About book The Girl With The Long Green Heart (Hard Case Crime #14) (2005)
It does not take long for the fan of American crime fiction (and of THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL in general) to find themselves compelled and intrigued by this by now classic release, first published in 1956. A long time ago, in what feels like a galaxy far, far away, back before technology once more transformed forever the world we had all grown to love. The opening chapter introduces the reader to the book’s principal character (John Hayden) and, one assumes, the book’s first victim (Wallace Gunderman). We also meet the secretary of the book’s first victim, and she is so gorgeously portrayed by Mr Block that male fans may well find themselves checking the back of their kindles for a trap door that will provide direct and three-dimensional access to the story for them, too. Chapter two gives essential insight into the back ground of Hayden, and also introduces us to another brilliant character, former associate Doug Rance. By chapter’s end, this ex-con and full time grifter manages to tempt Hayden back into a life of crime, high risk and potentially everlasting damnation (not to mention another stretch behind bars) by convincing him to contemplate another short cut to success. And by then of course, the reader is hooked. The book’s writing (of course) is world class. By the start of the third chapter, you either love Hayden or you take him for a complete and utter fool. Questions begin to arise for the alert fan, ranging from, ’Will he get the girl?’ to ’Is the girl in on the act with Rance?’ and ’Is Hayden actually the book’s major victim?' The latter may well appeal only to paranoid fans of Mr Block, as there is a sense of remorse, or melancholy, to the writing which seems to underpin the plot. But I may be wrong about that. The book’s first half is an intricate master class on how to set up a grift. It is a fascinating expose on the procedure, with a slight mix of love won, enjoyed and love (potentially) lost, with a small dose of friendship, betrayal, excitement, terror and suspense. I wont be telling anyone how it all pans out. You will have to track down a copy of this jewel yourself. But the effort will be worth it. Only Mr Block could make such a topic so compelling, intriguing, entertaining, sexy, and scary. What else do you want from a classic work crafted by one of the greatest literary minds the world has ever seen?Hugely recommended.
Pulpy Tagline!: "From the top of her beautiful, brilliant head, to the pit of her merciless soul, she was filled with larceny." (Gold Medal edition)Everyone likes reading about con artists. Stories about people using their brains and wits as weapons to fool someone and get away with it are pretty hard to resist. In this early novel by master Lawrence Block, John Hayden is a skilled confidence man who has just gotten out of San Quentin and has decided to put it all behind him and hang up his grifter's cap. That is until he gets approached to be a part of the mother of all long cons. A long con so sweet that even as his conscience tells him he should live a quiet life managing a bowling alley, the gratification of pulling it off is just something he can't resist.Block pays a great attention to details of the inner-workings of such an elaborate hustle; it was such a pleasure to read. The con is super complex but I was never confused and that's a testament to Block's control of his material. I'd recommend this for all lovers of classic crime and noir. It's definitely a slow build-up where you'll get engulfed in their set-up and ache to see how they pull it off. But then once the twists start flying, so will the pages!
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'The Girl with the Long Green Heart' is an unusual member in the Hard Case Crime Series: the plot doesn't start as a hard felony but a white-collar crime, involving a lot of fraud and deception. This emphasis doesn't make it a bad book, but slows down the narrative flow in the first two thirds of the novel. First, the tricksters explain the deceit to themselves and then, they try to fool the victim. That's not boring, but the pace of the narration is somehow sedate. Only the last third turns out to be a fast read and the end is quite surprising, albeit not totally unpredictable. But as the book has merely 250 pages, I would recommend it to fans of HCC or Lawrence Block, despite it's minor flaws. Block is a master of the genre and his style of writing is very enjoyable.
—Lars
If you are in a bit of a reading rut, the stories you pick are too outlandish or you can't distinguish the novel you are reading now from the one you just put down I'll let you in on the fix. Go and pick out a Lawrence Block novel. Don't spend a lot of time thinking about which one, just find one with a good cover, a good price or intriguing title and just do it. I promise you won't go wrong.Block writes believable noirish down on luck / never do well characters / protaganists that are interesting and pieces them together in believable plot lines, the kind of stories you might come across if you tended bar back in the day. His novels read quickly without creating falsetto cliff-hangers to keep you turning.The Girl with the Long Green Heart throws a couple of curve balls at you just start to wonder if the long con will go down the way it was planned - and they fit in well with the story. Will they pull it off? Will the protagonist get the girl and settle into his dream of running a resort in Colorado on the up and up or will everything come spiraling down? Lovers and aspiring writers of noir should take note; this is how it is done. Character is something to build not something that is revealed through an insipid plot line. Well done Mr Block, well done.
—Jerry Grahs
Well, I always like Block. This was an audio book by a good reader, very dated with the main character smoking a lot, able to take a gun aboard an plane, travel on Mohawk Airlines under another name, having to handle business via phone -- not cell -- and getting a decent hotel room (with room service!) for $20 a night. And pay toilets -- you never see those these days.The usual good dialogue and moving steadily forward with the dialog -- this one about a big swindle complete with double dealings and double crosses. Moves right along. A nice break from THE SWAN THIEVES which is getting very long.
—Lynn Pribus
