Edition Details:
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 287
Publication: Hachette India
Series: John Keller #4
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| Hit and Run – Lawrence Block |
First Sentence:
Keller drew his pair of tongs from his breast pocket and carefully lifted a stamp from its glassine envelope.
Story:
John Keller aka Keller for his associates is a for hire assassin. For years he has been taking contracts for killing people and now he wants to retire. He thinks he has earned enough. But before that he has to finish his current job.
He had wanted to finish it as quickly as possible but then everything changed.
Someone has killed the governor of Ohio and people are blaming him for it. His photograph has been plastered all over the news.
Keller knows he has been set up. Now the police is looking for him and he has to save himself.
Who had set him up?
What would Keller do now?
Major Characters:
Keller – An assassin for hire
James McCue – Stamp Dealer
Dot aka Dorothea Harbison – Keller’s associate who used to bring jobs for him
John Tatum Langford – Governor of Ohio who had been shot in Des Moines Iowa
Al – The guy who had given the job to Keller
Miller L Remsen – Owner of a gas station
Giuseppe Ragone aka Joe the Dragon – A mob boss that had retired and Dot took care of him
Neil – Doorman of Keller’s building
Julia Emillie Roussard – A woman that Keller had met in New Orleans
Patsy Morrill – Julia’s friend
Donny Wallings – Patsy’s brother
Marlin Taggert – A man who was on the Job with Keller in Iowa
Benjamin Wheeler – A big shot in Portland
My View:
Hit and Run is the fourth novel in the John Keller series. This was the the first time i was meeting Keller and i’m intrigued by him. I like the way he has been portrayed in this novel and this makes me want to read other novels featuring him.
As far as this novel is concerned this novel is all about Keller saving himself. The reader is taken on a journey with Keller. How he extricates himself from the situation makes for an engaging read. The reader gets to know more about Keller. There are times when you wonder how a nice guy like this could go in this direction. Keller at times feels like a philosopher and you want to be friends with this guy. But then when situation arises he does things which would make you reconsider your wish. If needed he could kill you without batting an eye.
The story is not a revenge drama although you would expect it to be. Most of the story is about Keller running away to save himself. During this process he meets new people and discovers new life. Then towards the end some twists and turns come and Keller decides to end this matter once and for all and we see a final showdown.
The book has two major female characters: Dot and Julia. I liked both of them.
Dot is an associate of Keller. She’s as bad and seems as normal as Keller. I liked their equation. She seems like his big sister. Julia on the other hand is love interest of Keller. She likes him because she knows that in spite of being a assassin he’s a nice guy. And that pulls her towards him. On the other hand Keller who has been alone for so long a time sees in her someone who understands him and so he gets drawn towards him. Both woman are like a support system to him.And it would be interesting to see if their equations remains in the future.
I would love to see how Keller’s life turns out to be after this incident. I think this was supposed to be the last one in the series but I have found out that there is a fifth part of this series. I would read it soon.
If you like fast paced action then it may seem a tad bit slow for you but if pace is not an issue for you then you’d definitely enjoy it. The suspense as to how will Keller do what he has set out to do is always there. You feel it and keep reading it to see how it would turn out. You know Keller is no good guy but you root for him. I think it is his nice guy vibes that make you do it. If he would have been a douche bag then the novel would not have been such a good read.
If you want something entertaining then you should give it a try. I know you’d like meeting Keller.
Rating: 3.5/5
Some lines from the book that i liked:
His hobby was the one area of his life where he got to be completely clean and aboveboard. If he bought the stamps and avoided paying for them, he was essentially stealing them, and it hardly mattered if he was stealing them from James McCue or Visa. He was perfectly comfortable with the notion of having official reprints on the first page of his Swedish issues, but not stolen reprints, or even stolen originals.(page 6)
Guns don’t kill people, Keller thought. Sticking your broken nose in other people’s business, that’s what kills people.(page 78)
Because, time unassisted by human will, did much of the same thing on its own, as stories bloomed and faded from the news, their visibility diminished by some new outrage that burst out alongside them and replaced them entirely as objects of human interest.
It happened in the media, and when he thought about it it happened much the same way in one’s own consciousness, without effort and even in spite of effort. Things faded, blurred, lost their focus- or simply came to mind less frequently, and with less force. (page 123)
You can get the book from the following link:
Paperback
Other Lawrence Block books that i have read:
Lawrence Block
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