Hit Parade: A Darkly Comic Thriller About a Lonely Hitman Taking Dangerous Risks for Retirement

I love Lawrence Block and really enjoy the Keller series. Even though Keller is a murderer for hire the books are more character driven than action packed. I have seen some reviews bemoaning the time spent on his stamp collecting but I love it. You learn about Keller and how he approaches his job. He waits for a call with an order to kill and then he works out the best risk free method to do the job. It's problem solving. He sometimes decides to kill someone else or someone additional for his own reasons. Sometimes there is collateral damage which he regrets but recognizes it as an unfortunate but unavoidable part of his job. The Mat Scudder books are really great but sometimes emotionally taxing. Murder for hire is much more straight forward with time left for collecting stamps.

First, the warning that this is not so much a novel as a collection of stories stitched into a novel. But don't hesitate. It still works; the seams are barely noticeable and you'll continue to read it straight through, despite the fact that it's constructed of separable parts. All of the trademark Block elements are in play: economical prose, salient details, clever, no-tricks plotting, and interesting characters. The latter are particularly important, given the moral stakes, but as many have noted Block is able to write sympathetically about a professional assassin without compromising the complexity of the world in which he lives, moves, has his being, and collects his stamps. Block always seems to write effortlessly, even when constructing a world of such great moral ambiguity. That's why they call him a master.

This is the 3rd book in the series and Lawrence Block has developed this character to the point where he is almost family. He is less complicated than the Matt Scudder character, but still has the same issues that we can all identify with. There is a mix of humor, sarcasm, deep thought and the everyman we can identify with. It's just a job, it's not his life, but we are what we do. The 4th in the series should be out next month and based on the last three will not be anything less than another hit, no pun intended. I can think of three series that rank in my top five. Sandford's Lucas Davenport and Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder and John Keller. We have two heroes and one odd duck. A killer with a conscience and a warm character. Heck, he likes dogs so what else do you need? This is the second time I have bought the book, I don't think I can recommend it any higher than that. I guess just buy it once and don't lend it out. If that happens again, just make that call to White Plains.

This book mostly reads like a collection of short stories in that each chapter or two can stand alone--but there is a more or less continuous thread connecting them. This is a must-read before getting to the latest (? last) of the Keller stories, Hit and Run. Block is always a good read, sometimes a great read, so I recommend it highly to all his fans.

The main character, Keller, is interesting and Block certainly is creative in the situations he creates and resolves. It keeps your interest. With respect to the material, the only criticism I really have is that his dialogues between Dot & Keller seem to carry too much explanation; in other words they are constantly explaining to each other what they meant to say, which is often obvious. Further, you'd think 2 people who had worked together so long and had a face-to-face relationship would have found a smoother communication style. With respect to the audio, I found the quality of his voice a little grating and the irritation not fade over multiple discs. Further, and this is related only to the audio, Block's narration did not offer much distinction between his dialogue as Keller and his dialogue as Dot thus causing some confusion as to who was speaking at times. I have listened to about 25 audio books and usually, the narrators chance pitch or inflection a little to distinguish characters. Block is not very good at this.

Block (like Donald Westlake) can do funny and he can do hard-boiled. His Bernie Rhodenbarr novels are laugh-out-loud tongue-in-cheek romps where the mystery is less important than Bernie's wisecracks. The Keller books (Hit Man, Hit List, Hit Parade) are nastier but no less funny in their way: Keller kills people for money (admittedly not an obvious set-up for jocularity) and is clearly beginning to come unmoored from reality a bit in this volume. But his conversations with his assignments clerk and partner, Dot, are little Zen koans of absurdity. This is black humor at its best, and Keller's increased questioning of his own behavior ("Am I a sociopath?") leads the reader to look forward to Block's next volume: Keller's meltdown. What'll he call it? HIT BOTTOM.

I liked this book but not as well as I like the other books in this series - and I LOVE the Burglar series. Lawrence Block is wonderful!

Lawrence Block is another of my must read authors! And Keller is an amazing invention. A hitman with a life. The hits are always just part of the story of his life, and the writing keeps you reading till the end. At the end you want to read the next book...

It's the perfect marriage of book one and two. Book one was every chapter was a short story about a hit and book two was more of a full length story. This book feels like short stories told over multiple chapters. Keller reads best I find in short story format and this book was perfect! Love the characters and their growth throughout the three books. I'm excited for the next book.

Brilliant, as always. Keller is the go to man to die yourself of troubles. The rapport with Dot is wonderful.

殺し屋ケラーのシリーズ第３弾です。切手集めが趣味となった殺し屋です。１作目が短編集、２作目が長編でしたが、短編集の方が、このシリーズはおもしろいです。依頼された殺しの相手は、大リーグの指名打者、セキュアリティ堅固なゴルフリゾート（日本で言うのとは違うのですがほかになんと言えばいいのか。翻訳ではどうなってるんでしょ）に住むアマチュアゴルファー（アマチュアゴルファーの生態が虚仮にされてます）、切手コレクター（殺す前に同じ趣味なので、友人になってしまいます）等です。殺しの取り次ぎ役（仕置人でいえば元締め？）のドットとのやりとりもいいです。ドットにケラーは面と向かって、サイコパスと言われてます。２００８年には第４弾も出るみたいで、たのしみです。

This has a single title so I thought it would be a whole novel about another adventure that Keller has but is was actually a collection of shorter stories about his further deeds - all good stuff. In fact, I liked it more as it fitted in with the holiday reading approach better. Fans of Block will enjoy this.

Great read. Lawrence Block at its best.