Lawrence Block has 89 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 50 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 41 ratings. The most-rated is The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons.
The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons
Summary
Ever since The Burglar on the Prowl climbed the best seller lists in 2004, fans have been clamoring for a new book featuring the lighthearted and light-fingered Bernie Rhodenbarr. Now everybody's favorite burglar returns in an 11th adventure that finds him and his lesbian sidekick Carolyn Kaiser breaking into houses, apartments, and even a museum, in a madcap adventure replete with American Colonial silver, an F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscript, a priceless portrait, and a remarkable array of buttons. And, wouldn't you know it, there's a dead body, all stretched out on a Trent Barling carpet....
©2013 Lawrence Block (P)2014 Recorded Books
A Walk Among the Tombstones
Summary
Private detective Matt Scudder investigates a series of kidnappings that always end in brutal murder. Best-selling author Lawrence Block takes us into the seedier back alleys and side-streets of New York City, rendering his subject with a gritty realism.
©1992 Lawrence Block (P)1992 Recorded Books
Telling Lies for Fun and Profit
Summary
Lawrence Block is a best-selling author of popular mystery fiction. With over 30 of his works in print, he is as prolific as he is skilled. This collection of essays and articlesfrom his Writer’s Digest columns has been in print for over 20 years. Here he provides invaluable advice to the aspiring writer and the established author. Featuring a witty and honest narration from the author himself, Block presents an illuminating look into the world of the professional writer.
©1981 Lawrence Block (P)2002 Recorded Books, LLC
Tails of Wonder and Imagination
Summary
What is it about the cat that captivates the creative imagination? No other creature has inspired so many authors to take pen to page. Mystery, horror, science fiction, and fantasy stories have all been written about cats. From legendary editor Ellen Datlow comes Tails of Wonder and Imagination, showcasing 40 cat tales by some of today's most popular authors. With uncollected stories by Stephen King, Carol Emshwiller, Tanith Lee, Peter S. Beagle, Elizabeth Hand, Dennis Danvers, and Theodora Goss and a previously unpublished story by Susanna Clarke, plus feline-centric fiction by Neil Gaiman, Kelly Link, George R. R. Martin, Lucius Shepard, Joyce Carol Oates, Graham Joyce, Catherynne M. Valente, Michael Marshall Smith, and many others. Tails of Wonder and Imagination features more than 200,000 words of stories in which cats are heroes and stories in which they're villains; tales of domestic cats, tigers, lions, mythical part-cat beings, people transformed into cats, cats transformed into people. And yes, even a few cute cats. Table of Contents: "Through the Looking Glass (excerpt)" - Lewis Carroll"No Heaven Will Not Ever Heaven Be..." - A. R. Morlan "The Price" - Neil Gaiman "Dark Eyes, Faith, and Devotion" - Charles de Lint "Not Waving" - Michael Marshall Smith "Catch" - Ray Vukcevich "The Manticore Spell" - Jeffrey Ford "Catskin" - Kelly Link "Mieze Corrects an Incomplete Representation of Reality" - Michaela Roessner "Guardians" - George R. R. Martin "Life Regarded as a Jigsaw Puzzle of Highly Lustrous Cats" - Michael Bishop "Gordon, the Self-Made Cat" - Peter S. Beagle "The Jaguar Hunter" - Lucius Shepard "Arthur's Lion" - Tanith Lee "Pride" - Mary A. Turzillo "The Burglar Takes a Cat" - Lawrence Block "The White Cat" - Joyce Carol Oates "Returns" - Jack Ketchum "Puss-Cat" - Reggie Oliver "Cat in Glass" - Nancy Etchemendy "Coyote Peyote" - Carole Nelson Douglas "The Poet and the Inkmaker's Daughter" - Elizabeth Hand "The Night of the Tiger" - Stephen King "Every Angel is Terrifying" - John Kessel "Candia" - Graham Joyce "Mbo" - Nicholas Royle "Bean Bag Cats(R)" - Edward Bryant "Antiquities" - John Crowley "The Manticore's Tale" - Catherynne M. Valente "In Carnation" - Nancy Springer "Old Foss is the Name of His Cat" - David Sandner "A Safe Place to Be" - Carol Emshwiller "Nine Lives to Live" - Sharyn McCrumb "Tiger Kill" - Kaaron Warren "Something Better than Death" - Lucy Sussex "Dominion" - Christine Lucas "Tiger in the Snow" - Daniel Wynn Barber "The Dweller in High Places" - Susanna Clarke "Healing" - Benjamin Dennis Danvers "The Puma" - Theodora Goss
©2010 Ellen Datlow (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
Burglars Can't Be Choosers
Summary
In this first in a series of wickedly funny mysteries, best-selling author Lawrence Block introduces Bernie Rhodenbarr, sometimes burglar, sometimes sleuth. Pulling only an occasional, very discreet job, Bernie manages to maintain his comfortable New York City apartment and keep his unorthodox vocation a closely-guarded secret. Every burglar knows never to trust anonymous phone calls. But when the caller offers easy money for an hour's work, Bernie can't ignore the job. All he has to do is find a blue box in an empty apartment. But the valuable box is nowhere to be found. The occupant is, however - and he's dead. Suddenly Bernie finds himself the object of a massive man hunt, wanted for both theft and murder. Winner of multiple Edgar and Shamus Awards, Lawrence Block crafts clever plots with characters you wish you could have over for drinks. But stop to count the silver afterwards. You'll find yourself laughing out loud as gravelly-voiced narrator Richard Ferrone brings sticky-fingered Bernie to life.
©1977 Lawrence Block (P)1998 Recorded Books, LLC
The Sins of the Fathers
Summary
The hooker was young, pretty...and dead, butchered in a Greenwich Village apartment. The prime suspect, a minister's son, was also dead, the victim of a jailhouse suicide. The case is closed, as far as the NYPD is concerned. Now the murdered prostitute's father wants it opened again--that's where Matthew Scudder comes in. But this assignment carries the unmistakable stench of sleaze and perversion, luring Scudder into a sordid world of phony religion and murderous lust where children must die for their parents' most unspeakable sins.
©1976 Lawrence Block (P)2011 AudioGo
Hit List
Summary
Keller is a regular guy, a solid citizen. He goes to the movies, watches the tube, browses the art galleries, and works diligently on his stamp collection. But every now and then a call from the breezily efficient Dot sends him off to kill a total stranger. He takes a plane, rents a car, finds a hotel room, and gets back before the body is cold. He's a real pro, cool and dispassionate, and very good at what he does. Until one day when Dot breaks her own rule and books him for a hit in New York, his home base. She sends him to an art gallery opening, and the girl he gets lucky with steers him to an astrologer. He's a Gemini, his moon's in Taurus...and he's got a murderer's thumb. Then the jobs start to go wrong. Targets die before he can draw a bead on them. The realization is slow in coming, but there's no getting around it: Somebody out there is trying to hit the hit man. Keller, God help him, has found his way on to somebody else's hit list. Read by the author.
©2009 Lawrence Block (P)2019 HarperAudio
Resume Speed and Other Stories
Summary
Lawrence Block's new collection assembles seven works of fiction produced over a period of 60 years. "Hard Sell", a story ghost-written under Craig Rice's name, appeared in the first issue of Ed McBain's Mystery Magazine in 1960. It features Rice's hard-drinking yet clear-thinking lawyer, John J.Malone. "Dead to the World", which appeared under a one-shot pen name in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, has been lost for years, and the story of how it was lost and found is as interesting as the story itself. The same is true of "Whatever It Takes", created over a quarter of a century ago and never submitted anywhere, because the author filed it away and forgot about it; he came upon it, dusted it off, and sent it to AHMM where it was published. "I Know How to Pick 'Em" was created for Dangerous Women, the George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois anthology, and a holdback clause in the contract kept it out of LB's previous collections. "Autumn at the Automat" was also created for an anthology, LB's own In Sunlight or in Shadow, and won an Edgar Allan Poe award as "Best Story of the Year". "Gym Rat" has never appeared in print; it was ePublished as part of a Center for Fiction project. While fans have suggested the protagonist might return for further appearances, LB is doubtful. Still, he's been mistaken before. "Resume Speed", the title novella, was published in hardcover (by the stellar Subterranean Press) and as a Kindle single (by the author). Subterranean's edition is out-of-print and hard to come by, and the story now appears in paperback for the first time. While it was created only a couple of years ago, it has its roots in a story the author overheard perhaps 40 years ago. All of the circumstances of its origin, and a good deal more about each of these stories, may be found in LB's foreword. But, if you don't care, you can just skip it and go straight to the stories!
©2018 Lawrence Block (P)2018 Lawrence Block
The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart
Summary
Edgar Award-winner Lawrence Block invites you into the criminally funny world of the most notorious star of mystery fiction: Bernie Rhodenbarr, bookseller by day and burglar by night. In this humorous mystery, Bernie's passion for Humphrey Bogart movies leads him to a beautiful damsel in distress, a dangerous international conspiracy, and more than a few incriminating bodies. Sparkling with wit and energy, The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart is guaranteed to have you laughing out loud.
©1995 Lawrence Block (P)1996 Recorded Books, LLC
Time to Murder and Create
Summary
Small-time stoolie Jake "The Spinner" Jablon made a lot of new enemies when he switched careers from informer to blackmailer. And the more "clients," he figured, the more money - and the more people eager to see him dead. So he's greedy but scared, and he turns to his old acquaintance Matthew Scudder, who used to pay him for information back in Scudder's days as a cop. Scudder's his insurance policy - if anything happens to "The Spinner," Scudder can check up on the people who wanted him dead. No one is too surprised when the pigeon is found floating in the East River with his skull bashed in. Blackmail's a dangerous business. What's worse, no one cares - except Matthew Scudder. The unofficial private eye is no conscientious avenging angel. But he's willing to risk his own life and limb to confront Spinner's most murderously aggressive marks. A job's a job, after all, and Scudder's been paid to find a killer - by the victim…in advance.
©1976 Lawrence Block. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGo
The Night and the Music
Summary
Lawrence Block's 17 Matthew Scudder novels have won the hearts of readers throughout the world - along with a bevy of awards including the Edgar, the Shamus, the Philip Marlowe (Germany), and the Maltese Falcon (Japan). But Scudder has starred in short fiction as well, and it's all here, from a pair of late-'70s novelettes ("Out the Window" and "A Candle for the Bag Lady") through "By the Dawn's Early Light" (Edgar) and "The Merciful Angel of Death" (Shamus), all the way to "One Last Night at Grogan's", a moving and elegiac story never before published. Some of these stories appeared in such magazines as Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, and Playboy. The title vignette, "The Night and the Music", was written for a NYC jazz festival program; another, "Mick Ballou Looks at the Blank Screen", has appeared only as the text of a limited-edition broadside. Several stories look back from the time of their writing, with Scudder recounting events from his former life as a cop, first as a patrolman partnered with the legendary Vince Mahaffey, then as an NYPD detective leading a double life. Along with these eleven stories and novelettes, The Night and The Music includes a list of the seventeen novels in chronological order, and an author's note detailing the origin and bibliographical details of each of the stories. Brian Koppelman, the prominent screenwriter and director (Solitary Man, Ocean's Thirteen, Rounders) and a major Matt Scudder fan, has sweetened the pot with an introduction.
©2011 Lawrence Block (P)2012 AudioGo
The Burglar in the Closet
Summary
Popular author Lawrence Block creates the wild and wonderful world of Bernie Rhodenbarr: fine, upstanding citizen by day, and crafty burglar by night. In this hilarious whodunit, Bernie does a favor for his dentist, only to discover mixing his personal and professional lives can be hazardous to his well-being. As Bernie squirms in the dental chair, Dr. Sheldrake presents a business proposition. He wants Bernie to rob his estranged wife's apartment while she's out enjoying the New York City nightlife. Bernie would get her fabulous collection of jewels, and Dr. Sheldrake would only take 20% of the profits. The plan sounds foolproof, so why has Bernie found himself locked in Mrs. Sheldrake's closet? Winner of three Edgar and four Shamus Awards, Lawrence Block creates plots that twist around every corner and packs them with fun-loving characters. You'll want the quirky Bernie and his companions for your very own friends, as gravelly-voiced narrator Richard Ferrone brings them vividly to life.
©1978 Lawrence Block (P)1998 Recorded Books, LLC
Out the Window
Summary
Matthew Scudder, a down-but-not-out-detective, is shocked by the apparent suicide of Paula, a waitress at Armstrong’s, one of Scudder’s hangouts. When Paula’s sister shows up and asks Matt to investigate what she believes to be a murder, Scudder agrees to take on the case. A number of clues don’t add up to suicide, and Scudder’s investigation leads him to the dark corners of Paula’s world.
©2011 Lawrence Block (P)2012 AudioGO
A Time to Scatter Stones
Summary
MATT SCUDDER RETURNS More than 40 years after his debut and nearly a decade since his last appearance, one of the most renowned characters in all of crime fiction is back on the case in this major new novella by Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Lawrence Block. Well past retirement age and feeling his years - but still staying sober one day at a time - Matthew Scudder learns that alcoholics aren't the only ones who count the days since their last slip. Matt's longtime partner, Elaine, tells him of a group of former sex workers who do something similar, helping each other stay out of the life. But when one young woman describes an abusive client who's refusing to let her quit, Elaine encourages her to get help of a different sort. The sort only Scudder can deliver. A Time to Scatter Stones offers not just a gripping crime story but also a richly drawn portrait of Block's most famous character as he grapples with his own mortality while proving to the younger generation that he's still got what it takes. For Scudder's millions of fans around the world (including the many who met the character through Liam Neeson's portrayal in the film version of A Walk Among the Tombstones), A Time to Scatter Stones is an unexpected gift - a valedictory appearance that will remind listeners why Scudder is simply the best there is.
©2019 Lawrence Block (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
The Burglar in Short Order
Summary
Four decades ago, Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Lawrence Block introduced the world to one of his most beloved and enduring creations: Bernie Rhodenbarr, the clever, nimble-fingered star of novels such as Burglars Can't Be Choosers, The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling, and The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons. Called “the Heifetz of the picklock” by The New York Times, Bernie has stolen not only antiques, stamp collections, and priceless works of art but also millions of audiences' hearts. Now, for all those craving more adventures of their favorite bookseller-by-day and burglar-by-night, The Burglar in Short Order for the first time ever collects all of Bernie's short-form appearances in one complete volume. From the story in which a prototype of Bernie first appeared (“A Bad Night for Burglars”) to his appearances in Playboy and (maybe? It's kinda complicated) Cosmopolitan...from an essay discussing Bernie's misadventures in Hollywood (how in the world did Whoopi Goldberg ever get cast?) to a piece commissioned by a European publisher for a tourist guide to New York...you'll find every published story, article, and stand-alone excerpt Bernie has ever appeared in - plus two new, unpublished pieces: an introduction discussing the character's colorful origins and an afterword in which the author, contemplating retirement, comes face to face with his own creation. In all of mystery fiction, there has never been a character like Bernie - and in this, his dozenth book, he demonstrates all the charm and wit and kleptophilic ingenuity that has made two generations of audienes welcome their favorite burglar into their homes.
©2020 Lawrence Block (P)2020 Recorded Books
Writing the Novel from Plot to Print to Pixel
Summary
Lawrence Block, the award-winning crime fiction author, is almost as well known for his instructional books for writers and contributed a monthly column on fiction to Writers Digest for 14 years. Writing the Novel was his first book for writers and remained continuously in print since its original appearance in 1978. But the world of publishing has changed in the past 40 years, and Block has now expanded and updated his original text, bringing each chapter up to date and adding welcome new material on the audiobook revolution, the phenomenon of self-publishing and what perils and opportunities await the new novelist - and the veteran as well. 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 to enable you to find your own way. Here are some chapters: 1. Why Write a Novel? 2. Deciding Which Novel to Write 3. Read...Study...Analyze 4. Developing Plot Ideas 5. Developing Characters 6. Outlining 7. Using What You Know...and What You Don't Know 8. Getting Started 9. Getting It Written 10. Snag, Dead Ends, and False Trails 11. Matters of Style 12. Length 13. Rewriting 14. Getting Published 15. The Case for Self-Publishing 16. The Case Against Self-publishing 17. How to Be Your Own Publisher 18. Doing It Again 19. Now It's Up to You! Writing the Novel from Plot to Print to Pixel is half again as long as the original version, and Lawrence Block has managed to retain all the 1978 text while bringing it up to date. As he would be the first to tell you, you don't need this book - or any other - to succeed as a novelist. But thousands of writers have found it helpful. And most of us feel we can use all the help we can get.
©2016 Lawrence Block (P)2016 Lawrence Block
Hit Parade
Summary
The New York Times best-selling author and master of the modern mystery returns with a fierce and poignant new novel featuring his acclaimed killer-for-hire, Keller. John Keller is everyone's favorite hit man. He's cool. Reliable. A real pro: the hit man's hit man. The inconvenient wife, the business partner, the retiree with a substantial legacy. He's taken care of them all, quietly and efficiently. Keller's got a code of honor, though he'd never call it that. And he keeps the job strictly business. But while Keller might be a pragmatic and crack assassin, he's also prone to doubts and loneliness just like everybody else. And though he's got Dot, his wisecracking contact and sometimes confidante, these days, it doesn't seem to be enough. Keller's been at this business a long while. Just maybe it's time to pack it in. Only problem is, retirement takes money. And to get money, he's got to go to work.... Hit Parade, the third novel featuring the fascinating Keller, displays the hallmarks that distinguish Lawrence Block's award-winning fiction: the intelligence, the clever plotting, the humor, the tricky twist and ironic turns, the darkness and emotional complexity, and, above all else, the humanity.
©2006 Lawrence Block (P)2006 HarperCollinsPublishers
Catch and Release
Summary
One of the most highly acclaimed novelists in the crime genre, Lawrence Block is also a master of the short story. The sixteen stories (and one stage play!) collected here feature appearances by some of Block's most famous characters, including burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr and private detective Matt Scudder, as well as glimpses into the minds of a rogue's gallery of killers, sociopaths, and crooked cops. You'll meet a compulsive hoarder whose towering piles of trash and treasures hide disturbing secrets…a beautiful young tennis star with a possessive secret admirer…a dealer in stolen art who is unwilling to part with his most prized possession…poker players with agendas that have nothing to do with the cards in their hands…and a catch-and-release fisherman whose preferred catch walks on two legs.
©2013 Lawrence Block (P)2013 Dreamscape Media, LLC
The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling
Summary
Best-selling author Lawrence Block will keep you hooting with laughter as you follow the hilarious hijinks of his incorrigible character, Bernie Rhodenbarr: notorious burglar and part-time sleuth. Trying to go legit, Bernie has taken over a secondhand bookstore in Greenwich Village, but he still can't resist stealing things when the rewards are right. Ever since he bought Barnegat Books, Bernie has been having trouble making ends meet. When a mysterious client asks him to steal a rare edition of Kipling's poetry, he seizes the opportunity to practice his criminal talents and pay his creditors. Pilfering the book is boringly easy. But delivering it is difficult - with the police and a host of shady assailants hot on his heels. A Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster, Lawrence Block packs his entertaining whodunits with plenty of action and unexpected plot twists. Richard Ferrone's gravelly voice and expert pacing will keep you glued to the tape deck as Bernie lands in one dangerous scrape after another.
©1979 Lawrence Block (P)1998 Recorded Books, LLC
The Burglar in the Rye
Summary
Winner of multiple Edgar and Shamus Awards, Lawrence Block keeps fans guessing to the end with his rollicking Bernie Rhodenbarr mysteries. In this diverting caper, full-time bookstore owner and part-time burglar Bernie tries to do the right thing for a new friend, only to find himself accused of some terrible wrongs. All Bernie plans to do is steal some letters. A New York City literary agent is auctioning off her personal correspondence with enigmatic writer Gully Fairborn. Gully's attractive ex-girlfriend has asked Bernie to swipe the letters so she can return them to her old heartthrob. But when Bernie breaks in, the letters are missing, and the literary agent is in bed with no hope of waking up. With the police watching him very closely, Bernie relies on jiggers of rye and Caroline, his lesbian best friend, to sharpen his deductive skills and find the killer. Narrator Richard Ferrone expertly guides you on a laugh-filled journey through the twists and turns of the clever plot.
©1999 Lawrence Block (P)2000 Recorded Books