New Releases by Lawrence Block

IF YOU WANT SOMETHING BADLY ENOUGH, YOU''LL GET IT... Bernie Rhodenbarr may be New York''s most charming bookseller (by day) and its most skillful burglar (by night), but the modern world isn''t kind to either of his vocations. How is a bookseller supposed to make ends meet in a world where Amazon will deliver any title right to your doorstep? And how is a burglar to ply his trade in a city filled with security cameras and unpickable electronic locks? The answer, as Bernie will discover in the pages of this wildly imaginative new novel--the twelfth in MWA Grandmaster Lawrence Block''s acclaimed series, and the first in nearly a decade--is that the world can sometimes change in the most unexpected ways. Tempted to steal a priceless diamond from the penthouse apartment of a swinish entrepreneur, Bernie goes out drinking with his best friend Carolyn instead. But when he wakes up with something much stranger than a hangover, he realizes he''s got the opportunity of a lifetime if only he can figure out what to do with it. Taking inspiration from the mind-bending works of one of Bernie''s favorite authors (and one of Block''s), The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown throws Bernie into unfamiliar territory while keeping him squarely on the streets of the city he loves, and if that seems impossible to you, well--maybe that''s because impossible is exactly what it is...

Here''s CHIP HARRISON--the second series character created by Lawrence Block, bestselling author of A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES... How can a series predicated on the hero''s sexual innocence survive past a second book? How can our Chip remain the same age forever? Simple, Block decided, and put our Lecher in the Wry to work for a private detective, the remarkable Leo Haig. Haig believes that Nero Wolfe really exists, and that if he distinguishes himself professionally he may one day be invited to dine at the Great Man''s table. And Chip hires on as Haig''s eyes and ears--if not his nose and throat. MAKE OUT WITH MURDER is at once a tightly plotted murder mystery, a Nero Wolfe pastiche, and a wildly funny and erotic romp featuring five beautiful sisters and some rare coins. Trust me, you''ll love it.

"Matthew Scudder is dying, one bottle at a time. A young prostitute named Kim Dakkinen is dying too, her life measured out in tricks. She wanted out, had asked for Scudder''s help, but suddenly she wasn''t dying anymore, she was just dead. The former cop turned P.I. promised to protect her, but he failed. Now his atonement is to find her killer. But the secrets in the dead hooker''s past are dirtier than her living, and searching for a killer in a city where everyone''s a victim is a good way to make the role permanent"--

Five-time Edgar winner and MWA Grand Master Lawrence Block wrote a monthly column for Writers Digest Magazine for fourteen years. The Liar''s Bible consists of previously uncollected columns, chosen to illuminate the often dimly-lit path of the writer of fiction. Here''s what one reviewer said on Goodreads: "I am fascinated by the creative process and there are few excellent examples of this that I have found - there is Koestler''s The Act of Creation insightful in a general way- but I have found only two worth their salt about working creators - Trauffaut''s interviews with Hitchcock collected in Trauffaut/Hitchcock and Thomas Hoving''s two interviews with Andrew Wyeth - published as Autobiography and Two Worlds of Andrew Wyeth - but reading Lawrence Block''s collected columns on writing from Writer''s Digest I have discovered outstanding examples of this somewhat mysterious creative process. "Now I am anxious to read his other collected columns - Block of course writes so fluidly that, as one Stephen King fan commented, I would probably read his grocery list - but he also asks brilliant questions of himself and does a terrific job answering and commenting on these. "This is a must read for anyone intrigued by writers, artists, the creative process or those eager to write whether already published or hoping to be soon." And here''s another: "What an absolute treat it is to re-read these columns, nearly 30 years after I first read many of them in the pages of Writer''s Digest. I first started reading WD in high school, and subscribed for years, mostly for Lawrence Block''s fiction-writing columns. This book collects all of his pieces from that era. Sure, a few pieces of advice -- mostly related to the marketplace for fiction -- have since become, oh, just slightly dated, but most of the wisdom still applies, not just for fiction writers but for all writers. These columns were, indeed, my bible in the early stages of my writing life. I owe a lot to Block, and I''m glad to have the chance to reflect back on how his writing influenced not just my own wordsmithing but also my life."

A truly unprecedented literary achievement by author and editor Lawrence Block, a newly-commissioned anthology of seventeen superbly-crafted stories inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper, including Jeffery Deaver, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, Lee Child, and Robert Olen Butler, among many others. “Edward Hopper is surely the greatest American narrative painter. His work bears special resonance for writers and readers, and yet his paintings never tell a story so much as they invite viewers to find for themselves the untold stories within.” So says Lawrence Block, who has invited seventeen outstanding writers to join him in an unprecedented anthology of brand-new stories: In Sunlight or In Shadow. The results are remarkable and range across all genres, wedding literary excellence to storytelling savvy. Contributors include Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, Robert Olen Butler, Michael Connelly, Megan Abbott, Craig Ferguson, Nicholas Christopher, Jill D. Block, Joe R. Lansdale, Spider Robinson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Warren Moore, Jonathan Santlofer, Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, and Lawrence Block himself. Even Gail Levin, Hopper’s biographer and compiler of his catalogue raisonée, appears with her own first work of fiction, providing a true account of art theft on a grand scale and told in the voice of the country preacher who perpetrated the crime. In a beautifully produced anthology as befits such a collection of acclaimed authors, each story is illustrated with a quality reproduction of the painting that inspired it.

The long-awaited eleventh novel in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series. Everybody''s favourite burglar returns in an eleventh adventure that finds him and his lesbian sidekick Carolyn Kaiser breaking into houses, apartments, and even a museum, in a madcap adventure replete with American Colonial silver, an F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscript, a priceless portrait, and a remarkable array of buttons. And, wouldn''t you know it, there''s a dead body, all stretched out on a Trent Barling carpet . . .

A must-have collection of essays on the art and craft of fiction from Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Lawrence Block. Collected here for the first time are writings that illuminate the tricks of the authorial trade, from creating a fresh story and delivering a powerful ending, to adapting books for the screen and deciding when to make the switch to fulltime writer.

"Right up there with Mr. Block''s best....A DROP OF THE HARD STUFF keeps us guessing."--Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal Facing his demons in his first year of sobriety, Matthew Scudder finds himself on the trail of a killer. When Scudder''s childhood friend Jack Ellery is murdered, presumably while attempting to atone for past sins, Scudder reluctantly begins his own investigation, with just one lead: Ellery''s Alcoholics Anonymous list of people he wronged. One of them may be a killer, but that''s not necessarily Scudder''s greatest danger. Immersing himself in Ellery''s world may lead him right back to the bar stool. In a novel widely celebrated by critics and readers, Lawrence Block circle back to how it all began, reestablishing the Matthew Scudder series as one of the pinnacles of American detective fiction.

Matt Scudder is finally leading a comfortable life. The crime rate''s down and the stock market''s up. Gentrification''s prettying-up the old neighborhood. The New York streets don''t look so mean anymore. Then all hell breaks loose. Scudder quickly discovers the spruced-up sidewalks are as mean as ever, dark and gritty and stained with blood. He''s living in a world where the past is a minefield, the present is a war zone, and the future''s an open question. It''s a world where nothing is certain and nobody''s safe, a random universe where no one''s survival can be taken for granted. Not even his own. A world where everybody dies.

The author of dozens of acclaimed novels including those in the Scudder and Keller series, Lawrence Block has long been recognized as one of the premier crime writers of our time. Now, the breathtaking skill, power, and versatility of this Grand Master are brilliantly displayed once again in a mesmerizing new thriller set on the streets of the city he knows and loves so well. That was the thing about New York -- if you loved it, if it worked for you, it ruined you for anyplace else in the world. In this dazzlingly constructed novel, Lawrence Block reveals the secret at the heart of the Big Apple. His glorious metropolis is really a small town, filled with men and women from all walks of life whose aspirations, fears, disappointments, and triumphs are interconnected by bonds as unbreakable as they are unseen. Pulsating with the lives of its denizens -- bartenders and hookers, power brokers and politicos, cops and secretaries, editors and dreamers -- the city inspires a passion that is universal yet unique in each of its eight million inhabitants, including: John Blair Creighton, a writer on the verge of a breakthrough; Francis Buckram, a charismatic ex–police commissioner -- and the inside choice for the next mayor -- on the verge of a breakdown; Susan Pomerance, a beautiful, sophisticated folk-art dealer plumbing the depths of her own fierce sexuality; Maury Winters, a defense attorney who prefers murder trials because there''s one less witness; Jerry Pankow, an ex-addict who has turned being clean into a living, mopping up after New York''s nightlife; And, in the shadows of a city reeling from tragedy, an unlikely killing machine who wages a one-man war against them all. Infused with the raw cadence, stark beauty, and relentless pace of New York City, Small Town is a tour de force Block fans old and new will celebrate.

Bad cop Jerry Broadfield didn''t make any friends on the force when he volunteered to squeal to an ambitious d.a. about police corruption. Now he''saccused of murdering a call girl. Matthew Scudder doesn''t think Broadfield''s a killer, but the cops aren''t about to help the unlicensed p.i. prove it -- and they may do a lot worse than just get in his way.

Book description to come.

A thief finds himself in the wrong place and suspected of the wrong crime in the “unfailingly entertaining” series from bestselling author (The New York Times). It’s hard to ignore someone with his hands in your mouth. Bernie Rhodenbarr’s all ears when Dr. Sheldrake, his dentist, starts complaining about his detestable, soon-to-be-ex wife, and happens to mention the valuable diamonds she keeps lying around the apartment. Since Bernie’s been known to supplement his income as a bookstore owner with the not-so-occasional bout of high-rise burglary, a couple of nights later he’s in the Sheldrake apartment with larceny on his mind—and has to duck into a closet when the lady of the house makes an unexpected entrance. Unfortunately he’s still there when an unseen assailant does Mrs. Sheldrake in . . . and then vanishes with the jewels. Bernie’s got to come out of the closet some time. But when he does, he’ll be facing a rap for a murder he didn’t commit—and for a burglary he certainly attempted—unless he can hunt down the killer who left him hanging. “Light-hearted crime at its very best.” —Robert Ludlum “Hilarious.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch “A forgery ring turns up—along with the breezy Manhattan repartee and charmingly crude New Yorkers we’ve come to expect from the likably smart-alecky Mr. Block.” —Kirkus Reviews

Nobody knows better than Matthew Scudder how far down a person can sink in this city. A young prostitute named Kim knew it also—and she wanted out. Maybe Kim didn''t deserve the life fate had dealt her. She surely didn''t deserve her death. The alcoholic ex-cop turned p.i. was supposed to protect her, but someone slashed her to ribbons on a crumbling New York City waterfront pier. Now finding Kim''s killer will be Scudder''s penance. But there are lethal secrets hiding in the slain hooker''s past that are far dirtier than her trade. And there are many ways of dying in this cruel and dangerous town—some quick and brutal ... and some agonizingly slow.

The city caught its collective breath when upscale couple Byrne and Susan Hollander were slaughtered in a brutal home invasion. Now, a few days later, the killers themselves have turned up dead behind the locked door of a Brooklyn hellhole -- one apparently slain by his partner in crime who then took his own life. There''s something drawing Matthew Scudder to this case that the cops have quickly and eagerly closed: a nagging suspicion that a third man is involved, a cold, diabolical puppet master who manipulates his two accomplices, then cuts their strings when he''s done with them. No one but Scudder even suspects he exists. And his worst fear is that the guy is just getting started ...

Bernie Rhodenbarr is a personable chap, a good neighbor, a passable poker player. His chosen profession, however, might not sit well with some. Bernie is a burglar, a good one, effortlessly lifting valuables from the not-so-well-protected abodes of well-to-do New Yorkers like a modern-day Robin Hood. (The poor, as Bernie would be the first to tell you, alas, have nothing worth stealing.) He''s not perfect, however; he occasionally makes mistakes. Like accepting a paid assignment from a total stranger to retrieve a particular item from a rich man''s apartment. Like still being there when the cops arrive. Like having a freshly slain corpse lying in the next room, and no proof that Bernie isn''t the killer. Now he''s really got his hands full, having to locate the true perpetrator while somehow eluding the police -- a dirty job indeed, but if Bernie doesn''t do it, who will?

The New York Times–bestselling author “ratchets up the suspense with breathtaking results as only a skilled, inventive and talented writer can do” (Orlando Sentinel). A man in a Virginia prison awaits execution for three horrific murders he must have committed but swears he didn’t . . . An aging investigator in New York City has seen too much and lost too much—and is ready to leave the darkness behind . . . But a nightmare is coming home—because a brilliant, savage, patient monster has unfinished business in the big city . . . and a hunger that can be satisfied only by fear and the slow, agonizing death of Matthew Scudder and the woman he loves. “Block, who couldn’t write a dull scene even if he tried to, is in fine form here.” —Los Angeles Times “Block, as always, takes his readers on a wildly entertaining ride.” —The Buffalo News “A thrilling, satisfying concoction brewed by a master storyteller in top form.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “An unforgettable tale of violence, death and deceit.” —Lansing State Journal “A page-turning work of art.” —Toronto Sun

Bookseller and New-Yorker-to-the-bone, Bernie Rhodenbarr rarely ventures out of Manhattan, but he''s excited about the romantic getaway he has planned for himself and current lady love Lettice at the Cuttleford House, a remote upstate b&b. Unfortunately, Lettice has a prior engagement—she''s getting married . . . and not to Bernie—so he decides to take best buddy Carolyn instead. A restful respite from the big city''s bustle would be too good to waste. Besides, there''s a very valuable first edition shelved in the Cuttleford''s library that Bernie''s just itching to get his hands on. Did we neglect to mention that Bernie''s a burglar? But first he''s got to get around a very dead body on the library floor. The plot''s thickened by an isolating snowstorm, downed phone lines, the surprise arrival of Lettice and her reprehensible new hubby, and a steadily increasing corpse count. And it''s Bernie who''ll have to figure out whodunit . . . or die.

The craft of writing is a lot like spinning a web: You take threads and weave them skillfully together, and only you know where this intricate network of twists and turns begin and how it will end. Now, with Lawrence Block''s expert advice, you can learn this art of entrapping your reader in a maze of fascinating fiction. Spider, Spin Me a Web is the perfect companion volume to Block''s previous book on writing, Telling Lies for Fun and Profit, which Sue Grafton noted "should be a permanent part of every writer''s library." As helpful and supportive as always, Block shares what he''s learned over the course of writing over one hundred published books: techniques to help you to write a solid piece of fiction; strategies for getting a reader (or editor) to read—and buy—your book; ideas for increasing your creativity and developing an environment that will nourish you and your craft. Spider, Spin Me a Web is a complete guide to achieving your full potential as a writer.

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 at another address, Bernie''s forced to hide under a bed when the lady of the house returns unexpectedly with the worst kind of blind date in tow. In no time, Bernie''s up to his burgling neck in big trouble. Again. And this time it includes his arrest, no less than four murders, and more outrageous coincidences than any self-preserving felon should ever be required to tie together.

Cold War superspy Evan Tanner lost the ability to sleep on a battlefield in Korea. So where the heck has he been since the ''70s? Frozen. Cryogenically. A Tanner-sicle. Which he never thought would happen when he walked into a basement in Union City, New Jersey, more than a quarter century ago. Now he''s unthawed and ready to rumble, and his somewhat addled, former super-secret boss, "the Chief," is glad his favorite operative''s active again. Tanner awoke to a different world, though some bad things have remained the same . . . or gotten worse. Even before he can fully acclimate himself to this perplexing future, Tanner''s off to Burma (which isn''t really Burma anymore) to pose as a monk, destabilize the government, dodge a lethal double-cross, and rescue a beautiful prisoner. The world''s still full of conspiracy, corruption, greed, political chicanery—and beautiful women. So Tanner''s back with a vengeance, with a lot of lost time to make up for.

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 his visit and once after. Fortunately he still manages to lift some fair jewelry and an extremely valuable coin. Unfortunately burglar or burglars number three leave Herb unconscious and Wanda dead . . . and the cops think Rhodenbarr dunnit. There''s no time to get all existential about it—especially after the coin vanishes and the fence fencing it meets with a most severe end. But Bernie is going to have to do some deep thinking to find a way out of this homicidal conundrum.

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 baseball cards, Bernie''s stuck with a worthless alibi since he was busy burgling a different apartment at the time . . . one that happened to contain a dead body locked inside a bathroom. So Bernie has a dilemma. He can trade a burglary charge for a murder rap. Or he can shuffle all the cards himself and try to find the joker in the deck -- someone, perhaps, who believes that homicide is the real Great American Pastime.

Keller is a regular guy. He goes to the movies, works on his stamp collection. Call him for jury duty and he serves without complaint. Then every so often he gets a phone call from White Plains that sends him flying off somewhere to kill a perfect stranger. Keller is a pro and very good at what he does. But the jobs have started to go wrong. The realization is slow coming yet, when it arrives, it is irrefutable: Someone out there is trying to hit the hit man. Keller, God help him, has found his way onto somebody else''s hit list.

The pretty young prostitute is dead. Her alleged murderer—a minister''s son—hanged himself in his jail cell. The case is closed. But the dead girl''s fatherhas come to Matthew Scudder for answers, sending the unlicensed private investigator in search of terrible truths about a life that was lived and lost in a sordid world of perversion and pleasures.

Bookseller Bernie Rhodenbarr''s in love—with an exotic Eastern European beauty who shares his obsession with Humphrey Bogart movies. He''s in heaven, munching popcorn with his new amour every night at a Bogart Film Festival—until their Casablanca-esque idyll is cut short by his other secret passion: burglary. When he''s hired to pilfer a portfolio of valuable documents from a Park Avenue apartment, Bernie can hardly refuse. But the occupant''s early return forces Bernie to flee empty-handed—and he soon finds himself implicated in a murder. Before you can say "who stole the strawberries?" he''s hunting for a killer, up to his neck in the outrageous intrigues of a tiny Balkan nation . . . and menaced by more sinister fat men and unsavory toadies than the great Bogie himself butted heads with in pursuit of that darn bird!

The Cold War''s boiling over. Global tensions are near the breaking point. So what''s the perfect assignment for a super-spy who hasn''t slept since the Korean conflict? A fun-filled trip to the Montreal World''s Fair! The adorable little girl he''s escorting—who, under different circumstances, would be sitting on the Lithuanian throne—can hardly contain her excitement, but it isn''t all playtime for Evan Tanner. Some mysterious disappearances, apparently linked to the fair''s Cuban exhibition, need to be looked into. Keeping his mind on business, however, won''t be easy after an insatiable lovely in a tiger skin falls into Tanner''s arms, and a mother lode of dangerous drugs falls into his lap. But the biggest, deadliest suprise is the terrorist plot Tanner''s tumbling into, and he''ll have to think and act quickly to prevent the visiting queen of England from being blown to smithereens.

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 to rescue her lost, pure-as-driven-snow daughter. Phaedra Harrow (nee Deborah Horowitz) once shared Tanner''s apartment but not his bed. And now the virginal beauty''s been abducted by white slavers in the Afghan wilderness. Finding Phaedra will be difficult enough. Bringing her back alive and unmolested may be impossible. And first Tanner will have to swim the English Channel, survive trigger-happy Russian terrorists . . . and maybe pull off a timely assassination or two.