Lawrence Block
AUTHOR

Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block (b. 1938) is the recipient of a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and an internationally renowned bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series as well as dozens of short stories, articles, and books on writing. He has won four Edgar and Shamus Awards, two Falcon Awards from the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan, the Nero and Philip Marlowe Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of the United Kingdom. In France, he has been awarded the title Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice received the Societe 813 trophy.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Block attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Leaving school before graduation, he moved to New York City, a locale that features prominently in most of his works. His earliest published writing appeared in the 1950s, frequently under pseudonyms, and many of these novels are now considered classics of the pulp fiction genre. During his early writing years, Block also worked in the mailroom of a publishing house and reviewed the submission slush pile for a literary agency. He has cited the latter experience as a valuable lesson for a beginning writer.

Block's first short story, "You Can't Lose," was published in 1957 in Manhunt, the first of dozens of short stories and articles that he would publish over the years in publications including American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and the New York Times. His short fiction has been featured and reprinted in over eleven collections including Enough Rope (2002), which is comprised of eighty-four of his short stories.

In 1966, Block introduced the insomniac protagonist Evan Tanner in the novel The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep. Block's diverse heroes also include the urbane and witty bookseller--and thief-on-the-side--Bernie Rhodenbarr; the gritty recovering alcoholic and private investigator Matthew Scudder; and Chip Harrison, the comical assistant to a private investigator with a Nero Wolfe fixation who appears in No Score, Chip Harrison Scores Again, Make Out with Murder, and The Topless Tulip Caper. Block has also written several short stories and novels featuring Keller, a professional hit man. Block's work is praised for his richly imagined and varied characters and frequent use of humor.

A father of three daughters, Block lives in New York City with his second wife, Lynne. When he isn't touring or attending mystery conventions, he and Lynne are frequent travelers, as members of the Travelers' Century Club for nearly a decade now, and have visited about 150 countries.

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Best Sellers

    • Stories

    • All-New Tales
    • By: Neil Gaiman (author and editor), Al Sarrantonio (editor), Joe Hill, and others
    • Narrated by: Anne Bobby, Jonathan Davis, Katherine Kellgren, and others
    • Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 596
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars 439
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 441

    The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to discover more—to find the answer to the question....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Something for Everyone

    • By Nicole on 05-24-17

    Regular price: $42.20

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Hit List

    • By: Lawrence Block
    • Narrated by: George Guidall
    • Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 104
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 89
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 90

    Keller is a regular guy. He goes to the movies, works on his stamp collection. Then every so often he gets a call from White Plains that sends him flying off somewhere to kill a perfect stranger....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Gallows humour at its best

    • By A. Tanneberger on 11-23-16

    Regular price: $24.49

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • The Sins of the Fathers

    • By: Lawrence Block
    • Narrated by: Alan Sklar
    • Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 212
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars 179
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 181

    The hooker was young, pretty...and dead, butchered in a Greenwich Village apartment....

    • 3 out of 5 stars

    • Good introduction to a popular series

    • By Sharron on 12-26-11

    Regular price: $13.96

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Writing the Novel from Plot to Print to Pixel

    • Expanded and Updated!
    • By: Lawrence Block
    • Narrated by: Mike Dennis
    • Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 45
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 39
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 38

    Unlike many advice-givers, Block doesn't tell you what book to write, or the one and only way to write it. He holds that every novel is different, and so is every novelist; his aim is to give you the tools....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Tried and True Advice

    • By Renee Goodwin on 06-18-18

    Regular price: $19.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Hit Man

    • By: Lawrence Block
    • Narrated by: Robert Forster
    • Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 1,688
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 737
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 741

    Keller possesses all the qualities of a professional killer. He's cool, confident, reclusive, icy, and...

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Surprisingly Terrific

    • By Sunshine on 02-15-03

    Regular price: $19.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • The Burglar in the Library

    • By: Lawrence Block
    • Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
    • Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 117
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars 70
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 74

    Bernie's sweetheart has dumped him. But although his heart is broken, he hasn't lost his love for fine books - or for an occasional discrete burglary....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • She forgot to tell him she was getting married?!

    • By Jan on 02-14-17

    Regular price: $26.60

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Small Town

    • By: Lawrence Block
    • Narrated by: George Guidall
    • Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 28
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 23
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 23

    As a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master and multiple Edgar Award winner, Block is one of the premier crime writers of the 20th century....

    • 1 out of 5 stars

    • Truly repulsive content

    • By Rob Settle on 05-14-12

    Regular price: $27.99

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Hit and Run

    • By: Lawrence Block
    • Narrated by: Richard Poe
    • Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 350
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 221
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 226

    Keller's a hit man. For years now, he's had places to go and people to kill....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • End of game?

    • By J. M. Batista on 08-21-08

    Regular price: $25.09

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Even the Wicked

    • By: Lawrence Block
    • Narrated by: Mark Hammer
    • Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 133
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 82
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 84

    A demented serial killer, who calls himself "The Will of the People", has gained a wide audience by sending warning letters to the New York Daily News....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Excellent

    • By antonio on 05-01-11

    Regular price: $32.87

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Master's Choice Volume 1

    • Mystery Stories by Today's Top Writers and the Masters Who Inspired Them
    • By: Stephen King, Tony Hillerman, W.F. Harvey, and others
    • Narrated by: Juliet Mills, Michael Gross
    • Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      3.5 out of 5 stars 71
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars 31
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 32

    Listen to mystery stories by today's top writers and the masters who inspired them. The idea for this collection...

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Mystery on Bayou Teche

    • By Cheryl L. Boswell on 10-25-07

    Regular price: $17.50

    Free with 30-day Trial

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