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Getting Off: A Novel of Sex and Violence
SO THIS GIRL WALKS INTO A BAR...
...and when she walks out there's a man with her. She goes to bed with him, and she likes that part. Then she kills him, and she likes that even better. On her way out, she cleans out his wallet. She keeps moving, and has a new name for each change of address. She's been doing this for a while, and she's good at it.
And then a chance remark gets her thinking of the men who got away, the lucky ones who survived a night with her. She starts writing down names. And now she's a girl with a mission. Picking up their trails. Hunting them down. Crossing them off her list...
...and when she walks out there's a man with her. She goes to bed with him, and she likes that part. Then she kills him, and she likes that even better. On her way out, she cleans out his wallet. She keeps moving, and has a new name for each change of address. She's been doing this for a while, and she's good at it.
And then a chance remark gets her thinking of the men who got away, the lucky ones who survived a night with her. She starts writing down names. And now she's a girl with a mission. Picking up their trails. Hunting them down. Crossing them off her list...
330 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 20, 2011
65 people are currently reading
874 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Block
767 books2,980 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 - 30 of 226 reviews
September 29, 2011
Beavis: Hey, Butt-head. Check it out!
Butt-head: Why would I want to look at a book, dumb ass?
Beavis: No, seriously, Butt-head. You gotta look at this. There’s a naked chick on the cover!
Butt-head: Woah. Huh huh. Hey, baby…
Beavis: Look, Butt-head. She’s naked. And she’s got a knife by her ass crack.
Butt-head: Ass crack. Huh huh.
Beavis: And see, there’s another naked chick over there. She’s grabbing that dude and taking his shirt off. Huh huh.
Butt-head: Huh huh. That dude is going to score. But why is that chick holding a knife?
Beavis: She’s like a crazy killer or something. Huh huh. She like sleeps with dudes. And the she kills them! Yeah, kills them. Huh huh.
Butt-head: How do you know that, you fart knocker? Huh huh. You can’t read.
Beavis: You know that guy Kemper who lives down the street?
Butt-head: That weirdo who is always reading books? He’s a wuss. Huh huh.
Beavis: Yeah, yeah. That guy. I was walking by him when he was in the park, and he was talking on the phone. And he was telling someone about this book. He said this chick goes around sleeping with these dudes. And then she kills them. And takes their money!
Butt-head: That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard. Huh huh.
Beavis: Yeah, yeah. And that’s not all. I heard that Kemper saying that this chick sleeps with her dad, too.
Butt-head: Woah. She’s a total slut.
Beavis: No, see. It’s like when she‘s a little kid or something. And it messes her all up. Like later when she grows up she kills these dudes and steals all their stuff. But it gets even better because then she like remembers that there’s like these five guys she slept with but didn’t kill. So she decides to go after them and kill them. But first she wants to sleep with them again. Huh huh.
Butt-head: I’m gonna read this. Huh huh.
Beavis: No way, Butt-head. It’s mine. That wuss Kemper walked off and left it on the bench, and I took it.
Butt-head: Yeah, but you can’t read good like me. Dumb ass. Huh huh.
Beavis: Oh, yeah. Well, read it to me. What’s that say there?
Butt-head: H-A-R Uh… It says Hard. Huh huh.
Beavis: Huh huh.
Butt-head: Huh huh. Hard.
Beavis: This is like the dirtiest book ever. What else does it say?
Butt-head: Uh….C-A-S-E…. Case. Is that dirty?
Beavis: Huh huh. Yeah, dirty.
Butt-Head: C-R-I-M-E… Uh, this is too hard.
Beavis: Come on, Butt-head. I want to hear about this crazy naked chick with the knife.
Kemper: Hey, that’s my book. I knew you must have taken it when I saw you lurking around, ya little bastard.
Beavis: Uh oh.
Butt-Head: Quit being a wuss. Tell us about this naked killer chick.
Kemper: You freakin’ morons. This has a lurid cover because it’s a Hard Case Crime book. But it’s a dark noir story by a master mystery writer, Lawrence Block. It’s not just some stupid trashy porno.
Beavis: I thought you said it had sex in it?
Kemper: It does. A lot of sex actually. Really graphic sex, in fact.
Butt-head: Huh huh.
Beavis: He said ‘sex‘! Huh huh.
Kemper: Stop it, guys. This is a really dark psycho-sexual crime story.
Beavis: Yeah, yeah! Psycho sex! Tell us about that! Does she like stab a bunch of guys?
Kemper: Well, yeah. See she’s like a black widow who mates and kills.
Butt-head: Huh huh. You said ‘mate’.
Kemper: Why am I even trying to explain this to you two idiots. Its way above your heads.
Beavis: Does she like make it with other chicks?
Kemper: Huh. Actually, she does. Huh huh.
Butt-head: Woah. This chick is awesome.
Beavis: Yeah, yeah. Tell us more.
Kemper: You want to hear something really funny? This is the 69th book in the Hard Case Crime series. Get it? 69?
Butt-head: Huh huh huh huh.
Beavis: Huh huh. 69! Yeah. Huh huh.
Kemper: Huh huh huh huh.
**************************
Welcome back, Hard Case Crime!
Butt-head: Why would I want to look at a book, dumb ass?
Beavis: No, seriously, Butt-head. You gotta look at this. There’s a naked chick on the cover!
Butt-head: Woah. Huh huh. Hey, baby…
Beavis: Look, Butt-head. She’s naked. And she’s got a knife by her ass crack.
Butt-head: Ass crack. Huh huh.
Beavis: And see, there’s another naked chick over there. She’s grabbing that dude and taking his shirt off. Huh huh.
Butt-head: Huh huh. That dude is going to score. But why is that chick holding a knife?
Beavis: She’s like a crazy killer or something. Huh huh. She like sleeps with dudes. And the she kills them! Yeah, kills them. Huh huh.
Butt-head: How do you know that, you fart knocker? Huh huh. You can’t read.
Beavis: You know that guy Kemper who lives down the street?
Butt-head: That weirdo who is always reading books? He’s a wuss. Huh huh.
Beavis: Yeah, yeah. That guy. I was walking by him when he was in the park, and he was talking on the phone. And he was telling someone about this book. He said this chick goes around sleeping with these dudes. And then she kills them. And takes their money!
Butt-head: That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard. Huh huh.
Beavis: Yeah, yeah. And that’s not all. I heard that Kemper saying that this chick sleeps with her dad, too.
Butt-head: Woah. She’s a total slut.
Beavis: No, see. It’s like when she‘s a little kid or something. And it messes her all up. Like later when she grows up she kills these dudes and steals all their stuff. But it gets even better because then she like remembers that there’s like these five guys she slept with but didn’t kill. So she decides to go after them and kill them. But first she wants to sleep with them again. Huh huh.
Butt-head: I’m gonna read this. Huh huh.
Beavis: No way, Butt-head. It’s mine. That wuss Kemper walked off and left it on the bench, and I took it.
Butt-head: Yeah, but you can’t read good like me. Dumb ass. Huh huh.
Beavis: Oh, yeah. Well, read it to me. What’s that say there?
Butt-head: H-A-R Uh… It says Hard. Huh huh.
Beavis: Huh huh.
Butt-head: Huh huh. Hard.
Beavis: This is like the dirtiest book ever. What else does it say?
Butt-head: Uh….C-A-S-E…. Case. Is that dirty?
Beavis: Huh huh. Yeah, dirty.
Butt-Head: C-R-I-M-E… Uh, this is too hard.
Beavis: Come on, Butt-head. I want to hear about this crazy naked chick with the knife.
Kemper: Hey, that’s my book. I knew you must have taken it when I saw you lurking around, ya little bastard.
Beavis: Uh oh.
Butt-Head: Quit being a wuss. Tell us about this naked killer chick.
Kemper: You freakin’ morons. This has a lurid cover because it’s a Hard Case Crime book. But it’s a dark noir story by a master mystery writer, Lawrence Block. It’s not just some stupid trashy porno.
Beavis: I thought you said it had sex in it?
Kemper: It does. A lot of sex actually. Really graphic sex, in fact.
Butt-head: Huh huh.
Beavis: He said ‘sex‘! Huh huh.
Kemper: Stop it, guys. This is a really dark psycho-sexual crime story.
Beavis: Yeah, yeah! Psycho sex! Tell us about that! Does she like stab a bunch of guys?
Kemper: Well, yeah. See she’s like a black widow who mates and kills.
Butt-head: Huh huh. You said ‘mate’.
Kemper: Why am I even trying to explain this to you two idiots. Its way above your heads.
Beavis: Does she like make it with other chicks?
Kemper: Huh. Actually, she does. Huh huh.
Butt-head: Woah. This chick is awesome.
Beavis: Yeah, yeah. Tell us more.
Kemper: You want to hear something really funny? This is the 69th book in the Hard Case Crime series. Get it? 69?
Butt-head: Huh huh huh huh.
Beavis: Huh huh. 69! Yeah. Huh huh.
Kemper: Huh huh huh huh.
**************************
Welcome back, Hard Case Crime!
December 4, 2013
Kate Tolliver's life has been a never-ending cycle of sex, murder, and robbery since she was a teenager. Only five of the men have lived to tell the tale and that's something Kate means to remedy in the only way she knows how...
After a long hiatus, the Hard Case Crime series returns with a bang. Or, more appropriately, a long series of bangs. What better way to mark the return of the line than a tale from the man who kicked it off in the first place, the esteemed Lawrence Block.
Right off the bat, I have to say this is my favorite cover yet in the Hard Case line and possibly my favorite cover of all time. Take a few seconds to give it a closer look. I'll wait...
As the subtitle indicates, Getting Off is indeed a novel of sex and violence. Lots of sex, lots of violence. The thing that keeps it from straying into Cinemax territory is the ability of Lawrence Block. The man can spin a yarn, that's for sure.
Even though Kate's a psychopath, Block had me rooting for her the entire time, hoping that's she'd be able to cross the five guys off her list. While her back story is dark, Block doesn't play it up for sympathy. It's the character of Kate Tolliver that got me in her corner. She's foul-mouthed, violent, and sometimes hilarious. Also scary, primarily because she's so believable.
Any complaints? Not really. There was a spot that I thought dragged near the end but I think that may have been due to me really wanting to see the last name get his hash settled. While this isn't a complaint for me, there's a lot more sex and profanity in Getting Off than all of the other Hard Case books not written by Christa Faust put together. I had no problem with any of it but I could see how some people would find it off-putting. Then again, people who look at the cover have some idea what they're getting into.
Welcome back, Hard Case! Don't be a stranger.
After a long hiatus, the Hard Case Crime series returns with a bang. Or, more appropriately, a long series of bangs. What better way to mark the return of the line than a tale from the man who kicked it off in the first place, the esteemed Lawrence Block.
Right off the bat, I have to say this is my favorite cover yet in the Hard Case line and possibly my favorite cover of all time. Take a few seconds to give it a closer look. I'll wait...
As the subtitle indicates, Getting Off is indeed a novel of sex and violence. Lots of sex, lots of violence. The thing that keeps it from straying into Cinemax territory is the ability of Lawrence Block. The man can spin a yarn, that's for sure.
Even though Kate's a psychopath, Block had me rooting for her the entire time, hoping that's she'd be able to cross the five guys off her list. While her back story is dark, Block doesn't play it up for sympathy. It's the character of Kate Tolliver that got me in her corner. She's foul-mouthed, violent, and sometimes hilarious. Also scary, primarily because she's so believable.
Any complaints? Not really. There was a spot that I thought dragged near the end but I think that may have been due to me really wanting to see the last name get his hash settled. While this isn't a complaint for me, there's a lot more sex and profanity in Getting Off than all of the other Hard Case books not written by Christa Faust put together. I had no problem with any of it but I could see how some people would find it off-putting. Then again, people who look at the cover have some idea what they're getting into.
Welcome back, Hard Case! Don't be a stranger.
dnf
December 13, 2023---DNF around 40%---
It has finally happened. My first DNF. If you know me, I usually trudge through to finish a book, but this was just painstakingly mediocre. It was a gift from a cousin last Christmas that I promised I would read this year. With the new-year clock ticking away, I went into it blind thinking that above all else, perhaps it would be fun.
As you can probably imagine from the cover and the title, there is a metric ton of gratuitous sex in the book, but the depictions seem sexless, almost like it was written by an AI. Oof! You would think this would be where this book would excel, but it never really gets it right. 😐😅 Chapter after chapter, the heroine meets up with seemingly random people, drugs them, sleeps with them, steals their money, and then ends the encounter with a bit of a stabby - stabby session. 🔪 That is basically it! No detective on the scene, no interesting back story, no real hook, and no real substance. This is OK for a pulpy book of this type, but I need some substance. Even a tiny amount would have been appreciated. 😅
~~~ What is the best way to 'get this off' my read list so it does not count towards this year's readings but still retain it under a DNF tag? I did not see an option anywhere. Thanks in advance. :) ~~~
It has finally happened. My first DNF. If you know me, I usually trudge through to finish a book, but this was just painstakingly mediocre. It was a gift from a cousin last Christmas that I promised I would read this year. With the new-year clock ticking away, I went into it blind thinking that above all else, perhaps it would be fun.
As you can probably imagine from the cover and the title, there is a metric ton of gratuitous sex in the book, but the depictions seem sexless, almost like it was written by an AI. Oof! You would think this would be where this book would excel, but it never really gets it right. 😐😅 Chapter after chapter, the heroine meets up with seemingly random people, drugs them, sleeps with them, steals their money, and then ends the encounter with a bit of a stabby - stabby session. 🔪 That is basically it! No detective on the scene, no interesting back story, no real hook, and no real substance. This is OK for a pulpy book of this type, but I need some substance. Even a tiny amount would have been appreciated. 😅
~~~ What is the best way to 'get this off' my read list so it does not count towards this year's readings but still retain it under a DNF tag? I did not see an option anywhere. Thanks in advance. :) ~~~
May 4, 2015
WARNING!!! Believe the words on the cover. This novel has an overload of SEX and VIOLENCE.
Any man on a business trip who has thought about how cool it would be to go to bar and pick up a woman should read this book. Glenn Close move over, Katherine Ann Tolliver has become the new definition of Fatal Attraction.
Katherine likes men. She likes them a lot. Men find her irresistible and she makes it...oh...so...easy for them. She gets excited about the prospect of having sex with them. She gets even more excited about the prospect of killing them. She discovered that men will always drink the liquid refreshment(laced with a dose of tranquility) that a beautiful woman gives them especially after a frisky bout of sex. As they drift off in the arms of Morpheus she ties them up. She can then without fear of losing control, do what she wants to them, including sliding a knife up under their ribcage as a final act.
"No question, right from the very first time she liked to kill. It really got her motor going. The sex was a whole lot hotter when she knew she was going to kill the guy, and the money was more gratifying when she could think of it as a sort of bounty that was hers for the taking."
There were times for various reasons that men got away. These escapees continued to bother her as she became more and more proficient at her task. She decided she needed to "regrow her psychic hymen by killing every man who ever had sex with her." She starts making a real effort to track those men down and mark them off her list. She criss-crosses the country living off the money from dead men's wallets, changing her name as frequently as she changes her clothes. The police are always in the background, but never a real threat to her. She is careful and never stays around long enough for anyone to remember anything about her beyond a fake name and a pretty face. She is attached to nothing and that allows her to move quickly and easily around the country. She is a law enforcement nightmare, a suspect with no motive.
The book is a bit unseemly with an overdose of sex on nearly every other page; necrophilia makes an unsavory appearance, and finally not to be forgotten a loving(pedophilia)father who played such a critical part in making Katherine a killer. The violence, despite a high body count, is surprisingly muted. The book does fit the profile of a hard boiled book, but is not a mystery or detective book. Overall, through cringes, and bouts of uneasiness I did decide that the book deserves 3.5 stars.
Any man on a business trip who has thought about how cool it would be to go to bar and pick up a woman should read this book. Glenn Close move over, Katherine Ann Tolliver has become the new definition of Fatal Attraction.
Katherine likes men. She likes them a lot. Men find her irresistible and she makes it...oh...so...easy for them. She gets excited about the prospect of having sex with them. She gets even more excited about the prospect of killing them. She discovered that men will always drink the liquid refreshment(laced with a dose of tranquility) that a beautiful woman gives them especially after a frisky bout of sex. As they drift off in the arms of Morpheus she ties them up. She can then without fear of losing control, do what she wants to them, including sliding a knife up under their ribcage as a final act.
"No question, right from the very first time she liked to kill. It really got her motor going. The sex was a whole lot hotter when she knew she was going to kill the guy, and the money was more gratifying when she could think of it as a sort of bounty that was hers for the taking."
There were times for various reasons that men got away. These escapees continued to bother her as she became more and more proficient at her task. She decided she needed to "regrow her psychic hymen by killing every man who ever had sex with her." She starts making a real effort to track those men down and mark them off her list. She criss-crosses the country living off the money from dead men's wallets, changing her name as frequently as she changes her clothes. The police are always in the background, but never a real threat to her. She is careful and never stays around long enough for anyone to remember anything about her beyond a fake name and a pretty face. She is attached to nothing and that allows her to move quickly and easily around the country. She is a law enforcement nightmare, a suspect with no motive.
The book is a bit unseemly with an overdose of sex on nearly every other page; necrophilia makes an unsavory appearance, and finally not to be forgotten a loving(pedophilia)father who played such a critical part in making Katherine a killer. The violence, despite a high body count, is surprisingly muted. The book does fit the profile of a hard boiled book, but is not a mystery or detective book. Overall, through cringes, and bouts of uneasiness I did decide that the book deserves 3.5 stars.
April 15, 2023
a little masterpiece of lesbian exploitation pulp. you will not be able to stop reading, despite all the sex and violence — which there’s a ton of, so be forewarned. not for the casual reader. i myself am not the biggest fan of the lewd stuff (my least favourite part of pulp), but i can handle it if there’s a badass and great story in it.
i’m mostly stunned by how laurence block (under the pen name of jill emerson), is able to grab your attention and keep you turning pages even while you’re wincing at the intense but wickedly funny content.
the ending is also thematically perfect, but i would’ve given it 5 stars if it had burned the book down and gone full jim thompson on the way out, and also maybe if it wasn’t such a sleazy pulp book that was hard to recommend to the average reader as a five star masterpiece.
but if you enjoy and can handle this stuff, then it’s an enthusiastic 5 stars of unimportant but fun as hell reading. an unconventional pot boiler even.
best compliment i can give it is:
i couldn’t wait to read the next page, even while i was flinching a little.
i’m mostly stunned by how laurence block (under the pen name of jill emerson), is able to grab your attention and keep you turning pages even while you’re wincing at the intense but wickedly funny content.
the ending is also thematically perfect, but i would’ve given it 5 stars if it had burned the book down and gone full jim thompson on the way out, and also maybe if it wasn’t such a sleazy pulp book that was hard to recommend to the average reader as a five star masterpiece.
but if you enjoy and can handle this stuff, then it’s an enthusiastic 5 stars of unimportant but fun as hell reading. an unconventional pot boiler even.
best compliment i can give it is:
i couldn’t wait to read the next page, even while i was flinching a little.
December 13, 2011
While still a young man, Lawrence Block wrote a number of soft-core "adult" books under a variety of pseudonyms. As "Jill Emerson," he wrote several lesbian novels and now, nearly half a century later, he resurrects Jill for a new book, Getting Off: A Novel of Sex and Violence. This is the first entry in the (thankfully) resurrected Hard Case Crime series, and it's the first HCC book to be released in hardcover.
This is probably not a book for everyone, and even though the title should serve as fair warning, some readers who know Block only as the author of the excellent Matthew Scudder series and the lighter Bernie Rhodenbarr series may be somewhat surprised if not shocked by the amount of sex in the book. The plot can be summed up fairly briefly: a young woman who got off to a bad start in life sexually, enjoys having sex with men and has a lot of it. Fairly early on, she finds that the thrill is heightened if, after having sex, she kills the man who's just enjoyed her company.
Using a variety of ever-changing names, our heroine launches onto a career of seducing and killing men and supporting herself by stealing their money on the way out the door. Somewhere along the way, though, she begins to regret the fact that earlier in life, she had sex with at least a few men without dispatching them in the middle of the afterglow. For her own peace of mind, she now feels compelled to track down and eliminate the survivors. This leads to an extended road trip and a fair amount of detective work, and in the process, she makes what could be a life-changing discovery.
It's hard to take this book very seriously, but as with all of Block's books, it's a fun read, well-written with many light moments in addition to lots of the advertised (often kinky)sex and violence. Certainly it will appeal to Block's legions of fans, old and new.
This is probably not a book for everyone, and even though the title should serve as fair warning, some readers who know Block only as the author of the excellent Matthew Scudder series and the lighter Bernie Rhodenbarr series may be somewhat surprised if not shocked by the amount of sex in the book. The plot can be summed up fairly briefly: a young woman who got off to a bad start in life sexually, enjoys having sex with men and has a lot of it. Fairly early on, she finds that the thrill is heightened if, after having sex, she kills the man who's just enjoyed her company.
Using a variety of ever-changing names, our heroine launches onto a career of seducing and killing men and supporting herself by stealing their money on the way out the door. Somewhere along the way, though, she begins to regret the fact that earlier in life, she had sex with at least a few men without dispatching them in the middle of the afterglow. For her own peace of mind, she now feels compelled to track down and eliminate the survivors. This leads to an extended road trip and a fair amount of detective work, and in the process, she makes what could be a life-changing discovery.
It's hard to take this book very seriously, but as with all of Block's books, it's a fun read, well-written with many light moments in addition to lots of the advertised (often kinky)sex and violence. Certainly it will appeal to Block's legions of fans, old and new.
July 12, 2013
BEWARE...READ BOOK COVER
BEWARE...BOOK COVER MAY BE DECEIVING
BEWARE...BOOK TITLE GIVES A STRONG HINT OF WHAT'S INSIDE
BEWARE...BOOK WRITTEN BY LAWRENCE BLOCK NOT JILL EMERSON
Preface
Okey dokey, folks. I own up to the fact that I am not an authority on pornographic literature; however I'm taking a stab at this one, this review. So proceed with caution. I am, (proceeding with caution), I promise.
Lawrence Block is one of my favorite authors and it will take the rest of my lifetime to read everything he’s written. I was introduced to Block with the Matthew Scudder series where I'm up to #5 out of 17 books.
Loving pulp like I do, the cover of this book caught my eye at the library because it's "pulpy" looking, if that's a word. Then I noticed it was written by LB.-----Sold!
Agreed? Anyone who knows pulp would think this as pulp. Honest mistake which I could make again.
Of course, I didn't bother to check any other reviews because I'm so familiar with LB, no need to and I rarely look at other reviews when I've chosen a book to read.
LB is a master, in my opinion at storylines, dialogue and the development of characters. I do love his writing and give him mostly four stars. (I've been told that I am a tough reviewer with handing out stars and yes, I admit to that.)
By the way, Block has been writing since what...1958. Good lord, he's 74 years old and this book was published in 2011. Also, he's written under a multitude of pen names since his first book was published in '58.
Review
Reading the first 20 pages or so where there was sex, fairly explicit sex in my opinion, I'm thinking to myself, where's this heading? Where's the storyline?
Coming close to 100 pages, I said to myself, if a storyline doesn't appear, I'm closing the book. Got to page 100 and it occurred to me then to check Goodreads and see what other readers say and think.
To my surprise my friend, Jeff Keeten had read the book so I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that his bookshelf is a bit similar to mine in that he loves mysteries, too. (He likes every genre.) And Jeff writes remarkable, spot-on reviews. Here's Jeff's review: Getting Off.
Jeff gave the book 3.5 stars and he rounded it up to four stars. Reading his review, which of course was excellent, I decided it was worthwhile to finish the book and that there was indeed a story here.
And yes, there is one but the storyline is setup with all the groundwork at the beginning of the book. With me, it did not seem clear (the plot) until somewhere in the middle. Up to that point, there are nicely written descriptions of sex positions, sex toys, sex what to wear, sex atmosphere, manipulation for having sex...am I missing anything here to describe what entails sexual experiences? If so, just let you imagination take over to wander and wander...you will not be off course, I promise, anywhere your mind wanders.
Sweet 74 Year Old Lawrence Block...who would guess he can writegreat erotic porn?
The protagonist who starts with the name Kit, is one hot and bothered woman whose full name is Katherine Anne Tolliver. About her high school diploma, she says some idiot misspelled it, leaving the "E" off her middle name. The guy lucked out. Apparently she didn't know his name otherwise she would have seduced him then killed him. That Kit. She’s something else. She sure can hold a grudge mostly with knives.
Nice stilleto. Folds neatly under mattress not to be seen during sex
Sometimes Jeff and I are in total agreement, sometimes not and neither of us care about the other when it comes to rating. But I'm with Jeff on this one. It was better than three, but not quite a four, so I'm rounding up, too.
The ending...well, let me just say that it ends with a bang.
So in my mind, the remaining question is whether this is soft or hard porn. My guess is that it's somewhere in between and to find out definitively, you'll have to read the book. But what a hot ride you'll have. I’ll wait for your review.
And if you haven't had enough of Kit, she's got five more oldpositions books in her playtoy bag.
*****************
Here's his blog and he sends it out every Wed but he just went on vacation so it will be later this summer. (WHAT! A vacation! Well, after 50 years of writing, more than one book a year sometimes, guess he's entitled.)
There's a lot of info about him though and his pen names and such. He's very accessible to his fans/readers, answering their questions personally, I believe. Certainly sounds like it. LB Blog
Author, friend, fellow reader and reviewer Jim Thane who wrote No Place to Die read and reviewed LB (aka Jill Emerson) Getting Off. Another excellent review and Jim wrote on his blog May 10, 2011, about the relationship of LB and Donald Westlake. Excellent, just excellent. Two Masters in Their Formative Years. It was fun to real about their early relationship and the books they wrote together.
BEWARE...BOOK COVER MAY BE DECEIVING
BEWARE...BOOK TITLE GIVES A STRONG HINT OF WHAT'S INSIDE
BEWARE...BOOK WRITTEN BY LAWRENCE BLOCK NOT JILL EMERSON
Preface
Okey dokey, folks. I own up to the fact that I am not an authority on pornographic literature; however I'm taking a stab at this one, this review. So proceed with caution. I am, (proceeding with caution), I promise.
Lawrence Block is one of my favorite authors and it will take the rest of my lifetime to read everything he’s written. I was introduced to Block with the Matthew Scudder series where I'm up to #5 out of 17 books.
Loving pulp like I do, the cover of this book caught my eye at the library because it's "pulpy" looking, if that's a word. Then I noticed it was written by LB.-----Sold!
Agreed? Anyone who knows pulp would think this as pulp. Honest mistake which I could make again.
Of course, I didn't bother to check any other reviews because I'm so familiar with LB, no need to and I rarely look at other reviews when I've chosen a book to read.
LB is a master, in my opinion at storylines, dialogue and the development of characters. I do love his writing and give him mostly four stars. (I've been told that I am a tough reviewer with handing out stars and yes, I admit to that.)
By the way, Block has been writing since what...1958. Good lord, he's 74 years old and this book was published in 2011. Also, he's written under a multitude of pen names since his first book was published in '58.
Review
Reading the first 20 pages or so where there was sex, fairly explicit sex in my opinion, I'm thinking to myself, where's this heading? Where's the storyline?
Coming close to 100 pages, I said to myself, if a storyline doesn't appear, I'm closing the book. Got to page 100 and it occurred to me then to check Goodreads and see what other readers say and think.
To my surprise my friend, Jeff Keeten had read the book so I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that his bookshelf is a bit similar to mine in that he loves mysteries, too. (He likes every genre.) And Jeff writes remarkable, spot-on reviews. Here's Jeff's review: Getting Off.
Jeff gave the book 3.5 stars and he rounded it up to four stars. Reading his review, which of course was excellent, I decided it was worthwhile to finish the book and that there was indeed a story here.
And yes, there is one but the storyline is setup with all the groundwork at the beginning of the book. With me, it did not seem clear (the plot) until somewhere in the middle. Up to that point, there are nicely written descriptions of sex positions, sex toys, sex what to wear, sex atmosphere, manipulation for having sex...am I missing anything here to describe what entails sexual experiences? If so, just let you imagination take over to wander and wander...you will not be off course, I promise, anywhere your mind wanders.
Sweet 74 Year Old Lawrence Block...who would guess he can write
The protagonist who starts with the name Kit, is one hot and bothered woman whose full name is Katherine Anne Tolliver. About her high school diploma, she says some idiot misspelled it, leaving the "E" off her middle name. The guy lucked out. Apparently she didn't know his name otherwise she would have seduced him then killed him. That Kit. She’s something else. She sure can hold a grudge mostly with knives.
Nice stilleto. Folds neatly under mattress not to be seen during sex
Sometimes Jeff and I are in total agreement, sometimes not and neither of us care about the other when it comes to rating. But I'm with Jeff on this one. It was better than three, but not quite a four, so I'm rounding up, too.
The ending...well, let me just say that it ends with a bang.
So in my mind, the remaining question is whether this is soft or hard porn. My guess is that it's somewhere in between and to find out definitively, you'll have to read the book. But what a hot ride you'll have. I’ll wait for your review.
And if you haven't had enough of Kit, she's got five more old
*****************
Here's his blog and he sends it out every Wed but he just went on vacation so it will be later this summer. (WHAT! A vacation! Well, after 50 years of writing, more than one book a year sometimes, guess he's entitled.)
There's a lot of info about him though and his pen names and such. He's very accessible to his fans/readers, answering their questions personally, I believe. Certainly sounds like it. LB Blog
Author, friend, fellow reader and reviewer Jim Thane who wrote No Place to Die read and reviewed LB (aka Jill Emerson) Getting Off. Another excellent review and Jim wrote on his blog May 10, 2011, about the relationship of LB and Donald Westlake. Excellent, just excellent. Two Masters in Their Formative Years. It was fun to real about their early relationship and the books they wrote together.
March 10, 2012
This may not be the worst novel I've ever finished, but it's certainly the worst of the last three years. There's absolutely no narrative tension, and the putative protagonist just moves from incident to incident with only the barest of variations. She meets a man, sleeps with him, kills him--and that's pretty much the extent of the plot for about 300 pages. She's not particularly sympathetic, or interesting, or deep, and she doesn't grow or change over the course of the tedious narrative. The novel fails to be either sexy or exciting, despite its subtitle. Nothing more than a dull and cynical waste of time, Getting Off never even gets going.
Want to read
July 9, 2023
'Cause I may be bad, but I'm perfectly good at it
Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it
Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me
Na-na-na, come on, come on, come on
I like it, like it
Come on, come on, come on
I like it, like it (Na-na-na)
Come on, come on, come on
I like it, like it
Come on, come on, come on
I like it, like it
-Rihanna's 'S&M'-
Mr. Lawrance Block, master hard-boiled novelist is at it again!
Trigger warnings: if the mention of child grooming, graphic description of sex, violence and abuse upsets you, stay away!
she'd go in back and let him do what he wanted. And then she'd do what she wanted,
ARGH that's the kind of thing that I like~
A pretty young woman wandered from city to city, and the horny guys around her dropped dead like flies! Yahhhooo!
She likes the idea of leaving behind something that would kill someone, without knowing-or caring, really--who she killed, or when. (pg. 53)
But I feel like I am reading Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite all over again...
Right now I don't know what to think about this book, I like the idea of a woman in the role of a sexual predator, plotting and killing people with obsessively good planning and without remose, Mr. Block's writing is as terrific as ever and I like the scenes and the story he wrote to pieces!!! Mr. Block makes everything look so believable!
But on the other hand, I don't know where the story is going, and I can't say I care very much about the goal which the heroine (or anti-heroine) set up for herself: , it really isn't soemthing that I'd care about!
"Whore."
It was remarkable how much comtempt he could get into a single syllable. He hated her, just plain hate her. But he responded as if oblivious to all that.
"I know," she said. "I'm just terrible. I'm a bad little girl and I just can't help myself."
OMG!!! That's just going to get terrible!
Well, that almost figured; he was a sadist, a killer, and he'd only get an erection if he was in control and she was in pain.
That kind of writing makes my blood run faster...
More to come.
March 17, 2021
Kit Toliver spends her days picking up men and promptly murdering them afterwards. While her behavior could likely be traced back to a traumatic event in her childhood, she certainly doesn’t hide the fact that she enjoys what she’s doing. One day, when thinking back to all of the men she’s disposed of, she’s reminded of the five that escaped with their lives. She decides to put things right in her mind and go after the ones that got away.
Lawrence Block and Hard Case Crime weren’t kidding when they labeled GETTING OFF “a novel of sex and violence”. In the 1960s and 70s, Block had penned a handful of sexually charged novels under the pseudonym Jill Emmerson. Following a brief hiatus in 2010, Hard Case Crime was looking to relaunch in a big way. What better way than reaching out to Block and having him resurrect an old pen name and style that fits perfectly within the publisher’s wheelhouse?
GETTING OFF is without a doubt one of the most violent and sexually explicit novels I’ve ever read. I’d like to consider myself fairly well-read when it comes to Hard Case Crime’s catalog, but I can’t recall anything quite as dark, brutal or sexual from them as this one from Block. That isn’t meant to be a knock, so don’t take it that way. I definitely knew what I was getting into when I had read a few reviews beforehand. That said, I continued to be shocked on occasion throughout the story as Block seemingly refused to hold anything back when it came to Kit’s adventurous side either in the bedroom or on the other end of a knife.
Even though Kit is reprehensible in her actions, she’s an easy character to get behind (pun intended) as she’s equipped with razor sharp wit leading to a level of charm that’s quite infectious. The relationship she develops with Rita, a woman she rents a room from midway through the novel, is an integral part of the story that allows Kit to grow and develop as a character rather than just a mindless killing machine.
Although Kit’s trauma is probably far worse than many of us will experience in our lives, it’s still something that, throughout the novel, she is constantly coming to terms with. GETTING OFF, while at its core is a story meant to affect the reader in a certain way, is more of a nuanced look at how life molds and shapes us, how we’re sometimes powerless to change our behavior despite knowing that it can often be detrimental to our lives. GETTING OFF is proof that genre fiction has much more to say than just what appears at surface level and it’s why Hard Case Crime is one of the best places for those voices.
Lawrence Block and Hard Case Crime weren’t kidding when they labeled GETTING OFF “a novel of sex and violence”. In the 1960s and 70s, Block had penned a handful of sexually charged novels under the pseudonym Jill Emmerson. Following a brief hiatus in 2010, Hard Case Crime was looking to relaunch in a big way. What better way than reaching out to Block and having him resurrect an old pen name and style that fits perfectly within the publisher’s wheelhouse?
GETTING OFF is without a doubt one of the most violent and sexually explicit novels I’ve ever read. I’d like to consider myself fairly well-read when it comes to Hard Case Crime’s catalog, but I can’t recall anything quite as dark, brutal or sexual from them as this one from Block. That isn’t meant to be a knock, so don’t take it that way. I definitely knew what I was getting into when I had read a few reviews beforehand. That said, I continued to be shocked on occasion throughout the story as Block seemingly refused to hold anything back when it came to Kit’s adventurous side either in the bedroom or on the other end of a knife.
Even though Kit is reprehensible in her actions, she’s an easy character to get behind (pun intended) as she’s equipped with razor sharp wit leading to a level of charm that’s quite infectious. The relationship she develops with Rita, a woman she rents a room from midway through the novel, is an integral part of the story that allows Kit to grow and develop as a character rather than just a mindless killing machine.
Although Kit’s trauma is probably far worse than many of us will experience in our lives, it’s still something that, throughout the novel, she is constantly coming to terms with. GETTING OFF, while at its core is a story meant to affect the reader in a certain way, is more of a nuanced look at how life molds and shapes us, how we’re sometimes powerless to change our behavior despite knowing that it can often be detrimental to our lives. GETTING OFF is proof that genre fiction has much more to say than just what appears at surface level and it’s why Hard Case Crime is one of the best places for those voices.
December 7, 2012
If you’re not into sex and violence, then you may want to skip right on by GETTING OFF. But if you do, you’re sure to miss out on one hell of an entertaining read. Sure, I felt like a voyeur at times, and I may have needed multiple showers to make myself feel clean again. But that didn’t dampen my enjoyment one iota. In fact, it may have had the opposite effect. Why? Because I’ve never read a novel like this one, and I may never read a novel like this again.
When it comes to relationships, Katherine Tolliver resembles men more than she does women. Only she takes it a step further and kills her partner, after having had her way with him. The manner in which the encounter happens may change, along the method of death, but the end result is always the same. It’s more of a revenge novel than a mystery, more KILL BILL than KILLING FLOOR, but I didn’t have any problem getting into this novel.
So what appealed to me? Well, for starters, the voice certainly did. It was tattered and frayed at the edges, like a t-shirt that’s about seven years past its prime. But it kept my attention better than ticker tape for the day trader. The plot certainly moved along well, as she went from one kill to the next, and in the process discovering one relationship that suits her just fine. And I certainly didn’t have any problem with the revenge angle, since there’s probably a little demon in all of us, but he can be silenced with cookies and chocolate.
If you’re all about mischief and mayhem, and you don’t care how many bodies and beds pile up along the way, you can’t go wrong with GETTING OFF. But you may want to have that shower handle ready.
When it comes to relationships, Katherine Tolliver resembles men more than she does women. Only she takes it a step further and kills her partner, after having had her way with him. The manner in which the encounter happens may change, along the method of death, but the end result is always the same. It’s more of a revenge novel than a mystery, more KILL BILL than KILLING FLOOR, but I didn’t have any problem getting into this novel.
So what appealed to me? Well, for starters, the voice certainly did. It was tattered and frayed at the edges, like a t-shirt that’s about seven years past its prime. But it kept my attention better than ticker tape for the day trader. The plot certainly moved along well, as she went from one kill to the next, and in the process discovering one relationship that suits her just fine. And I certainly didn’t have any problem with the revenge angle, since there’s probably a little demon in all of us, but he can be silenced with cookies and chocolate.
If you’re all about mischief and mayhem, and you don’t care how many bodies and beds pile up along the way, you can’t go wrong with GETTING OFF. But you may want to have that shower handle ready.
June 1, 2020
Okay, I chose to review this book and the first volume of Baroness (The Ecstasy Connection) series back to back for a reason. This book has as much sex in it as that book does but the abundant amount (and great variety) of sex doesn't kill the plot or take over the book (as happens in the former title). This book is an earlier effort by Lawrence Block writing under the pseudonym Jill Emerson. He wrote a series of these books.
Let me drop back and mention that "back in the day" (1950s onward) books began to appear concerned with more overt topics including LGBT etc. matters. These books were mostly off to themselves or sometimes "behind the counter" or in a "separate room". Block as noted wrote a series of these books when he started out. BUT the talent of the writer comes through even here.
You'll follow our Heroine (or protagonist) as she (being very beautiful) meets, seduces and them murders men. You/we will begin to uncover the why of this and also follow along as she realizes there are a few men with whom she was/had been intimate that were still alive.
She couldn't have that. so as noted we accompany her as she "tracks them down".
As noted not a bad read considering the graphic nature of the story. The ability of Block comes through and (maybe strangely as in the Keller books) you will...possibly find yourself at least feeling some sympathy for the killer (as well as some, that's some of her victims).
A well written book with a bit of an iffy subject. Know what you have going in and see if it's for you.
Let me drop back and mention that "back in the day" (1950s onward) books began to appear concerned with more overt topics including LGBT etc. matters. These books were mostly off to themselves or sometimes "behind the counter" or in a "separate room". Block as noted wrote a series of these books when he started out. BUT the talent of the writer comes through even here.
You'll follow our Heroine (or protagonist) as she (being very beautiful) meets, seduces and them murders men. You/we will begin to uncover the why of this and also follow along as she realizes there are a few men with whom she was/had been intimate that were still alive.
She couldn't have that. so as noted we accompany her as she "tracks them down".
As noted not a bad read considering the graphic nature of the story. The ability of Block comes through and (maybe strangely as in the Keller books) you will...possibly find yourself at least feeling some sympathy for the killer (as well as some, that's some of her victims).
A well written book with a bit of an iffy subject. Know what you have going in and see if it's for you.
June 1, 2016
Every guy's dream: sex and murder. Kitty Tolliver is a nymphomaniac, picking up strangers, having mind-blowing sex, but killing them when she's done. Kind of a combination of Looking for Mr. Goodbar and a black widow spider. She decides that she needs to go back and find the few men she had let live to clear the slate. After awhile, even the sex got boring. (I can't believe it.)
Read Kemper's review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... It's better than mine, by far.
Read Kemper's review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show.... It's better than mine, by far.
December 19, 2011
Protagonist Kate Tolliver is an overtly sexual serial killer whose methods for murder leave her victims both satisfied and short of breath - literally. Having long suffered sexual abuse by her fathers hand, Kate sets out to cleanse her soul by exacting a misguided form of revenge on her male suitors. Fort the most part 'Getting Off' was just about that with both sides of Kim's vices culminating in a foray of kink and kill. Whilst entertaining and a nice change from the typical run of the mill serial killer, the entertainment lies with some of the more animated victims. From kinky couples to date rape enthusiasts, Kate's lust knows no bounds. Only when a women becomes involved does another side to Kate emerge - this is one character I sure hope Block plans on writing again - she's vivacious, seductive, and bat sh!t crazy - I cant get enough. Overall, 'Getting Off' was an explicit showcase of, as the cover blurb suggests, 'sex and violence' with enough back story to give the lead characters some personality and grit. There is no doubt Block has generated enough capacity for futher exploration on the theme - here's hoping for a sequel. 4 stars.
Side note: Fans of J.A Konrath and Blake Crouch's 'Serial', and the works of Christa Faust will be right at home with Lawrence Block's alter ego 'Jill Emerson' (of which he penned this novel).
Side note: Fans of J.A Konrath and Blake Crouch's 'Serial', and the works of Christa Faust will be right at home with Lawrence Block's alter ego 'Jill Emerson' (of which he penned this novel).
November 2, 2014
I found this book while looking for something else, realized I hadn't read any Lawrence Block for far too long, saw this was him writing under his porn pseudonym Jill Emerson, and thought I'd give it a try.
A beautiful woman who keeps moving around the country and changing her name to avoid detection has the habit of bedding men and then murdering them, this because she was sexually abused in childhood by her father and then even more upset when he ended their "affair"; so she killed her parents and, ever since, has been murdering her father all over again. After her latest murder she realizes that there's a grand total of five men still alive whom she's bedded but not murdered; and so she sets out to wipe the slate clean.
There's a very good novel by Marc Behm called The Eye of the Beholder (1980) -- the basis for two very different but both good movies, Mortelle Randonnée (1983) and Eye of the Beholder (1999) - that covers roughly similar territory. This book is something over twice the length, most of that disparity being because of the sex scenes, which include most things up to and including necrophilia (no bestiality, though, and no explicit pedophilia). If I'd been still 14 I imagine I'd have found all this wildly erotic; fifty years later, however, all I could wonder, blank-eyed as I read, was why the hell a writer who's as good as Block (and there's some great writing in this book) could let such crap be published.
Yes, I'm sure there was a time when Block's "Jill Emerson" novels were invaluable in paying the mortgage. Now that he's one of the icons of American crime writing, though, surely (I could be wrong) he can afford to give Emerson the long kiss goodnight.
Maybe not. Who the hell am I to judge other people's circumstances, and their responses to them?
Overall, the book's wonderfully readable, despite its exploitative nature; the quality of the writing is its redeeming feature. I got into huge trouble when I stupidly mentioned to my wife that the image in the cover illustration's foreground reminded me of someone I knew long ago; yep, right, I blame that one on Block, too.
A beautiful woman who keeps moving around the country and changing her name to avoid detection has the habit of bedding men and then murdering them, this because she was sexually abused in childhood by her father and then even more upset when he ended their "affair"; so she killed her parents and, ever since, has been murdering her father all over again. After her latest murder she realizes that there's a grand total of five men still alive whom she's bedded but not murdered; and so she sets out to wipe the slate clean.
There's a very good novel by Marc Behm called The Eye of the Beholder (1980) -- the basis for two very different but both good movies, Mortelle Randonnée (1983) and Eye of the Beholder (1999) - that covers roughly similar territory. This book is something over twice the length, most of that disparity being because of the sex scenes, which include most things up to and including necrophilia (no bestiality, though, and no explicit pedophilia). If I'd been still 14 I imagine I'd have found all this wildly erotic; fifty years later, however, all I could wonder, blank-eyed as I read, was why the hell a writer who's as good as Block (and there's some great writing in this book) could let such crap be published.
Yes, I'm sure there was a time when Block's "Jill Emerson" novels were invaluable in paying the mortgage. Now that he's one of the icons of American crime writing, though, surely (I could be wrong) he can afford to give Emerson the long kiss goodnight.
Maybe not. Who the hell am I to judge other people's circumstances, and their responses to them?
Overall, the book's wonderfully readable, despite its exploitative nature; the quality of the writing is its redeeming feature. I got into huge trouble when I stupidly mentioned to my wife that the image in the cover illustration's foreground reminded me of someone I knew long ago; yep, right, I blame that one on Block, too.
February 24, 2023
Take Ellis' American Psycho and smash it together with Kerouac's On the Road and you will have a pretty good idea of what you are getting into with "Getting Off".
There are a few things to understand about this book before going in. First, the plot is paper-thin. The book is more about the various shenanigans that the main character gets into rather than one main overarching plotline.
Secondly, the main character is a serial killer and the entire book is from her point of view. She does some VERY terrible things and apologizes for nothing. This might turn some people off, and your mileage may vary.
Now, going into this book I didn't really know what to expect, but by the time I was about a quarter of the way in I was hooked and somewhere over halfway the story "clicked" for me and I understood what the author was doing and I loved it even more. More than a crime novel, this book is really a travelogue--like a serial kiler's version of Travels with Charley or On the Road. The sex and murder are there but it is talked about with such lightness, as if murdering someone is the most natural thing in the world. And, for our main character, it is. We get sucked into her world and are along for the ride with her as she criss-crosses the U.S., getting into and out of various scrapes and jams. She also happens to be a VERY strong female character, and is always one step ahead of the authorities and .
And, as a bonus, the relationship between the main character and Rita is just adorable.
The only real downside of the book is that sometimes the plot got a little too wacky or convenient, such as when and .
There are a few things to understand about this book before going in. First, the plot is paper-thin. The book is more about the various shenanigans that the main character gets into rather than one main overarching plotline.
Secondly, the main character is a serial killer and the entire book is from her point of view. She does some VERY terrible things and apologizes for nothing. This might turn some people off, and your mileage may vary.
Now, going into this book I didn't really know what to expect, but by the time I was about a quarter of the way in I was hooked and somewhere over halfway the story "clicked" for me and I understood what the author was doing and I loved it even more. More than a crime novel, this book is really a travelogue--like a serial kiler's version of Travels with Charley or On the Road. The sex and murder are there but it is talked about with such lightness, as if murdering someone is the most natural thing in the world. And, for our main character, it is. We get sucked into her world and are along for the ride with her as she criss-crosses the U.S., getting into and out of various scrapes and jams. She also happens to be a VERY strong female character, and is always one step ahead of the authorities and .
And, as a bonus, the relationship between the main character and Rita is just adorable.
The only real downside of the book is that sometimes the plot got a little too wacky or convenient, such as when and .
January 29, 2012
As an ex-librarian (is one ever an ex-librarian? I think of it as a vocation, from which you can never quite get "out") --- anyway --- I always read the copyright page of books. Said page informs us that Getting Off is actually an expansion of four separate short stories from different anthologies (one of which was edited by George R.R. Martin
(???!!!)), melded together to form this new novel.
This would explain our main character's lack of consistent MO or signature and her adoption of different "roles" (and names!) to lure her victims.
If you've ever tried to rewrite an old piece of your own work, you know this task is VERY difficult. The fact that it succeeds here at all is worthy of a round of applause.
And it does succeed in being what its title claims - a novel of sex and violence. It's not a mystery, and while it is dark, it's not a noir piece. Another reviewer called it a fantasy, I believe, and that would be a good way to sum it up - a fantasy (in that there is never any danger of the main character getting caught, getting diseased, getting pregnant, etc.) in which She kills her lovers and we're along for the ride.
Nobody is particularly like-able, but there are a couple twists, and it's one of the "happier" Hard Case Crime products so if you like the HCC imprint, you'll probably enjoy this book.
(???!!!)), melded together to form this new novel. This would explain our main character's lack of consistent MO or signature and her adoption of different "roles" (and names!) to lure her victims.
If you've ever tried to rewrite an old piece of your own work, you know this task is VERY difficult. The fact that it succeeds here at all is worthy of a round of applause.
And it does succeed in being what its title claims - a novel of sex and violence. It's not a mystery, and while it is dark, it's not a noir piece. Another reviewer called it a fantasy, I believe, and that would be a good way to sum it up - a fantasy (in that there is never any danger of the main character getting caught, getting diseased, getting pregnant, etc.) in which She kills her lovers and we're along for the ride.
Nobody is particularly like-able, but there are a couple twists, and it's one of the "happier" Hard Case Crime products so if you like the HCC imprint, you'll probably enjoy this book.
March 18, 2013
Do not read this book it is bad. Its about a woman who hooks up with a man, has her way with him and then kills him and then moves on to the next man. The first few chapters were just that. Then she remembers that she has let 5 men live to see another day. So she decides to track these men down and kill them. You could call her the black widow. So we journey with her across the states on her killing spree.
We learn that her father sexually abused her as a child and that her mum did nothing to stop what was happening. So they were the first to die and that is how her killing started. The first man she goes back to kill is her first boyfriend. Horrible. In one place she stays with a woman and they start a friendship, so as she moves from place to place she rings up the woman and they 'chat'. One guy had been to war and he didn't have much of a body left so she decided not to kill him. But he asked her to kill him because he had nothing to live for so she killed him. After all the killing is done she tells the woman what she has been up to and the woman dosn't mind and still accepts her.
Ok so why did I keep reading because I wanted to know how it would end. Would she get caught or end up dead herself. Neither of these things happened she ends up with the woman. This book started off ok but then got more grafic as it went along. I brought it becausee an online bookshop was having a 24 hour sale and a new book would come up every 15 min and most books sold in 3 min. So I saw a woman holding a knife and thuoght it would make a good murder mystery. I was wrong.
We learn that her father sexually abused her as a child and that her mum did nothing to stop what was happening. So they were the first to die and that is how her killing started. The first man she goes back to kill is her first boyfriend. Horrible. In one place she stays with a woman and they start a friendship, so as she moves from place to place she rings up the woman and they 'chat'. One guy had been to war and he didn't have much of a body left so she decided not to kill him. But he asked her to kill him because he had nothing to live for so she killed him. After all the killing is done she tells the woman what she has been up to and the woman dosn't mind and still accepts her.
Ok so why did I keep reading because I wanted to know how it would end. Would she get caught or end up dead herself. Neither of these things happened she ends up with the woman. This book started off ok but then got more grafic as it went along. I brought it becausee an online bookshop was having a 24 hour sale and a new book would come up every 15 min and most books sold in 3 min. So I saw a woman holding a knife and thuoght it would make a good murder mystery. I was wrong.
June 25, 2011
Hard Case Crime re-launches in September, in partnership with the Titan Publishing Group, and GETTING OFF, a new novel by Lawrence Block written especially for HCC, kicks things off with the imprint's first hardcover. Block revives an old pen name for the occasion, Jill Emerson, that he used for seven novels in the sixties and seventies.
Katherine Ann Tolliver, the name she was born with and hadn't used in years, moves around a lot, changing names and towns as often, as that old saying goes, as other people change clothes.
She likes to pick up men and screw them blind. She likes that part. Then she kills them and likes that just as much. She cleans them of cash, not her prime motive, but why waste it, and moves on. She's been doing it for years and is quite good at it.
A chance remark gets her thinking of the few men that spent a night with her and got away unscathed. Various reasons, but they'd survived nonetheless.
And suddenly she's a girl with a mission. Hunt them down and cross them off the list. Won't be easy though.
One thing you can trust with Lawrence Block. It won't be so easy to do. Nevertheless she plunges in with a will. The people she meets along the way, and the situations she finds herself in, makes for a very good read.
Five stars may not be enough.
Katherine Ann Tolliver, the name she was born with and hadn't used in years, moves around a lot, changing names and towns as often, as that old saying goes, as other people change clothes.
She likes to pick up men and screw them blind. She likes that part. Then she kills them and likes that just as much. She cleans them of cash, not her prime motive, but why waste it, and moves on. She's been doing it for years and is quite good at it.
A chance remark gets her thinking of the few men that spent a night with her and got away unscathed. Various reasons, but they'd survived nonetheless.
And suddenly she's a girl with a mission. Hunt them down and cross them off the list. Won't be easy though.
One thing you can trust with Lawrence Block. It won't be so easy to do. Nevertheless she plunges in with a will. The people she meets along the way, and the situations she finds herself in, makes for a very good read.
Five stars may not be enough.
February 5, 2013
Starts well before going terribly awry. If you enjoy incest, rape, murder and gay sex, this may get you off. Not for me. 0 of 10 stars
October 23, 2016
I only read this to make sure it's not an unauthorized biography. ;) The main character keeps ordering Rob Roys which is something i'd never do. Otherwise it's pretty obvious this was written by a man, with predictable "all women are lesbians" ending...
July 11, 2024
very engaging, like nothing i have read before as far as story line. I liked that the main character was committed to her agenda and the agenda was fresh for me. It wasn't a retelling of some other crime book that has been told so many other times. I liked it and would read another of this author.
July 14, 2023
The small blurb text on the cover of this book describes it as a novel of sex and violence and unfortunately that just about sums it up. Once I got over the initial novelty of a female nymphomaniac serial killer it quickly became boring. I had to persevere to finish this one.
Block published this under the pseudonym of Jill Emerson and I wonder if this was supposed to be aimed at female reader or he just wanted to distance himself from it.
Block published this under the pseudonym of Jill Emerson and I wonder if this was supposed to be aimed at female reader or he just wanted to distance himself from it.
October 12, 2011
GETTING OFF is a brutal book, even by Hard Case Crime standards. Anyone looking for a cozy mystery is in the wrong place. Sure, Lawrence Block has written such books (the Bernie Rhodenbarr series comes the closest), but none of his work re-issued by Hard Case Crime over the years (KILLING CASTRO, GRIFTER'S GAME, A DIET OF TREACLE) can be called "cozy." I suppose one or two of the seven books he's written as "Jill Emerson" might be more light-hearted, but they're still not for the faint of heart. The summary on the inside back-cover pretty much covers it all: this book has plenty of sex and lots of murder, and it revels in both.
GETTING OFF also has a main character who is oddly compelling despite the fact that I didn't really like her. Katherine/Lucky/Pam/Kimmie/whoever-she-is-this-week is a sex-and-killing machine. Block explores her present and her past equally, so that we understand what brought her to where she is, and her story is, as I said, compelling. There is, in her own mind, a completely logical reason for why she starts killing (and then robbing) the men she has sex with, and an equally logical thought process behind attempting to break herself of this rather bad (if occasionally lucrative) habit. Part of me was right there with her, understanding the internal logic of her every move. I understood her, I empathized with her, I railed against the cruelty of the world that brought her to this emotional place, I felt happy for her when good things happened (and they occasionally do -- Block is not such a dark writer that the entire book is doom and gloom, thank god), and yes, I was even titillated by one or two of the sex scenes (all of which are graphic but not pornographic, if that makes any sense at all). And honestly -- I'm jaded. It takes a lot for a written sex scene of any kind to arouse more than mild curiosity on my part, so for this gay man to have a reaction to two lesbian almost-sex scenes ... well, congratulations Mister Block! (And anyone who has read a "Jill Emerson" book should not be shocked at the nascent lesbian content of the book.) But despite understanding her, feeling for her, and even being slightly titillated by some of her actions (and a bit grossed out by other bedroom antics), by the end of the book I didn't actually LIKE her any more than I did at the start (and in fact, I might have liked her less).
What made the book so compelling for me is the fact that it is almost ridiculously fast-paced. Even when "Kimmie" is not screwing or killing, things still fly along. There are precious few quiet moments in the entire book, not even a handful of grace notes to break up the staccato rhythm. The chapters are mostly short, and they drag you along. This is the closest I think I've come all year to not being able to put a book down until it was done. (Unfortunately, work and sleep got in the way of that, and I did put it down ... but I didn't want to.) A number of the flashbacks to "Kimmie's" past have an almost dream-like unreality about them which sets them apart nicely from her present. And there's some wonderfully dark humor tucked into these pages as well, especially towards the end.
As the face of the relaunched Hard Case Crime imprint (along with Christa Faust's CHOKE HOLD and two offerings from Max Allan Collins) and HCC's first hardcover release, there was I think a high expectation put on Block's first "Jill Emerson" book in a long number of years. Overall, Block succeeds in reminding us of why we read HCC: for pulp-noir-ish down-and-dirty stories that often illuminate the underside of life. The main character of GETTING OFF is definitely a part of that underside, the kind of serial killer Dexter would be happy to hunt down.
GETTING OFF also has a main character who is oddly compelling despite the fact that I didn't really like her. Katherine/Lucky/Pam/Kimmie/whoever-she-is-this-week is a sex-and-killing machine. Block explores her present and her past equally, so that we understand what brought her to where she is, and her story is, as I said, compelling. There is, in her own mind, a completely logical reason for why she starts killing (and then robbing) the men she has sex with, and an equally logical thought process behind attempting to break herself of this rather bad (if occasionally lucrative) habit. Part of me was right there with her, understanding the internal logic of her every move. I understood her, I empathized with her, I railed against the cruelty of the world that brought her to this emotional place, I felt happy for her when good things happened (and they occasionally do -- Block is not such a dark writer that the entire book is doom and gloom, thank god), and yes, I was even titillated by one or two of the sex scenes (all of which are graphic but not pornographic, if that makes any sense at all). And honestly -- I'm jaded. It takes a lot for a written sex scene of any kind to arouse more than mild curiosity on my part, so for this gay man to have a reaction to two lesbian almost-sex scenes ... well, congratulations Mister Block! (And anyone who has read a "Jill Emerson" book should not be shocked at the nascent lesbian content of the book.) But despite understanding her, feeling for her, and even being slightly titillated by some of her actions (and a bit grossed out by other bedroom antics), by the end of the book I didn't actually LIKE her any more than I did at the start (and in fact, I might have liked her less).
What made the book so compelling for me is the fact that it is almost ridiculously fast-paced. Even when "Kimmie" is not screwing or killing, things still fly along. There are precious few quiet moments in the entire book, not even a handful of grace notes to break up the staccato rhythm. The chapters are mostly short, and they drag you along. This is the closest I think I've come all year to not being able to put a book down until it was done. (Unfortunately, work and sleep got in the way of that, and I did put it down ... but I didn't want to.) A number of the flashbacks to "Kimmie's" past have an almost dream-like unreality about them which sets them apart nicely from her present. And there's some wonderfully dark humor tucked into these pages as well, especially towards the end.
As the face of the relaunched Hard Case Crime imprint (along with Christa Faust's CHOKE HOLD and two offerings from Max Allan Collins) and HCC's first hardcover release, there was I think a high expectation put on Block's first "Jill Emerson" book in a long number of years. Overall, Block succeeds in reminding us of why we read HCC: for pulp-noir-ish down-and-dirty stories that often illuminate the underside of life. The main character of GETTING OFF is definitely a part of that underside, the kind of serial killer Dexter would be happy to hunt down.
Read
April 19, 2012There’s a reason author Lawrence Block has received countless awards for his writing and been recognized as a Grand Master of his craft – the man is damn good at what he does.
And what he does is write books that are a marvel of plotting and pacing, nearly always infused with a wickedly sly sense of humor, and which often strike a cord that resonates so strongly the characters and outcome echo in your mind long after you’ve finished reading.
Getting Off was such book for me, one I actually had to take a little step away from before I could gather my thoughts and write (what I hope is) a proper review.
Writing as Jill Emerson, a pseudonym under which Block penned seven erotic pulp fiction novels in the 60s and 70s, Getting Off is the story of young Kit Tolliver. At least that’s one of her names. She tends to change them quite frequently as she moves from town to town finding, seducing, fleecing, and killing a string of lovers.
While reflecting on her black widow tendencies after one of her kills, Kit realizes there are actually five men whom she’s slept with without killing; five who were lucky enough to pass through her life before she dedicated herself to a series of ultimate one-night stands. Bothered by the idea those men are still alive, Kit decides to track each of them down for one last fling.
Sounds straightforward enough, right? Well this is Lawrence Block we’re talking about, folks, so there’s more to it than that. As Kit travels the country trying to balance her mental scorecard the reader is treated to a peek inside her mind, including the childhood events that gave rise to her deadly sexual obsession. Quite decidedly, however, Block does not use the trauma of Kit’s past to justify her actions, merely to explain them. In fact, one of the more engaging facets of Getting Off is the very matter-of-fact manner in which Kit is presented, as Block dares the reader to take or leave Kit as she is, much as Kit carries herself through life.
As Kit travels the country she crosses paths with some of the worst dregs society has to offer, and along the way she begins to think of herself in a slightly different light. But it’s not until Kit finally encounters someone whom she not only doesn’t feel the need to kill, but with whom she actually tries to envision a future that Block really kicks things into a higher gear. Don’t worry, Kit doesn’t blossom overnight into Sandra Dee. Block does, however, use Kit’s dawning awareness of a life beyond impersonal sex and nomadic homicide to explore the dark connection between love and hate, as well as the question of whether one can ever truly overcome traumatic events which leave an imprint on them during formative years.
Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out for the more delicate flowers that the book is subtitled “A Novel of Sex & Violence” for a reason. There is a copious amount of both to be found amongst the pages of Getting Off, including sex of the sapphic variety. So, if detailed descriptions of sex bother you this is definitely not a book with which you’ll be comfortable. If, however, you appreciate strong female characters, wickedly dark humor and bold storytelling, you should definitely consider Getting Off with Lawrence Block.
And what he does is write books that are a marvel of plotting and pacing, nearly always infused with a wickedly sly sense of humor, and which often strike a cord that resonates so strongly the characters and outcome echo in your mind long after you’ve finished reading.
Getting Off was such book for me, one I actually had to take a little step away from before I could gather my thoughts and write (what I hope is) a proper review.
Writing as Jill Emerson, a pseudonym under which Block penned seven erotic pulp fiction novels in the 60s and 70s, Getting Off is the story of young Kit Tolliver. At least that’s one of her names. She tends to change them quite frequently as she moves from town to town finding, seducing, fleecing, and killing a string of lovers.
While reflecting on her black widow tendencies after one of her kills, Kit realizes there are actually five men whom she’s slept with without killing; five who were lucky enough to pass through her life before she dedicated herself to a series of ultimate one-night stands. Bothered by the idea those men are still alive, Kit decides to track each of them down for one last fling.
Sounds straightforward enough, right? Well this is Lawrence Block we’re talking about, folks, so there’s more to it than that. As Kit travels the country trying to balance her mental scorecard the reader is treated to a peek inside her mind, including the childhood events that gave rise to her deadly sexual obsession. Quite decidedly, however, Block does not use the trauma of Kit’s past to justify her actions, merely to explain them. In fact, one of the more engaging facets of Getting Off is the very matter-of-fact manner in which Kit is presented, as Block dares the reader to take or leave Kit as she is, much as Kit carries herself through life.
As Kit travels the country she crosses paths with some of the worst dregs society has to offer, and along the way she begins to think of herself in a slightly different light. But it’s not until Kit finally encounters someone whom she not only doesn’t feel the need to kill, but with whom she actually tries to envision a future that Block really kicks things into a higher gear. Don’t worry, Kit doesn’t blossom overnight into Sandra Dee. Block does, however, use Kit’s dawning awareness of a life beyond impersonal sex and nomadic homicide to explore the dark connection between love and hate, as well as the question of whether one can ever truly overcome traumatic events which leave an imprint on them during formative years.
Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out for the more delicate flowers that the book is subtitled “A Novel of Sex & Violence” for a reason. There is a copious amount of both to be found amongst the pages of Getting Off, including sex of the sapphic variety. So, if detailed descriptions of sex bother you this is definitely not a book with which you’ll be comfortable. If, however, you appreciate strong female characters, wickedly dark humor and bold storytelling, you should definitely consider Getting Off with Lawrence Block.
January 1, 2012
I was really looking forward to reading this book! From the minute it arrived, it sat on the shelf, in the To Be Read pile, and whispered to me every time I walked by. You could tell by the cover that it was going to be racy. There was also the subtitle, “A Novel of Sex & Violence”, to give you a clue. And the publisher — Hard Case Crime. Doesn’t that just sound like it’s going to be a great book? And Lawrence Block’s Getting Off did not disappoint.
This is a novel about a female serial killer, but a woman so interesting that sometimes you forget just what she is. She picks up men in bars, takes them home and has sex with them, then she drugs them and kills them. She takes their money, their credit cards, whatever she needs to pay her bills. When she gets bored, she moves on — new city, new neighborhood, new name. She’s been doing some version of that since she left home (and believe me, her leaving home was a story in itself).
Katherine (at least that’s how she starts out) is a woman on a mission. She has decided that she needs to kill every man she’s ever had sex with. Now for some of us — most of us, I would guess — that’s not a really long list, at least not compared to Katherine’s. There are probably hundreds of men on her list, but since she kills most of them, it’s not too daunting. If only she could find them all…
Okay, this is not a book to leave around for the kiddies to read. There are parts that are downright raunchy. (I consider that a plus.) Of course, if you didn’t figure that out from the cover, this is probably not warning enough. Katherine is a very disturbed person, but yet, I almost found myself rooting for her. (In one situation, I was definitely on Team Katherine, although I think she was Missie by then.) And then, just as you’re almost enjoying her exploits, she does something horrible. Something that you can’t overlook. And you’re a little disgusted with yourself for forgetting that she’s a vicious, disturbed serial killer. How can you not love a book you get that caught up in?
The ending…I wondered where Block was going with this one. I didn’t exactly think he had written himself into a corner, but I was sorting through possible scenarios and not coming up with much. It managed to surprised me and I love the way things wrapped up. I’ve come across a lot of books that are great right up to the last chapter, then they fizzle. This delivered a very interesting ending.
This book was originally written under the name Jill Emerson. According to Jill’s webpage, she hasn’t had a book out since 1975! It’s a surprising assortment from a male author, and worth checking out. (If you scroll to the bottom of her webpage, there are links and descriptions of the other novels.)
This is a novel about a female serial killer, but a woman so interesting that sometimes you forget just what she is. She picks up men in bars, takes them home and has sex with them, then she drugs them and kills them. She takes their money, their credit cards, whatever she needs to pay her bills. When she gets bored, she moves on — new city, new neighborhood, new name. She’s been doing some version of that since she left home (and believe me, her leaving home was a story in itself).
Katherine (at least that’s how she starts out) is a woman on a mission. She has decided that she needs to kill every man she’s ever had sex with. Now for some of us — most of us, I would guess — that’s not a really long list, at least not compared to Katherine’s. There are probably hundreds of men on her list, but since she kills most of them, it’s not too daunting. If only she could find them all…
Okay, this is not a book to leave around for the kiddies to read. There are parts that are downright raunchy. (I consider that a plus.) Of course, if you didn’t figure that out from the cover, this is probably not warning enough. Katherine is a very disturbed person, but yet, I almost found myself rooting for her. (In one situation, I was definitely on Team Katherine, although I think she was Missie by then.) And then, just as you’re almost enjoying her exploits, she does something horrible. Something that you can’t overlook. And you’re a little disgusted with yourself for forgetting that she’s a vicious, disturbed serial killer. How can you not love a book you get that caught up in?
The ending…I wondered where Block was going with this one. I didn’t exactly think he had written himself into a corner, but I was sorting through possible scenarios and not coming up with much. It managed to surprised me and I love the way things wrapped up. I’ve come across a lot of books that are great right up to the last chapter, then they fizzle. This delivered a very interesting ending.
This book was originally written under the name Jill Emerson. According to Jill’s webpage, she hasn’t had a book out since 1975! It’s a surprising assortment from a male author, and worth checking out. (If you scroll to the bottom of her webpage, there are links and descriptions of the other novels.)
June 26, 2017
Getting Off by Lawrence Block is a fun story about a serial killer. Although that seems like an odd description, it is stunningly accurate. Block originally wrote the chapters of the story as stand-alone short stories for noir anthologies such as Akashic Noir's series. Eventually, he, with encouragement from Hard Case Crime, knit these episodic stories into a full-length novel. The cover states that the book is by Jill Emerson, one of Block's early psuedonyms. Thus, he quite candidly uses the book to pay homage to his early series of racy novels, written under such pen names as Emerson. The book being about a serial killer and told through her eyes also contains some echoes of Block's novel about Starkweather, the serial killer featured in Block's Not Comin Home To You.
The plot line is simple and is no secret. Kit Tolliver was abused as a child and, at seventeen, blew her parents' brains out and set off into the world. She has no home, no regular job, and no regular identity. She basically goes from city to city, meets men, screws them, and kills them. Kit, of course, is stunningly beautiful and has no problem finding an endless supply of victims. She is the ultimate black widow, the ultimate femme fatale. The book is not simply about how Kit does this, but the humorous voice she uses in describing how she goes about doing this. Block does an excellent job of creating this character and her sardonic narration style.
Kit also has a mission to find and kill the four lovers who survived and who could brag to their buddies about how they had her. For instance, there's the one who she thought she'd meet later and never heard from again. All she has is a name and she can't even remember the hotel he stayed at. Another survivor - well, Kit finds out he's now in prison serving a term for homicide. How is she going to get into prison to kill him? The episodes and how Kit deals with them are all distinct. The book keeps the reader interested throughout. Yes, Kit knows she has a compulsion. Well done.
The plot line is simple and is no secret. Kit Tolliver was abused as a child and, at seventeen, blew her parents' brains out and set off into the world. She has no home, no regular job, and no regular identity. She basically goes from city to city, meets men, screws them, and kills them. Kit, of course, is stunningly beautiful and has no problem finding an endless supply of victims. She is the ultimate black widow, the ultimate femme fatale. The book is not simply about how Kit does this, but the humorous voice she uses in describing how she goes about doing this. Block does an excellent job of creating this character and her sardonic narration style.
Kit also has a mission to find and kill the four lovers who survived and who could brag to their buddies about how they had her. For instance, there's the one who she thought she'd meet later and never heard from again. All she has is a name and she can't even remember the hotel he stayed at. Another survivor - well, Kit finds out he's now in prison serving a term for homicide. How is she going to get into prison to kill him? The episodes and how Kit deals with them are all distinct. The book keeps the reader interested throughout. Yes, Kit knows she has a compulsion. Well done.
August 14, 2012
While GETTING OFF does not reach the lofty heights of Larry Block's Matthew Scudder novels--for my money, the pinnacle of American detective fiction--or the Gothamy single-malt authenticity of the Bernie Rhodenbarr mysteries, there is much to like here if you're willing to buy into the book's throwback pulp stylings. There's pretty much relentless sex and violence, but Block executes it with a deft, tongue-in-cheek touch that is graphic but rarely off-putting and more than a little reminiscent of his days as a soft-core pulp writer. (If you want unseemly sex, read Block's stand-alone 9/11 novel SMALL TOWN.)
Very simply, GETTING OFF follows a female serial killer by the name of (maybe) Kit Tolliver. Kit is your typical homicidal maniac with daddy issues, hell-bent on murdering all the men she has slept with in her life. And much like the book's cover, you want to be offended by her, but you just can't look away. (And I really don't know what all the fuss is about the cover. Best thing I've seen since on a cover since Whitesnake's Lovehunter album.)
Charles Aradai's modern cult classic Hard Case Crime series of mass market paperback mysteries was published between 2004 and early 2011 before going on hiatus. Aradai re-launched Hard Case in September 2011 with GETTING OFF as the imprint's first-ever hardcover original. It was a bold move, maybe too bold for the average reader. Their loss.
And I'm kidding a little about the cover. I just wanted to see how many people I could get offended all over again after they Googled "Whitesnake Lovehunter."
Very simply, GETTING OFF follows a female serial killer by the name of (maybe) Kit Tolliver. Kit is your typical homicidal maniac with daddy issues, hell-bent on murdering all the men she has slept with in her life. And much like the book's cover, you want to be offended by her, but you just can't look away. (And I really don't know what all the fuss is about the cover. Best thing I've seen since on a cover since Whitesnake's Lovehunter album.)
Charles Aradai's modern cult classic Hard Case Crime series of mass market paperback mysteries was published between 2004 and early 2011 before going on hiatus. Aradai re-launched Hard Case in September 2011 with GETTING OFF as the imprint's first-ever hardcover original. It was a bold move, maybe too bold for the average reader. Their loss.
And I'm kidding a little about the cover. I just wanted to see how many people I could get offended all over again after they Googled "Whitesnake Lovehunter."
July 24, 2016
I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. That's not saying I didn't enjoy it, because I did.
I bought it because of the Lawrence Block on the cover and because I've enjoyed many other books published under the Hard Case Crime logo. This wasn't like anything of Block's I've ever read before (not that I've read all that much); but I suppose I should have expected that since it was written under his Jill Emerson pseudonym. For what it's worth, the subtitle isn't lying, there's Sex and there's Violence and then there's more of both. There also a lot of crime, but not much mystery; the only real mystery was how it was going to end.
I found one thing interesting. If this had been a novel about a man traveling around the country having sex with women and then killing them, it's hard to imagine the man being cast in even a remotely sympathetic light. But here it's a woman and she was and I didn't find it all that strange. I'm not sure I want to know what that says about me...
I bought it because of the Lawrence Block on the cover and because I've enjoyed many other books published under the Hard Case Crime logo. This wasn't like anything of Block's I've ever read before (not that I've read all that much); but I suppose I should have expected that since it was written under his Jill Emerson pseudonym. For what it's worth, the subtitle isn't lying, there's Sex and there's Violence and then there's more of both. There also a lot of crime, but not much mystery; the only real mystery was how it was going to end.
I found one thing interesting. If this had been a novel about a man traveling around the country having sex with women and then killing them, it's hard to imagine the man being cast in even a remotely sympathetic light. But here it's a woman and she was and I didn't find it all that strange. I'm not sure I want to know what that says about me...
July 31, 2019
What do you expect from a book that looks like an old vhs porn cover? Not much! I knew it was going to be raunchy and or sexy. I also expected violence. But, what I got was a book about a crazy bitch who fucks guys and kills them for no reason. I did not like any of the characters or the sexual abuse background. I didnt care who she killed or why. There was a real lack of character development. I was actually bored with the sex and the murders. I love sex and murder! I was not offended or horrified, I simply felt nothing!
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