Lawrence Block was born on June 24, 1938 in Buffalo, New York. He started writing early and collected a slew of rejection slips while attending Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, which he used to paper his walls. He graduated from Antioch in 1959 (I graduated from a California satellite campus of the same University...a year or thirty later) and went to work in the mail room of a New York publisher. He married in 1960, had three daughters, and divorced in 1973. He published his first story in 1957 in Manhunt magazine, and nothing has held him back ever since.

His first popular books were the Evan Tanner novels, a series of comic crime\ international intrigue novels featuring a half-crazed Korean War vet who doesn't sleep because of a shrapnel wound in his brain. Along with the early Tanner novels, though, came a few single pulp novels not part of any series. These were taut little suspense novels darker in tone and often written under the pseudonym of Paul Kavanagh. The best of these often-overlooked novels, e.g. The Specialists and Such Men Are Dangerous, rank among Block's finest works and in retrospect seem like the logical precursors to the brilliant Scudder novels to follow. But before Block came up with Scudder, he first introduced Chip Harrison, a horny, teenaged
orphan living by his wits on the streets and involved in often silly adventures. The Chip Harrison series is Block's least substantial work, but the novels are still good for a diverting read.

It was with the publication of the first Matthew Scudder novel, The Sins of the Fathers, in 1976, that Block began to really make his mark on American detective fiction. Scudder is an alcoholic ex-cop-turned-  unlicensed private detective who lives in a hotel room, spends time alone in darkened churches, and often ends up extracting his own form of justice when traditional means fail. The novels are dark, often-violent urban nightmares that tap into some primitive existential need for order in our chaotic modern lives. 1992's A Dance at the Slaughterhouse is my personal favorite detective novel of all time and won the Edgar Award for best  mystery novel of the year.

But Block has always balanced his darker impulses with light mystery fiction. And while the Even Tanner and Chip Harrison novels may have been uneven and not as tightly constructed as his Scudder novels, the first Bernie Rhodenbarr Burglar books suffered no such lapses. They were delightful. Block took the British literary tradition of the gentleman thief and updated it for modern-day New York. Bernie Rhodenbarr is a charming, unassuming sophisticate who just happens to be addicted to breaking into the homes of rich people and relieving them of some of their superfluous possessions. Unfortunately for Bernie, someone always manages to end up dead around one of his jobs and he needs all of his cunning to prove he isn't the murderer.

All in all, when you consider Block's contributions to the tradition of American Crime Fiction, you can easily see why he was so richly deserving of his Mystery Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America in 1994.

He now lives mostly in New York City with his second wife Lynne, a painter.

Lawrence Block - Ariel

Ariel ~ Usually ships in 2-3 days

Lawrence Block / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1997

Ariel Jardell, an adopted 12-year-old girl, is possessed, her mother thinks, by jealousy and by forces far more bizarre. An unnerving tale woven together with a fascinating, terrifying child at the center of each twist and turn it takes, this book gives new definition to the old conflict of good versus evil, sane versus insane.

Lawrence Block - The Burglar in the Closet

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Lawrence Block / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1997..

 

The Burglar in the Closet [ABRIDGED]

Lawrence Block / Audio Cassette / Published 1995

The Bernie Rhodenbarr series has garnered lavish praise from major media and the public alike, and with good reason. Now the series has returned to introduce a whole new audience to the criminal capers of Bernie, everyone's favorite burglar! In this engaging novel, Bernie agrees to help a friend retrieve an object from his ex-wife's house. Something goes wrong during the job, however, leaving Bernie holding the bag for a murder he didn't commit.

Lawrence Block - The Burglar in the Library

The Burglar in the Library

Lawrence Block / Audio Cassette / Published 1997

 

The Burglar in the Library : A Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery ~ Usually ships in 24 hours

Lawrence Block / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1998

 

The Burglar in the Library : A Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery (Thorndike Large Print Americana Series) [LARGE PRINT] ~ Usually ships in 2-3 days

Lawrence Block / Hardcover / Published 1998

 

The Burglar in the Library; A Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery ~ Usually ships in 24 hours

Lawrence Block / Hardcover / Published 1997

Bernie Rhodenbarr returns in the eighth installment of Lawrence Block's bestselling Burglar series!

After his girlfriend dumps him to marry another, Bernie follows the couple to a New England Inn with his sights set on an autographed first edition copy of Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep," located in the Inn's library. But when a dead body appears and all the guests remain snowbound, it's up to Bernie to solve the case!

Lawrence Block - The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling

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Lawrence Block / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1997

 

The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling (Thorndike Large Print Cloak and Dagger Series) [LARGE PRINT] ~ Usually ships in 2-3 days

Lawrence Block / Hardcover / Published 1996

Bernie Rhodenbarr tries to go legit by opening a second-hand bookstore, but he still can't resist that which he does best--burglary! Someone's willing to pay him handsomely for what seems to be an easy job: the theft of a rare Kipling edition. But as his contact turns up dead and the cops are out to throw the book at him, Bernie has to use all the tricks of his illicit trade to make sure this little situation has a happy ending!.

Lawrence Block - The Burglar  Who Painted Like Mondrian

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Lawrence Block / Hardcover / Published 1998

 

The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian [ABRIDGED] ~ Usually ships in 24 hours

Lawrence Block (Reader) / Audio Cassette / Published 1998

Lawrence Block's legions of fans have heralded the return of classic Bernie Rhodenbarr books to print. Now, with The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian, readers can complete their Rhodenbarr collection with this, the fifth and final of Dutton's reissues. As always for the intrepid bookseller-by-day, burglar-by-night, a simple job leads to bigger things. First up, Bernie the bookseller is asked by a Manhattan collector to appraise his impressive library. He does so, and while in the apartment building, makes off with a terrific cache of rare stamps. Then, upon returning home he finds best friend Carolyn Kaiser in tears. Her beloved cat has been abducted, and the ransom is a painting by Mondrian, currently on display in a museum and nearly impossible to steal. Nearly. But then Bernie remembers seeing another Mondrian hanging somewhere...in the book collector's apartment. Before too long, the painting is gone, a body turns up and the police are knocking on Bernie's door. Guess who their number one suspect is?

Lawrence Block - The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza

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Lawrence Block / Hardcover / Published 1997

 

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Lawrence Block / Hardcover / Published 1998

 

The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza : A Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery (Burglar Series) ~ Usually ships in 24 hours

Lawrence Block / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1998

 

The Burglar Who Studies Spinoza [ABRIDGED] ~ Usually ships in 24 hours

Lawrence Block / Audio Cassette / Published 1997

Lawrence Block's classic Bernie Rhodenbarr capers continue with this long-unavailable adventure for the Greenwich Village bookseller who can't resist a little breaking-and-entering now and then. Serendipity is a curious thing. It's just good luck that Bernie knows that Hank and Wanda Colcannon's Chelsea apartment is empty while they're out of town. But it's lousy luck that somebody beats him to the job and ransacks the place before he arrives. But then again, it's great luck that Bernie turns up a rare 1913 V-nickel. He knows that it's valuable, but when he takes it to Abel Crowe, his local fence, and finds out that the five-cent piece is worth a cool half a mil, well that's just stupefying. Abel has a soft spot for Bernie, who's always bringing him rare books on philosophy, including the writings of Baruch Spinoza, so he agrees to handle the hot coin. But the next day the cops come looking for Bernie. It seems the Colcannons came home early and surprised an intruder. Hank is badly beaten, and Wanda, unfortunately is dead. So, it turns out, is Abel. And the coin is missing. The whole thing stinks of a set-up. All the cops care about is how easy it will be to pin the whole thing on Bernie. All Bernie can do is turn for help from his brand new friend, name of Spinoza.

Lawrence Block - The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart

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Lawrence Block / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1996

The Edgar Award-winning author of The Burglar who Traded Ted Williams returns with his seventh installment in the hilarious series. Bernie has a new girlfriend, but burglars cannot live on love alone so he agrees to do a job for an eccentric stranger. All Bernie has to do is infiltrate a posh East Side apartment and remove a black leather portfolio. It's almost too easy to be true.

Lawrence Block - The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams

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Lawrence Block / Mass Market Paperback / Published 1995

Greenwich Village bookseller Bernie Rhodenbarr is trying to make an honest living. But when the landlord raises his rent, what's left for a refined burglar to do? His first night on the job leads him to a pile of cash, a dead body, and a frameup--where Bernie is accused of stealing a million-dollar baseball card collection.

Lawrence Block - By the Dawn's Early Light

By the Dawn's Early Light and Other Stories [UNABRIDGED] ~ Usually ships in 24 hours

Lawrence Block / Audio Cassette / Published 1994

Block's wonderful collection of stories bears comparison to the works of Ray Bradbury and Edgar Allan Poe.