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Transgressions #9, 10
Keller's Adjustment; Forever
New York Times bestsellers Lawrence Block and Jeffrey Deaver each provided a brand-new, never-before-published tale for this unique collection of stories edited by New York Times bestselling author and mystery legend Ed McBain.
"Keller's Adjustment," by Lawrence Block: Block returns to everyone's favorite hitman, Keller, from his bestsellers The Hit Man and The Hit List. In the Aftermath of 9/11, Keller is questioning his life and the choices he's made, dealing out philosophy and murder on a meandering road trip from one end of the America to the other.
"Forever" by Jeffery Deaver: Talbot Simms is an unusual cop. He's a statistician with the Westbrook County Sheriff's Department. When wealthy county resident's begin killing themselves one after another, Simms begins to believe that there is something more at play. And what he discovers will change his life . . . forever.
"Keller's Adjustment," by Lawrence Block: Block returns to everyone's favorite hitman, Keller, from his bestsellers The Hit Man and The Hit List. In the Aftermath of 9/11, Keller is questioning his life and the choices he's made, dealing out philosophy and murder on a meandering road trip from one end of the America to the other.
"Forever" by Jeffery Deaver: Talbot Simms is an unusual cop. He's a statistician with the Westbrook County Sheriff's Department. When wealthy county resident's begin killing themselves one after another, Simms begins to believe that there is something more at play. And what he discovers will change his life . . . forever.
339 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 2006
About the author
Lawrence Block
744 books3,039 followersLawrence Block has been writing crime, mystery, and suspense fiction for more than half a century. He has published in excess (oh, wretched excess!) of 100 books, and no end of short stories.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 16, 2018
Imagine the opportunity to read two novellas — longer than a short story, shorter than a novel — by two great writers, edited by a third. Wonderful experience!
Both stories were very strong and surprising in their own way: Jeffery Deaver's Forever introduces us to a very different character from his Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs except for one very important way: the drive and passion to solve a mystery. Tal Simms is a mathematician and his area is all about statistics and financial crimes ... Until he comes across an apparent double suicide that doesn't fit the numbers. Suddenly, Tal is following clues and delving into character and coming up with more questions. This is a slowly growing in intensity story that grabs the reader when he least expects it and holds on tight as Tal makes his way. A tough one to put down once that happens.
Lawrence Block turns to one of his popular characters, the assassin Keller who is on a job in Miami in 9/11 and is shaken not just by what has happened but what he sees happening as as result of it. The job in Miami isn't as smooth as he would have liked but he does it and then follows up with a job that takes him in the other direction to a retirement community in Scottsdale, Arizona, undoing things that scare him just a bit. Is it time to hang up his career?
Both stories were very strong and surprising in their own way: Jeffery Deaver's Forever introduces us to a very different character from his Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs except for one very important way: the drive and passion to solve a mystery. Tal Simms is a mathematician and his area is all about statistics and financial crimes ... Until he comes across an apparent double suicide that doesn't fit the numbers. Suddenly, Tal is following clues and delving into character and coming up with more questions. This is a slowly growing in intensity story that grabs the reader when he least expects it and holds on tight as Tal makes his way. A tough one to put down once that happens.
Lawrence Block turns to one of his popular characters, the assassin Keller who is on a job in Miami in 9/11 and is shaken not just by what has happened but what he sees happening as as result of it. The job in Miami isn't as smooth as he would have liked but he does it and then follows up with a job that takes him in the other direction to a retirement community in Scottsdale, Arizona, undoing things that scare him just a bit. Is it time to hang up his career?
January 26, 2014
Best 50 cents I ever spent at a used book store basement special. Two of my favorites authors spinning novellas.
I love short stories, novellas and such and find them so much more difficult to write. There's only a short window to develop the character(s), the locale and the storyline. That creates the difficulty, the short window.
These two writers are talented though and created remarkable short stories and did it with panache. Not quite Edgar Award nominations but great stories nonetheless.
For 25 cents a pop, greatest entertainment bargain I've had in a year.
I love short stories, novellas and such and find them so much more difficult to write. There's only a short window to develop the character(s), the locale and the storyline. That creates the difficulty, the short window.
These two writers are talented though and created remarkable short stories and did it with panache. Not quite Edgar Award nominations but great stories nonetheless.
For 25 cents a pop, greatest entertainment bargain I've had in a year.
October 24, 2009
This book edited by Ed McBain of 87th Precinct fame contains two Novellas (10,000-40,000 words) one by Jeffrey Deaver and the other by Lawrence Block.
Both stories are delightful. Deaver's titled "Forever" involves a detective, Talbot Simms, whose mathematical skills have gotten him a job as a statistical analyst in the Westbrook County, Sheriff's Department. He becomes suspicious of a double suicide and despite receiving a great deal of ribbing from other detectives in the department follows his intuition and eventually gets the head of homicide, Greg LaTour, interested. The story proceeds from there to a very satisfactory conclusion.
Lawrence Blocks effort, "Keller's Adjustment" explores how Keller, the protagonist of the "Hitman" series, reacts to the 9-11 tragedy. Having read all three of the "Hitman" books, I was delighted with Keller's introspective musings as he comes to grip with changing security measures on airplanes and realizes he cannot be a contract killer for the rest of his life.
Even as he completes his latest contract, he continues to question what he is doing. Not out of any moral stance but rather as anyone would contemplate a career change. How Block manages to make Keller so believable without turning him into a raging sociopath is beyond my poor imagining.
Both these stories are fast reads. I completed both of them in 24 hours. Ed McBain served readers well by bringing these two authors together in one volume.
Both stories are delightful. Deaver's titled "Forever" involves a detective, Talbot Simms, whose mathematical skills have gotten him a job as a statistical analyst in the Westbrook County, Sheriff's Department. He becomes suspicious of a double suicide and despite receiving a great deal of ribbing from other detectives in the department follows his intuition and eventually gets the head of homicide, Greg LaTour, interested. The story proceeds from there to a very satisfactory conclusion.
Lawrence Blocks effort, "Keller's Adjustment" explores how Keller, the protagonist of the "Hitman" series, reacts to the 9-11 tragedy. Having read all three of the "Hitman" books, I was delighted with Keller's introspective musings as he comes to grip with changing security measures on airplanes and realizes he cannot be a contract killer for the rest of his life.
Even as he completes his latest contract, he continues to question what he is doing. Not out of any moral stance but rather as anyone would contemplate a career change. How Block manages to make Keller so believable without turning him into a raging sociopath is beyond my poor imagining.
Both these stories are fast reads. I completed both of them in 24 hours. Ed McBain served readers well by bringing these two authors together in one volume.
July 13, 2017
This "episode" of Transgressions features two novellas from Lawrence Block and Jeffery Deaver-let's throw each of them around in turn. Deaver is far from my favorite author but I've always felt I just haven't found the right thing he's written yet. Forever was not the right one, that's for sure. This story has a lot going against it-for one thing it is hard to make statistics interesting, and our main character here is a statistician/mathematician. Still, Deaver is a skilled writer and overcomes this. However the last forty-five pages of the story veered quickly into some alternate reality. Deaver doesn't just stretch suspension of disbelief-he takes suspension of disbelief's mother out to dinner at a nice seafood restaurant and then NEVER CALLS HER AGAIN. Major stars lost for that. Block's Keller's Adjustment...well, truthfully Block writes like an electric dream and can do no wrong. And he is why this book gets an overall rating of four stars.
November 13, 2024
1. Forever - Detective Simms is a mathematician cum detective and solves a series of suspicious suicides. Along the way he earns the respect of his grizzled hard-boiled partner. An interesting novella with a heavy dose of mathematics (including perfect numbers) and how one man through persistence can make a difference.
2. Kepler’s Adjustment - Too much introspection and agonizing by a hit man following 9/11. No.
2. Kepler’s Adjustment - Too much introspection and agonizing by a hit man following 9/11. No.
November 23, 2020
2 stars for "It was okay." I agree with other reviewers that Forever was not as good as Keller's Adjustment. Forever didn't engage me that much and the story construction was sometimes awkward. It almost seemed like a first novel by an amateur author. Keller's Adjustment was better written and the characterizations were much deeper. More engaging than the first story.
June 17, 2025
Solid, serviceable thrillers in both stories!
Read
April 18, 2026Love Jeffrey Deaver .. didn't care for Lawrence Block's ending.
September 29, 2016
A rating of 2 is very generous, but I normally save 1 ratings for books that advocate or praise evil, and this doesn't.
The Deaver story features a detective who is a mathematician, but it is clear Deaver did not consult someone who has much knowledge of math, let alone a methematician. The cop parts were pretty lame, too. The plot wasn't all that bad, although there holes in that too. As a parody, it wasn't funny or wryly observant enough, but as a "real" crime novel, it was amusing how bad it was.
The Block story features his hit man, Keller. I read the first collection, not bad if one can accept the premise of a psychopath pro killer as a protagonist. This is essentially a short work in that series, doubled in length to fit the format, and the additional length doesn't really add anything but excess words.
At least the stories move along, and fans should find it better than most of the crap on TV.
The Deaver story features a detective who is a mathematician, but it is clear Deaver did not consult someone who has much knowledge of math, let alone a methematician. The cop parts were pretty lame, too. The plot wasn't all that bad, although there holes in that too. As a parody, it wasn't funny or wryly observant enough, but as a "real" crime novel, it was amusing how bad it was.
The Block story features his hit man, Keller. I read the first collection, not bad if one can accept the premise of a psychopath pro killer as a protagonist. This is essentially a short work in that series, doubled in length to fit the format, and the additional length doesn't really add anything but excess words.
At least the stories move along, and fans should find it better than most of the crap on TV.
September 11, 2013
I just read Forever by Jeffrey Deaver, and my 3 stars are given for this story.
It was quite short, yet very driving and with nice storyline.
Police statistician Tal Simms discovered some common features between two suicides and activated police investigation. Story consists of several POV's and line twists.
I liked it, actually, in common. I just disliked the very weak end by contrast to the very promising beginning.
It was quite short, yet very driving and with nice storyline.
Police statistician Tal Simms discovered some common features between two suicides and activated police investigation. Story consists of several POV's and line twists.
I liked it, actually, in common. I just disliked the very weak end by contrast to the very promising beginning.
September 25, 2012
A pleasant read. Not real long, Forever by Jeffery Deaver is the longest of the two. A math whiz as a cop. Lawrence Block gives us a short featuring an introspective Keller post 911. Edited by Ed McBain.
December 21, 2009
This was a two-some of novellas. The one by Jeffery Deaver was very good, and I'd give it five stars. The one by Lawrence Block was kind of wierd, and I'd give it three stars at most.
February 1, 2014
178 - 2014
Tertimbun sejak 08.11.08
Tertimbun sejak 08.11.08
January 3, 2015
Jeffery Deaver's was good. Lawrence Block's was not.
March 15, 2017
This volume of Transgressions, edited by Ed McBain, consists of two novellas by New York Times bestselling authors Lawrence Block and Jeffrey Deaver. Deaver’s contribution, Forever, concerns a statistician turned cop who becomes suspicious of double suicide. The cop, Tal Simms, blunders his way through an investigation until he is finally able to convince Homicide that it may be a case for them after all. The story builds nicely, but the ending seems a bit sudden. An enjoyable tale, nonetheless. Block’s novella, Keller’s Adjustment, concerns a successful hitman who becomes philosophical about his life and lifestyle after 9/11 and the ensuing security measures. Block is able to present his hitman, Keller, as almost the opposite of a sociopath. Any writer who has the singular ability to get his readers sympathising with a hitman is worth reading. Block’s is arguably the better of the two novellas.
Merged review:
This volume of Transgressions, edited by Ed McBain, consists of two novellas by New York Times bestselling authors Lawrence Block and Jeffrey Deaver. Deaver’s contribution, Forever, concerns a statistician turned cop who becomes suspicious of double suicide. The cop, Tal Simms, blunders his way through an investigation until he is finally able to convince Homicide that it may be a case for them after all. The story builds nicely, but the ending seems a bit sudden. An enjoyable tale, nonetheless. Block’s novella, Keller’s Adjustment, concerns a successful hitman who becomes philosophical about his life and lifestyle after 9/11 and the ensuing security measures. Block is able to present his hitman, Keller, as almost the opposite of a sociopath. Any writer who has the singular ability to get his readers sympathising with a hitman is worth reading. Block’s is arguably the better of the two novellas.
Merged review:
This volume of Transgressions, edited by Ed McBain, consists of two novellas by New York Times bestselling authors Lawrence Block and Jeffrey Deaver. Deaver’s contribution, Forever, concerns a statistician turned cop who becomes suspicious of double suicide. The cop, Tal Simms, blunders his way through an investigation until he is finally able to convince Homicide that it may be a case for them after all. The story builds nicely, but the ending seems a bit sudden. An enjoyable tale, nonetheless. Block’s novella, Keller’s Adjustment, concerns a successful hitman who becomes philosophical about his life and lifestyle after 9/11 and the ensuing security measures. Block is able to present his hitman, Keller, as almost the opposite of a sociopath. Any writer who has the singular ability to get his readers sympathising with a hitman is worth reading. Block’s is arguably the better of the two novellas.
April 10, 2016
Review to come.
May 1, 2017
Two novellas by two well known mystery/thriller writers. The first one is by Jeffrey Deaver. It seems to be two different stories, which by the end seamlessly join together into one complete story. The second one is by Laurence Block which covers the doings and musings of a hit man in the days of 9/11. Both novellas are well written and make enjoyable reading.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews