THE BURGLAR ON THE PROWL

William Morrow. Fine in Fine dust jacket. 2004. First Edition; Fourth Printing. Hardcover. 0060198303 . HC/DJ - excellent condition. 1st ed. , 4th printing. Clean and unmarked other than slight soiling to outer edge of pages. Jacket has small amount of edge crinkling and one tiny corner tear. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 304 pages; Bernie is back! To devoted followers of genre stalwart Block's comic series starring Bernie Rhodenbarr, the dry-witted bookseller-thief, a new adventure reads like a treasured stand-up routine, with a few details altered. Sure, it's formula, but that's the fun. We know that when Bernie breaks into someone's home, he will either find a dead body or be trapped under the bed while something bad happens above him. We wait for it, like comedy fans waiting for a familiar punch line. This time Bernie's under the bed, and to make matters worse, he's spotted on a security camera outside the building, making him a suspect in a murder-robbery that took place next door. Then there's the problem of the Black Scourge of Riga, and don't forget the fat man who paid $1,300 dollars for a $12 copy of Conrad's Secret Agent. There's more, of course, and none of it makes much sense, either to Bernie or his pal Carolyn, who offers her usual invaluable counsel while bemoaning the difficulties of finding a girlfriend online. But not to worry, by the last chapter, Bernie gets to say his favorite line, the one we wait for the longest: "I suppose you're all wondering why I summoned you here . . ." [600] .