Lawrence Block

Who has kept me entertained for at least 60 books now (I've just counted that many on my shelves and I must have given at least 20 more away), every single one of them read in no more than two sittings.

I've just read "Killing Castro" a novella written in 1961 - which belongs to the decade when he wrote pulp fiction, paid by the word, often soft porn and usually under all manner of pseudonyms. All helping him learn how to tell a story in simple, clear, compelling prose.

Then came the early 70s "Tanner" series about a bloke heavily involved in the machinations of a just-about-united Yugoslavia, which reads like prophecy when read now.

Then his masterpieces - The Matt Scudder crime series, tracking a detective from 1970s New York right through to the present day. As the streets of Hells' Kitchen get cleaner, so these books get darker. Start with "When the Sacred Ginmill Closes", then once hooked, go back to the beginning and read them all in order.

He alternated writing these with a "Burglar" series, a very English sort of take on a New York cat-burglar. I can't believe neither series has been successfully made into TV or film (despite plenty of attempts including Whoopi Goldberg as Matt Scudder - you gotta love Hollywood).

Then, this decade he came up with Keller, a hit-man who spends his time between assignments collecting stamps. Along the way he's written hundreds of short stories, also great, a book on speed-walking, and a book on writer's block, though he can hardly have been writing from experience there.

Go explore, go enjoy.