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Keller is an ordinary man – who kills people for a living. But then a hit goes wrong, and more than one life is at stake…
‘Absolutely riveting … Block is terrific’ Washington Post
Keller is an assassin – he is paid by the job and works for a mysterious man who nominates hits and passes on commissions from elsewhere. Keller goes in, does the job, gets out: usually at a few hours’ notice. Often Keller’s work takes him out of New York to other cities, to pretty provincial towns that almost tempt him into moving to the woods and the lake shores … Almost, but not quite.
But then a job goes wrong in a way Keller has never imagined and it leaves him with a big problem. Finding himself with an orphan on his hands, Keller’s job begins to interfere with his carefully guarded life.
And once you let someone in to your life, they tend to want to know what you do when you’re away. And killing for a living, lucrative though it is, just doesn’t find favour with some folks.
‘Absolutely riveting … Block is terrific’ Washington Post
Keller is an assassin – he is paid by the job and works for a mysterious man who nominates hits and passes on commissions from elsewhere. Keller goes in, does the job, gets out: usually at a few hours’ notice. Often Keller’s work takes him out of New York to other cities, to pretty provincial towns that almost tempt him into moving to the woods and the lake shores … Almost, but not quite.
But then a job goes wrong in a way Keller has never imagined and it leaves him with a big problem. Finding himself with an orphan on his hands, Keller’s job begins to interfere with his carefully guarded life.
And once you let someone in to your life, they tend to want to know what you do when you’re away. And killing for a living, lucrative though it is, just doesn’t find favour with some folks.
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Reviews
One of the best ever. Block was, and remains, a pioneer
One of the surest, most distinctive voices in American fiction
The angst-ridden and introspective Keller is a terrific creation who shouldn't be shunned because of his dark profession
Absolutely riveting ... Block is terrific
Ruthless but flawed, Keller is a great invention, and his hard-boiled amorality has both poignancy and grace
Block is not only one of the great technicians of the form; with this book he reveals himself as a writer capable of ripping your moral compass right out of your chest, smashing it to pieces on your forehead, and then leaving you to glue it back together. And he does it all so nicely, too
Block is a flat-out entertainer