The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown

by Lawrence Block

Overview

"Bernie Rhodenbarr may be New York's most charming bookseller (by day) and its most skillful burglar (by night), but the modern world isn't kind to either of his vocations. How is a bookseller supposed to make ends meet in a world where Amazon will deliver any title right to your doorstep? And how is a burglar to ply his trade in a city filled with security cameras and unpickable electronic locks? The answer, as Bernie will discover in the pages of this wildly imaginative new novel—the twelfth in MWA Grandmaster Lawrence Block's acclaimed series, and the first in a nearly a decade—is that the world can sometimes change in the most unexpected ways"—

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645241300
Publisher:	Subterranean Press
Publication date:	10/01/2023
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	986,396
Product dimensions:	6.36(w) x 9.26(h) x 0.74(d)

About the Author

The winner of multiple Edgar, Shamus, and Maltese Falcon Awards, Lawrence Block (b. 1938) is one of the most acclaimed mystery authors writing today. Best known for his Matthew Scudder and Bernie Rhodenbarr series, Block has published more than 100 books and numerous short stories. His novel A Drop of the Hard Stuff was adapted into the Liam Neeson film A Walk Among The Tombstones. He lives in New York.

Editorial Reviews

08/28/2023

Amiable burglar and Greenwich Village bookseller Bernie Rhodenbarr returns in this imaginative 13th installment of Block’s long-running series (after 2013’s The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons), which Subterranean Press is releasing in a limited hardcover edition. The 21st century hasn’t been kind to Bernie’s bottom line: online retailers have dealt a blow to the bricks-and-mortar book business, and the now-ubiquitous presence of security cameras and electronic locks have curbed his thieving. One morning, after a night of heavy drinking and discussing science fiction writer Frederic Brown with his best friend, lesbian dog groomer Carolyn Kaiser, Bernie wakes to find himself and Carolyn inhabiting an alternate New York City—one straight out of Brown’s imagination, with nary a security camera in sight. After Bernie steals a diamond he’s long had his eyes on, complications ensue, including multiple murders, the theft of a valuable jade collection, and the possibility that a parallel-universe Bernie may also be on the prowl. The sometimes too-zany plot is middling as far as Rhodenbarr novels go, but Block’s indelible characters, witty prose, and vibrantly realized New York setting are on full display. It’s good to have Bernie back. Agent: Danny Baror, Baror International. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly