Enough Rope

This hefty collection of acclaimed mystery master Lawrence Block's short fiction is packed with delights for fans of his many popular series as well as first-time readers who haven't yet met the engrossing protagonists who people them, including Keller, the thoughtful hit man; private eye Matt Scudder; burglar and bookstore owner Bernie Rhodenbarr; and Martin Ehrengraf, the well-dressed lawyer who takes criminal cases on a contingency basis and has his own devious methods for making sure his clients are always acquitted. But it's the non-series stories that are the standouts here, particularly "Cleveland in My Dreams," in which a psychiatrist comes up with a novel way to rid a patient of a relentless nightmare, and the patient passes on the "cure" to an unsuspecting friend; "Collecting Ackermans" and "Death Wish," two standouts about jealousy and its discontents; and a handful of other little gems with central characters who may not merit their own series because they're just not very likable, but show off Block's ability to keep the reader guessing until the last sentence. It may be hard to pick up--if only because it runs nearly a thousand pages--but this wry, witty, well-wrought collection is even harder to put down. --Jane Adams