Small Town - Softcover

Block, Lawrence

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060011912 ISBN 13: 9780060011918

Publisher: HarperTorch, 2003

Synopsis

In the shadows of unbearable tragedy, an unlikelykilling machine begins a one-man war tobring a city to its knees -- a battle that will touchthe lives of its eight million citizens including:

• a writer on the verge of a breakthrough
  
  
• a charismatic ex-police commissioner -- and the inside choice for the next mayor -- on the edge of a breakdown
  
  
• a beautiful, sophisticated art dealerplumbing the depths of her own fiercesexuality
  
  
• a defense attorney who prefers murdertrials because there’s one less witness
  
  
• an ex-addict who has turned being cleaninto a living, mopping up after New York’snightlife

Pulsating with the lives of its denizens -- bartenders and hookers, power brokers andpoliticos, cops and secretaries, editors anddreamers -- Lawrence Block's electrifying newnovel reveals the small town at the heart of theBig Apple in all its power, terror, and starkbeauty.

About this title

Review

A solid craftsman with five bestselling series under his belt as well as numerous standalone mysteries and short-story collections to his credit, Lawrence Block breaks new ground with a resonant, compelling thriller about one man's response to the Twin Towers tragedy--an insane yet totally comprehensible, seemingly unconnected string of serial murders, or, as the killer calls them, "sacrifices" to the city he believes will be reborn out of the ashes of destruction. Block, a New Yorker born and bred, has penned a paean to the Manhattan he knows and loves, and created a cast of fascinating characters whose lives are touched by the killings. Among the most interesting are a woman whose sexual obsessions ensnare a former police commissioner who's being groomed for higher political office, a crime novelist uncertain about his own culpability in the so-called Carpenter Killings, and a gay housecleaner whose clients keep ending up dead. This may be Block's best novel to date--it's certainly his most erotic and astonishing one, and it will keep you going until the last extraordinary page. A mesmerizing take on New York after 9/11, this solidly paced, brilliantly executed thriller deserves all the attention it will surely receive. --Jane Adams

About the Author

Lawrence Block is one of the most widely recognized names in the mystery genre. He has been named a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America and is a four-time winner of the prestigious Edgar and Shamus Awards, as well as a recipient of prizes in France, Germany, and Japan. He received the Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writers' Association—only the third American to be given this award. He is a prolific author, having written more than fifty books and numerous short stories, and is a devoted New Yorker and an enthusiastic global traveler.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperTorch
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0060011912
• ISBN 13: 9780060011918
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 576