Four Lives at the Crossroads

Collection of Classic Erotica, Book 19

By: Lawrence Block

Narrated by: Theo Holland

Length: 5 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Four Lives at the Crossroads is the latest addition to the Collection of Classic Erotica. But it came very close to being shoehorned instead into the Classic Crime Library.

Back in the late 1950s and early '60s, when I was finding myself as a writer and producing a great quantity of books under pen names, some of the books I wrote were as much crime fiction as they were erotica. Indeed, several of those titles by Andrew Shaw and Sheldon Lord have since been republished under my own name by Hard Case Crime and Subterranean Press - and subsequently astonished me by garnering respectful reviews. Borderline, Lucky at Cards, and A Diet of Treacle are examples, and so to a degree is my forthcoming Hard Case title, Sinner Man. A little light editing made them acceptable crime fiction for a contemporary body of listeners.

Four Lives at the Crossroads almost made the cut. After Charles Ardai at Hard Case considered it and ultimately decided against it, I weighed adding it to my Classic Crime Library. A dark, savage tale of an armed robbery gone wrong, it's not a bad fit for the CCL - but the erotic content is high, and the editing required to make it less an erotic novel and more a crime novel seemed disproportionate. The metaphor that occurred to me, I must admit, was that of putting lipstick on a pig.

I did some light editing anyway, much of which consisted of reversing the helpful contributions of some unnamed editor at Nightstand Books. So here's Four Lives at the Crossroads, available for the first time since its initial appearance in 1962. I can but hope you'll enjoy it.

©1962, 2016 Lawrence Block (P)2016 Lawrence Block

Another Winning Combo of Author and Narrator

If you could sum up Four Lives at the Crossroads in three words, what would they be?

Enjoyable taut thriller.

What other book might you compare Four Lives at the Crossroads to and why?

Really anything by Lawrence Block, especially (since we are discussing audio books here) those read by Theo Holland. The latter has a voice that lends itself to the timeless characters and settings of the author's novels.

Which scene was your favorite?

There is a robbery scene that kept me on the edge of my seat (so to speak - I was driving while listening).

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"There is no bad person, there is no good person, there just is."

Any additional comments?

Theo Holland is an underused and underrated narrator. It is nice to hear someone as good as he his who is not one of the "usual" ones we listeners are offered. His narration is therefore refreshing, and as stated above totally works for the setting and characters.

Total Trash

Trashy pulp fiction, crime, good girl gone bad story - and I mean that as a compliment. Think "Blue Velvet" (the movie). I loved it.

Extremely Entertaining and Engaging.

I just couldn't stop listening. Holland did such a fantastic job of narrating you couldn't help but think you were right there during this roller coaster of an adventure. The story became so realistically gritty at times I almost felt like I needed a shower. A highly recommended audio for your entertainment!

Easy money?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, the story is compelling & keeps you wanting more.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Four Lives at the Crossroads?

The schoolteacher's ultimate reaction to Luke's aggression.

What about Theo Holland’s performance did you like?

His narration of the various characters made me feel like I was a fly on the wall watching events unfold.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Young love & crime--- will it pay?

Any additional comments?

Count me 'in' for more Lawrence Block read by Theo Holland.

Fantastic

Lawrence Block has been releasing his early erotica work and what I was not expecting was that each entry into his “Collection of Classic Erotica” has been a solid story that definitely includes sex and lust, but never to the detriment of a fine crime story. Four Lives at the Crossroads is no exception with the intertwined lives of four people involving infidelity, murder, suicide, a heist that Richard Stark fans will appreciate, rape, small town dreams of a bigger life, a car chase, back stabbing, and quite a lot of lust. The sex isn’t particularly graphic and the story is satisfying, naturally folding the lives of the four characters in the title and a handful of side characters into an overlooked novel that is definitely not some cheap smut. Like so much great noir, it can cynical, fatalistic, but always engaging. Despite having been written in the early part of his career, Block’s writing is as crisp and inviting as ever. I listened to this as an audiobook, and Theo Holland’s reading is excellent for the material; if you’ve never listened to a book before, Holland is a good narrator to start with.

Recommended.

Please note that an audiobook download was provided by the author, though this was done without the necessitation of a review.

A good book

This is a fun book to listen to. There is a lot of sex in it. Use headphones if your somewhere you don't want other people to hear. The book holds your attention from the beginning of the book to the end. Parts of it will make you laugh. All of it is good. It has good and funny characters. I enjoyed the whole book very much. I received a free copy of this book and that has no influence on my review. Theo Holland does a great job narraiting this book. If my review was any help will you please click on the helpful link below. Thank you

Not for me...

I'm a Lawrence Block fan but I could not get into this story.
The story was about four people and how their lives progressed and changed in a small town. There was too much focus on their sex lives and sexual encounters rather than on the overall picture of their lives and other actions. I couldn't get into it.
Narration was okay, but definitely not great.