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    Hit Me
    Hit Me
    Hit Me
    Audiobook8 hours

    Hit Me

    Written by Lawrence Block

    Narrated by Richard Poe

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The conclusion of Hit and Run found Keller living in a big old house in post-Katrina New Orleans' Lower Garden District, with a new name (Nicholas Edwards), a new wife (Julia), a new career (rehabbing houses), and a baby on the way. It certainly looked as though he was done killing people for money. But old habits die hard, and when the economic downturn knocked out the construction business, a phone call from Dot draws him back into the old game. His work takes him to Dallas, to settle a domestic dispute; to Florida, where he joins a government witness on a West Indies cruise; to Wyoming, where a widow has her husband's stamp collection for sale; and to New York, where he lived for so many years, and where people might remember him.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 12, 2013
    ISBN9781470335847
    Hit Me
    Author

    Lawrence Block

    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.

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    Reviews for Hit Me

    4/5

    126 ratings38 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Probably (?) the last book about Keller, the hired killer, who nevertheless is very sympathetic. There are several of books about Keller, all readable.
    • 3/5
      John Keller is a hit man on assignment. He's picked up at the airport by his contact, given the choice of two guns for the job, picked the weapon he wants and is dropped off at his hotel.The next day he reads that the governor of Ohio has been assassinated. The killer used a Glock automatic. The same weapon Keller had his hands on the prior day. Then he sees his photo on CNN and knows he's been part of an elaborate set-up.He drives back to New York and finds that his friend and business assoicate Dot has apparently been murdered. Someone has broken into his apartment and stolen his computer and stamp collection.Needing a place to hide, he thinks of New Orleans with the aftermath of Katrina, this would be a good place. Soon after arriving he hears a woman scream. Unstead of avoiding conflict and possible legal involvement, he goes to the sound of the scream and finds a woman about to be raped. He saves her and dispatches the rapist. He intended victim, Julia Roussard, is so greatful, she doesn't care when he tells her he's on the run from an attempted frame. She belives his story and lets him stay at her home where they become intimate. In a surprising plot twist, his friend Dot reemerges. She faked her murder by killing another woman, removing her own false teeth and replacing the woman's false teeth, then setting the home on fire so the body would be identified by dental records as Dot. This was a preposterous event that I have trouble with Block for its unbelievability.The narrative story is a fast paced read but little in real action and much of the suspense misses. There are lengthy portions of the novel where nothing happens.Keller has been a good character in the past stories but seems like a cow put to pasture in this one. Julia Roussard was an interesting character and would be fun to see her development in a future story.
    • 4/5
      Classic Block, taking theoretically heartless characters and making them human as only literature can. "Retiring" a character (and who knows if Keller will stay retired) takes some skill to make it something other than a cop-out, and Block does that very well here.
    • 5/5
      Keller, the stamp collecting, real estate viewing, assassin undertakes his last job then comes out of retirement to take revenge upon the people who frame him. A typically sparse, hard-edged novel by Block coloured with his characteristic wit.
    • 4/5
      Block's Keller is a guy of habits and detachments. These stories work because they are about disrupting his detachment and involving him in life change.Everything changes in Keller's life, as he has to go on the run quickly, leaving behind his savings, his stamps, and his associate Dot. Much of the story is about the sticky situation he's landed in and his survival strategies. Feels like the end of the Keller series, but it's a great sendoff.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this latest...and, seemingly, last...installment in the John Keller stories. Keller has been framed for a murder he didn't commit and we get to see him trying to make good on his intent to retire and collect stamps. As always with this series, we have a fairly ordinary man rather than some super hitman trying to make his way. A bit of action, a bit of romance, nothing super exciting but, somehow, it all comes together as a finale to the series.
    • 4/5
      Keller is a hit-man who does contact work for an aging mob boss. Keller has a partner, Dot, who helps him keep his jobs running smoothly, is also his financial adviser helping him build up sufficient funds to allow early retirement. Keller takes one last job before retiring and living the good live enjoying his stamp collecting.But suddenly Keller is framed for killing the Governor of Ohio and he must go on the run to elude a nationwide manhunt.This the first book I read by Block so I didn't know what to expect. What I found was a simple, relaxed story that drew me in to care about (and like) both Keller and Dot and to hope that they escape the killers and police that are searching for them. It was a fun and curiously satisfying read.
    • 5/5
      First-rate. Lawrence Block shows he is still a master. Terrific plotting, appealing characters, page-turner from beginning to end.
    • 1/5
      I almost always like Lawrence Block but this book has a MAJOR plot hole around page 75. Couldn't continue.
    • 4/5
      Hit man J. P. Keller is framed for a political assassination. Even worse, he loses his best friend and his stamp collection. He takes to the road to avoid arrest and, in the process, finds true love and a latent talent.
    • 5/5
      Great read about your everyday assassin who collects stamps
    • 3/5
      For Block fans, of which I am a card carrying member. The first half is a close to monologue as Block ever gets, but without giving away the plot, there is good reason for it. Sometimies I felt what was written was more Block's observations from his many travels around the world as opposed to Keller's thoughts but that's a small nit.Richard Poe does an admirable job in his reading, even if some of the character voices slip on occasion. I imagine it's a bit of a challenge to maintain the same character voice over the days it takes to read one of these.
    • 5/5
      JP Keller, Des Moines, a hit paid in advance anonymously, and then an assassination, and his picture on the evening news. Dot in White Plains is not answering. And where is his stamp collection? Then he meets Julia in New Orleans.
    • 5/5
      -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Review Hit and Run - by Lawrence BlockOn the personal side - after reading Hit and Run; and this being my first ever encounter with this particular author, I just want to tell you that I will be buying, begging, borrowing or stealing as many of this authors books as I can get my grubby little paws on. Especially the ones that feature Hit and runs protagonist - Keller. There are 4 novels altogether in this series and I sincerely hope that Hit and Run won't be the last. The books include Hit Man (the 1st), Hit List (2cd), Hit Parade (3rd) and lastly the one I'm currently reviewing, Hit and Run.. The protagonist is a stamp collecting hit man named Keller and as this novel opens, we see him hard at work trying to decide if he wants to add a series of Swedish stamp reprints to his collection. At the conclusion of his transaction we learn that the Governor of Ohio has just been assassinated while in Iowa. What a coincidence, the hit that Keller was contracted to do was in, you guessed it - Iowa! Has Keller been lured to do a particular hit for a nefarious reason beyond the usual? The plot starts to thicken quite quickly and moves along at a pleasant pace, while Keller learns more about the double deal dealt to him with the help of his long time friend and assistant Dot. Keller soon figures out that he must run for his life, if not, for his precious stamp collection. His journey across America; to what he thinks of as salvation in the form of his NY city apartment, is amusing and introspective as well as slightly harrowing at times. The last half of the book is surprisingly and also thoroughly enjoyable, when he takes refuge in New Orleans and finds himself a new "Friend" and a new and gentler life style.This was a wonderful read, and Lawrence Block does a wonderful job of teaching us that all is not what it always seems like on the outside. I would have not thought that I could enjoy a book about a hit man, but Mr Block has proved that he can breech my biases. Thank you Lawrence Block.
    • 5/5
      I have always enjoyed Lawrence Block's "hit man" series -- the stories of a down-to-earth killer who is an avid stamp collector. Keller seems to be a pretty nice guy, considering he kills people for a living; and there's a refreshing absence of high tech toys and James Bond-like adventures in the books. As Keller himself puts it, the people he kills usually know why they've been targeted -- they're not innocent lambs being herded to the slaughterhouse.In a sense, it's this very lack of high strung dramatics that makes the Keller books such a refreshing read. So it was with some surprise that I realized this latest book was a sharp departure from the norm. Keller agrees to take on one last job before he permanently retires from the field. Of course, it's one job too many -- as he discovers he's been set up to take the fall for a very public political assassination. Stranded in Iowa, Keller finds himself cut off from his closest associate with every law enforcement agency in the country after him. And that's not the worst of his troubles -- the men who arranged the assassination are also on his trail, hoping to shut his mouth and quench his curiosity permanently.As always, it's Block's masterly limning of his characters that makes reading his books a pleasure. Keller is no superhuman MacGyver, using bubble gum and a sock to wriggle out of impossible situations. Au contraire. . .it's Keller's very human reactions to the tight spots he finds himself in that connects him to the reader. His dogged determination to survive, and to figure out how he can recreate a new life from the ashes of his old one is captivating. A most enjoyable read. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      This book takes off quickly. It also ends a little too quickly, perhaps, but along the way it brings a fresh look at Keller, my favorite of Block's characters.
    • 1/5
      Hit and Run is, believe it or not, a Naturalist thriller. It's premised on the question: What would it be like if a hit man were to settle down, get a real job, work on his stamp collection, and try to leave the past behind?The problem is, who cares?As it turns out, in case you wanted to know (as if anyone would), he's a pretty good home remodeler, but he prefers laying bathroom tile to sanding wood floors. Also, he likes New Orleans Saints ball caps better than Homer Simpson ones. And he watches a lot of television. Which we're told all about. For no apparent reason.The book has absolutely zero action in it, except for one scene. There is another that might almost count, because he shoots a guy---but it's a convenience store clerk, and that's all there is to it, he just pulls out a gun and shoots the guy and that's it. He then proceeds to rob the man, in what turns out to be the only scene in the book in which the author exercises any selectivity in an attempt to convey some meaning---we're told that the convenience store guy has a stack of hardcover Ayn Rand novels and a blow up doll with an Ann Coulter mask on it in his bedroom. This is apparently the author's weak idea of portraying a right-wing loser---the only problem is, as anyone who has read Ayn Rand knows, she has about as much in common with Ann Coulter as she does with Michael Moore.And for a hit man, the main character is incredibly dimwitted. The second something goes wrong, he's completely paralyzed. He's not exactly a master of disguises (the aforementioned Homer Simpson ball cap is the best he can do), and he can't come up with a plan to save his life---literally. He pretty much just gets by on dumb luck (or rather by the author's whim, since this is fiction, but the author can't contrive any believable means for him to negotiate his situation). It's as though the author hasn't done any research at all, but just sits at his writing desk relying on pure imagination---and unfortunately, he is singularly unimaginative.All in all, this has got to be the dullest "thriller" ever written. At least, it was the dullest one I've ever had the misfortune to read, and I've read my share.
    • 4/5
      Lots about stamp collecting but a good finish to a likable series.
    • 2/5
      A redemption ending for the main character. Actually two! First it has the false ending of the character giving up on assassinations in favour of stamp collecting and then another one when he becomes some secret avenger killing bad people. Both are disappointing.

      You could argue the previous book was an ending of sorts and this book only gets him out of retirement only to end it again.
    • 3/5
      This review is from the perspective of one who isn't already a fan of Lawrence Block and his Keller series, but who picked up the book from a free box and gave it a try, not having read the first four books in the series. That disclaimer said: this is that strange beast, a thriller without tension. The protagonist, Keller, is a hit man and stamp collector living incognito as a New Orleans property rehabber after a botched job got his face and real name plastered all over the news. He's doing fine, but needs money—mainly to keep buying rare stamps—so he gets in touch with his old job dispatcher, a wry, affectionate lady who goes by Dot, and takes a few new hit jobs. One takes him to New York City, where he was living at the time of the botched job. Another is on a cruise ship, which would seem like a particularly poor setting for a hit, but he figures out how to do it and get away.Keller' blends in well as a normal person, and he even has a wife whom he apparently treats well. She's not in the life, but she knows what he does, and is excited by it. Keller never gets excited, angry, or fearful, and in New York he puts himself in situations where his cover could easily be blown, such as eating at his old neighborhood cafe, just because he feels like it. But no matter how casually he goes about his life, he never seems to be in real danger of being caught, nor does he worry about it. This gives the book the tone of a light workplace comedy instead of a thriller where people get stabbed or strangled, as they do here, mostly off the page. As much time is devoted to the details of Keller's stamp collecting as to the murders he commits to support it. The collecting—he also acts as a consultant to a lady trying to sell her late husband's collection—is actually interestingly depicted. The reader is clearly supposed to like Keller, and in the last episode of the book he accepts a hit on a 14-year-old boy in order to save the boy's life by tracking down the one who ordered the hit, and doing him or her in. He's got boundaries, you see, and killing children is just wrong. Color me unimpressed. I learned a lot about stamp collecting, though.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyable finale(?) to the Keller series.
    • 4/5
      I find myself more interest in the marketing of this book than its contents. Essentially it is a collection of novellas disguised as a novel. At no point is it called a novel--except in very small print on the title page--and each story represented here does keep its original title, but now each new scene is labeled as a chapter--unbroken across the book--so that the last section of the last story is Chapter 51. I can’t claim to have been misled because A) I would have bought it anyway, and B) I flipped through the book before making the purchase. Some of the stories had moments of meandering but I enjoyed them just the same. As usual.
    • 4/5
      If GoodReads had half stars, I'd probably give it 3.5. I adore Block and his wonderful hit man Keller, but this was not as strong as previous books in the series. I found some characters' voices to be very similar and almost wondered if Dot was masquerading as the info desk woman at the YMCA in the last chapter.
    • 5/5
      Keller, the somewhat reluctant philatelist hit man. Okay, I'll admit I've always adored this character, complicated and strangely believable as he is, with a rather unique moral code. This continuation of his story doesn't disappoint. He's moved from New York to New Orleans and gained a wife and daughter. Such is his spousal relationship that he can't bear to keep secrets. The author's done a bang-up job of making her just as complicated and strangely believable as her husband. Then there's Dot, the hit broker... Fun, funny, oddly compelling. If you haven't read one of the five Keller titles (Hit Man, Hit List, Hit Parade, Hit and Run, Hit Me) give it a try. Betcha can't read just one...
    • 3/5
      The Keller hitman series lends itself well to a short story format and that is what we have here, a collection of episodes or stories connected by a character. Often this means that the reader suffers through some repetition of background details. And stamps. And then more stamps.Keller now lives in New Orleans and where he has a successful business remodeling and flipping homes after Katrina. He’s married to Julia and has a child, Jennie, whom he loves and dotes on. Then Dot, his old “hit” contact, calls and offers him a job, The business having slacked off a little because of the subprime crisis, and wanting to add some rare and exotic stamps to his collection, Keller, with full knowledge of his wife (who gets “hot” when told of his exploits -- something I found truly abhorrent), heads off to other cities to fulfill the contract (and buy stamps.) Each case is unique and brings its own challenges. I liked the one at sea the best. I like the series and in the past eagerly read all of Block, but Keller’s nonchalance about killing has begun to grate, not to mention Julia’s complicity in its rationalization. Keller’s greatest moral challenge is now which stamp to buy. The book does have some of the classic repartee between Dot and Keller that continues to make the book fun and interesting.Of course, if you don’t like stamp collecting you won’t like Keller.
    • 3/5
      Really short stories, all revolving around Keller's interest in stamps. Good to read though, even if I hate sympathizing with a hitman.
    • 1/5
      I have read most of Lawrence Block's books and loved them all. However this one was a major disappointment. I read it in three hours and and then wondered why I bothered. Like other reviewers have mentioned, this book is more about philately then Keller's hits. Maybe Block has decided he's more interested in writing about stamps than writing thrillers. I hope not.
    • 4/5
      Like the other three Keller books you won't find much of a plot. It's really more of a series of vignettes where Keller has to figure out how to kill certain people: a divorcee in Dallas, an abbot in New Jersey, and a dirty old man on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. What I always like about these books is Block doesn't make them the stereotypical hitman gets a conscience and becomes the target of other hitmen plot. I'm sure most people would probably like more action and less about stamp collecting though. It's too bad the most interesting case in the book isn't over by the time the book ends. I guess that leaves room for a sequel!
    • 5/5
      The fifth in the 'Keller' series of books. Keller in case you are nor familiar with the character,is a killer or hit-man. He is also a loving husband and father,as well as a keen philatelist. This volume of long,short (or should it be short,long) stories each tell of a contract killing mixed in with a stamp dealing episode.Overall a good and readable book with perhaps a little more than one would want to know about the arcane world of the stamp fanatic.
    • 5/5
      It's been a while since I read a Lawrence Block book, because I had previously read everything by him I could get my hands on, so I really had forgotten what a great writer he is...I mean c'mon who else can make stamp collecting interesting! Each of the "hits" in the book flow together to make one novel, but each one could easily stand on its own as a short story. Great Book, highly recommended.