The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling (17 page)
A Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, LAWRENCE BLOCK is a four-time winner of the Edgar Allan Poe® and Shamus awards, as well as a recipient of prizes in France, Germany, and Japan. He also received the British Crime Writers’ Association’s prestigious Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement in crime writing. The author of more than fifty books and numerous short stories, he is a devout New Yorker and enthusiastic world traveler. You can visit his website at www.lawrenceblock.com.
Don’t miss the next book by your favorite author. Sign up now for AuthorTracker by visiting www.AuthorTracker.com.
Almost criminally enthusiastic
praise
for
New York Times
bestselling Grand Master
LAWRENCE BLOCK’s
BERNIE RHODENBARR and
The
Burglar
who liked to
Quote
Kipling
“MY FAVORITE.”
Spokane Spokesman Review
“Readers get a funny lesson in rare book economics and breaking and entering. Rhodenbarr is a wonderful New York character with a knack for surrounding himself with colorful eccentrics…
BITE, WIT, AND ENOUGH STYLISH ATTITUDE
to power the Plaza for a week.”
New York Daily News
“BERNIE RHODENBARR IS THE PERFECT COMPANION
if you’re spending a week at the beach, catching a plane to Omaha, or just seeking an escape from the demands of the day.”
Tampa Tribune
“THIS RHODENBARR ROMP IS SAUCY AND BRIGHT…
If you like Donald Westlake’s capers, you’ll like Bernie.”
Washington Post Book World
“Notre Dame at dusk. Pepys’ account of the Great Fire of London. A really good cashmere coat. Some treasures are timeless… I feel like putting Bernie Rhodenbarr on that list…
BERNIE IS ONE WRY GUY AND SOME PIECE OF WORK.”
New York Times Book Review
“LAWRENCE BLOCK IS A MASTER OF THE ART OF THE MYSTERY…
Bernie’s a great burglar and a funny guy.”
New Orleans Times-Picayune
“ONE OF THE FINEST MYSTERY WRITERS OF OUR TIME.”
Houston Chronicle
“It’s the mark of an innovative storyteller to turn a normally reprehensible character into a hero—of sorts. Author Lawrence Block’s
BERNIE THE BURGLAR SERIES AREN’T JUST GOOD MYSTERIES, THEY ARE SUPREME ESCAPISM.”
Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
“[Block’s] written dialogue has the honesty of a conversation overheard on a bus…
BERNIE RHODENBARR IS A LOT-OF-LAUGHS BURGLAR.”
USA Today
“VINTAGE BLOCK…
[His] effortless style sweeps Rhodenbarr through a complex plot with ease. The laid-back technique precisely matches the misadventures of the delightful thief.”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Having a burglar for a hero is tricky, to say the least. Is he a bad good guy or a good bad guy, and does crime pay or doesn’t it?…
BLOCK MANEUVERS AROUND THESE MORAL S-CURVES WITH GREAT AGILITY…
Block’s effortless first-person narrative and zippy dialogue is as pleasing as escapist fare ever gets.”
Lost Angeles Times Book Review
“Good mystery and good comedy, mined from the same vein Dashiell Hammett tapped for his ‘Thin Man.’
BLOCK’S BURGLAR SERIES IS ONE OF CRIME FICTION’S BEST.”
South Bend Tribune
“With a writer like Block,
A MASTER PLOTTER,
trying to figure out the guilty party can definitely keep you turning the pages.”
Toronto Star
“BLOCK IS A MASTER OF WITTY DIALOGUE,
plotting and pace, and the series’ wacky, offbeat characters make great companions.”
Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Bernie Rhodenbarr Mysteries
B
URGLARS
C
AN
’
T
B
E
C
HOOSERS
• T
HE
B
URGLAR IN THE
C
LOSET
• T
HE
B
URGLAR
W
HO
L
IKED TO
Q
UOTE
K
IPLING
• T
HE
B
URGLAR
W
HO
S
TUDIED
S
PINOZA
• T
HE
B
URGLAR
W
HO
P
AINTED
L
IKE
M
ONDRIAN
• T
HE
B
URGLAR
W
HO
T
RADED
T
ED
W
ILLIAMS
• T
HE
B
URGLAR
W
HO
T
HOUGHT
H
E
W
AS
B
OGART
• T
HE
B
URGLAR IN THE
L
IBRARY
• T
HE
B
URGLAR IN THE
R
YE
• T
HE
B
URGLAR ON THE
P
ROWL
The Matthew Scudder Novels
T
HE
S
INS OF THE
F
ATHERS
• T
IME TO
M
URDER AND
C
REATE
• I
N THE
M
IDST OF
D
EATH
• A S
TABINTHE
D
ARK
• E
IGHT
M
ILLION
W
AYS TO
D
IE
• W
HEN THE
S
ACRED
G
INMILL
C
LOSES
• O
UT ON THE
C
UTTING
E
DGE
• A T
ICKET TO THE
B
ONEYARD
• A D
ANCE AT
THE
S
LAUGHTERHOUSE
• A W
ALK
A
MONG THE
T
OMBSTONES
• T
HE
D
EVIL
K
NOWS
Y
OU
’
RE
D
EAD
• A L
ONG
L
INE OF
D
EAD
M
EN
• E
VEN THE
W
ICKED
• E
VERYBODY
D
IES
• H
OPE TO
D
IE
Keller’s Greatest Hits
H
IT
M
AN
• H
IT
L
IST
Collected Short Stories
E
NOUGH
R
OPE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE BURGLAR WHO LIKED TO QUOTE KIPLING
. Copyright © 1979 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 © FEBRUARY 2005 ISBN: 9780061828195
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900
Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com
