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Lawrence Block's Keller is a run-of-the-mill kind of guy. He lives in New York, works, is fairly quiet and serious. He's also a successful hit man. It's a challenge reading this book because you end up on Keller's side, fer cryin' out loud. This isn't the first hit man protagonist I've found interesting; for years, I've found Loren Estleman's Peter Macklin a fascinating character. And Block is a master, pure and simple. This is the guy who created Bernie Rhodenbarr and Matt Scudder; he's one of the best short story writers around - not just in the mystery genre, but in writing. Period. This is a quirky book, though. Block offers the story of a hit man with some self-awareness and savvy. He's a successful killer, and his instincts have kept him alive. He has some odd feelings in his most recent assignment; for a relatively minor reason, he changes motel rooms. The next day, the people given his room are murdered. Apparently there is no connection, but when you earn your living the way Keller does, everything has an edge to it. In some ways, this is a very spare book; not a lot of description. In fact, what's remarkable as you read chapter after chapter is that Hit List is written primarily in dialogue. The story moves but much of it is advanced in Keller's conversations over the phone and in person with Dot, the woman from whom he gets his assignments. Dot was "the old man's" assistant; when he died, Dot just continued the work. Block's ability to move the book along in this manner shows his skill as a writer. It's a strange book when you can't exactly cheer for the "hero"; I never did warm to Keller. I was curious what would happen but I didn't especially care if that difference makes sense. While I'm not a big fan of heavily plot-driven books, and this book doesn't rely on long narrative descriptions, the dialogue only sections felt a little spare. I was reminded of Ed McBain's Matthew Hope series; where almost too much dialogue happens. When people like Keller and Dot talk, you learn a lot about them; the catch is that sometimes, there's not a lot to them, or you end up not especially liking what you learn. I'd like the dialogue to be a little snappier; that's unfair, probably, since Block's dialogue is probably far closer to reality (something I'm always looking for in fiction) than say the far wittier dialogue of early Parker or Keith Snyder, but heck, it is fiction, so I still get to be picky. Still, it's an intriguing story, the major use of dialogue is impressive and the almost mundane day-to-day manner in which this killer goes about his business is intriguing. And just watching Block do his stuff is always worth the time it takes to read him. -- http://www.drizzle.com/~roscoe/tshirts.html - Sherloc kian, Wodehousian & more Note: This book was originally released in November, 2000. The buying information given above is for the reprint currently available in bookstores.
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, July 2000
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