
Resume Speed and Other Stories
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $14.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Theo Holland
-
By:
-
Lawrence Block
About this listen
Lawrence Block's new collection assembles seven works of fiction produced over a period of 60 years.
"Hard Sell", a story ghost-written under Craig Rice's name, appeared in the first issue of Ed McBain's Mystery Magazine in 1960. It features Rice's hard-drinking yet clear-thinking lawyer, John J.Malone.
"Dead to the World", which appeared under a one-shot pen name in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, has been lost for years, and the story of how it was lost and found is as interesting as the story itself.
The same is true of "Whatever It Takes", created over a quarter of a century ago and never submitted anywhere, because the author filed it away and forgot about it; he came upon it, dusted it off, and sent it to AHMM where it was published.
"I Know How to Pick 'Em" was created for Dangerous Women, the George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois anthology, and a holdback clause in the contract kept it out of LB's previous collections.
"Autumn at the Automat" was also created for an anthology, LB's own In Sunlight or in Shadow, and won an Edgar Allan Poe award as "Best Story of the Year".
"Gym Rat" has never appeared in print; it was ePublished as part of a Center for Fiction project. While fans have suggested the protagonist might return for further appearances, LB is doubtful. Still, he's been mistaken before.
"Resume Speed", the title novella, was published in hardcover (by the stellar Subterranean Press) and as a Kindle single (by the author). Subterranean's edition is out-of-print and hard to come by, and the story now appears in paperback for the first time. While it was created only a couple of years ago, it has its roots in a story the author overheard perhaps 40 years ago. All of the circumstances of its origin, and a good deal more about each of these stories, may be found in LB's foreword. But, if you don't care, you can just skip it and go straight to the stories!
©2018 Lawrence Block (P)2018 Lawrence BlockListeners also enjoyed...
-
Hit List
- Keller Series, Book 2
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Lawrence Block
- Length: 5 hrs
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Keller is a regular guy, a solid citizen. He goes to the movies, watches the tube, browses the art galleries, and works diligently on his stamp collection. But every now and then a call from the breezily efficient Dot sends him off to kill a total stranger. He takes a plane, rents a car, finds a hotel room, and gets back before the body is cold.
-
-
The reluctant hero with an edge
- By Jerry on 10-31-23
By: Lawrence Block
-
The Law of Innocence: Booktrack Edition
- By: Michael Connelly
- Narrated by: Peter Giles
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the night he celebrates a big win, defense attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, who find the body of a former client in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is immediately charged with murder but can’t post the exorbitant $5 million bail. Mickey elects to represent himself and is forced to mount his defense from his jail cell in downtown Los Angeles. Even if he can obtain a not-guilty verdict, Mickey understands that it won’t be enough. In order to be truly exonerated, he must find out who really committed the murder and why. That is the law of innocence.
-
-
Don't buy "book track edition"
- By Amazon Customer on 10-18-22
By: Michael Connelly
-
After the First Death
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was all too frighteningly familiar. For the second time in his life, Alex Penn wakes up in an alcoholic daze in a cheap hotel room off Times Square and finds himself lying next to the savagely mutilated body of a young woman. After the first death, he was convicted of murder and imprisoned, then released on a technicality. But this time he has to find out what happened during the blackout and why, before the police do.
By: Lawrence Block
-
Burglars Can't Be Choosers
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this first in a series of wickedly funny mysteries, best-selling author Lawrence Block introduces Bernie Rhodenbarr, sometimes burglar, sometimes sleuth. Pulling only an occasional, very discreet job, Bernie manages to maintain his comfortable New York City apartment and keep his unorthodox vocation a closely-guarded secret. Every burglar knows never to trust anonymous phone calls. But when the caller offers easy money for an hour's work, Bernie can't ignore the job.
-
-
Wonderful Wise-Ass Humour
- By Bodiccea on 02-25-14
By: Lawrence Block
-
The Sins of the Fathers
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The hooker was young, pretty...and dead, butchered in a Greenwich Village apartment. The prime suspect, a minister's son, was also dead, the victim of a jailhouse suicide. The case is closed, as far as the NYPD is concerned. Now the murdered prostitute's father wants it opened again--that's where Matthew Scudder comes in.
-
-
Good introduction to a popular series
- By Sharron on 12-26-11
By: Lawrence Block
-
Burglar on the Prowl
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Lawrence Block
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed New York Times best-selling author Lawrence Block returns with the extraordinary Bernie Rhodenbarr. Antiquarian bookseller by day, burglar by night, Bernie has an innate knack, a gift, for getting into places designed to keep him out.
-
-
Good book/ bad narration
- By Jon on 02-04-07
By: Lawrence Block
-
Hit List
- Keller Series, Book 2
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Lawrence Block
- Length: 5 hrs
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Keller is a regular guy, a solid citizen. He goes to the movies, watches the tube, browses the art galleries, and works diligently on his stamp collection. But every now and then a call from the breezily efficient Dot sends him off to kill a total stranger. He takes a plane, rents a car, finds a hotel room, and gets back before the body is cold.
-
-
The reluctant hero with an edge
- By Jerry on 10-31-23
By: Lawrence Block
-
The Law of Innocence: Booktrack Edition
- By: Michael Connelly
- Narrated by: Peter Giles
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the night he celebrates a big win, defense attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, who find the body of a former client in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is immediately charged with murder but can’t post the exorbitant $5 million bail. Mickey elects to represent himself and is forced to mount his defense from his jail cell in downtown Los Angeles. Even if he can obtain a not-guilty verdict, Mickey understands that it won’t be enough. In order to be truly exonerated, he must find out who really committed the murder and why. That is the law of innocence.
-
-
Don't buy "book track edition"
- By Amazon Customer on 10-18-22
By: Michael Connelly
-
After the First Death
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It was all too frighteningly familiar. For the second time in his life, Alex Penn wakes up in an alcoholic daze in a cheap hotel room off Times Square and finds himself lying next to the savagely mutilated body of a young woman. After the first death, he was convicted of murder and imprisoned, then released on a technicality. But this time he has to find out what happened during the blackout and why, before the police do.
By: Lawrence Block
-
Burglars Can't Be Choosers
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this first in a series of wickedly funny mysteries, best-selling author Lawrence Block introduces Bernie Rhodenbarr, sometimes burglar, sometimes sleuth. Pulling only an occasional, very discreet job, Bernie manages to maintain his comfortable New York City apartment and keep his unorthodox vocation a closely-guarded secret. Every burglar knows never to trust anonymous phone calls. But when the caller offers easy money for an hour's work, Bernie can't ignore the job.
-
-
Wonderful Wise-Ass Humour
- By Bodiccea on 02-25-14
By: Lawrence Block
-
The Sins of the Fathers
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The hooker was young, pretty...and dead, butchered in a Greenwich Village apartment. The prime suspect, a minister's son, was also dead, the victim of a jailhouse suicide. The case is closed, as far as the NYPD is concerned. Now the murdered prostitute's father wants it opened again--that's where Matthew Scudder comes in.
-
-
Good introduction to a popular series
- By Sharron on 12-26-11
By: Lawrence Block
-
Burglar on the Prowl
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Lawrence Block
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed New York Times best-selling author Lawrence Block returns with the extraordinary Bernie Rhodenbarr. Antiquarian bookseller by day, burglar by night, Bernie has an innate knack, a gift, for getting into places designed to keep him out.
-
-
Good book/ bad narration
- By Jon on 02-04-07
By: Lawrence Block
-
Cat Chaser
- By: Elmore Leonard
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The hero of Cat Chaser, George Moran, isn't looking for trouble but finds it anyway when he winds up in bed with the wife of a drug-dealing mob-connected Dominican cop - vicious, macho and ready to follow George to the ends of the earth, which in this case means Miami.
-
-
Elmore Leonard and Frank Muller: Unbeatable.
- By Richard Delman on 04-20-12
By: Elmore Leonard
-
Stories
- All-New Tales
- By: Neil Gaiman - author/editor, Al Sarrantonio - editor, Joe Hill, and others
- Narrated by: Anne Bobby, Jonathan Davis, Katherine Kellgren, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to discover more—to find the answer to the question: "And then what happened?" The true hallmark of great literature is great imagination, and as Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio prove with this outstanding collection, when it comes to great fiction, all genres are equal.
-
-
Something for Everyone
- By Nicole on 05-24-17
By: Neil Gaiman - author/editor, and others
-
Standing by the Wall
- The Collected Slough House Novellas
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Espionage. Blackmail. Revenge. Cunning. Slapstick. State secrets dating back to the fall of the Berlin Wall. All this and more in a tight package of five novellas by Mick Herron, CWA Gold Dagger-winning author of Slow Horses.
-
-
More Please
- By Katy on 01-27-23
By: Mick Herron
-
Pronto
- By: Elmore Leonard
- Narrated by: Alexander Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The feds want Miami bookmaker Harry Arno to squeal on his wiseguy boss. So they're putting word out on the street that Arno's skimming profits from "Jimmy Cap" Capotorto - which he is, but everybody does it. He was planning to retire to Italy someday anyway, so Harry figures now's a good time to get lost. U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens knows Harry's tricky - the bookie ditched him once in an airport while in the marshal's custody - but not careful.
-
-
Great character, even better dialogue!
- By Ron on 11-15-11
By: Elmore Leonard
-
The Singapore Wink
- Mysterious Press - HighBridge Audio Classics
- By: Ross Thomas
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two pirates do battle on an old junk ship in Singapore Harbor. They leap nimbly from deck to rigging, crossing swords like fencing masters. And then one surprises the other, slicing a rope and sending the unfortunate pirate tumbling into the bay. This is how stuntman Angelo Sacchetti dies. Edward Cauthorne was his opponent, a fellow stuntman whose career died along with Sacchetti. He’s selling used cars when two thugs approach him.
By: Ross Thomas
-
The Walk
- By: Richard Paul Evans
- Narrated by: Richard Paul Evans
- Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would you do if you lost everything - your job, your home, and the love of your life - all at the same time? When it happens to Seattle ad executive Alan Christoffersen, he's tempted by his darkest thoughts. A bottle of pills in his hand and nothing left to live for, he plans to end his misery. Instead, he decides to take a walk. But not any ordinary walk. Taking with him only the barest of essentials, Al leaves behind all that he's known and heads for the farthest point on his map.
-
-
Great listen but why is it so SHORT?
- By Kathy in CA on 02-18-15
-
The Passenger
- By: Lisa Lutz
- Narrated by: Madeleine Maby
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Forty-eight hours after leaving her husband's body at the base of the stairs, Tanya Dubois cashes in her credit cards, dyes her hair brown, demands a new name from a shadowy voice over the phone, and flees town. It's not the first time. She meets Blue, a female bartender who recognizes the hunted look in a fugitive's eyes and offers her a place to stay. With dwindling choices, Tanya-now-Amelia accepts. An uneasy - and dangerous - alliance is born.
-
-
Message to narrator
- By Jodi on 03-20-16
By: Lisa Lutz
-
Sunburn
- A Novel
- By: Laura Lippman
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he's also passing through. Yet she stays, and he stays - drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other - dangerous, even lethal secrets. Then someone dies. Was it an accident or part of a plan? By now Adam and Polly are so ensnared in each other's lives and lies that neither one knows how to get away.
-
-
Excellent noir novel
- By Kombucha on 02-22-18
By: Laura Lippman
-
Elegy
- The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas
- By: Charles Beaumont
- Narrated by: Stacy Keach, Blair Underwood
- Length: 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three astronauts land on a remote asteroid where everyone is frozen in place in the midst of their activities. The only one that moves reveals himself as the caretaker who explains that they are in an exclusive cemetery where the deads' greatest wishes can come true.
-
-
Don't read the Publisher's Summary!
- By Mike T. on 08-14-15
By: Charles Beaumont
-
Atlanta Deathwatch
- Hardman, Book 1
- By: Ralph Dennis
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jim Hardman was a mediocre Atlanta cop until he was wrongly accused of corruption and thrown off the force. Now he works as an unlicensed PI, trouble-shooter, and bodyguard...often partnered with his drinking buddy Hump Evans, a black ex-NFL player. Hardman is hired by The Man, a black mobster, to investigate the murder of his white girlfriend, a college student. It’s a case that plunges Hardman and Evans into the center of a violent street war that stretches from Atlanta’s seedy back alleys to the marbled corridors of power.
-
-
First in a Long Out-of-print Series
- By ssimon2000 on 01-28-19
By: Ralph Dennis
-
Fog of Dead Souls
- A Thriller
- By: Jill Kelly
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When college professor Ellie McKay walks into the Maverick Bar in Farmington, New Mexico, late one evening, she plans to get drunk, not engaged. But within 30 minutes, she’s met cowboy Al Robison, he’s proposed to her, and she’s accepted. Al only knows that Ellie is attractive, vulnerable, and single; he doesn’t know that she has been on the run for weeks from a sociopath who killed her surgeon boyfriend in Pennsylvania and raped and tortured her.
-
-
Applause for the old, fat, drunk heroine
- By Amazon Customer on 04-09-14
By: Jill Kelly
-
Vengeance
- By: Stuart M. Kaminsky
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three years ago Lew Fonseca quit his job as a process server with the State Attorney's Office in Cook County, Illinois, and drove his rattling Toyota south to escape the memories of his beloved late wife. Headed for Key West, the Toyota broke down in a Dairy Queen parking lot in Sarasota, Florida. Buoyed by the friendship of a few trustworthy souls, Lew settled there, making ends meet by doing some investigative work for local attorneys.
-
-
Unexpectional!
- By Ted on 09-17-17
What listeners say about Resume Speed and Other Stories
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Richard G.
- 10-12-18
GREAT COLLECTION OF NOIR AND MORE!
This is a great collection of short stories and novellas showcasing Lawrence Block's writing talent. These stories range from straight-up noir to stories that would be at home on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" or "The Twilight Zone".
I enjoyed them all but was especially fond of "I Know How to Pick 'Em", "Gym Rat", & "Autumn at the Automat".
Theo Holland's voices and accents fit the characters in each story superbly. I especially enjoyed his voice for the old woman in "Autumn At the Automat".
A highly recommended listen!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- AmazonReviewer
- 08-11-19
deceptively simple insights into human nature
I had read "Resume Speed" before, so I knew it would be good. Excellent narration as well. Really captured the mood. A nice selection of other stories were included as well.
Note-- I received a free review copy from the author but a review was not required.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Matt Coffey
- 09-26-19
Excellent collection of stories
Lawrence Block’s Resume Speed and Other Stories is excellent. His deceptively simple style and casual, engrossing prose make for compulsive reading and, particularly in the case of the title story (which I had read twice before listening to the audiobook), can be easily read time and again with no less enjoyment. The stories here are all solid with
Resume Speed as the stand out, along with Autumn at the Automat and I Know How to Pick ‘em. You’ll find seemingly relatable characters who aren’t actually relatable at all, twists that never feel gratuitous or forced, and a cool writing style that is beyond inviting. Theo Holland has a good voice for the material and is a fine choice for Mr. Block’s work.
Strongly recommended.
Please note that an audio copy of this book was provided by the author, though a review was not insisted upon or required.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Peterack
- 10-30-18
A mostly wonderful collection
This collection of stories by author Lawrence Block delivers what one might expect if one is familiar with the author. For those not, you are in for a treat. The stories within run the gamut of what the author is good at. Decent stories with excellent characters and fun twists.
Though there was one entry in this collection that I did not care for, it was short, and the rest were excellent. Theo Holland who voiced other Bloch audiobooks brings his narrating and character voicing gifts to this group of tales.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Susan Patterson
- 05-24-21
Clever and eclectic
Different twists keep you guessing in each story.
Theo Holland does a good job at narrating.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Danny Harr
- 01-04-21
Resume speed
here is a few short stories quick to listen to. easy to follow. perfect for driving to work or home . Theo Holland does an amazing job narraiting this book. it's fun to listen to what all he can do with his voice. If my review was any help will you please click the helpful link. Thank you
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ellen Oceanside
- 11-27-20
Good.
A good collection to enjoy and into one psychic enjoyable and with good narration. Given audio for my voluntary review
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful