My first fiction by Block - I had read his 'how to' on writing the novel. Great characterisation, great story, with evocative descriptions of New York and it's people in the aftermath of 9/11. Check out the sex life of Susan the art dealer - can you really, physically do those things? I must get out more... ( )

Generally, I agree with delphica's review (http://www.librarything.com/review/39...) -- this is an odd book, from an author who writes amazing mysteries, particularly those with a New York City focus.

I wasn't as bothered by the raunchy sex, but having read this twice (yes, twice), I remain uncertain what to say about the book and its underlying plot. ( )

(#3 in the 2004 Book Challenge)

This was very different from any of the other Block books I've read (mostly, the Bernie the Burglar series which are the kind of books that have a lot of puns, and Hit Man which I think is one of the greatest books ever and everyone should run not walk to find this book and read it and worship it like I do). Anyway, this book, Small Town is set in NYC in the year after 9-11, and that setting is a device that moves the story forward. I thought this was very interesting and admirable, because that was a really strange year (to say the least) but it was a crazy normalized strange because when everyone's having a strange year, it's easy to lose touch with what normal is. I don't think I absorbed how odd it was until I looked back on it. I thought it was admirable because it strikes me as a bit of a risky choice to focus on -- if it doesn't come off, an author could get a lot of backlash on that.

Also, this book has A LOT of sex. Raunchy sex. Which is okay, I just wasn't expecting it. I'm still trying to figure out if there was a point to it or not (in terms of serving a purpose in the novel). It did have that annoying aspect of feeling rather forced edgy, I don't like that. I'll decide if I think it's edgy, thankyewverramuch.

Grade: a solid B. You know, the more I think about it, the more the sex annoyed me. I still give him credit for writing ultra-believable NYC stories. ( )