Hit Man
Page 27
“Always.”
“Some of the other jokers I was considering, I think they might have a hard time coming to terms with the idea of working for a woman. But I don’t see that as a problem for you and me.”
“Certainly not.”
“Well,” she said. “Thank God for stamp collecting is all that I can say. How about another glass of iced tea, Keller? And you can even tell me about postmasters’ promotionals, if it makes you happy.”
“Provisionals,” he said. “And you don’t have to hear about them. I’m happy already.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Keller gets around a great deal, and it is perhaps fitting that the author was similarly peripatetic while chronicling his adventures. He is thus pleased to acknowledge the following venues, where various sections of this book were written: the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, in Sweet Briar, Virginia; the Ragdale Foundation, in Lake Forest, Illinois; the Park Plaza Motor Lodge, in Johnson City, New York; the SS Nordlys, in Norwegian coastal waters; Emilie Poe Wood’s house, in Lucedale, Mississippi; Continental Airlines flight 214 from Houston to Newark; and, in New York City, the Writers Room (Waverly Place), the Writers Room (Astor Place), the Peacock Caffé (Greenwich Avenue), Caffe ` Lucca (Bleecker Street), and the Donnell branch of the New York Public Library.
Grateful acknowledgment is also due to those publications in which some of Keller’s adventures appeared in a slightly different form: Murder on the Run, a collection of stories by members of the Adams Round Table; Murder Is My Business, an anthology edited by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins; and, of course, Playboy.
About the Author
LAWRENCE BLOCK is a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master and a multiple winner of the Edgar, Shamus, and Maltese Falcon awards. His fifty-plus books include the fifteen Matthew Scudder novels, all of which are available as HarperCollins e-books (complete list is below). Scudder also appears in Enough Rope, a collection of Mr. Block’s classic short stories. That volume, and Small Town, a novel, are also published by PerfectBound, along with the Keller books, Hit Man and Hit List.
Please visit www.lawrenceblock.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
The Matthew Scudder Crime Novels are (in publication order): The Sins of the Fathers; Time to Murder and Create; In the Midst of Death; A Stab in the Dark; Eight Million Ways to Die; When the Sacred Ginmill Closes; Out on the Cutting Edge; A Ticket to the Boneyard; A Dance at the Slaughterhouse; A Walk Among the Tombstones; The Devil Knows You’re Dead; A Long Line of Dead Men; Even the Wicked; Everybody Dies; Hope to Die.
HIT MAN
“PAGE-TURNER OF THE WEEK. . .
Macabre charm. . . In what amounts to a series
of interlocking short stories with more plot twists
than the current White House imbroglio,
Keller proves the perfect observer of life—
clear-eyed, ironic and always dead-on.”
People
“A collection of stories that reads like the flowing
memoir of a man who is letting it all out for
the first time. . . The ironic tone and confessional
content make these intimate tales so funny and
full of rue . . . [Keller] may have no ethics,
but he definitely has a way about him.”
The New York Times Book Review
“A brilliant writer . . . superb entertainment.”
Booklist
“Block’s ravenous fans [will be]
delighted to see at least three masterpieces
gathered in one volume.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Block, one of the genre’s finest practitioners,
is in fine form here. Anyone looking
for a disturbing detour from the mainstream
will want to pick up Hit Man.”
Chicago Tribune
LAWRENCE BLOCK
“One of the very best writers now working the beat.”
The Wall Street Journal
ALSO BY LAWRENCE BLOCK
The Matthew Scudder Novels
The Sins of the Fathers • Time to Murder and Create • In the Midst of Death • A Stab in the Dark • Eight Million Ways to Die • When the Sacred Ginmill Closes • Out on the Cutting Edge • A Ticket to the Boneyard • A Dance at the Slaughterhouse • A Walk Among the Tombstones • The Devil Knows You’re Dead • A Long Line of Dead Men • Even the Wicked • Everybody Dies • Hope to Die
The Bernie Rhodenbarr Mysteries
Burglars Can’t Be Choosers • The Burglar in the Closet • The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling • The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza • The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian • The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams • The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart • The Burglar in the Library • The Burglar in the Rye
The Adventures of Evan Tanner
The Thief Who Couldn’t Sleep • The Canceled Czech • Tanner’s Twelve Swingers • Two for Tanner • Tanner’s Tiger • Here Comes a Hero • Me Tanner, You Jane • Tanner on Ice
The Affairs of Chip Harrison
No Score • Chip Harrison Scores Again • Make Out with Murder • The Topless Tulip Caper
Keller’s Greatest Hits
Hit Man • Hit List
Other Novels
After the First Death • Ariel • Coward’s Kiss • Deadly Honeymoon • The Girl with the Long Green Heart • Mona • Not Comin’ Home to You • Random Walk • Ronald Rabbit Is a Dirty Old Man • The Specialists • Such Men Are Dangerous • The Triumph of Evil • You Could Call It Murder
Collected Short Stories
Sometimes They Bite • Like a Lamb to Slaughter • Some Days You Get the Bear • Ehrengraf for the Defense • One Night Stands • The Lost Cases of Ed London • Enough Rope
Books for Writers
Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print • Telling Lies for Fun & Profit • Write for Your Life • Spider, Spin Me a Web
Anthologies Edited
Death Cruise • Master’s Choice • Opening Shots • Master’s Choice 2 • Speaking of Lust • Opening Shots 2 • Speaking of Greed
Copyright
“Answers to Soldier,” “Keller’s Therapy,” “Dogs Walked, Plants Watered,” “Keller’s Karma,” “Keller in Shining Armor,” “Keller on the Spot,” and “Keller’s Last Refuge” originally appeared in Playboy magazine.
HIT MAN. Copyright© 1998 by Lawrence Block. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition © May 2003 ISBN: 9780061796685
First Avon Twilight Printing: February 1999.
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Aknowledgements
About the Author
Praise For Lawrence Block
Also by Lawrence Block
Copyright
About the Publisher