SOMETIMES THEY BITE AND OTHER STORIES

Suspense writer Lawrence Block doesn't need to use the supernatural to give listeners the creeps. Mortal avarice, desperation and brutishness achieve the same effect in this gleefully misanthropic pulp fiction. Bruce Weitz, who played Belker on TV's "Hill Street Blues," has ghoulish fun with this collection, nicely giving character to the ample dialogue. Despite his adenoidal growl and occasional signs of hasty production, he's surprisingly expressive and easy to listen to. Particularly apt is his tone--as if he's sharing some cosmic dirty joke on the human race with a fellow avenging angel. Y.R. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN 97]