Lawrence Block Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Bernie Rhodenbarr Books
Burglars Can't Be Choosers | (1977) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar in the Closet | (1978) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza | (1980) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Like a Thief in the Night | (1983) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar Takes a Cat | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart | (1995) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar in the Library | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar in the Rye | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar Who Dropped in on Elvis | (1999) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar on the Prowl | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar Who Smelled Smoke | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Bad Night for Burglars | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar in Short Order | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Burglar Who Met Fredric Brown | (2022) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Chip Harrison Books
No Score | (1970) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Chip Harrison Scores Again | (1971) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Make Out with Murder | (1974) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Topless Tulip Caper | (1975) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
As Dark as Christmas Gets | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Evan Tanner Books
The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep | (1966) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Canceled Czech | (1966) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Tanner's Twelve Swingers | (1967) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Here Comes a Hero / Tanner's Virgin | (1968) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Scoreless Thai / Two for Tanner | (1968) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Tanner's Tiger | (1968) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Me Tanner, You Jane | (1986) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Tanner on Ice | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Fearless Jones Books
The Plot Thickens | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Fearless Jones | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Fear Itself | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Fear of the Dark | (2006) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Hard Case Crime Books
Shooting Star/Spiderweb | (1958) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Shooting Star / Spiderweb | (1958) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Mercenaries | (1960) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Two for the Money | (1973) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Deadly Beloved | (2007) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Gun Work | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Catch and Release | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Hot Blood Books
Hot Blood Tales of Erotic Horror | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Hotter Blood: More Tales of Erotic Horror | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Hottest Blood | (1993) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Deadly After Dark | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Seeds of Fear | (1995) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Fear the Fever | (1996) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Kiss and Kill | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Crimes of Passion | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Hot Blood X | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Fatal Attractions | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Strange Bedfellows | (2004) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Dark Passions | (2007) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Stranger by Night | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Anthology series. |
Publication Order of Jill Emerson Books
A Madwoman's Diary / Sensuous | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Getting Off | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Trouble with Eden | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Shadows | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Enough of Sorrow | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Threesome | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Warm and Willing | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Thirty | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of John Keller Books
Hit Man | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Hit List | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Hit Parade | (2006) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Hit and Run | (2008) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Keller in Dallas | (2009) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Hit Me | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Keller's Adjustment | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Keller on the Spot | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Keller's Therapy | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Keller's Horoscope | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Keller's Fedora | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Keller's Homecoming | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Keller's Designated Hitter | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Keller the Dogkiller | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Keller in Des Moines | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Quotidian Keller | (2017) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Kit Tolliver Books
If You Can't Stand the Heat | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Rude Awakening | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
You Can Call Me Lucky | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Clean Slate | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Waitress Wanted | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Jilling | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Conjugal Rites | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
One Kind Favor I Ask of You | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Don't Get in the Car | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Fun with Brady and Angelica | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Zeroing In | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Unfinished Business | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Lou Largo Books
Publication Order of Manhattan Noir Books
Manhattan Noir | (2006) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Manhattan Noir 2: The Classics | (2008) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Matthew Scudder Books
The Sins of the Fathers | (1976) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
In the Midst of Death | (1976) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Time to Murder and Create | (1977) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Stab in the Dark | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Eight Million Ways to Die | (1982) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
When the Sacred Ginmill Closes | (1986) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Out on the Cutting Edge | (1989) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Ticket to the Boneyard | (1990) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Dance at the Slaughterhouse | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Walk Among the Tombstones | (1992) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Devil Knows You're Dead | (1993) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Long Line of Dead Men | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Even the Wicked | (1996) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Out the Window | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Everybody Dies | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Hope to Die | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Moment of Wrong Thinking | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
All the Flowers are Dying | (2005) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Drop of the Hard Stuff | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Let's Get Lost | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Candle for the Bag Lady | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Time to Scatter Stones | (2018) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Murderous Christmas Stories Books
Murder under the Christmas Tree: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Murder on Christmas Eve | (2017) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Very Murderous Christmas: Ten Classic Crime Stories for the Festive Season | (2018) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Anthology series. |
Publication Order of Paul Kavanagh Books
Such Men are Dangerous | (1969) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Triumph of Evil | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Not Comin' Home to You | (1974) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Seven Deadly Sins Books
Speaking of Lust: Stories of Forbidden Desire | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Speaking of Greed: Stories of Envious Desire | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Speaking of Wrath | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Transgressions Books
Transgressions | (2006) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Transgressions, Vol. 2 | (2006) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
Carla | (1958) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Into the Night | (1959) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
69 Barrow Street | (1959) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Campus Tramp | (1959) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Candy | (1960) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Girl Called Honey | (1960) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Kept | (1960) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Strange Kind of Love | (1960) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Adulterers | (1960) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Grifter's Game / Mona / Sweet Slow Death | (1961) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Diet of Treacle | (1961) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Cinderella Sims | (1961) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Killing Castro | (1961) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Coward's Kiss / Death Pulls a Doublecross | (1961) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
$20 Lust / Cinderella Sims | (1961) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Twisted Ones | (1961) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Borderline | (1962) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Case of the Pornographic Photos / Markham / You Could Call it Murder | (1962) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Strange Embrace | (1962) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Sin Hellcat | (1962) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Lucky at Cards | (1964) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Girl with the Long Green Heart | (1965) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Deadly Honeymoon | (1967) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
After the First Death | (1969) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Specialists | (1969) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man | (1971) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Week as Andrea Benstock | (1975) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Ariel | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Code of Arms | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Random Walk | (1988) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Lost Cases of Ed London | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Small Town | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Community of Women | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Girl with the Deep Blue Eyes | (2015) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Passport to Peril | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Sinner Man | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
April North | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Dead Girl Blues | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
Collecting Ackermans | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
By the Dawn's Early Light | (1984) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Merciful Angel of Death | (1993) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Chance to Get Even | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Dolly's Trash & Treasures | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Welcome to the Real World | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Who Knows Where It Goes | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Scenarios | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Headaches and Bad Dreams | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Sweet Little Hands | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
You Don't Even Feel It | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
In For a Penny | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Three in the Side Pocket | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Like a Bone in the Throat | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Nothing Short of Highway Robbery | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Ehrengraf Fandango | (2014) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
I Know How to Pick 'Em | (2014) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Autumn at the Automat | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Resume Speed | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
Like a Lamb to Slaughter | (1984) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Sometimes They Bite | (1984) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Some Days You Get the Bear | (1993) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
By the Dawn's Early Light: And Other Stories | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Collected Mystery Stories | (1999) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Enough Rope | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Crazy Years | (2004) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Catch and Release | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Defender of the Innocent: The Casebook of Martin Ehrengraf | (2014) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Resume Speed and Other Stories | (2018) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
From Sea to Stormy Sea | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Plays
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
The Wife-Swap Report | (1970) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
3 is Not a Crowd | (1971) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Sex and the Stewardess | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Sex Therapists | (1972) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Different Strokes | (1974) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Total Sexuality | (1974) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Writing the Novel from Plot to Print to Pixel | (1979) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Telling Lies for Fun & Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers | (1981) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Write for Your Life | (1986) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Spider, Spin Me A Web: A Handbook for Fiction Writers | (1988) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
After Hours: Conversations With Lawrence Block | (1995) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Gangsters, Swindlers, Killers, and Thieves: The Lives and Crimes of Fifty American Villains | (2004) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Step by Step: A Pedestrian Memoir | (2009) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Liar's Bible | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Liar's Companion | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Male Hustler | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Wide Open | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Doing It! - Going Beyond the Sexual Revolution | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Come Fly With Us | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Beyond Group Sex | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Crime of Our Lives | (2015) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Afterthoughts: Version 2.0 | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Matthew Scudder Short Story Collections
One Night Stands and Lost Weekends | (1999) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Night and the Music | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories Books
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 1 | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2 | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3 | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 4 | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 5 | (2004) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Brooklyn Noir Books
Brooklyn Noir | (2004) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Brooklyn Noir 2: The Classics | (2005) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Brooklyn Noir 3: Nothing But the Truth | (2008) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Anthology series. Includes stories by various authors. |
Publication Order of Anthologies
The Eyes Have It | (1984) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Chapter and Hearse | (1985) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Second Black Lizard Anthology of Crime Fiction | (1988) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Perfect Murder | (1991) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1991 | (1992) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Monsters in Our Midst | (1993) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1992 | (1993) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The New Mystery | (1993) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The King is Dead: Tales of Elvis Postmortem | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1993 | (1994) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Bad Behavior | (1995) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1996 | (1995) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Night Screams | (1996) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
First Cases, Volume 1 | (1996) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Win, Lose or Die | (1996) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Plot Thickens | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
First Cases, Volume 2 | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Mystery's Most Wanted | (1997) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best of the Best | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories 1997 | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Mystery Stories 1998 | (1998) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Death Cruise: Crime Stories on the Open Seas | (1999) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Mystery Stories 1999 | (1999) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Master's Choice: Mystery Stories by Today's Top Writers and the Masters Who Inspired Them | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 1 | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Opening Shots: Great Mystery and Crime Writers Share Their First Published Stories | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 2 | (2000) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Mystery Stories 2001 | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Opening Shots, Vol. II | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Pulp Masters | (2001) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Mighty Johns | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Most Wanted | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 3 | (2002) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Blood on Their Hands | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories 4 | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
High Stakes | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
In the Shadow of the Master | (2003) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Greatest Hits | (2005) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Transgressions | (2005) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Lesbian Pulp Fiction | (2005) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Brooklyn Noir 2: The Classics | (2005) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
These Guns for Hire | (2006) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Transgressions, Vol. 2 | (2006) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Mystery Stories 2007 | (2007) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Prisoner of Memory and 24 of the Year's Finest Crime and Mystery Stories | (2008) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Dark End of the Street | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Shamus Winners | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Masters of Noir | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Best American Mystery Stories 2011 | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Psychos: Serial Killers, Depraved Madmen, and the Criminally Insane | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Inherit the Dead | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Dangerous Women | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Have a NYC 3: New York Short Stories | (2014) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Dark City Lights: New York Stories (Have a NYC) | (2015) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Mostly Murder | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Gym Rat & Murder Club | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Alive in Shape and Color | (2017) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Florida Happens | (2018) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
At Home in the Dark | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Darkling Halls of Ivy | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Collectibles | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Jewish Noir II: Tales of Crime and Other Dark Deeds | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Hailing from Buffalo, N.Y. Lawrence Block would attend and fail to graduate from Yellow Spring’s Antioch college, having come to agree with the school authorities that he would be happier elsewhere. His first foray into the literary world found Lawrence pseudonymously testing the waters of porn, along with fellow apprentice Donald E. Westlake, the pair purposing in midcentury erotica sometime in the 1950s.
The name Lawrence Block wouldn’t appear in print until 1958, following the publication of Block’s short story ??You Can’t Lose’. Eventually gaining momentum with ??Mona,’ published in 1961 under his name, reissued repeatedly over the years, once even titled ??Sweet Slow death’, Lawrence’s current repertoire of novels, exceeding the 50 book mark, is only surpassed by the more than 100 short stories he has availed to his myriads of fans during decades of hard work.
Married to Lynne Block with whom he has spent most of his life travelling, and through whom he has born two children, Amy Reichel and Jill Block, as well as Alison Pouliot from a previous marriage, it is probably because of his long term residency in New York that so many of Lawrence Block’s fictional stories have been set within the streets of the city.
Best known for a select few highly entertaining and diverse characters, from Evan Tanner to Mathew Scudder, Lawrence has brought his literary skills to the world under many a name, some of his better known pseudonyms including Lesley Evans, Jill Emerson, Anne Campbell Clark and John Warren Wells.
Making appearances in a variety of magazines, from The New York Times to Cosmopolitan, RedBook, GQ and even PlayBoy, Lawrence Block has endeavored to encourage the writing field through a myriad of arenas, not only availing a series of books specifically aimed towards writers but also running an instructional column in Writer’s Digest for more than a decade, his literary accomplishments expanding into television and even film.
+Awards
Lawrence block has enjoyed the title of Grand master of Mystery Writers of America for two decades, also acquiring the position of president for Private Eye writers of America and MWA. Winning the Edgar and Shamus prize four times, a Lifetime Achievement award from Private Eye Writers of America, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award, Lawrence has also had the privilege of accepting the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement prize from Mystery Ink, a magazine; the Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement from the Crime Writers Association and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derriger Lifetime Achievement prize for short stories.
The French have also imputed to Lawrence Block the title of Grand Maitre du Roman Noir. Appearing as the guest of honor at book festivals in various nations from Taiwan to Australia, Spain and even New Zealand, Lawrence Block can boast of more awards and prizes earned in his half decade old career than those of several dozen well known writers put together, a giant in the writing arena and commanding respect in the many nations of the world. And even with this level of elevation, those closest to the author have been known to describe his personality as warm, kind, modest and quite humble.
+ Lawrence’s success, the popularity of his books have almost always relied upon the characters he creates, crafted to not only drive their various stories but to engage and entertain the readers, usually achieving victory in these arenas and positively impact their various stories
Though even considering the buzz surrounding the likes of John Paul Keller, Chris Harrison and Evan Michael Tanner, two names stand apart within Lawrence’s web of stories, namely:
-Mathew Scudder- introduced in 1976’s ??The sins of the Fathers’, Mathew’s alcoholic ex cop, now unlicensed private investigator is Lawrence Block’s most famous character. Fighting alcoholism and the various demons of his past, the intrigue behind his character driven by his ever evolving situations, each book thrusting the PI into one diverse situation after another, each novel taking great steps to stand apart from Mathew’s previous outing.
Lawrence Block has, on occasion, vaguely admitted to the fact that facets of Mathew’s characters, especially the alcoholism, might just mirror his own life and past mistakes.
-Bernie Rhodenbarr
Only second to Mathew in fame, Lawrence’s gentleman burglar couldn’t be further from Mathew Scudder, not only ageless in his various outings but usually partaking in a far lighter story, his world somewhat wittier and more sophisticated that Mathew’s dingy existence.
Even while maintaining a static existence, Bernie has managed to endear himself to many a Lawrence Block fan, his charm and wit allowing novels like ‘The Burglar who counted the spoons’ to entertain purely through the energizing factor that is Bernie Rhodenbarr.
+Important as Mathew Scudder and Bernie might be, it would be inaccurate to impute the author’s success solely to the existence of these characters, with each Lawrence Block novel striving to stand alone as a masterpiece in its own right.
One need only scrutinize the first book in Lawrence’s profile, that title that introduced him to the world. The Sins of the Fathers introduced Mathew Scudder as an alcoholic PI, dragged into a world of perversion and corruption following a plea from a client to solve the murder of a young hooker.
The prime suspect having met a fatal end, it comes down to Scudder to maneuver through a web of lies and secrecy to reveal to the populace of Greenwich the sins hidden beneath a peaceful veneer.
Even while bringing the enigmatic Mathew Scudder to life, The Sins of The Fathers proved a hit among the vast portion of readers that first encountered Lawrence Block, not only writing a detective that broke the mold, less hardboiled and more philosophical, but presenting a truly intriguing case interspersed with truly shocking twists and revelations.
So engaging was this first true Lawrence Block detective novel that most readers were astonished by the quality of ??Time to Murder and Create’ a detective story that not only incorporated the best elements of ??The Sins of the Fathers’ but augmented them, this time following Mathew Scudder as he attempted to solve the death of his friend Jake The Spinner, a former informer turned blackmailer, whom too many people would have liked to murder.
Pressured by the advent of a sinister threat emerging from his meddling into Jake’s affairs and a host of wealthy and powerful opponents, ??Time to Murder and create’ utilizes Block’s crisp prose to tell a story that not only avails hard hitting plots but evolves the Scudder character, driving the PI into even more intriguing territory.
With projects like ??8 Million ways to Die’ finally jumping to film in 1986, the Wong Kar-wai directed, Norah Jones acted ??My Blueberry nights’ screenplay he wrote in 2007, and ??A Walk Among the Tombstones’ in the process of being adapted into a movie, to be released in 2014, with Liam Neeson playing the role of Mathew Scudder, Lawrence Block has more than cemented his reputation as a literary genius within the Mystery novel genre.
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