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Evan Tanner #2
The Canceled Czech
Sent on a mission to Prague to free Nazi war criminal Janos Kotacek before he is sentenced to hang, Evan Tanner runs into a wealth of trouble and must fight to keep himself and his captive alive. Reissue.
96 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
135 people are currently reading
328 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Block
768 books2,989 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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October 5, 2017This copy is signed by Lawrence Block.
December 9, 2023
This Czech is definitely canceled. Review to follow.
May 20, 2024
The Canceled Czech (1966) is the second book in Block’s tongue-in-cheek Evan Tanner espionage series. It has a humorous title. In the series, Block posits a character (the lead character) whose sleep center has been destroyed by a piece of shrapnel during the Korean War and who spends his extra eight hours learning languages and joining all kinds of nationalist groups just to survey their literature. Remember, folks, the internet was not quite up to par in 1966. Tanner sort of mistakenly works for a clandestine government agency. He does not know the name of the agency. The “Chief” meets him in secret rendevouses but does not know that Tanner is not really on the government payroll. But Tanner is a resourceful fellow and manages somehow to get his job done so he is continually tasked with the impossible. Between spy missions, Tanner works freelance, writing term papers for lazy but wealthy students.
Those of us who grew up during the Cold War grew up in a world divided by the impassable iron curtain, particularly in the years after the Berlin Wall was built. It is still weird to think that Eastern Europe is accessible without tunneling under barbed wire. But, in Tanner’s time, that was the normal.
Here, Tanner’s mission (which he has accepted) is to journey behind the iron curtain and rescue a Nazi, Janos Kotacek, from a Czech jail where he is awaiting certain trial and death by hanging. It just so happens that this Nazi, who has been living in Lisbon, before being discovered and taken to Prague has possibly the key to the whole network of neo-Nazi groups hiding in the margins of post-War Europe and who dream and fantasize about a Fourth Reich. Since this guy is so damn knowledgeable, the agency has determined that Tanner needs to go – by himself- and rescue the Nazi and bring him back so friendly forces can torture information out of him, particularly access to his files, which are worth a great deal more than his life. Also, the agency does not want a show trial in Prague, stirring up anti-German sentiment when the agency wants to support friends in West Germany.
Why Tanner? He has connections with the Slovak nationalists who might include Nazi sympathizers. So Tanner – good old-fashioned American boy that he is – goes to Czechoslovakia and makes contact with local Nazi underground elements, the most important of which is Aryan goddess Greta who is determined to help Tanner anyway she can – often that means stripping out of her clothes and seducing soldiers guarding the jail. The two of them- Tanner and Greta make sort of a crack team -sort of. At the same time that this crack team is working on Kotacek’s escape, an Israeli team is also trying to capture Kotacek and Tanner has to try to work with them while at the same time convincing Aryan nymphomaniac Greta that they can achieve the same goal.
Further humor is found in the fact that Tanner can make Kotacek pass out in an epileptic fit a a moment’s notice and, since Kotacek, crazy Nazi that he is, can’t keep his mouth shut, Tanner is constantly knocking Kotacek out to facilitate the escape.
Block quite successfully combines all these elements to make an espionage tale that is half-comedic and half-serious.
Those of us who grew up during the Cold War grew up in a world divided by the impassable iron curtain, particularly in the years after the Berlin Wall was built. It is still weird to think that Eastern Europe is accessible without tunneling under barbed wire. But, in Tanner’s time, that was the normal.
Here, Tanner’s mission (which he has accepted) is to journey behind the iron curtain and rescue a Nazi, Janos Kotacek, from a Czech jail where he is awaiting certain trial and death by hanging. It just so happens that this Nazi, who has been living in Lisbon, before being discovered and taken to Prague has possibly the key to the whole network of neo-Nazi groups hiding in the margins of post-War Europe and who dream and fantasize about a Fourth Reich. Since this guy is so damn knowledgeable, the agency has determined that Tanner needs to go – by himself- and rescue the Nazi and bring him back so friendly forces can torture information out of him, particularly access to his files, which are worth a great deal more than his life. Also, the agency does not want a show trial in Prague, stirring up anti-German sentiment when the agency wants to support friends in West Germany.
Why Tanner? He has connections with the Slovak nationalists who might include Nazi sympathizers. So Tanner – good old-fashioned American boy that he is – goes to Czechoslovakia and makes contact with local Nazi underground elements, the most important of which is Aryan goddess Greta who is determined to help Tanner anyway she can – often that means stripping out of her clothes and seducing soldiers guarding the jail. The two of them- Tanner and Greta make sort of a crack team -sort of. At the same time that this crack team is working on Kotacek’s escape, an Israeli team is also trying to capture Kotacek and Tanner has to try to work with them while at the same time convincing Aryan nymphomaniac Greta that they can achieve the same goal.
Further humor is found in the fact that Tanner can make Kotacek pass out in an epileptic fit a a moment’s notice and, since Kotacek, crazy Nazi that he is, can’t keep his mouth shut, Tanner is constantly knocking Kotacek out to facilitate the escape.
Block quite successfully combines all these elements to make an espionage tale that is half-comedic and half-serious.
February 24, 2021
Delightfully daffy romp through parts of Eastern Europe which don't really exist anymore. Written in the mid-60s, the book wears its Bond influences on its sleeve while also revealing more about that weird 20-years-après-la-guerre setting to maximum effect. We have a character pretending to be a Nazi in order to rescue an old Nazi from the former Czechoslovakia so that the Americans can keep tabs on neo-Nazi networks. Along the way he hooks up with a Nazi Nymphomaniac with a thing for Jewish men as well as an unauthorized Israeli hit squad from the Stern Gang planning to put the old Nazi on trial. Our hero who has been unable to sleep for 20 years due to a traumatic brain injury from the war has used the extra time to become fluent in Croatian, Slovak, German and Hebrew among other skills. It's all utterly bonkers and bags of fun.
February 5, 2017
Evan Tanner’ s second adventure once again finds him behind the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe in 1966, this time working as a spy for an organization so secret it has no name. He is sent on a mission to rescue a Nazi war criminal who has (unwittingly) become a rich source of information for the United States government.
He also owns a rich Swiss bank account, which just may allow Tanner to reimburse himself for expenses, plus a little extra, without having to unduly burden the U.S. taxpayers.
Evan is assisted by a cell of zealot Jewish Stern Gang terrorists and the beautiful Greta, who is “the sort of Czech every crook in Europe would love to see bounce” (according to the book’s original cover).
The Canceled Czech is an improvement on the first book, The Thief Who Couldn’t Sleep. The jokes are funnier, the action tighter, the satire sharper, and the plot more suspenseful. The dedication alone should win some sort of prize for best use of puns as it contains a “Czechered past”, a “pair of Czech mates”, and a “bouncing Czech”.
This is not my favorite Block series, but it is consistently entertaining. Light and breezy most of the time, but it ends on a fittingly bleak note which provides a nice overall balance to the story.
The next entry in the series is Tanner’s Twelve Swingers.
He also owns a rich Swiss bank account, which just may allow Tanner to reimburse himself for expenses, plus a little extra, without having to unduly burden the U.S. taxpayers.
Evan is assisted by a cell of zealot Jewish Stern Gang terrorists and the beautiful Greta, who is “the sort of Czech every crook in Europe would love to see bounce” (according to the book’s original cover).
The Canceled Czech is an improvement on the first book, The Thief Who Couldn’t Sleep. The jokes are funnier, the action tighter, the satire sharper, and the plot more suspenseful. The dedication alone should win some sort of prize for best use of puns as it contains a “Czechered past”, a “pair of Czech mates”, and a “bouncing Czech”.
This is not my favorite Block series, but it is consistently entertaining. Light and breezy most of the time, but it ends on a fittingly bleak note which provides a nice overall balance to the story.
The next entry in the series is Tanner’s Twelve Swingers.
September 18, 2020
This book scratches the Lawrence Block itch for me. Like the first in the series, parts of it had me in stitches. A very satisfying resolution too. And the afterward where Block goes on about the concept of the character was fun.
August 14, 2025
Continuing my re-read of Lawrence Block’s Evan Tanner pseudo-spy series, this is the second instalment that sees Tanner – permanent insomniac and joiner of every lost cause on earth – accepting his first official assignment for the super-secret govt agency that mistakenly deduced in the first book that he is one of their agents. His mission, should he choose to accept it (which of course he eventually does), is to spring a Nazi out of prison in Prague.
Why would anyone want to do such a thing? It turns out the Nazi in question – Janos Kotacek – is a Slovak who was high-up in the Nazi regime and hiding in Portugal running an underground neo-Nazi network until he was captured and brought back to Prague to be tried and executed. The Agency believes Kotacek has a hidden cache of records detailing his neo-Nazi activities and contacts, which makes him more useful alive than dead – at least until the records archive is found. Tanner is assigned to find those records by breaking Kotacek out of prison and back to Portugal – all by himself.
This time around, I notice that the plot relies more on coincidence than the first one, although it doesn’t push the limits of believability (mostly). Possibly more problematic is the fact that Tanner has to hobnob with Nazis by pretending he is one, and sometimes is a little too good at it. Block makes clear Tanner is no Nazi, and at some point Tanner does start to realise he’s getting a little too in character for the mission, and yes, it was different in the 60s, but by 2025 standards it’s … awkward, to say the least. The character of Greta – a Nazi nymphomaniac with a circumcision fetish who helps Tanner – hasn’t aged so well either. It’s still a good Bond sendup and all, and I like it, but fair warning: some modern readers may cringe a little at the Nazi stuff (though they may find the ending satisfying, if they make it that far).
Why would anyone want to do such a thing? It turns out the Nazi in question – Janos Kotacek – is a Slovak who was high-up in the Nazi regime and hiding in Portugal running an underground neo-Nazi network until he was captured and brought back to Prague to be tried and executed. The Agency believes Kotacek has a hidden cache of records detailing his neo-Nazi activities and contacts, which makes him more useful alive than dead – at least until the records archive is found. Tanner is assigned to find those records by breaking Kotacek out of prison and back to Portugal – all by himself.
This time around, I notice that the plot relies more on coincidence than the first one, although it doesn’t push the limits of believability (mostly). Possibly more problematic is the fact that Tanner has to hobnob with Nazis by pretending he is one, and sometimes is a little too good at it. Block makes clear Tanner is no Nazi, and at some point Tanner does start to realise he’s getting a little too in character for the mission, and yes, it was different in the 60s, but by 2025 standards it’s … awkward, to say the least. The character of Greta – a Nazi nymphomaniac with a circumcision fetish who helps Tanner – hasn’t aged so well either. It’s still a good Bond sendup and all, and I like it, but fair warning: some modern readers may cringe a little at the Nazi stuff (though they may find the ending satisfying, if they make it that far).
May 19, 2011
"Author of Eight Million Ways to Die" blares the cover of the Jove edition I read -- a 1980s reissue -- not mentioning that this isn't Block in the noirish mode that has made him so renowned but a relic of the years when he was apparently still trying to find his voice . . . and his commercial audience. The Canceled Czech is a piece of fluff -- a spy caper distinguished from so many others of its era solely through being far better written than most, and with a gimmick or two; it's as if Ian Fleming and Donald E. Westlake had collaborated in an attempt to write a Quiller novel, to an effect that's quite often fine but sometimes uncomfortable.
Evan Tanner suffered an injury while serving in Korea that eliminated his brain's "sleep centre" (yeah, right); he thus has 50% more time than the rest of us to have fun exploring the world of conspiracy theorists and crank causes. These are connections he puts to good use in his occasional assignments on behalf of a US Government agency so secret it doesn't have a name -- not even a name you'd have to be killed if anyone told you it. This time he's been sent to rescue a disgusting old Nazi from jail, trial and inevitable execution in Prague, because that old Nazi, Kotacek, is unknowingly of greater use to the US if kept alive rather than surrendered to the gallows. So off goes polyglot Evan (plenty of time to learn languages if you never sleep) and -- with the aid of a nymphomaniac neo-Nazi and a bunch of bumbling Stern Gangers -- springs Kotacek from the jug and spirits him out through the Iron Curtain. There's no spoiler there because it's obvious from the outset that this is going to be the outcome; the book's surprises come in the twists and wrinkles of the plot to achieve that outcome. I giggled a few times; I kept turning the pages happily enough; this time next year I may accidentally pick up the book without realizing I've read it before . . .
Evan Tanner suffered an injury while serving in Korea that eliminated his brain's "sleep centre" (yeah, right); he thus has 50% more time than the rest of us to have fun exploring the world of conspiracy theorists and crank causes. These are connections he puts to good use in his occasional assignments on behalf of a US Government agency so secret it doesn't have a name -- not even a name you'd have to be killed if anyone told you it. This time he's been sent to rescue a disgusting old Nazi from jail, trial and inevitable execution in Prague, because that old Nazi, Kotacek, is unknowingly of greater use to the US if kept alive rather than surrendered to the gallows. So off goes polyglot Evan (plenty of time to learn languages if you never sleep) and -- with the aid of a nymphomaniac neo-Nazi and a bunch of bumbling Stern Gangers -- springs Kotacek from the jug and spirits him out through the Iron Curtain. There's no spoiler there because it's obvious from the outset that this is going to be the outcome; the book's surprises come in the twists and wrinkles of the plot to achieve that outcome. I giggled a few times; I kept turning the pages happily enough; this time next year I may accidentally pick up the book without realizing I've read it before . . .
January 11, 2016
2nd in series. Evan is assigned by his mysterious boss in a secret government agency to spring a Slovak Nazi from prison in Prague and bring him to Lisbon to find his files on neo-Nazi movements. Tanner goes through his usual contacts in various extremist organizations and succeeds in most of his mission. He gets the nasty Nazi out of his castle prison, and on the journey to Greece discovers how nasty the man is. He's the most powerful non-German in the neo-Nazi movement and really embodies their philosophy.
Of course the title's pun is somewhat weakened because the man is a Slovak not a Czech and the country that was at that time Czechoslovakia is no longer. Neither is the then-Yugoslavia still extant. But at the time the novel was written, both were going concerns.
Evan Tanner is an interesting character with interesting hobbies. He can't sleep since shrapnel in the Korean War destroyed his sleep center. So he learns languages. He joins lost causes, most of which are on the Attorney General's watch list of subversives. He also writes term papers and even dissertations for pay. (This is before the Internet after all.)
Recommended, with caveats for being dated in many ways.
Of course the title's pun is somewhat weakened because the man is a Slovak not a Czech and the country that was at that time Czechoslovakia is no longer. Neither is the then-Yugoslavia still extant. But at the time the novel was written, both were going concerns.
Evan Tanner is an interesting character with interesting hobbies. He can't sleep since shrapnel in the Korean War destroyed his sleep center. So he learns languages. He joins lost causes, most of which are on the Attorney General's watch list of subversives. He also writes term papers and even dissertations for pay. (This is before the Internet after all.)
Recommended, with caveats for being dated in many ways.
November 13, 2012
#2 in the Evan Tanner series. The follow-up to The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep (1966). As Block puts it "Thief ended with Tanner the putative employee of a government agency so secret that he doesn't know its name, and his boss doesn't know that Tanner doesn't really work for him. So his boss sends him off to rescue a particularly odious Nazi war criminal, and Tanner accepts the assignment, and carries it out in his own idiosyncratic way."
Spy Evan Tanner series - Multilingual, anarchic spy Evan Tanner once again goes behind the Iron Curtain. He must break into a Prague prison to liberate a despicable Nazi who will lead Tanner to the documents exposing his network of hatred. The spy has unusual allies: a gang of Israeli terrorists and a beautiful Czech nymphomaniac. The means he devises to silence Kotacek's racist rants, sneak him into the West, and trick him into revealing his secrets are extremely clever.
Spy Evan Tanner series - Multilingual, anarchic spy Evan Tanner once again goes behind the Iron Curtain. He must break into a Prague prison to liberate a despicable Nazi who will lead Tanner to the documents exposing his network of hatred. The spy has unusual allies: a gang of Israeli terrorists and a beautiful Czech nymphomaniac. The means he devises to silence Kotacek's racist rants, sneak him into the West, and trick him into revealing his secrets are extremely clever.
May 7, 2013
I have loved Lawrence Block's Hitman series and his Burglar series and love them. For some unknown reason I have just started reading his Tanner series. I laughed and laughed. This book reminds me of the wonderful weirdness of Carl Hiaasen, A bizarre story. A bizarre hero. Fun and unique. Worth the trouble I had in finding it in my library system. Great read.
November 1, 2020
by Barbara Kelley
The Canceled Czech is Book #2 of the Evan Tanner series by Lawrence Block. This book was originally published in 1966 by Fawcett Publications, 25 years after World War II. The e-book edition was published on October 13, 2009 by Harper Collins Publications. Please keep this in mind while reading that the events in this book occurred during the 1940s through the 1960s.
For 16 years, Evan Tanner has been unable to sleep due to shrapnel received in his brain during the Korean War - it is in the part of the brain that gives a person the ability to know when it is time to go to sleep; therefore, rendering him unable to sleep. This problem can be a beneficial asset: not being able to sleep means he has more time to do other things, like forging college term papers for high-paying students; learning multiple languages fluently; and spying? This book is 200 pages of almost nonstop action, some of it extremely funny, and at other times downright tragic.
One of the characters is Greta, a twenty-year-old German Nazi sympathizer and a total nymphomaniac. I have read about nymphomaniacs before, but Greta, in my opinion, breaks the mold. She is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed version of the "Birth of Venus" painting, but even more beautiful. She can and does have any man she wants, and there is one scene in the book that had me laughing so hard my ribs and stomach hurt: when she and Evan, along with four Jews were trying to break the bad old Nazi out of a Slavic prison. When you read that part, you will probably laugh, too. Even Evan, our hero, didn't want to leave her behind, but his mission was more important.
Evan's mission is to kidnap an old Nazi known as "the Butcher". Evan hates Nazis, but he will complete his mission because the U. S. government needs the papers and information the old man has before either the Russians or the Nazis get it. The old Nazi has diabetes and a catalytic disorder (catalepsy is a disorder that is much like narcolepsy, rendering a person so unconscious that they seem dead - their breathing is so low that a doctor can sometimes not register a pulse or heartbeat with a stethoscope). There are several scenes where the old man goes into a cataleptic seizure and Evan uses these moments to save his life until he can get those papers. Some of these scenes are very funny. The Jews want to kill him, but when he goes into a seizure, and they think he is dead, Evan saves the Nazi from being hanged, which surely would have killed him; however, the Jews circumsize the old geezer, and when he comes out of the seizure the old guy is horrified at what was done to him. There were times when the old man was awake and spouting off his filthy mouth and I wanted to, and I wanted to reach through the pages of my Kindle and strangle him myself. I am a gentle person who has never harmed anybody in my entire life. However, I felt angry every time he spoke his racist comments. I think Evan felt that way, as well.
Once again, Evan's being a member of just about every lost cause around the world helped him get the old Nazi through several Serbian and Croatian countries, as well as Greece, Turkey, Portugal, and Macedonia. I will read the third book in this series as soon as I read a few other books on my reading list. I gave this book 5 stars.
The Canceled Czech is Book #2 of the Evan Tanner series by Lawrence Block. This book was originally published in 1966 by Fawcett Publications, 25 years after World War II. The e-book edition was published on October 13, 2009 by Harper Collins Publications. Please keep this in mind while reading that the events in this book occurred during the 1940s through the 1960s.
For 16 years, Evan Tanner has been unable to sleep due to shrapnel received in his brain during the Korean War - it is in the part of the brain that gives a person the ability to know when it is time to go to sleep; therefore, rendering him unable to sleep. This problem can be a beneficial asset: not being able to sleep means he has more time to do other things, like forging college term papers for high-paying students; learning multiple languages fluently; and spying? This book is 200 pages of almost nonstop action, some of it extremely funny, and at other times downright tragic.
One of the characters is Greta, a twenty-year-old German Nazi sympathizer and a total nymphomaniac. I have read about nymphomaniacs before, but Greta, in my opinion, breaks the mold. She is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed version of the "Birth of Venus" painting, but even more beautiful. She can and does have any man she wants, and there is one scene in the book that had me laughing so hard my ribs and stomach hurt: when she and Evan, along with four Jews were trying to break the bad old Nazi out of a Slavic prison. When you read that part, you will probably laugh, too. Even Evan, our hero, didn't want to leave her behind, but his mission was more important.
Evan's mission is to kidnap an old Nazi known as "the Butcher". Evan hates Nazis, but he will complete his mission because the U. S. government needs the papers and information the old man has before either the Russians or the Nazis get it. The old Nazi has diabetes and a catalytic disorder (catalepsy is a disorder that is much like narcolepsy, rendering a person so unconscious that they seem dead - their breathing is so low that a doctor can sometimes not register a pulse or heartbeat with a stethoscope). There are several scenes where the old man goes into a cataleptic seizure and Evan uses these moments to save his life until he can get those papers. Some of these scenes are very funny. The Jews want to kill him, but when he goes into a seizure, and they think he is dead, Evan saves the Nazi from being hanged, which surely would have killed him; however, the Jews circumsize the old geezer, and when he comes out of the seizure the old guy is horrified at what was done to him. There were times when the old man was awake and spouting off his filthy mouth and I wanted to, and I wanted to reach through the pages of my Kindle and strangle him myself. I am a gentle person who has never harmed anybody in my entire life. However, I felt angry every time he spoke his racist comments. I think Evan felt that way, as well.
Once again, Evan's being a member of just about every lost cause around the world helped him get the old Nazi through several Serbian and Croatian countries, as well as Greece, Turkey, Portugal, and Macedonia. I will read the third book in this series as soon as I read a few other books on my reading list. I gave this book 5 stars.
January 30, 2021
I finished book 1 and immediately got book 2. My review is somewhat the same. It's hard to pigeonhole this book, which is a good thing. It's part comedy, part philosophy... makes you really think.
Spoilers below: Tanner is a sometime/part-time operative for a shadowy unnamed US agency which performs operations for the US government. This time he is tasked to rescue a Slovak Nazi (Kotacek) who has been captured by the Czechs. He is to release him from a prison in a castle by himself and find records written by Kotacek which may be useful to the US government.
Tanner plans as he goes along. He flies to Lisbon and then travels to Czechoslovakia (this is during the Cold War), using friends and contacts from various revolutionary groups he is member of. The comedic parts include him feigning and then getting into the spirit of a Nazi political meeting, except in this case the members are all geriatrics, still he manages to rile them up into using their canes and walkers into an anti-Czech German nationalist uprising. When he finally manages to rescue Kotacek with the help of the Stern Gang, he convinces them to circumcise and take Kotacek's foreskin as a "scalp" instead of hanging his body.
The serious part is Tanner's interaction with Ferenc, a Hungarian patriot, during a car ride. These few pages themselves are worth the 5 stars of my review. It's where Tanner and Ferenc come to terms with them saving Kotacek. Tanner who has to explain to a good man why he is saving a Nazi despite his own hatred of him and Ferenc who has to explain to himself why he is transporting a loathsome Nazi. This part is very well written and a surprising piece of writing to be found in a book of such a genre. Just beautiful. My hat is off to Lawrence Block.
This book was originally published in 1966 and in a way is a time travel device back to that time for readers. You really get a feel of the times and geographically and politically, all neatly summarized in 198 pages. Now onto book 3. Can it surpass this book?
Spoilers below: Tanner is a sometime/part-time operative for a shadowy unnamed US agency which performs operations for the US government. This time he is tasked to rescue a Slovak Nazi (Kotacek) who has been captured by the Czechs. He is to release him from a prison in a castle by himself and find records written by Kotacek which may be useful to the US government.
Tanner plans as he goes along. He flies to Lisbon and then travels to Czechoslovakia (this is during the Cold War), using friends and contacts from various revolutionary groups he is member of. The comedic parts include him feigning and then getting into the spirit of a Nazi political meeting, except in this case the members are all geriatrics, still he manages to rile them up into using their canes and walkers into an anti-Czech German nationalist uprising. When he finally manages to rescue Kotacek with the help of the Stern Gang, he convinces them to circumcise and take Kotacek's foreskin as a "scalp" instead of hanging his body.
The serious part is Tanner's interaction with Ferenc, a Hungarian patriot, during a car ride. These few pages themselves are worth the 5 stars of my review. It's where Tanner and Ferenc come to terms with them saving Kotacek. Tanner who has to explain to a good man why he is saving a Nazi despite his own hatred of him and Ferenc who has to explain to himself why he is transporting a loathsome Nazi. This part is very well written and a surprising piece of writing to be found in a book of such a genre. Just beautiful. My hat is off to Lawrence Block.
This book was originally published in 1966 and in a way is a time travel device back to that time for readers. You really get a feel of the times and geographically and politically, all neatly summarized in 198 pages. Now onto book 3. Can it surpass this book?
December 19, 2018
Block is a fine writer. Good dialog, clean prose, easy to read. The plot is something else. It has a whole cartload of crowbars. (Crowbar: hero trapped in a cave/shed/cell about to be rendered hors de combat by a person twice his size and … his hand finds a crowbar that just happens to be handy. In other words, a plot device used by a writer who has painted himself into a corner. Happens a lot with writers who work for speed.)
Who else would take a job to spring a Nazi from prison in Prague and not plan it out? Evan Tanner takes the job, reminding us several times that he has no idea how he will finish it. He starts in Hungary … oh, yes … let’s buy a map. He ascertains that Prague is somewhere northwestish. On his way, he gets deposited in a random farmer’s home where he is provided new clothes and food and pointed to the neighborhood of the Nazi sympathizer he’s supposed to get in touch with. And, oh yes, the protagonist doesn’t need to sleep, and that somehow translates into no need to rest the body. He’s mentioned before how he has no idea of how to extract the old Nazi war criminal from a fortress-like prison. But, fortunately, he runs into a voluptuous young woman who is both a Nazi sympathizer and a nymphomaniac (i.e., a crowbar with many benefits). Ms. Crowbar becomes crucial to the plan he doesn’t have.
Cancelled Czech is advertised as a spy thriller. It’s really a caper novel, except good capers have believable plots with humorous twists. This has good writing, humorous twists, and a nonsense plot.
Block began his career writing high-volume softcore porn. He kept up the high volume when he turned to mystery, and he is a fine writer … talented, certainly lots of experience. The gentleman knows technique. That’s what kept me moving through to the end of the book.
Who else would take a job to spring a Nazi from prison in Prague and not plan it out? Evan Tanner takes the job, reminding us several times that he has no idea how he will finish it. He starts in Hungary … oh, yes … let’s buy a map. He ascertains that Prague is somewhere northwestish. On his way, he gets deposited in a random farmer’s home where he is provided new clothes and food and pointed to the neighborhood of the Nazi sympathizer he’s supposed to get in touch with. And, oh yes, the protagonist doesn’t need to sleep, and that somehow translates into no need to rest the body. He’s mentioned before how he has no idea of how to extract the old Nazi war criminal from a fortress-like prison. But, fortunately, he runs into a voluptuous young woman who is both a Nazi sympathizer and a nymphomaniac (i.e., a crowbar with many benefits). Ms. Crowbar becomes crucial to the plan he doesn’t have.
Cancelled Czech is advertised as a spy thriller. It’s really a caper novel, except good capers have believable plots with humorous twists. This has good writing, humorous twists, and a nonsense plot.
Block began his career writing high-volume softcore porn. He kept up the high volume when he turned to mystery, and he is a fine writer … talented, certainly lots of experience. The gentleman knows technique. That’s what kept me moving through to the end of the book.
March 31, 2018
Six-word Review: Can't sleep, crazy assignment, win-win result.
This is an early Lawrence Block effort and his first series. It doesn't measure up to either the Rhodenbarr or Scudder series but it's a good first try.
Evan Tanner, took some shrapnel in Korea to his brain's sleep center so he can't ever sleep. He is able to meditate which allows him to renew himself but the idea is pretty far-fetched. Also far-fetched are the many coincidences which allow Tanner to escape impossible situations. What shows up clearly, however, is Block's sense of humor and light-hearted description of his characters' actions and motivations. This ability becomes sharper and more believable in the Rhodenbarr series.
Tanner is sent by his handler to rescue a Neo-Nazi big-wig, Kotacek, who's been captured by the Czechs and is due to be convicted and executed. At this point in history, Czechoslovakia is behind the Iron Curtain. The U.S. authorities want to find out what this evil person knows so Tanner must take him alive out of a very old castle that's been converted into a prison.
On the way, Tanner meets and is involved with many interesting characters: his unnamed handler, a Sudetenland Nazi with a nymphomaniac daughter, a group of Israeli activists who also want Kotacek to be tried in Israel, and various other folks who help Tanner accomplish his task. The plot itself is fairly straightforward and predictable though the details are often surprising and amusing. The ending is satisfying and ties everything up neatly.
I can't wholeheartedly recommend this book. Your time would be better spent with Block's later efforts, but if you are in need of a quick entertaining read, this fits the bill.
This is an early Lawrence Block effort and his first series. It doesn't measure up to either the Rhodenbarr or Scudder series but it's a good first try.
Evan Tanner, took some shrapnel in Korea to his brain's sleep center so he can't ever sleep. He is able to meditate which allows him to renew himself but the idea is pretty far-fetched. Also far-fetched are the many coincidences which allow Tanner to escape impossible situations. What shows up clearly, however, is Block's sense of humor and light-hearted description of his characters' actions and motivations. This ability becomes sharper and more believable in the Rhodenbarr series.
Tanner is sent by his handler to rescue a Neo-Nazi big-wig, Kotacek, who's been captured by the Czechs and is due to be convicted and executed. At this point in history, Czechoslovakia is behind the Iron Curtain. The U.S. authorities want to find out what this evil person knows so Tanner must take him alive out of a very old castle that's been converted into a prison.
On the way, Tanner meets and is involved with many interesting characters: his unnamed handler, a Sudetenland Nazi with a nymphomaniac daughter, a group of Israeli activists who also want Kotacek to be tried in Israel, and various other folks who help Tanner accomplish his task. The plot itself is fairly straightforward and predictable though the details are often surprising and amusing. The ending is satisfying and ties everything up neatly.
I can't wholeheartedly recommend this book. Your time would be better spent with Block's later efforts, but if you are in need of a quick entertaining read, this fits the bill.
May 5, 2024
Turn your “Disbelief” dial down to zero! (Where 10 means you demand proof on everything and 0 means “whatever!”)
This book is - almost comically - unbelievable - over and over again. It’s not a fantasy on the order of “Lord of the Rings”. It’s set in the post WW-II time frame and primarily in Eastern Europe. The characters are all humans. But the actions of and interactions between said humans are frequently imaginary - - - in the extreme. Pure gossamer!
This is not to say the book is a waste of ink and paper. I read to the end and didn’t rue spending the time - but Lawrence Block is not in the same class as Robert Ludlum, John le Carre, Dan Brown, Ian Fleming or any other authors that come to mind.
This book is - almost comically - unbelievable - over and over again. It’s not a fantasy on the order of “Lord of the Rings”. It’s set in the post WW-II time frame and primarily in Eastern Europe. The characters are all humans. But the actions of and interactions between said humans are frequently imaginary - - - in the extreme. Pure gossamer!
This is not to say the book is a waste of ink and paper. I read to the end and didn’t rue spending the time - but Lawrence Block is not in the same class as Robert Ludlum, John le Carre, Dan Brown, Ian Fleming or any other authors that come to mind.
August 22, 2023
An amusing thriller by Lawrence Block, the Master of the Crime Novel. He will take you on a tour of Czechoslovakia along with Evan Michael Tanner, the man who never sleeps. Tanner is hired by a U.S Secret Agency to capture an imprisoned dying man named Kotacek, the most influential non-German in the contemporary Nazi movement and retrieve his secret papers. And, of course, along to assist Tanner in his quest is Greta, a blonde goddess. She is tall with long blonde hair that melts over her shoulder and eyes a deep vivid blue. An old Norseman would have carved her on the prow of his ship. A fun read.
September 13, 2023
Original copyright was 1966, so there was still a Czechoslovakia, it was under communist control, and the world was still avidly hunting for Nazi criminals. American Evan Tanner is tasked with single-handedly getting a Nazi out of prison in Prague, moving him through the Iron Curtain, and getting him to a place where his secrets, that would lead to more arrests, could be obtained before the Czechs put him on trial and execute him. As much as it galls Tanner to deny the man a well-deserved execution, he manages to do so. Just when you think his task couldn't be any more impossible, he figures a way out. The ending sees justice served.
April 1, 2019
Certainly one of the hallmarks of a Block book is his laying out a story that scampers in many directions. He does this with the deft ability to create intriguing characters beyond the central figures. His stories solid with very good writing. This is one in the series that I, at this point, like best.
Favorite part involved getting tangled in a wedding.
Bottom Line: i recommend this book. 9 out of ten points.
Favorite part involved getting tangled in a wedding.
Bottom Line: i recommend this book. 9 out of ten points.
January 15, 2023
This book has one of the most gratuitously sexist plot devices I’ve ever had the bad luck to pay good money for. A literal Nazi nymphomaniac bimbo used exactly as if she were some kind of fancy spy gadget to lure some prison guards away from their posts. And we’re supposed to believe gorgeous greedy Greta loved being transformed into the brainless sex toy of some laconic American tough guy a day after meeting him. Absolutely rancid.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 26, 2024
This was definietly fast moving and action filled, but I'm a bit baffled about what this author it trying to accomplish. The mission is unexplained and incomprehensible though I might reread the first few chapters to see if it makes more sense in retrospect; the characters are mostly repellent, including the behavior of the main character. I might also reread the first book to see if I thought too highly of it, and re-assess my interest in this particular series.
February 10, 2020
Having enjoyed the travels and adventures of Evan Tanner in his first book it was just as much fun going on this second journey. A journey through some European history, geography, language, food and people proved entertaining as well as educational (at least for me). There is a story here and it is well worth the reading.
September 18, 2017
Mildly entertaining mystery book with a decent story. The story never really grabbed me. It did have a few good plot twists but nothing spectacular. I might read another Evan Tanner by Block, or I might not.
January 11, 2025
Virtually a 4*.
It's an amusing romp with interesting characters and a storyline that in some parts stretches incredulity.
I'm not sure if this is because it's tongue in cheek or it's satire, but these are easily forgiven.
It's an amusing romp with interesting characters and a storyline that in some parts stretches incredulity.
I'm not sure if this is because it's tongue in cheek or it's satire, but these are easily forgiven.
November 4, 2016
The description pretty much sums it up. A 60's secret agent yarn with a few twists and turns. Good adventure read and looking forward to the next Evan Tanner episode.
May 7, 2020
Very entertaining in typical Lawrence Block style!
September 10, 2020
A bit dull. Very linear. Use of the catalepsy devise is way overused. Otherwise, a descent story with interesting historical contexts.
January 21, 2021
This book was written in 1966 and is set in post WWII. The ending was a twist that seemed appropriate.
Read
March 10, 2023I got this at Second Story books in Rockville in December 2022.
April 7, 2024
Not my thing, but I think it is quite well written.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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