by Lawrence Block (Author)
Superficially, John Keller - the urban lonely guy of assassins - leads a normal life despite his profession. He has an office manager, the breezily efficient Dot, who organises his 'jobs' and who reassures his grumbling conscience. He is an obsessive stamp collector. In a blackly comic twist, he even gets called for jury service. Laid back, couldn't care less, morally distanced from his vocation, Keller is an intriguing character. A visit to an astrologer tells him, and us, that he is a gentle man who is simply surrounded by violence rather than being a perpetrator of it. His professional satisfaction, we learn, comes from 'solving a problem'. Taking lives causes him no real anxiety. And then Keller's jobs start to go wrong. Targets die before he can get to them. Gradually he realises that he is being stalked. Another hitman is trying to weed out the competition and kill him. Keller and Dot try to turn the tables but how many innocents will get caught in the crossfire before Keller is truly safe?
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Publisher: Orion
Published: 19 Oct 2000
ISBN 10: 0752838385
ISBN 13: 9780752838380
Book Overview: Character driven novel from the Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America Bestselling author received a USD1 million deal from Morrow in the USA in 1998 Author is a multi-award winner - two Shamus Awards, two Edgar awards, two Maltese Falcon Awards and the Nero Wolfe Award Author also well known for the Burglar series of mysteries published by No Exit Press Lawrence Block is a regular visitor to the UK The entire Scudder backlist is in print under the Orion and Phoenix imprints