A light, entertaining read. ( )

The original working title of “No Score” was “Lecher in the Rye.” That should give you a good idea of what the subject matter is. Those looking for another Block series akin to Matthew Scudder or Bernie Rhodenbarr should look elsewhere. Block honed his writing craft and made a living in the sixties and early seventies with what are often termed softcore books that appeared on the newsstand racks with racy covers in an era long before anyone dreamed of the internet. He wrote “Warm and Willing,” “Thirty,” and “Threesome” under the pseudonym “Jill Emerson. He wrote “Carla,” and “Community of Women,” as “Sheldon Lord” and “Campus Tramp” and “Gutter Girl” as Andrew Shaw. Not to forget the Books written as “JohnWarren Wells.” The Chip Harrison series originally authored by the pseudonym “Chip Harrison” consists of four books “No Score” (1970), “Chip Harrison Scores Again” (1971), “Make Out With Murder” (1974), and “The Topless Tulip Caper.” These books, particularly the first two which are not mysteries at all, fall into the softcore category. They are meant to be humorous, tongue-in-cheek, bawdy tales of a young man (Chip Harrison) who has adventures wandering from one town to another and meeting women along the way.

In “No Score,” our lead character’s wealthy parents turn out to be con artists and leave the world in a double suicide, leaving Chip penniless and unwanted at the fancy prep school he was enrolled in. With no relations and a few odd dollars, he hitchhikes to Chicago, finds work with a photographer, who did candid shots by day and sets of dirty pictures by night with his wife as the model. After a risqué education by the photographer’s wife, Chip heads out to the countryside and finds himself working on door-to-door sales, working a variety of cons and scams. Throughout the novel, which is related in the first person, Block sticks to the voice of his narrator, who relates his adventures with youthful innocence and humor. It feels as if Block, in writing this, was half-poking fun at the entire genre. It’s not really meant to be taken seriously. All in all, this is a light, humorous, bawdy read, meant for a mature audience and is not part of Block’s body of mystery and noir work, although you can read this and hear his voice developing.
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