After reading this one, I will have to read all of the series, as the first book's proved a quick and fun read.

One of the most satisfying impulse reads that started because I'm also reading Block's AFTERTHOUGHTS and figured it was about time I read the Bernie Rhodebarr series (of which I've had more than three or four for a while now, when I started collecting bibliomysteries years back). ( )

This is a great audiobook. It reminded me of film noir voiceover, like hardboiled detective stuff. But our anti-hero is a 1970s burglar, not a 1940s gumshoe. There are a lot of witticisms and funny observations that had me chuckling. The mystery isn't bad either. ( )

Bernie Rhodenbarr has been given $1000 for doing a burglary job. Steal a blue leather box. A nice chunk of change for a simple job for a pro like Bernie!

Complications arise when two of NYPD’s finest show up, but that isn’t too hard to handle, as one of the officers is Ray Kirschmann. Ray and Bernie have history, and Ray is also the best cop you can buy.

What does put the monkey wrench in the works is Ray’s new partner finding a dead body in the bedroom. Uh-oh, Bernie needs to go to ground quick!

Bernie figures he’s been framed and he is determined to find out who did it. But he doesn’t want to tangle with the cops, so he holes up in a friend’s apartment as the friend is out of town for a few months.

Bernie also finds himself tangled with a lady who waters the friend’s plants…or so she says. Things may not be as they seem here too.

This is another book in the Bernie Rhodenbarr series. Great dialogue, action, humour and characters, and always a fun read. ( )

For the most part the story is conversation – either between characters or the thoughts in Bernie’s head. There is not a whole lot of prose used on description or background. This keeps the 289 pages flipping quickly and the reader does not have time to forget any detail or get sidetracked. Zipping to the end there is not much substance to the novel; and there is too much, I guess, of that 70s swagger to it.

There is nothing here to hand out awards for since it is just a speedy NYC tale. Its not something, maybe, you give to your friend who only reads the purist, cleanest fiction, but everyone else should be able to handle it. Crime-light, if you will. ( )

En esta novela Lawrence Block presenta a uno de sus personajes más logrados: Bernie Rhodenbarr, el irresistible príncipe de los ladrones de Nueva York. Bernie, hombre de gustos refinados y amplia cultura, posee el don de convertir el robo en un arte. Por desgracia es igualmente hábil para meterse en líos. En esta ocasión es contratado por un desconocido para sustraer una misteriosa caja azul de un apartamento. La misión parece fácil y todo va sobre ruedas, hasta que en el apartamento aparecen también dos policías y un cadáver.