Rating: 
Summary: Not his best, but not bad...
Review: Over the years, I have truly enjoyed reading Block's work. I am not quite sure what I expected when I began this book, but I didn't get it. Though there is a murder to begin the book, it takes a while for that part of the story to get going. We are thrown into several different characters' lives and we slowly see how those lives meet up again as the book progresses.
Several of the characters I found rather interesting...especially the writer as he tried to figure out who he was and what he could do. The sexual exploits of Susan and the Police commissioner were often a little more than I cared to read.
I also would have liked to understand the killer more...I did not feel that I fully understood his reasoning behind what he was doing. Yeah, I know about the tragedies in his life but I wanted more reasoning on why he blamed the city more for what happened.
Overall, the character development was solid and the storyline was fair but I just expected a little more in some areas and a little less in some areas from the good Mr. Block.
Rating: 
Summary: Intense and Fabulous
Review: I'm a Block fan from Keller, Random Walk, and a myriad of short stories rather than his serial mysteries, so perhaps my expectations weren't that of other Block fans. I gave this book a chance because I enjoy his writing and I don't have time for any more series books right now!
This book was wonderful. The characters were developed and interesting and the story was an unusual way to show that people's lives are interconnected in ways you wouldn't imagine to ends that can surprise. I will agree with some that the sex was a bit over the top, but it was necessary for the development of Susan's character and to place the right people in the right places to convey information from one place to another, eventually leading to the climax of the story. That is the POINT of the story and along the way we had the pleasure of a voyeuristic view into the minds, bodies and souls of some extremely interesting human beings. It was a story of people's lives woven together during an emotional time in New York City. In life, not everyone lives the same way and it's interesting that while people have no trouble reading about a killer planning and executing a murder (or murderS), reading about explicit sex causes embarassment and annoyance.
When I finished listening to this unabridged audiobook, I was almost exhausted from the intensity of it. It was one of those books that caused me to stop and think about it for even DAYS after I was done and to want to talk about it and share it with others because of how good it really is. I highly recommend this book, but be warned - it IS intense, there are unusual sexual ingredients, there is sadness, happiness, pain, & love. It is a powerful novel that you won't soon forget after you read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Really not very good
Review: Well, I've read Scudder, Bernie, and the other Block main characters, so I know Block. This book starts off well, with a very interesting plot. It even has an interesting and surprisingly sympathetic, murderer.
But the over-the-top sex scenes were just plain boring after a while. By the end, I didn't really care much for Susan. And are we really to believe a macho former police commissioner would let himself be so utterly dominated by a woman? And are we really to believe that this same woman "teaches" another man he's gay? Please.
Finally, the ending is just too little, too late. By the time the Carpenter meets his maker, I'd just about had it with the book.
In short, this book was too long, and the heavy emphasis on sex made the story, and the characters, LESS interesting than more.
Rating: 
Summary: Block delivers again
Review: In many of the novels of Lawrence Block, there is a somewhat hidden character, hidden because it is not a person, but a place: New York City. In Small Town, Block brings this character to the forefront, showing how it is recovering from the wounds it received on the infamous September 11. Block treats the city with a certain reverence and by interweaving the lives of his human characters, demonstrates that there is a certain "small-town" quality to the big city. It's a formula that is mostly, but not completely successful.As a long-time fan of Block, this book reminded me of his many books on the art of writing. First, because of the good writing that once again indicates he's an author who knows his craft. Second, because in a couple of those books he discusses writing soft porn early in his career, and this novel does have a level of sexual explicitness that is unusual for most of his mysteries. Third, because one of his characters is a writer, and Block gives a behind-the-scenes look at what such a life could be like. The story itself involves a serial killer whose family died as a result of 9/11 and now is driven by a delusion that the city itself requires sacrifices. The two principal characters are the writer mentioned above who is suspected of one of the killer's murders and an art gallery owner whose sexual addiction drives her to all sorts of interesting behavior, much of which is described in great detail. Although never directly involved in the life of the killer, she does become entangled in the lives he has affected. In tone, this is reminiscent of Block's Matthew Scudder novels, which is a good thing, since Block is at best with that series of novels. As one of his rare excursions into non-series fiction, this is likely to please many of his fans; although not perfect, it is entertaining.
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