolving around Keller's interest in stamps. Good to read though, even if I hate sympathizing with a hitman.

My first Lawrence Block book. I really enjoyed this book and will look for more of his books. It's not often you find a likeable hitman with almost a conscience. Definitely recommend.

Had I known this was actually a book of stories, I probably wouldn't have requested it from Early Reviewers. Short stories are not my thing. I've read most of Block's Matthew Scudder novels and love them. I tried the first 'The Burglar Who . . .' book and never picked up another. This is my first (but not Block's) Keller book, and despite the fact that it's 'stories', I rank it somewhere between Scudder and The Burglar. A long time ago I was interested in stamp collecting. The Keller stories, at least in this book, feature a lot of stamp collecting information, which I assume is accurate. Stamps tie into the plot of some of the stories, not so much others. I think it made the book more interesting than it would have been without this device. But bottom line, it's stories, not the complex mystery I was hoping for.

If GoodReads had half stars, I'd probably give it 3.5. I adore Block and his wonderful hit man Keller, but this was not as strong as previous books in the series. I found some characters' voices to be very similar and almost wondered if Dot was masquerading as the info desk woman at the YMCA in the last chapter.

This is a slowed paced novel about the duel lifes of J.P. Keller, one being that of a person that handles orders to assassin and the other being that of alais "Nicholas Edwards" who's involved in a repair and rebuild business in New Orleans after the Katrina hurricane. Keller is also a avid philatelist which hides his cover well while traveling around the world meeting different philatelic investers while his major interest lies elsewhere, to eliminate upon orders.

The fifth in the 'Keller' series of books. Keller in case you are nor familiar with the character,is a killer or hit-man. He is also a loving husband and father,as well as a keen philatelist. This volume of long,short (or should it be short,long) stories each tell of a contract killing mixed in with a stamp dealing episode.Overall a good and readable book with perhaps a little more than one would want to know about the arcane world of the stamp fanatic.

I have read most of Lawrence Block's books and loved them all. However this one was a major disappointment. I read it in three hours and and then wondered why I bothered. Like other reviewers have mentioned, this book is more about philately then Keller's hits. Maybe Block has decided he's more interested in writing about stamps than writing thrillers. I hope not.

Like the other three Keller books you won't find much of a plot. It's really more of a series of vignettes where Keller has to figure out how to kill certain people: a divorcee in Dallas, an abbot in New Jersey, and a dirty old man on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. What I always like about these books is Block doesn't make them the stereotypical hitman gets a conscience and becomes the target of other hitmen plot. I'm sure most people would probably like more action and less about stamp collecting though. It's too bad the most interesting case in the book isn't over by the time the book ends. I guess that leaves room for a sequel!

Great read about your everyday assassin who collects stamps

Hit man J. P. Keller is framed for a political assassination. Even worse, he loses his best friend and his stamp collection. He takes to the road to avoid arrest and, in the process, finds true love and a latent talent.

Probably (?) the last book about Keller, the hired killer, who nevertheless is very sympathetic. There are several of books about Keller, all readable.

JP Keller, Des Moines, a hit paid in advance anonymously, and then an assassination, and his picture on the evening news. Dot in White Plains is not answering. And where is his stamp collection? Then he meets Julia in New Orleans.

For Block fans, of which I am a card carrying member. The first half is a close to monologue as Block ever gets, but without giving away the plot, there is good reason for it. Sometimies I felt what was written was more Block's observations from his many travels around the world as opposed to Keller's thoughts but that's a small nit.Richard Poe does an admirable job in his reading, even if some of the character voices slip on occasion. I imagine it's a bit of a challenge to maintain the same character voice over the days it takes to read one of these.

Keller is a hit-man who does contact work for an aging mob boss. Keller has a partner, Dot, who helps him keep his jobs running smoothly, is also his financial adviser helping him build up sufficient funds to allow early retirement. Keller takes one last job before retiring and living the good live enjoying his stamp collecting.But suddenly Keller is framed for killing the Governor of Ohio and he must go on the run to elude a nationwide manhunt.This the first book I read by Block so I didn't know what to expect. What I found was a simple, relaxed story that drew me in to care about (and like) both Keller and Dot and to hope that they escape the killers and police that are searching for them. It was a fun and curiously satisfying read.

John Keller is a hit man on assignment. He's picked up at the airport by his contact, given the choice of two guns for the job, picked the weapon he wants and is dropped off at his hotel.The next day he reads that the governor of Ohio has been assassinated. The killer used a Glock automatic. The same weapon Keller had his hands on the prior day. Then he sees his photo on CNN and knows he's been part of an elaborate set-up.He drives back to New York and finds that his friend and business assoicate Dot has apparently been murdered. Someone has broken into his apartment and stolen his computer and stamp collection.Needing a place to hide, he thinks of New Orleans with the aftermath of Katrina, this would be a good place. Soon after arriving he hears a woman scream. Unstead of avoiding conflict and possible legal involvement, he goes to the sound of the scream and finds a woman about to be raped. He saves her and dispatches the rapist. He intended victim, Julia Roussard, is so greatful, she doesn't care when he tells her he's on the run from an attempted frame. She belives his story and lets him stay at her home where they become intimate. In a surprising plot twist, his friend Dot reemerges. She faked her murder by killing another woman, removing her own false teeth and replacing the woman's false teeth, then setting the home on fire so the body would be identified by dental records as Dot. This was a preposterous event that I have trouble with Block for its unbelievability.The narrative story is a fast paced read but little in real action and much of the suspense misses. There are lengthy portions of the novel where nothing happens.Keller has been a good character in the past stories but seems like a cow put to pasture in this one. Julia Roussard was an interesting character and would be fun to see her development in a future story.

Hit and Run is, believe it or not, a Naturalist thriller. It's premised on the question: What would it be like if a hit man were to settle down, get a real job, work on his stamp collection, and try to leave the past behind?The problem is, who cares?As it turns out, in case you wanted to know (as if anyone would), he's a pretty good home remodeler, but he prefers laying bathroom tile to sanding wood floors. Also, he likes New Orleans Saints ball caps better than Homer Simpson ones. And he watches a lot of television. Which we're told all about. For no apparent reason.The book has absolutely zero action in it, except for one scene. There is another that might almost count, because he shoots a guy---but it's a convenience store clerk, and that's all there is to it, he just pulls out a gun and shoots the guy and that's it. He then proceeds to rob the man, in what turns out to be the only scene in the book in which the author exercises any selectivity in an attempt to convey some meaning---we're told that the convenience store guy has a stack of hardcover Ayn Rand novels and a blow up doll with an Ann Coulter mask on it in his bedroom. This is apparently the author's weak idea of portraying a right-wing loser---the only problem is, as anyone who has read Ayn Rand knows, she has about as much in common with Ann Coulter as she does with Michael Moore.And for a hit man, the main character is incredibly dimwitted. The second something goes wrong, he's completely paralyzed. He's not exactly a master of disguises (the aforementioned Homer Simpson ball cap is the best he can do), and he can't come up with a plan to save his life---literally. He pretty much just gets by on dumb luck (or rather by the author's whim, since this is fiction, but the author can't contrive any believable means for him to negotiate his situation). It's as though the author hasn't done any research at all, but just sits at his writing desk relying on pure imagination---and unfortunately, he is singularly unimaginative.All in all, this has got to be the dullest "thriller" ever written. At least, it was the dullest one I've ever had the misfortune to read, and I've read my share.

Block's Keller is a guy of habits and detachments. These stories work because they are about disrupting his detachment and involving him in life change.Everything changes in Keller's life, as he has to go on the run quickly, leaving behind his savings, his stamps, and his associate Dot. Much of the story is about the sticky situation he's landed in and his survival strategies. Feels like the end of the Keller series, but it's a great sendoff.

Classic Block, taking theoretically heartless characters and making them human as only literature can. "Retiring" a character (and who knows if Keller will stay retired) takes some skill to make it something other than a cop-out, and Block does that very well here.

Keller, the stamp collecting, real estate viewing, assassin undertakes his last job then comes out of retirement to take revenge upon the people who frame him. A typically sparse, hard-edged novel by Block coloured with his characteristic wit.

This book takes off quickly. It also ends a little too quickly, perhaps, but along the way it brings a fresh look at Keller, my favorite of Block's characters.

I almost always like Lawrence Block but this book has a MAJOR plot hole around page 75. Couldn't continue.

First-rate. Lawrence Block shows he is still a master. Terrific plotting, appealing characters, page-turner from beginning to end.