I've gotten into Westlake and Block through Hard Case Crime. Which are the best books to start with, properly?
(Also, McMurtry! YES.)
Hmm. With Block he's a bit of a chameleon, so if you like dark, brooding crime novels in particular then try the
Matthew Scudder novels -
When the Sacred Ginmill Closes is a personal favourite of mine; if you favour comic crime capers, the
Bernie Rhodenbarr novels are a fine example of the type - Start anywhere, they're all light, silly and barrel along at a great pace; if you like Rex Stout, literary in-jokes and borderline porn (and who doesn't?) then the
Chip Harrison novels are like manna from heaven - Start with
No Score, the first in the series; the
Evan Tanner novels are relentlessly fun pulp adventures - Start at the beginning, with
The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep.
With regard to Westlake, I tell everyone to start with
The Hunter (published under the pseudonym Richard Stark) and
The Hot Rock. If you like crime novels even a little bit one of those two will hit your sweet spot, then expand outwards into his non-series fiction. Fair warning; the Richard Stark novels in particular are products of their time and intended audience, so have sexual scenes and gender politics that are...
problematic, shall we say, for modern readers.
