TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hired Killer Thriller Gets Stamp Of Approval

ADVERTISEMENT

By GEOFF HAMLIN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2008

"Hit and Run," by Lawrence Block (William Morrow, $24.95)

Lawrence Block's crime fiction stands out because of his ability to create interesting and likable characters. His new novel, "Hit and Run," featuring his pragmatic hired killer, Keller, is no exception.

In Block's earlier "Hit Man," Keller threw his psychiatrist out an office window after learning he had bedded Keller's girlfriend. But Keller has a human side, too. He is very close to his agent, a "connected," but older, woman named Dot who lives in a Victorian garden house in White Plains, N.Y. He has taken up stamp collecting to occupy himself between assignments and, under Dot's management, is saving and investing offshore for retirement (almost $2 million).

"Hit and Run" is the story of the reluctant Keller's "one last assignment" before retiring. The assignment, a straightforward murder of a businessman in Des Moines, turns out to be an exquisite frame-up. The gun, which he was offered and declined to use, is instead used to kill the governor of Iowa - with Keller's fingerprints still on it. Soon his picture is in newspapers and on television from coast to coast. Now Keller must run for his life.

His first inclination is to flee for his home in New York City and his money in the custody of Dot. When he gets to Manhattan, he discovers not only that his stamps are missing from his apartment but also that Dot's house has been burned and her body identified in the fire. With her goes his only access to his retirement money. Keller is friendless, stampless and broke.

How he escapes from this situation - which involves a girl, post-Katrina New Orleans and profession change - makes for a wonderful story.

Geoff Hamlin of Pinellas Park is a freelance writer.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT