Hit Man is a rather slow-paced but interesting novel by Lawrence Block which introduces his professional killer known as Keller.
Keller is a cool, efficient professional killer who seems to be going through something of a mid-life crisis. A young woman who is initially hired take care of his dogs as he travels to various locales for his rather unusual and lethal occupation. He seems to find himself on a path that almost leads him to a more normal life, however he has to contend with an employer and benefactor who seems to be making reckless decisions that leads to Keller making a tragic mistake during one of his contract jobs.
The novel is well-written, but it seems a little disjointed at times. I looked into the origins of this character and learned that this book was a re-working of several short stories that was combined into one volume. Apparently, Keller was first published in the pages of Playboy several years ago. That helped me make more sense of what I was reading.
I did find this novel pretty good even if the idea humanizing a hitman is a somewhat overdone story idea.
Block has been in the game for some time, and his status of a highly regarded crime writer is well-earned. Even if the structure of this story struck me as a little unusual, I did enjoy the ride once I learned how Keller was first debuted.
Block does put in quite a bit of exposition, which understandable since Keller is not exactly a chatty sort. The prose is still pretty tight and flows quite easily. The actual murders are depicted quite crisply and can be easily missed at times.
Anyway, this novel is worth a look by any aficionado of crime fiction. Lawrence Block has quite a gallery of memorable protagonists, and it was a treat to be introduced to Keller in all of his deadliness.
Well, the great Robert B. Parker may be gone, but Boston PI Spenser is still on the streets with the help of Mike Lupica which brings up my next read. A close friend of Spenser’s is shot, and that’s just not going to fly with Boston’s venerable private eye in Hot Property.
