Reviews for Sometimes they bite

The average rating for Sometimes they bite based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-04-11 00:00:00 Bob Smith Collection of 18 short stories. Sometimes They Bite- 2 men are fishing with no luck and one of them begins to tell the other the story of how he killed a man. Pretty good, short and sweet. Rating: 5/5 The Ehrengraf Defense- A mother desperate to get her son acquitted of murder, visits an unorthodox lawyer who has a track record for never losing a case. Really good. I liked it a lot. Portrays an interesting way to practice law. Rating: 5/5 Strangers on a Handball Court- Two guys randomly meet on a handball court and come up with a plan to murder each other's ex-wives but there's a twist. Cool twist, I didn't see it coming. Very Hitchcockian. Rating: 5/5 Like a Dog in The Street- A terrorist is captured and imprisoned but soon there is pressure to release him. Pretty average, the ending was clever but the rest was a tad dry and tedious. Rating: 3/5 A Bad Night for Burglars- A man comes home and catches the burglar in the act of robbing his house. The man pulls a gun on him but starts to get other plans. Solid and quite clever. Rating: 5/5 Nothing Short of Highway Robbery- A pair of brothers who are crooks happen to stumble upon a little mechanic's shop in the middle of nowhere. Seeking gas, they get a whole lot more than they bargained for. I liked this one a lot. The ending was perfect for a story like this. Rating: 5/5 One Thousand Dollars a Word- A short story writer is unhappy with the amount of money per word he is getting so he decides to do something about it. Simple but entertaining. Rating: 5/5 The Gentle Way- 2 animal shelter employees discover that one of their animals has been killed and decide to catch the person who did it. Dark and very satisfying. Rating: 5/5 The Ehrengraf Obligation- Another story featuring the peculiar lawyer, Martin Ehrengraf. This time he's defending a broke poet who has been convicted of murder. Very good. I love the character of Ehrengraf. I'd like to read a whole novel devoted to him. Rating: 5/5 When This Man Dies- A man who has money troubles gets a letter in the mail claiming that when a particular man dies, he will get $500. Pretty soon the amount starts to increase and so do the deaths. Really awesome and such a witty idea. Rating: 5/5 Collecting Ackermans- A killer starts murdering people named Ackerman and the cops and the general public start to wonder why. An interesting idea and concept. The ending was good as well. Rating: 5/5 The Dettweiler Solution- A pair of dim witted brothers decide to pull off an insurance scam. Didn't like the characters of the brothers and the wise cracking narrator didn't really do anything for me one way or the other. Rating: 2/5 Funny You Should Ask- A curious man asks anyone and everyone about the recycled jeans business and eventually gets his answer. Very short and quite predictable but pretty decent all the same. Rating: 3.5/5 Like a Thief in The Night- A Bernie Rhodenbarr story. A woman arrives at her office building in the middle of the night to settle up some unfinished business and finds a burglar at work. Bernie is an interesting character and I can see how Block has made a whole series of books about him. Rating: 4/5 Going Through The Motions- A rich man's daughter is kidnapped and he enlists the help of his friend, the former sheriff to help him get her back. Nice twist at the end that I didn't see coming. Rating: 5/5 This Crazy Business of Ours- Two assassins, one old and one young, meet up at the elder's apartment to talk about times past. Classic, I really enjoyed it. Rating: 5/5 And Miles To Go Before I Sleep- A man is shot and dies on the operating table. When he reaches heaven he is told that he wont be able to return until he finds out who shot him. So he's given back his life to solve the mystery. Interesting and has a supernatural element to it with the whole after death sequence. Rating: 5/5 Out The Window- A Matthew Scudder story. A young waitress seems to have committed suicide by jumping out of her apartment window. But her sister doesn't buy it and hires Matthew Scudder to investigate it. Really good. I had no clue where the story was going and Matthew Scudder is the traditional former cop/detective/private eye who has personal demons and drinks too much. This was the longest story and it was engrossing throughout. I can see why Scudder has his own series of novels as well. Rating: 5/5 None of the stories were excessively long and this gives you just enough time to understand what's going on and not lose interest because the story has worn out its welcome. Some were obviously longer than others but only a couple felt too long. The stories were very clever and amusing in a morbid kind of way. Reminded me a lot of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and other such anthology shows. Block is a good writer he knows how to tell a good story and he can do this no matter the length. He creates some interesting characters throughout the stories and I found myself thinking that many of them would be good in a standalone novel or series. He knows how to write dialogue and establish a sense of mood and tone. The mystery aspect of the stories was pretty strong and entertaining. I really enjoyed almost all of them and the few blemishes were not enough to affect my rating. This was a lot of fun and I think it was a great introduction for me to Lawrence Block.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-05-15 00:00:00 Matthew Blair Добра колекция от разкази с полунеочакван край. Има и по един разказ с участието на любимите ми Мат Скъдър и Бърни Роденбар.