Bernie Rhodenbarr is not happy about the state of the world. As a used bookseller his business has been pretty much destroyed by Amazon, and that used Bernie Rhodenbarr is not happy about the state of the world. As a used bookseller his business has been pretty much destroyed by Amazon, and that used to be less of a problem because he made most of his money in his second job as a burglar. However, the modern world is now filled with surveillance cameras and various forms of electronic security that can’t be cracked with old school lockpicking. When a rich jerk buys a priceless diamond and brags about keeping it in a nearby penthouse, it’s a score that Bernie would have once jumped at, but one quick look convinces him that he wouldn’t even be able to get into the building.
Bernie grumbles about all this to his best friend Carol over drinks one night, and after going home he then tries to take his mind off it by reading a book by Fredric Brown about alternate universes. Something strange happens the next day though.
The world seems mostly the same, but Bernie’s Metrocard has now been changed to a Subway Card. Even weirder, his bookstore is now doing a brisk business and Amazon doesn’t exist. Bernie also quickly notices that there are far less security cameras and high tech locks around. Only he and Carol seem aware that there’s been any changes, and Bernie can only guess that somehow they’ve shifted to an alternate universe that is lot more hospitable to a guy who sells books and breaks into places. Maybe he could even now manage to steal a priceless diamond.
Getting a new Burglar novel at this point feels like a real treat precisely because of what Bernie himself is saying at the start of the story. It’s nigh on impossible to be a bookseller who just runs an actual store or be a professional burglar in modern times. So when the series is oriented around those as key traits of the main character, you’d think it’d be time to retire or maybe set the book in the past.
So it’s a delight that Lawrence Block found a loophole with the idea of alternate realities, and then just transplants the whole concept to one in which Bernie can not only exist, but thrive. It’s a little odd because Mr. Block isn’t really associated with sci-fi, and to just have this happen in a series that’s been set in ‘reality’ requires a regular reader to shift into a different gear.
Yet it completely worked for me because the alt-universe thing isn’t the point, it’s just a way for Mr. Block to tell us a story with Bernie again. Not only that, the story eventually becomes a kind of meta-commentary in which Bernie starts to become self-aware about how a lot of his burglary jobs become complicated and involve him playing an amatuer sleuth. Most importantly, this still feels like a Bernie book with him having his conservations with Carol, trying to steal something, and solving a mystery in a low-key grounded kind of way.
Mr. Block has said that he’s retired from writing novels, but fortunately we exist in a reality where a new book like this can appear....more
Bookstore owner/professional burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr returns home from a successful night of stealing on to find his best friend Carolyn in a desperBookstore owner/professional burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr returns home from a successful night of stealing on to find his best friend Carolyn in a desperate state in his apartment. Someone has taken Carolyn’s pet cat from her apartment and is now demanding a ridiculous amount of money to return the feline. It quickly becomes clear that the catnapper was trying to get Bernie to pull a job by going through Carolyn, but stealing a Mondrian painting from a museum is a bit much for a humble burglar. However, Bernie has the bright idea to steal another Mondrian from an apartment he was just in. What could possibly go wrong?
There’s all the usual things to like in this series with witty conversations and clever schemes to break into places. However, the plot gets incredibly complex and even after Bernie has laid it all out at the end I’m not sure I fully understand what happened which feels like too much in a book that features a kidnapped cat. It also seems like a cheat that a lot of the explanation brings in characters we haven’t even seen in the novel until that point.
Still, it’s Lawrence Block doing his thing with Bernie and Carolyn so there’s a lot to like. Block fans will also probably notice that this involves art, stamp collecting, and jogging which are all subjects he’s interested in that have come up in other books. ...more
Even back in the days before Amazon it was tough to turn a profit running a used bookstore so Bernie Rhodenbarr supplements his income by the occasionEven back in the days before Amazon it was tough to turn a profit running a used bookstore so Bernie Rhodenbarr supplements his income by the occasional burglary job. When his best friend Carolyn has a hot tip about an easy score about some wealthy people being on an overnight trip it seems like easy money, but after breaking into their home Bernie finds that some other thieves have already hit the place. Still, he manages to find an uncracked safe with some loot inside so it seems like a successful heist with a potentially big payday thanks to a rare coin. However, the police soon pick up Bernie on suspicion of murder. How can a honest thief prove his innocence?
As I’ve noted in other reviews, this isn’t my favorite Lawrence Block series, and I wasn’t all that interested before because the stories aren’t actually about Bernie being a thief. Instead, his burglaries end up with him in trouble in with the cops for crimes he hasn’t committed, and he has to use his skills to solve a mystery. So this is actually an amateur detective series in disguise, and for a long time that didn’t work for me because I prefer my stories about thieves to be about stealing and not finding murderers.
However, after trying several of them I finally fell for Bernie’s charms, and that’s entirely due to Block’s talent. While these aren’t outright comedies they are meant to be funnier and lighter than Block’s other work, and Bernie does work as a likable guy who does have a certain code of honor even as he dearly loves stealing stuff. That’s all on display here with a solid whodunit plot for Bernie to unravel as he goes around breaking into places and having funny conversations with people. ...more
Professional thief Bernie Rhodenbarr is trying to go legit by buying a book store, but that’s a tough way to make the rent even back in the days beforProfessional thief Bernie Rhodenbarr is trying to go legit by buying a book store, but that’s a tough way to make the rent even back in the days before Amazon. So when Bernie gets an offer to swipe a rare volume of Kipling verses for a hefty payday he’s more than willing to start picking locks again.
However, what should be a simple exchange of the book for the cash goes sideways, and Bernie finds himself on the run from the cops after being framed for murder. He’ll need all of his criminal skills and some help from his best friend Carolyn to get out of this one.
As I’ve stated on other reviews I’m a huge fan of Lawrence Block, but this series wasn’t my favorite thing he’s done although I quite enjoyed The Burglar Who Counted the Spoons. I think it’s because while Bernie is a thief the books generally revolve around him playing amateur sleuth rather than actually being about his profession. Still, there’s a charming low-key quality to these, and I always enjoy Block’s casual dialogue where characters often ramble and make amusing observations about life’s quirks.
I liked this the most of the early ones I’ve read because it introduced Carolyn, the lesbian dog groomer who is the person that Bernie can count on most and vice versa. Their friendship is one of the things I’ve most enjoyed about the series.
Overall, it’s a solid mystery with a good sense of humor, and Block always makes a character just trying to navigate the treacherous waters of daily life in New York City a treat to read....more
This book inspired one of the greatest head-scratchers in the history of film adaptations when Hollywood decided that Burglar would feature Whoopi GolThis book inspired one of the greatest head-scratchers in the history of film adaptations when Hollywood decided that Burglar would feature Whoopi Goldberg playing a white male and Bobcat Goldthwait would be perfect as a lesbian dog groomer.
I got to meet Lawrence Block while he was on a book tour for Hope to Die, and I asked him if he knew what prompted the movie producers to have Whoopi play Bernie. Even though it was obvious that he’d answered this about a million times before Block patiently explained that he had no input on the film version, and that the story he heard was that initially Bruce Willis was supposed to be Bernie and Whoopi was cast as Carol. However, Willis bowed out, and some genius got the brilliant idea to have her play Bernie which then led to gender swapping Carol into Bobcat Goldthwait. And thus cinema history was made….
Professional burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr just wanted to get his teeth cleaned, but his dentist Carl Sheldrake has a proposal for him. Sheldrake’s ex-wife Crystal reamed him in their divorce settlement, and he’d like to get some payback by having Bernie steal her large collection of valuable jewelry. Bernie could use the cash so he agrees to what seems like an easy payday.
However, after he’s broken into her apartment and collected the jewels, Crystal returns unexpectedly with a gentleman friend, and Bernie has to hide in a closet while the two make with the bow-chick-a-bow-wow. Before he can escape, Crystal winds up murdered and adding insult to injury the killer stole the briefcase full of loot that Bernie had collected.
Bernie is determined to recover the jewels he stole fair and square so he plays amateur sleuth with the help of Sheldrake’s pretty dental hygienist. However, he soon finds himself the primary suspect when the cops learn that he was in the apartment.
This is the second book featuring Bernie, and Block delivers a witty and off-beat mystery with the morally challenged burglar. Like most of Block’s stuff there’s a lot of fun conversations that veer off into unexpected directions, and there’s an interesting solution to who killed Crystal and why. My only gripe was that despite what the presence of Bobcat in the movie would lead you to believe, this early in the series Bernie hasn’t met his best friend Carol yet so I missed their goofy interactions....more
Despite being a huge fan of Lawrence Block, his series featuring professional thief and book store owner Bernie Rhodenbarr never triOK, now I get it.
Despite being a huge fan of Lawrence Block, his series featuring professional thief and book store owner Bernie Rhodenbarr never tripped my trigger like most of his other stuff does. A few years back after reading Burglars Can’t Be Choosers, I thought I had finally pinned down why. Unlike Block’s other regular characters, Bernie’s books aren’t really about his chosen profession. Matt Scudder is a detective who does a lot of detecting. John Keller is a hired killer who kills a whole bunch of people. But the main point to Bernie’s stories were not that he burgles. Instead, he’s a burglar who usually ends up playing amateur sleuth due to circumstances brought about by his breaking and entering. (It didn’t help that I was comparing Bernie to Donald Westlake’s comedic series about luckless thief John Dortmunder whose exploits are all about coming up with creative plans to steal stuff.)
However, while reading this I found myself completely charmed by Bernie and his adventures in illegal entry as well as trying to solve a mystery so I think that by realizing what had irked me about the series in the past, I was finally able to just relax and enjoy Block showing a lighter comic touch on a more whimsical character rather than nitpicking the story for what it isn’t.
What I ended up liking the most was the similarity that Bernie shares with Block’s other creations in that he has a lot of quirky conversations with a variety of people. The historical tidbits learned from an eccentric collector who hires Bernie to steal a couple of items he can’t get his hands on legally were interesting and might come in handy during a game of trivial pursuit. I’d cheerfully read a book that was nothing but the oddball conversations that Bernie has with his best friend Carolyn over lunches and drinks that may start out being about his latest job but frequently go off into different directions that involve jokes, random observations, idle musings and general goofing around.
We also get Bernie’s complaints and observations about running a book store in the age of the Kindle as well as a few shout outs to crime writers like Ed McBain and Michael Connelly. Then there’s an overall plot that involves a couple of burglary schemes and Bernie being asked by a cop to lend his expertise to a crime scene involving a burglary and potential homicide. Put all this together and you get a book that provide more than a few laughs that also gives the reader some things to puzzle out.
You weren’t the problem, Bernie. It was me all along.
Professional burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr gets hired to steal a blue box from an apartment, but the police bust in and catch him just after he breaks in.Professional burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr gets hired to steal a blue box from an apartment, but the police bust in and catch him just after he breaks in. The good news is that one of the cops is crooked, and it looks like he’ll be able to buy his way out of the arrest. The bad news is that the cops find the apartment owner’s body in the bedroom so the bribing option just went bye-bye. Bernie flees and manages to hide out in the apartment of a friend he knows is out of town, but he’s a wanted man with his picture all over the news. Can Bernie figure out who really killed the man in the bedroom and avoid jail?
Lawrence Block is one of my favorite writers, but for some reason, I’ve never fallen completely in love with his Bernie Rhodenbarr series. I’m not sure why. They’re as well written as anything else he’s done, and as usual, Block creates an interesting main character in New York and then populates the books with a variety of unique supporting players.
The idea of a series about a thief appeals to me, but for some reason I don’t get the same thrill out of Bernie that I get from Block’s more serious Scudder and Keller novels. I think my issue may be that the series is more about Bernie playing amatuer slueth than Bernie being a burglar.
This would also explain why I like Donald Westlake’s humorous books about New York thief John Dortmunder better than Bernie. The Dortmunder books are about the crimes, not solving mysteries. I think I’d like Bernie more if the books were centered around him planning and pulling off burglaries rather than him having to play Sherlock all the time. They’re certainly not bad, and I’ve never regretted reading one, but they’re not at the top of my Block rating scale....more
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