Burglars Can't Be Choosers

By: Lawrence Block

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

In this first in a series of wickedly funny mysteries, best-selling author Lawrence Block introduces Bernie Rhodenbarr, sometimes burglar, sometimes sleuth. Pulling only an occasional, very discreet job, Bernie manages to maintain his comfortable New York City apartment and keep his unorthodox vocation a closely-guarded secret. Every burglar knows never to trust anonymous phone calls. But when the caller offers easy money for an hour's work, Bernie can't ignore the job. All he has to do is find a blue box in an empty apartment. But the valuable box is nowhere to be found. The occupant is, however - and he's dead. Suddenly Bernie finds himself the object of a massive man hunt, wanted for both theft and murder. Winner of multiple Edgar and Shamus Awards, Lawrence Block crafts clever plots with characters you wish you could have over for drinks. But stop to count the silver afterwards. You'll find yourself laughing out loud as gravelly-voiced narrator Richard Ferrone brings sticky-fingered Bernie to life.

©1977 Lawrence Block (P)1998 Recorded Books, LLC

Nice story

It was getting used to the pace of the story and the narrator but he did a great job. At the end it was just like it always had to be his voice. The story was nice and steady and i will certainly listen to the next one .

Solid

Honestly I'm not sure what all the negative reviewers have against this story. It's a solid murder mystery with a fun perspective from another criminal that we don't really see a lot in other stories. The focus on locks, keys, and lock picking was a great over arching theme to the story. The only real complaint I had was the main character was stuck in the apartment a bit too long and I felt bored. Other than that the noire setting was executed really well, the narrator did a fine job creating the smokey filled room like nostalgia of a classic detective story (although Bernie and Ray sounded a bit too alike at times), and the characters themselves kept things interesting with their ever evolving and revealing back stories.

I'd recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the genre and audio books.

Subtle

Good book with a subtle humor imbedded. Well read. One of my favorites by Lawrence Block.

Fun performance of a fun story!

Loved this whole series in print, and was happy to find it on Audible - great job by the narrator, he brings life to all the characters with slightly different voices for each. All together, it’s a really fun version of a really fun book! Can’t wait to listen to more Bernie Rhodenbarr

Clever!

Like all the books in this series it starts out seeming to be a simple murder mystery. And like all his works, Block adds some complex twists. That plus the characterizations and good descriptions makes this series a fun read (or listen!)

The main character narration

I like the easy pace of the story, but a little too many plot lines. I needed to remember what we were solving for.

Bernie Rhodenbarr kinda grows on ya!

Would you try another book from Lawrence Block and/or Richard Ferrone?

Will definitely read more in the Bernie series

If you’ve listened to books by Lawrence Block before, how does this one compare?

Much better than the two Matt Scudder novels I've read

What aspect of Richard Ferrone’s performance would you have changed?

None! He did an excellent job of differentiating characters' voices without going overboard, even to the extent of giving women distinction. Pacing was just right, too.

Do you think Burglars Can't Be Choosers needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, I'm looking forward to finding the rest of the series. The review I read described Bernie as a

Any additional comments?

Bernie is a thief, and unashamed of it. In fact he's proud of his professionalism. At the outset I couldn't imagine admiring, respecting, or even liking such a character. But by the end of this short book I saw Bernie in a much more wholesome light, and wanted to know him better and hear more of his adventures. That is a LOT for an author to accomplish in the first book in a series.

Bernie the Burglar at His Best

I have read or listened to a number of books in this series by Lawrence Block, and none have disappointed me. This is the first one Bernie is the star, but the books can be read in any order. The performance was excellent by the way.

Bernie hasn't aged well

I read these many years ago and thought I give them another go. I found this one so dated that I really didn't enjoy it. The plot still holds up well enough, but the dialogue didn't strike me as witty this time, the physical descriptions of various characters was hugely stereotypical, and the flirtation felt forced with a few rather crude comments thrown in for good measure, a little too close to Groucho Marx or Mae West -- nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Ick.

I've enjoyed Ferrone as a narrator before, but I don't think he's right for this character.

Considering that this was written more than 40 years ago, a lot of that is understandable, but I won't be continuing with this series.

Worth reading

I wonder why you can’t easily see your own rating in the library on this app to remind you whether the author and reader are good or not.