Nobody knows better than Matthew Scudder how far down a person can sink in this city. A young prostitute named Kim knew it also—and she wanted out. Maybe Kim didn't deserve the life fate had dealt her. She surely didn't deserve her death. The alcoholic ex-cop turned p.i. was supposed to protect her, but someone slashed her to ribbons on a crumbling New York City waterfront pier. Now finding Kim's killer will be Scudder's penance. But there are lethal secrets hiding in the slain hooker's past that are far dirtier than her trade. And there are many ways of dying in this cruel and dangerous town—some quick and brutal ... and some agonizingly slow.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Lawrence Block is one of the most widely recognized names in the mystery genre. He has been named a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America and is a four-time winner of the prestigious Edgar and Shamus Awards, as well as a recipient of prizes in France, Germany, and Japan. He received the Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writers' Association—only the third American to be given this award. He is a prolific author, having written more than fifty books and numerous short stories, and is a devoted New Yorker and an enthusiastic global traveler.
From AudioFile
In this hard-boiled detective novel, a hooker hires P.I. Matthew Scudder to convince her pimp to let her leave "the life." Scudder, himself a recovering alcoholic and sardonic observer, tells of her subsequent murder and the investigation that nearly costs him his life. The author's gifts lie more in writing, which he accomplishes with aplomb, than narrating, which he accomplishes with a high baritone that quavers as if he could break out weeping any moment. But he never does. In fact, once you get used to him, he's pretty entertaining. A nerdy sort of tough shamus. By the end of the last tape, you can't imagine anyone else impersonating Scudder. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is the book that really set the standard for the Scudder series. It's the fifth Scudder adventure and it opens with Matt just out of the hospital after a major drinking binge. He is hired by a prostitute who wants out of the business, so he tracks down her pimp, Chance. No problem, Chance says. She can get out, but she could have saved herself some money and skipped the middleman.
Everything looks great, but then the prostitute is murdered. Scudder, of course, assumes that Chance is the killer, so he calls in a tip to the police. Next thing you know, Chance is out and he's looking for Matt.
This book is the first to really show Matt's struggle with alcohol. He starts attending AA meetings, but still doesn't see himself as an alcoholic.
Normally, by the fifth book, a series begins to run out of steam. With Matt Scudder, though, the series is just beginning to find its legs.
The mystery is fair play, but if you figure out how it all ties together before Matt, you're a more astute reader than I am. All of the characters are well-drawn and fully realized. Block is a true master and this is a masterpiece!
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
"Eight Million Ways to Die" is a classic piece of hardboiled detective fiction that represents a turning point in the life of its hero, Matthew Scudder. Early on in the narrative, Scudder is told frankly by a young doctor after a two-day alcohol blackout, "if you drink, you'll die." Scared by the warning, Scudder takes a case he doesn't want in a despearte attempt to distract him from alcohol. His struggles with the bottle come across very real and are harrowing to behold. The case is a good one as well with Scudder attempting to track the manaical killer of a hooker who was trying to leave the life. Death is an ever constant theme, with the book's title being a riff on the old literary saying "there are eight million stories in the naked city."
This book is everything great private detective fiction should be; dark, cynical, violent and lonely. Frankly, I like Scudder better during this period than later on after he sobers up. If you agree, you'll love this book.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Having only read one other Lawrence Block novel "A Dance at the Slaughterhouse", I was intrigued at the depth of Eight Million Ways to Die. The characters and the environment of New York being the backdrop for this story makes for an entertaining read. As well as Scudders unwillingness to accept that he's an alcoholic. The ending was a classic one. The way Block is able to bring to life the city as a main part of the plot in the story is amazing. Eight Million Ways to Die is a classic and will forever be remembered as one of the top 25 mystery novels of all time!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Classic noir !
'Classic' and 'Detective fiction' are never mentioned in the same breath. 'Eight Million Ways to Die' is a classic detective fiction-one of those rare books that gives the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Ravi Ramaswami
One of the best and-written & most influential detective novels of the...
Block is more than just a writer of absorbing detective stories. This is the fifth Matthew Scudder novel but it's the break-through book that made the author one of the most... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Michael K. Smith
Great Storytelling
Private investigator, Matt Scudder, is hired by a call girl named Kim to give her pimp a message. Kim wants out of the business, but is afraid to tell him face-to-face. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Debra Purdy Kong
Memorable
I read this book many years ago. What I remember it for, and was interested to see that a lot of other readers found memorable as well, was the incredibly gripping portrait of what... Read more
Published 9 months ago by innerweave
Block is the Grand Master of Mystery
I found this book to be every bit as fascinating as other books written by Lawrence Block. Its gritty and shows the underbelly of life in the city. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jeri Mihm
Dissapointed...
I've heard great things about Lawrence Block for a while now, so when Eight Millions Ways To Die was available in my company's Book Exchange I jumped on it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by R. D. Gonzalez
great writer
I hadn't read him before. Not really much of a thriller but well written and gets inside the character's head, mostly about his drinking problem. Read more
Published 10 months ago by fy colorado
My Kind of Book!
I loved this book! The pace built up anticipation and I literally could hardly wait for my next reading opportunity.
Published 11 months ago by John Anderson
slow moving, repetitive, very simplistic plotline
this might have been decent at half the size ... scudder is not a likeable character and i don't need to know how much coffee he drinks .... Read more
Published 11 months ago by J. Young
This book is a waste of time and money
Bland, slow-moving plot, and the author spends more time on the main character's alcoholism than on the weak murder mystery. Ugh... Save your money.
Published 16 months ago by jdbriggs@yahoo.com
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Introduction (From Wikipedia)
Matthew (Matt) Scudder is a fictional private investigator, the most famous and enduring creation of American crime writer Lawrence Block. Scudder debuted in 1976's The Sins of the Fathers as an alcoholic ex-cop who had recently quit the NYPD and left his family after accidentally causing the death of a young girl. Living in a rent-controlled hotel room in Hell's Kitchen, he earns his living as an unlicensed private investigator - or, as he puts it, "doing favors for friends." The series' overarching theme is mortality: the early entries are filled with scenes of Scudder alone in churches, compulsively tithing his small income, lighting candles for whatever deceased figures happen to be on his mind - and always for the girl whose life he had inadvertently taken. The fifth entry, 1982's Eight Million Ways to Die (often cited as the best), is the first to notably move the character forward, concluding with Scudder introducing himself at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
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You know, it was a revelation to me to learn that I dont have to be comfortable. Nowhere is it written that I must be comfortable. I always thought if I felt nervous or anxious or unhappy I had to do something about it. But I learned thats not true. Bad feelings wont kill me. Alcohol will kill me, but my feelings wont.
Highlighted by 20 Kindle users
I came in here to save my ass, he said, and then I found out it was attached to my soul.
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When he was dying he said, God will pardon me. Its His profession.
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