BURGLARS CAN'T BE CHOOSERS
by Lawrence Block
A smart-alecky, Slightly kinky divertissement jives forth when discriminating Manhattan burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr (lives on the West Side, burgles on the East Side) is hired to snatch a blue, leather-covered box from a luxury apartment—only to find highly bribable cops and a just-barely dead corpse on the premises. Obvious suspect Bernie flees, of course, hides out with the roaches and a duplicitous bedmate-accomplice in Greenwich Village, and sneaks around in disguise—more cop-bribing—to solve the crime (neatly) and clear his bad name. This guilt-free, smug narrator may not be everyone's idea of an urban Robin Hood, and his licentious witticisms start out so-so and go downtown from there—but he's a fast, loose guide through the city streets and full of unwelcome information on how easily your burglar-proof locks can be picked.