A Walk Among the Tombstones (Matthew Scudder) [Kindle Edition]

Lawrence Block (Author)

Book Description

The wife of Kheran Khoury, heroin wholesaler, is killed after he haggles over the price of her ransom. With the help of two computer geniuses, a streetwise punk, drug lords and his friend, ex-cop Scudder, they track the killers through the back streets of Brooklyn.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite their dark titles (the words Slaughterhouse and Boneyard figured in the previous two), Block's splendid, award-winning Matt Scudder novels are by no means unrelievedly bleak. His latest-as well as offering the customary skillful plotting, adroit pacing and sure sense of New York character-features a wry humor all its own, along with a particularly ingratiating and convincing pair of computer hackers. The premise is grim, certainly: a pair of men who prey murderously on women progress to kidnapping the womenfolk of drug dealers and demanding huge ransoms. Former alcoholic PI Scudder-now going to more AA meetings than ever-reluctantly agrees to help one dealer, a Lebanese, after his wife is killed by the kidnappers. Slowly and methodically he discerns a pattern in the mayhem. With the help of his erstwhile police colleagues, his black Times Square sidekick TJ and his call-girl sweetheart, Elaine, Scudder tightens the net on the culprits. When they seize the daughter of a Russian dealer, he is ready for the showdown. Block isn't big on action, though when it comes it is swift, vivid and horribly convincing; his Scudder books are built on character, atmosphere, crackling dialogue and a great deal of brooding-the taste for them is addictive. An equal of Elmore Monard and Robert Parker, Block deserves similar acclaim. Author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Wonderful! Matt Scudder is back, and everyone who relishes a vicarious walk on the rough side should rejoice."
~Tucson Daily Star

"Enough pleasures and excitements to keep us smiling and breathing hard all the way through."
~Chicago Tribune

"It would be difficult to top the impact of Lawrence Block's last book, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, but it has been done. A tense plot, expressive writing and unusual and thoroughly real people with desperate problems. Not a book for the weak-hearted!"  
~Bookpage

"As good as the crime thriller gets."
~San Diego Union-Tribune

"The next time that friends come to town expecting a personal tour of the real New York City, here's what to hand them: a subway map, a fistful of tokens, and Lawrence Block's big bruiser of a crime novel, A Walk Among the Tombstones."
~Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 675 KB
• Print Length: 308 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0380811189
• Publisher: Telemachus Press, LLC (February 15, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007A2TYH6
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,871 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Most chilling Scudder novel to date. December 2, 1998

By Harold L. Laroff

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Matthew Scudder is Lawrence Block's remarkable private investigator. He's a former NYPD detective who left the force after an accident left a child dead in crossfire. Because he is unlicensed you can't "hire" him. Instead he does you a favor by taking your case and solving the crime. "Walk among the Tombstones," is one of the most chilling of all the Scudder novels to date. Other reviews here have said it's dark and brooding. This I agree. A drug dealer to find out who kidnapped and killed his wife hires Scudder. Even though drug dealers are low on Scudder's list even they deserve justice. Block introduces several new characters, the Kongs, a pair of teenage hackers who break into the telephone company's computers and a streetwise African-American kid who goes by the name T.J. This kid has real spunk is a very likeable character I hope Block and Scudder keep around for a while. Other characters that have been in past novels are off to Ireland. Elaine, Scudder's, call-girl friend who he has had more than a passing interest in comes center stage as a lover. Read one Scudder novel is not unlike eating potato chips. You just can't read just one. I've got others sitting on my table waiting to be read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Scudder Takes a Walk June 23, 2001

By Brian D. Rubendall HALL OF FAME

Format:Paperback

Lawrence Block's amazing Matthew Scudder series maintains a very high level of quality considering the number of novels. "A Walk Among the Tombstones," follows "A Dance at the Slaughterhouse," which was one of the best novels in the series. "Tombstones" is not quite as good, largely due to an ending that is not as satisfying, but it is hardly a dud. In "Tombstones," a drug dealer whose wife was kidnapped and hideously murdered hires Scudder to track down the perpetrators. Scudder quickly discovers that the deed was the work of a team of serial killers who have decided to turn their "fun" into profit. Like most novels in the Scudder series, this one is dark and obssessed with death. It seems that even as the alcoholic Scudder gets more of a firm handle on his sobriety and his life, his cases get uglier. Recurring characters in this novel are the street kid T.J., the police detective Joe Durkin, the eccentric informant Danny Boy Bell and call girl Elaine Mardell, who has become the love of Scudder's life. In fact, "Tombstone" features a key moment in Scudder's developing relationship with Elaine.

Overall, this is not the best novel in the Scudder series, but it is still well written and highly satisifying.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mystery/adventure novel March 7, 2013

By Joe Korea

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As usual, Lawrence Block has a knack of keeping the reader interested in the action taking place until the very end of the book.
The story is well written, the characters are believable and the action moves at a steady pace.
Matt Scudder is a likable individual who has human failings. The only objection I have about the Matt Scudder series of books is the constant use of a vulgar swear word in the characters' conversations. I've often wondered If the author thought that its use made the novel more realistic--- for me, it doesn't. It distracts. However, I recommend the Matt Scudder series for any one who is interested in well written stories with excellent plots.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Both funny and horrifying, and that ain't easy to accomplish March 29, 2012

By Michael K. Smith TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Like all continuing-character fiction series, some of the books featuring Matt Scudder are better than others, though they're all pretty good. Of those I've read so far, this one ranks near the top of the list. Matt is just floating through life for awhile, minding his own business, spending time with his favorite lady, and picking up a little work here and there (enough to meet his modest needs), when he's contacted by a heroin trafficker whose brother he knows though AA. The guy's wife was kidnapped and a large ransom demanded, which the husband paid -- and then the wife's body was returned in small packages. The dealer can't go to the cops, naturally, but he wants the people who tortured his wife to death and took his money. Scudder has to employ rather more ingenuity this time; he often just walks around Manhattan, talking to people, until something shakes loose, but he really has to focus when the torturers turn out to be serial killers of much longer standing. And then, just as he thinks he's come to the end of the line with a solution he's not entirely happy about, another kidnapping takes place and Scudder becomes the pivotal person in the exchange.

It's almost as if Block were deliberately showing off his many talents. The plot and the narrative both can jerk you up, down, and sideways, going from very funny dialogue (especially the phone-company-hacking Kongs in the hotel room) to absolutely horrific descriptions within a few pages. He has also brought together a variety of his most interesting characters, including Danny Boy Bell, the albino with information, and TJ, the street-wise black kid with the "Brooks Brothers voice." We also learn a lot more about Elaine, the smart, successful hooker who has been an increasingly important factor in Scudder's life for years.... And, as always, the world of alcohol and drugs, and those who are trying to escape from it, inform much of the story. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A good Scudder, but not a classic October 23, 2002

By ensiform

Format:Paperback

A very gritty and black entry into the series of the former alkie but still unlicensed private eye. In this book, Scudder is hired by a drug dealer to find the sadistic spree killers who kidnapped and butchered his wife. With the help of his street connections, Scudder decides to mete out some more of the rough justice that is becoming his trademark. But lest he become a remorseless killing machine, Block allows Scudder to begin to craft some domestic bliss at the end of this saga. It's a fine read, because Block is always entertaining. A few points distract from the story. One is unfortunate timing; the book is dated, with its labyrinthine plot to get ahold of a phone number that today could be obtained by the police without a second thought, and most civilians who have the technology. Block uses a pair of teenage hackers as the tools for this caper, and it seems like Block's stretching, trying to get into the big "thing" of the early '90s. Clearly Block's not on familiar ground, plot- or dialogue-wise. He should stick to cynical thugs and world-weary cops. The other point is that this book has a lot of black humor of the particularly morbid variety. The Scudder that I'm familiar with wouldn't have made a joke about a woman getting her breast cut off (in A Dance At the Slaughterhouse, his reaction to torture was appropriately grim). Maybe now that Scudder's found love, he's light hearted enough tocrack about torture and mutiliation, but I'm not sure I like it.