The Naked and the Deadly - Lawrence Block

As I’ve mentioned many times before, Lawrence Block is one of my favorite authors, and I’m glad that so much of the work from early in his career is available again. The latest Block collection, THE NAKED AND THE DEADLY, comes from Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle at the Men’s Adventure Library, and it showcases some of Block’s earliest published work as well as some later yarns, too.

As Sheldon Lord, the name he later used on soft-core novels published by Midwood, Block wrote several articles from the late Fifties and on into the Sixties for various men’s adventure magazines. Maritime disasters, hookers, swinging stewardesses, and bloodthirsty Nazis were all suitable subjects for these articles, which were a mixture of fact and fiction. Block’s skill as a writer is already apparent in these early efforts, especially in the pacing. These stories move right along and come to natural, well-developed endings. One thing I’ve noticed about the men’s adventure magazine stories is that many of them end rather abruptly as if the author had made the word count and wrapped things up as quickly as possible. The better writers didn’t do this, of course, and Block is certainly among their number.

Also included in this volume are three long private eye novellas featuring Ed London, the protagonist of Block’s early novel DEATH PULLS A DOUBLECROSS. London is Block’s first series character and the stories featuring him are top-notch, as you’d expect from the creator of Matt Scudder. I’d read these before but enjoyed them all over again.

There are also condensed versions—the magazines where they were first published called them Book Bonuses—of two of Block’s Evan Tanner novels. I had read the original versions of these when they were published as paperback originals nearly 60 years ago, but after all that time, reading the Book Bonus versions was like they were new to me, and I had a great time with both of them.

As usual with the books from the Men’s Adventure Library, plenty of great cover art from various books and magazines is lovingly reproduced, and there are informative and entertaining essays and introductions from editor Deis and Block himself. All of it comes together in a package that is well worth your time to read. THE NAKED AND THE DEADLY is available in a paperback edition, an e-book edition, and an expanded hardback edition, not to mention a limited signed edition. No matter which way you want to go, if you’re a fan of Lawrence Block’s work, you need this book. I really enjoyed it.