Keller is a killer, a character who's appeared in a number of short stories previously published by Lawrence Block, now brought together as a novel, and they fit together so seamlessly that you'd hardly know it unless you'd come across them in their original form.Keller is a whimsical sort of cove most of the time, but occasionally he gets a little down like we all do. Not about his job, but about things like stray dogs and the state of the rain forest, which is fair enough I suppose. In fact he dispatches his victims with equilibrium and elan, and shows no sign of regret or conscience which I suppose helps if your job description is: Hired Killer. Not that Keller regards himself as such. More a sort of helping hand to a better place.Lawrence Block is one of the finest crime writers operating right now and I liked Keller a lot. As a matter of fact I liked him even better after he'd got rid of his dog and his girlfriend, but then I'm a hard hearted sort of bloke and I don't care who knows it. I hope this character runs and runs.
Posted at 12:00AM Monday 01 Jan 2007
