Hit List (Keller #2) – Lawrence Block

Someone has been hitting Keller’s targets before he gets the chance.  It’s not all bad though as Keller still gets paid in the end.  The worrisome part deals with the fact that after murdering his mark, the competing hit man is also trying to kill Keller.  Can Keller uncover his stalker before it’s too late?

After I finished the first Keller collection on my Kindle, I immediately picked up book two.  Turns out I bought this alongside an Evan Tanner novel a few years ago in a used book store.  Lucky me!  Much like the first book, this was a breezy read that had me journey from cover to cover in only three days.  This time around, between jobs, Keller goes on a few dates and gets hauled in for jury duty.

The jury duty bits were among my favorite moments in the book.  Block gets to mess around with the idea of an assassin getting to play a part in whether or not someone goes to jail, which is funny enough in and of itself, but Block makes sure to add in a lot of humor that had me laughing out loud.  At this point, Block could ruminate about anything at this point and I’d be entertained – it just happens to be so impressive that he does so from the mind of an assassin that we can all somehow sympathize with.

The long conversations with Dot are also welcome, which both serve to entertain the reader and build upon each character.  Although it’s not as light-hearted, I get the same vibe from these two as the one I get between Perry and Della from the old Perry Mason series – the two play off each other that well.  Keller would be lost without Dot as the nature of his profession doesn’t exactly make it easy for Keller to foster a close and honest relationship, which I suppose serves to keep Keller from losing his mind from loneliness as much as it pains him to admit it.

Hit List is another excellent peek into the life of a humble hit man for hire.