Burglars Can't Be Choosers

Bernie Rhodenbarr is a personable chap, a good neighbor, a passable poker player. His chosen profession, however, might not sit well with some. Bernie is a burglar, a good one, effortlessly lifting valuables from the not-so-well-protected abodes of well-to-do New Yorkers like a modern-day Robin Hood. (The poor, as Bernie would be the first to tell you, alas, have nothing worth stealing.)

He's not perfect, however; he occasionally makes mistakes. Like accepting a paid assignment from a total stranger to retrieve a particular item from a rich man's apartment. Like still being there when the cops arrive. Like having a freshly slain corpse lying in the next room, and no proof that Bernie isn't the killer.

Now he's really got his hands full, having to locate the true perpetrator while somehow eluding the police — a dirty job indeed, but if Bernie doesn't do it, who will?

Fans of Lawrence Block's saucy series burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr (who was revived after a long absence in the recent The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams) will be delighted to learn that Dutton is bringing back the book that launched Bernie about 16 years ago. Burglars Can't Be Choosers shows an insouciant Bernie before he acquired the antiquarian bookstore he now runs when not burgling. As in Ted Williams, there turns out to be a corpse in the apartment where Bernie is doing his job; otherwise the two books are much different: Ted Williams is much funnier, but there's always pleasure to be had in seeing the birth of an enduring hero.

Bernie Rhodenbarr is a personable chap, a good neighbor, a passable poker player. His chosen profession, however, might not sit well with some. Bernie is a burglar, a good one, effortlessly lifting valuables from the not-so-well-protected abodes of well-to-do New Yorkers like a modern-day Robin Hood. (The poor, as Bernie would be the first to tell you, alas, have nothing worth stealing.)

He's not perfect, however; he occasionally makes mistakes. Like accepting a paid assignment from a total stranger to retrieve a particular item from a rich man's apartment. Like still being there when the cops arrive. Like having a freshly slain corpse lying in the next room, and no proof that Bernie isn't the killer.

Now he's really got his hands full, having to locate the true perpetrator while somehow eluding the police — a dirty job indeed, but if Bernie doesn't do it, who will?

Mike Lupica

If Lawrence Block writes it, I read it. -- New York Newsday

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.