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Title: solid, edgy story of a crime of passion
Review: After reading some of Lawrence Block's more recent books, I am not surprised at all by this excellent short novel. It reads very fast, includes well developed characters, and has that hard edge to it that keeps the reader rivited to the action. Our main character is a grifter who is always looking for the next town, the next con and the next woman to bed. He goes to Atlantic City and needs some luggage, and lo in behold, the bags he happens to steal include some illegal contraband. Then a woman enters the picture and our protaganist starts to see some odd coincidences. Will he kill for her? I was fascinated to read the outcome of this easy to read book, and try to outguess where Mr Block was leading us. The ending did surprise me a little.Considering this book was written in 1961, the sex and drug descriptions must have been pretty racy for the times.
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