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gaetkoguy's review
4.0
What a glorious unexpected find! I pulled this book off the shelf in my parents house to pass the time and fell in love with the author, his characters, the humor, and mystery. Can’t wait to continue the series!
brobobby70's review against another edition
4.0
, Enjoyed burglary scenes. Bernie is a relatable character. Played a little loose with suspects in summation, introducing evidence not given previously to reader.
darusha's review against another edition
4.0
Reading Lawrence Block is like coming home for me, and the Burglar books are like coming home to a warm cup of coffee and a snuggly blanket. A stolen coffee and blanket in someone else's home, but that's neither here nor there.
They all have the loveable rascal Bernie getting in some scrape tangentially related to his vocation as a burglar, but convoluted plots aside, it's Block's witty dialogue and setting description that make the books a joy to read. Burglar on the Prowl follows the formula well, with Bernie moving into the modern world somewhat. There are even references to Google and instant messaging, but the story is a classic Bernie Rhodenbarr.
While I prefer Block's Scudder novels (more, please!) and the Keller stories, sometimes a Burglar book is perfect, when you need something light and fluffy but still infused with a healthy dose of moral ambiguity.
They all have the loveable rascal Bernie getting in some scrape tangentially related to his vocation as a burglar, but convoluted plots aside, it's Block's witty dialogue and setting description that make the books a joy to read. Burglar on the Prowl follows the formula well, with Bernie moving into the modern world somewhat. There are even references to Google and instant messaging, but the story is a classic Bernie Rhodenbarr.
While I prefer Block's Scudder novels (more, please!) and the Keller stories, sometimes a Burglar book is perfect, when you need something light and fluffy but still infused with a healthy dose of moral ambiguity.
laurat's review against another edition
2.0
The Burglar on the Prowl is the 10th book in a series about Bernie Rhodenbarr, a burglar who solves crimes. I had never read any of this series before, but evidently they can be read as standalone. I normally enjoy comedic who-done-its, and did a little, but there were a few places that were absoulte turn offs. Particularly one creepy scene that ruined the whole thing. There were humorous parts in the story and an overall ridiculousness that I guess is the shtick, but the effect was just lost on me. Also the ending was so confusing that even the characters where confused and had to ask for clarification. Talk about a mystery!
ericwelch's review against another edition
The “Burglar” series books are always charming and this one is no exception. Bernie is on the prowl for a score but is soon (as usual) enmeshed in a murder that brings new meaning to the word “complicated.” The plot is intricate and the “long arm of coincidence” sets off his internal alarms and you might think it overreaches, but these books are read for the style and dialogues. In classic style, Bernie gets everyone together for the final denouement.
Lots of fun.
Lots of fun.
guiltyfeat's review
3.0
Another slice of Rhodenbarr sponge... drizzled with whisky, probably Laphroaig. Formulaic to a fault with even Block signposting his lazy adherence to the cliche:
And, yet, not without its charms. Perhaps more than most, this featherlight book is built on silly coincidences, but Block makes them a feature and brazens his way to another satisfying conclusion.
... what a less original narrator might characterize as that fateful day...
And, yet, not without its charms. Perhaps more than most, this featherlight book is built on silly coincidences, but Block makes them a feature and brazens his way to another satisfying conclusion.
caterinaanna's review
4.0
I couldn't resist reading this as soon as I'd finished my previous more serious read - and once started couldn't resist finishing. Bernie has to be one of my favourite fictional felons and this time he ends up on the side of the good guys with very little to show for it at the end. One highlight was an Agatha Christie-type 'we are gathered here today to reveal the truth' meeting, but throughout the wisecracks and puns keep coming and the older-but-no-wiser-burglar still has what it takes to make me smile.
carol26388's review
1.0
If you are willing to gloss over ethical and character problems in a significant character relationship, it might theoretically be an entertaining read.
Seriously, Block. What's the author of the finely tuned Matt Scudder mysteries thinking? Please tell me this was subbed out to a ghost writer, because your introduction of the Barbara Creely character is awful.
Burglar stared off promising, with a unique voice compared to Block's other works, and with a man who clearly enjoyed his illegal activities, even as he was aware of how problematic they were.
Bernie Rodenbarr is set up to be a somewhat loveable anti-hero, the classic criminal with ethics (he only steals from the rich, etc, etc), and it mostly works, until he's under the bed at a woman's house as she is about to get date-raped. And he just hides there and listens, because he's essentially afraid of harm from the rapist. Although I appreciate that Bernie is sharing an honest reason, it had a significant downgrading on my enjoyment level. After the rapist finishes, he tosses the apartment looking for money and valuables. He threatens to degrade the unconscious woman further, but is luckily stopped by circumstance. Bernie feels sorry for the woman and makes an effort to "clean up" the mess the rapist/robber made by putting things back, replacing money in her wallet, flushing the condom, etc. Kind, I suppose. But how fucking obtuse: I know what will solve the problem! Let me erase it for you and we'll pretend it never happened!
Later, Bernie goes back to the neighborhood and hangs out at a bar that seems like the woman's type, hoping to run into her. To see if she's okay? Nice thought, but no. To try and warn her that her she needs to start playing it safer? Wow, you're kind of a Pollyanna, aren't you?
No, he meets her, they have a creepy conversation about how it seems they've been "emotionally intimate" before, he goes home with her that night, and spends the night having sex.
Oh, not so he's a stalker or anything--he's friendly and doesn't use roofies, which makes all the difference.
Then, within a week, he's telling her the truth about his occupation... and how he first met her. And you know what? She's okay with it.
What
the
fuck?
The self-disclosure is literally taken care of in a couple of paragraphs. This is despite Bernie earlier reflecting on a conversation with his friend Carolyn about how merely feeling burgled felt like a violation. He tells Barbara she's been roofied and date-raped, along with being robbed. Her reaction? She swears for a minute and then focuses on which window Bernie was going to use to escape.
I will say it again:
What
the
fuck?
Add in a shitload of coincidences, which Bernie self-references twenty times if he does it once, and the ridiculous Hercule Poirot denouement, and I'm left with the uncomfortable feeling that this is a spoof. In which rape is how you meet your next date.
Need I say it again?
Seriously, Block. What's the author of the finely tuned Matt Scudder mysteries thinking? Please tell me this was subbed out to a ghost writer, because your introduction of the Barbara Creely character is awful.
Burglar stared off promising, with a unique voice compared to Block's other works, and with a man who clearly enjoyed his illegal activities, even as he was aware of how problematic they were.
Bernie Rodenbarr is set up to be a somewhat loveable anti-hero, the classic criminal with ethics (he only steals from the rich, etc, etc), and it mostly works, until he's under the bed at a woman's house as she is about to get date-raped. And he just hides there and listens, because he's essentially afraid of harm from the rapist. Although I appreciate that Bernie is sharing an honest reason, it had a significant downgrading on my enjoyment level. After the rapist finishes, he tosses the apartment looking for money and valuables. He threatens to degrade the unconscious woman further, but is luckily stopped by circumstance. Bernie feels sorry for the woman and makes an effort to "clean up" the mess the rapist/robber made by putting things back, replacing money in her wallet, flushing the condom, etc. Kind, I suppose. But how fucking obtuse: I know what will solve the problem! Let me erase it for you and we'll pretend it never happened!
Later, Bernie goes back to the neighborhood and hangs out at a bar that seems like the woman's type, hoping to run into her. To see if she's okay? Nice thought, but no. To try and warn her that her she needs to start playing it safer? Wow, you're kind of a Pollyanna, aren't you?
No, he meets her, they have a creepy conversation about how it seems they've been "emotionally intimate" before, he goes home with her that night, and spends the night having sex.
Oh, not so he's a stalker or anything--he's friendly and doesn't use roofies, which makes all the difference.
Then, within a week, he's telling her the truth about his occupation... and how he first met her. And you know what? She's okay with it.
What
the
fuck?
The self-disclosure is literally taken care of in a couple of paragraphs. This is despite Bernie earlier reflecting on a conversation with his friend Carolyn about how merely feeling burgled felt like a violation. He tells Barbara she's been roofied and date-raped, along with being robbed. Her reaction? She swears for a minute and then focuses on which window Bernie was going to use to escape.
I will say it again:
What
the
fuck?
Add in a shitload of coincidences, which Bernie self-references twenty times if he does it once, and the ridiculous Hercule Poirot denouement, and I'm left with the uncomfortable feeling that this is a spoof. In which rape is how you meet your next date.
Need I say it again?
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