12 Lawrence Block ebooks! 57.22460658083% discount!

David Trevor here, with an offer that’s just too good to round off. A month ago I pitched a special promotion, a dozen of LB’s backlist titles at $2.99 apiece, designed to make life a little bit more agreeable (or at least more affordable) to those of us who could use a little diversion right about now.

Your response was off the charts. No joke, we moved way more copies than either of us expected. So I suggested that maybe we could do it again. This time we could call it a June Jamboree, or Midsummer Madness, or something.

The Great Leader vetoed the names but greenlighted the rest of it. I asked questions like which books and how to price them, basic questions, and he pointed out the folly in taking something that works and changing it. “Keep everything the same,” he said.

Well, not exactly the same. Different books, duh. But I’ve picked twelve of them, all priced at $6.99 and reduced this week only to $2.99. Two titles each by Jill Emerson and John Warren Wells, one Chip Harrison caper, three Classic Crime Library titles, and four from the Collection of Classic Erotica.

I’ll take them from the top, okay? A Madwoman’s Diary grew out of a case history written up in one of the John Warren Wells books. LB couldn’t get it out of his mind, saw it as the germ of a novel, and wrote it in diary form. (Then “Jill” dedicated it to JWW, “a jack-of-all-trades and master of me.” Yes, I know—I work for a very strange man.) A Madwoman’s Diary has two reviews on Amazon; Bill McCall gives it five stars and says, “This is a typical high quality Block offering. His characterisation is spot on; the narrative is gripping and fulfilling; the plot just like everything he does – it holds and entertains throughout. Buy the damn thing!” Another reader flips us off with a single star: “Perhaps this book appeals to male humans from New York City. The story is depressing and the ending is really depressing.”

Depressing? Really? LB was positively giddy the other day after he had a chance to hear the beginning of P.J. Morgan‘s audiobook-in-progress. Her rendition of Passport to Peril has already drawn a great Audible.com review, and her take on A Madwoman’s Diary should be wrapped up and on sale soon.

A Week as Andrea Benstock is Jill again, with another complicated and convincing female protagonist—but it’s a different sort of a book, focusing on seven significant days over ten years of a woman’s marriage. (A Georges Simenon novel provided LB with the idea for the basic structure.) At an editor’s suggestion, he set the book where he grew up, in the Jewish community of Buffalo, and produced a mainstream novel that was published in hardcover by Arbor House and serialized in the magazine Redbook. There’s more to the story on the Amazon page, and it’s worth checking out. And I have to say this particular  novel’s closer to John O’Hara than John Warren Wells.

Speaking of JWW, first up is Versatile Ladies, which bears the subtitle “The Bisexual Option.” I’d call that an improvement on the title the original publisher hung on the book: Women Who Swing Both Ways. “I loved it,” one reviewer wrote, “but am quite a fan. Read it if you want to see how an illustrious career got its start, and how time has turned Block into a master. Newcomers should start with his earlier Matthew Scudder stories-you’ll be hooked!” Another was more emphatic: “It stinks! This book serves no useful purpose!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! NO!!! I can’t say enough NO!!! NO!!! NO!!!”

Ah well. Can’t please everybody, can you? FWIW, I have to admit I enjoyed the book, and picked it for this promotion in part because I like JWW’s dedication: “For Jill Emerson, unquestionably versatile and every inch a lady.” Kids, um, get a room, huh?

LB has said that the John Warren Wells books “evolved into legitimacy” over the several years when he wrote them. They began largely as fiction dressed as fact, and as he heard from and interacted with readers, the case histories morphed from fiction to reportage. That was certainly true of Love at a Tender Age, where the subjects were individuals LB knew personally or through correspondence. So the book’s kind of genuine, and I found it absorbing, but I can’t find a single reviewer who said anything at all good about it. Like, not a one. The original publisher, Lancer Books, called it “The most explosive and enlightening reading of the year.” That may be a stretch, but for $2.99 you get to decide for yourself. And if you like it, well, we could certainly use a favorable review.

Several weeks ago, LB was on a Zoom launch for The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe; LB’s Chip Harrison short story, “As Dark as Christmas Gets,” was among the pastiches and parodies collected by Josh Pachter. Chip appeared in four books—the first pair are coming-of-age novels, No Score and Chip Harrison Scores Again, while the latter two are detective stories in which young Chip plays Archie Goodwin to Leo Haig, who’s been called “a sort of road company Nero Wolfe.” The first of the mysteries is Make Out With Murder. The book has had a lot of reviews, mostly favorable, but I can’t help sharing this one of Mia’s with you: “I am a Lawrence Block fan. I like the older ones better. Not positive about this but I heard that Lawrence Block passed away years ago and his son is writing the newer books. I don’t know for SURE so not to spread rumors.” Thanks for not spreading rumors, Mia. Just so you know, LB doesn’t have a son. Last I checked, however, he still had a pulse.

When LB was starting out, the TV tie-in novel put food on the tables of a lot of hungry writers. (“Not steak,” the man says. “More like rice and beans.”) Coward’s Kiss had its beginnings as a tie-in novel, linked to the television series Markham, starring Ray Milland. It was LB’s first shot at writing a first-person private eye novel, and it came out well enough that the author and his agent tried it with Gold Medal instead of showing it to the third-tier house that had commissioned it. Knox Burger bought it for Gold Medal, LB changed Markham’s name to Ed London, and got rid of the Renault Dauphine Markham drove on TV. (Renault sponsored the show.) Ed London went on to star in a trio of novelettes, eventually collected in One Night Stands and Lost Weekends. Meanwhile, LB cringed to see his title changed to Death Pulls a Doublecross, then gritted his teeth and wrote another Markham tie-in for Belmont. (It’s available now as You Could Call It Murder.)

Up next is The Girl with the Long Green Heart, also first published by Gold Medal and now available in paperback from Hard Case Crime. It’s the story of a couple of grifters who team up to work a long con real estate swindle. I can’t improve on Dave Wilde‘s reiew for Amazon, so why try? “This 1965 novel is classic Lawrence Block at his best. Think Redford and Newman in The Sting and you’ll have a handle on this book. Although in an afterword, Block points out that his book was published half a dozen years before the movie came out. The amazing thing  is how absolutely engrossing it is. First class writing deserving of nothing less than the highest rating. I enjoyed it from beginning to end.“

The Amazon page tells the story of Cinderella Sims, and it’s worth a look whether or not you’re interested in the book. A very young LB started out with an idea for a crime novel, lost enthusiasm for it a few chapters in, and then wrapped it up as an Andrew Shaw title for Nightstand. But it wound up being a crime novel after all, and years later he let himself be talked into reprinting it, and now it’s one of the more popular entries in the Classic Crime Library. Eight Amazon reviews, all four or five stars. Here are some snippets: “As always Block creates totally offbeat plots and carries you along for the ride with enough side steps to keep you interested.” “This tale has more twists than a pair of mating anacondas. Cinderella Sims is definitely a person I’d never want to meet.” “Worth a look for fans of pulp novels and a must-have for Lawrence Block aficionados.”

When he decided to add A Woman Must Love to the Collection of Classic Erotica, LB read the book for the first time in 57 years; his musings on the book’s Amazon page are worth your time. One thing that struck him was that the book was less an example of erotica than a pure romance novel: “Barbara, a young widow, has vowed to be true to her husband’s memory (even though he’d wished otherwise). She’s courted, and she has a couple of adventures, and there’s a certain amount of coupling in the book of one sort or another, but the damn thing’s a romance, and I have to wonder how I came to write it.” And, while you can’t tell a book by its cover, this one by the great Paul Rader is a keeper.

You may know that LB’s early works include a trio of erotic novels written in collaboration with his friend Donald Westlake. The lads wrote alternate chapters, letting the plot make itself up as they went along, and the books (A Girl Called Honey, So Willing, and Sin Hellcat) were collected decades later in a handsome Subterranean Press volume, Hellcats and Honeygirls. What you may not know is that LB also collaborated with another close friend, Hal Dresner, who would move on to a distinguished career as a screenwriter. The two did only one book together, Circle of Sinners, its format a repurposing of Arthur Schnitzler‘s classic stage play, La Ronde. They had fun doing it, LB says, and they’re still friends almost sixty years later.

Gigolo Johnny Wells is, let me assure you, no relation to JWW. I asked LB about this one, and got this reply: “When you do a book a month for a publisher, you can aim for competence in all of them, but only a few will have much in the way of inspiration. This one did; I really got into it, and that may be why the editor—probably Harlan Ellison—changed the ending, restored a dead Johnny to life, and insisted I write a sequel. Which I suppose I must have done, but I’ve never been able to track it down.” So is it a Genuine Lost Book? And will one of you out there discover it, a continuation of the Johnny Wells saga? Probably not…but please let us know if you do. I should note that Nightstand published this book as Lover; LB retitled it when he added it to the Collection of Classic Erotica.

April North was LB’s first book for Beacon, published under his Sheldon Lord byline. It was reprinted twice, which didn’t do much for the young author, as he was paid a flat rate with no royalties. The book has three Amazon reviews—5-star, 4-star, and this 3-star review by Barry Rosen: “April North, a sort of formulaic potboiler of a cautionary tale about a high school girl who falls victim to her own promiscuity, is a very early book by mystery grand master Lawrence Block. Written by anyone else, this one would be difficult to get through. But even as a young author, Block’s gift is evident, and fans will enjoy the writing, as well as Block’s essay that follows the novel, detailing how the novel, and Block’s career, came to be. Actually, this might be a 3.5.” I like the way Barry wrote himself all the way to that extra half star. I also like the cover art—a lot. Full disclosure: Have to admit that I haven’t read the book itself. It’s on my TBR pile…

AUDIO—I noted above that P.J. Morgan‘s at work on the audiobook version of A Madwoman’s Diary. Here’s where the other eleven titles stand in the audio universe:

A Week as Andrea Benstock. Not yet in audio, but in the planning stages.

Versatile Ladies and Love at a Tender Age. Not yet in audio, and I’m not sure we’ll be doing them. Of the John Warren Wells books, Wide Open has been doing nicely in audio, narrated by Don Sobczak, and 3 is Not a Crowd has been superbly recorded by Bill Weeden and Dolores McDougal, returning to a topic they treated so deftly in Threesome; we’re just waiting for the audiobook to navigate ACX’s thoroough approval process.

Make Out With Murder, along with the other three Chip Harrison books, has been very skillfully narrated by Gregory Gorton for AudioGo.

A couple of years ago, Peter Berkrot voiced Coward’s Kiss for Blackstone Audio; he did the same for the book written to replace it, You Could Call It Murder. (And Peter has recently wrapped LB’s upcoming novel, Dead Girl Blues, for Tantor Audio—and if you can’t wait to hear it, well, you’re not the only one.)

Alan Sklar has recorded quite a few Lawrence Block books, most recently Evan Tanner #2, The Canceled Czech. He voiced The Girl With the Long Green Heart for Blackstone Audio, and it’s excellent. (No surprise there.)

Cinderella Sims is our newest audiobook, just released through ACX. Theo Holland, whose projects with LB include The Adulterers and Resume Speed, has done his usual fine job giving voice to it. And now, when a lesser man might turn into a pumpkin, Theo’s turning instead to the Block-Westlake joint venture, Sin Hellcat.

Some of you have heard Barbara Nevins Taylor‘s utterly engaging narration of Of Shame and Joy. I’m happy to report that the next audiobook on her agenda is A Woman Must Love; it’s in the works, and should be on virtual shelves before long.

As for Circle of Sinners, Gigolo Johnny Wells, and April North, we hope they’ll all blossom one day as audiobooks. But that’ll be a while yet. Rest assured I’ll let you know the moment they do!

That’s almost it for now—and not a moment too soon. LB’s notes include the strong suggestion that I thank you all for making the May 31st launch of The Darkling Halls of Ivy a success. The anthology is off and running, capitalizing on strong early reviews. (And the limited edition from Subterranean Press is, as expected, already out of print. If your order was confirmed, no worries, you’ll receive it soon. If you did miss out, our library-binding hardcover is the next best thing.)

I’m also urged to remind you that Dead Girl Blues is less than three weeks away from its June 24th publication on LB’s 82nd birthday, and the best way to wish him many happy returns (always an odd thing to wish a publisher, come to think of it) is by giving yourself a present—by preordering the book.

Well, I’ll be darned. When I set up that last hyperlink, I discovered that Peter Berkrot’s audiobook is also available for preorder. I could swear it wasn’t on offer yesterday. So click away and preorder the book, or preorder the audio version, or—hey, here’s an idea! Grab them both!

Before I let you go, here’s a list of the twelve Kindle ebooks on this special promotion. A Madwoman’s Diary, A Week as Andrea Benstock, Versatile Ladies, Love at a Tender Age, Make Out With Murder, Coward’s Kiss, The Girl With the Long Green Heart, Cinderella Sims, A Woman Must Love, Circle of Sinners, Gigolo Johnny Wells, and April North.  Remember, they’re reduced from $6.99 to $2.99, and we can guarantee to keep that price through June 12th.

Oops! I almost forgot. Luigi Garlaschelli, who’s been busy in recent years turning the serviceable English of Lawrence Block into the mellifluous Italian of Dante and Boccaccio, has completed his translation of Dead Girl Blues, and it’s scheduled for publication on June 24th, the very same day that the book launches in English. Yet another birthday present for LB—and for the italophonic readers in our midst, who can save $2 by preordering it now. Note the imaginative title: Dead Girl Blues — Edizione Italiana.

Whew! That’s all I got.