Customer Reviews

Even the Wicked: A Matthew Scudder Novel

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Larry Block has published so many novels over the past 35 years or so that you cannot expect all of them to be masterpieces. He does have a few in that category. While this effort is not one of those, it is enjoyable enough. His aging, alcoholic-in-recovery private snoop Matt Scudder is 55, married and stable in this outing. A mysterious killer knocks off a few nasty guys in NYC, and Scudder ends up solving the case. Unfortunately the reader gets to the right conclusion at the same time as the private eye, which robs the saga of its punch. However, the show is not over, because a copycat takes the stage and creates a second case for our hero to resolve, at the same time that he is puzzling out still another, unrelated killing. While Scudder is never in any personal danger in this book, a situation most earlier reviewers lament, I still liked it. He's a complicated but nice guy, with a nice wife and a semi-adopted son who adds sizzle to his life. If you like your mysteries to avoid gristly murder details and personal danger for the lead character, this book will please you. Be warned: other entries in the Scudder series are much more graphic and have more tension, so if that's what you prefer, start with "A Walk Among the Tombstones" or one of the other, earlier novels.

The post-recovery Scudder books (those subsequent to Eight Million Ways to Die) offer three key elements: (1) a gritty, grisly, New York detective mystery; (2) remarkable insights into addiction, the "addictive personality," addictive thinking and reasoning, addictive feelings; (3) often humorous but deeply incisive commentary on the 12-step recovery process, "the program." As a clinical psychologist, it is the latter two elements that interest me most and keep me waiting eagerly for the next installment; indeed, I have learned more about addiction and AA philosophy from Scudder than from all of my formal professional education, training, and experience.

In Even the Wicked, Matt has transitioned into a new phase of life. We could see this coming. He is happily (and faithfully!) married, properly licensed, lives in a nice building, eats well, and is still in solid recovery. Of course, he is still an alcoholic. What may disappoint some is that this story is less grisly, much less violent, and less sordid than previous adventures. If memory serves, Matt doesn't even break any major laws in his typical pursuit of the greater good. (Actually, a couple of minor transgressions do occur, but nothing like the shocking vigilantism of previous stories).

Is this a bland shadow of the original Matt Scudder, whom I regard as one of the most fascinating characters in literature? No, it is still Matt, just further down the path. We can see that his addiction produced a 25 or 30-year delay in normal adult development. In his 50s, Matt is only now able to sustain a mature, reciprocal, intimate relationship, a challenge normally faced in one's early to mid 20s. After years, really decades, of extraordinary self-absorption, Matt is finally beginning to be comfortable with the idea of making a broader contribution to society. (Historically, Matt's committment to society has been narrow and simple -- the world becomes an even worse place when a murderer goes unpunished.)

While Even the Wicked lacks some of the sex and violence of earlier books, and I, for one, really enjoy sex and violence, on a deeper level it is a great book. It is a psychologically honest portrayal of adult growth and development in the context of long-term successful recovery. Like its predecessors, the book provides a steady stream of insights into addiction. I particularly enjoy the AA humor, entertaining as ever. And, it is a very good story, with numerous twists and turns, some recurring characters without over-doing it, and a particularly satisfying (heart-warming?) conclusion.

I strongly disagree with the negative reviews above. I thought "Even the Wicked" is one of the best Scudders, and Block is taking the character into a new phase of his life. Courageously, Block has let Scudder age; now we see him, in his late 50's, having come to terms with many of the midlife issues he faced in "A Long Line of Dead Men." He's a more balanced, more thoughtful man than he was in the earlier books. Beyond that, Block has come up with a truly interesting, original motive for one of the two central murders. I'm looking forward to the next Scudder; as far as I'm concerned, the line points up.

Scudder's defense lawyer friend discovers himself on the list of "The Will" The Will is a serial killer who announces his victims in advance, and seeks to avenge himself on victims who seem to need to be killed. When Scudder's protection is broken and the lawyer is killed, Scudder sets off after the serial killer.
I think this could have been a very good novel if Block would have taken a bit more time with it, and worked with the plot and sub-plots.

As mysteries go this was fairly enjoyable. Another reviewer is right, that Scudder turns into a "superslueth," but not so super since everything could be seen a mile off. I got a bit impatient in the middle because of that, but then settled in for the ride, which was slow but not annoying. As mysteries go, you could certainly do worse. This is definitely not the best you'll get from Block, but there are worse ways to spend an afternoon.

Scudder continues to deliver the goods, but at times seems to be only a shadow of the man he used to be. Still, this is a good read and actually concentrates on two (non-related! ) mysteries. The final page is heart-breaking, sincere and even this coldhearted reviewer felt a leeeetle bit of sting in his eyes! This contrasts nicely with earlier Scudder novels, which usually ended on a blunt, bleak note and goes to demonstrates the meaningfullness of the hard-boiled PI's new life. Good stuff!

With the exceptions of "Under the Volcano" and "The Lost Weekend" no better portrayal of an alcoholic's struggle exists in modern fiction than in Lawrence Block's Matt Scudder series. Sometimes our sober detective needs a drink because an internal cloud blackens him; sometimes he wants one because a good person dies a senseless death; other times, he's disinterested and sails through life on a cup of coffee, a slice of pie, and a three-hour walk through the streets of Manhattan. In "Even the Wicked" Matt, and you want to call him simply "Matt," just like at an AA meeting, grinds through another series of hard choices in a dark city, guiding himself by the rare lights that illuminate the abyss of that first drink. If a writer wishes to "create an effect," as Poe suggests is the writer's first job, and the effect is the struggles of the addict, Mr. Block has no peer as an evocator of that hard life. Unfortunately, however, Block does not serve apple pie with the coffee this time. Perhaps because Block's portrayal of Scudder's battles against the bottle is so truly rendered, the other elements of Scudder's character, and the characters who surround him in "Even the Wicked," do not merely lack plausibility, but often tread into the realm of the absurd. Elaine, finally here a domestic goddess and real estate investor rather than the prostitute and real estate investor she formerly was, is a case of a failed effect: the serenity and bliss in the nearly-universal male fantasy of true love and acceptance in the arms of a lady of the life. Similarly "TJ", the homeless African-American teenager, is a billboard for a syrupy sixties viewpoint that a little love and attention can not only vanquish the forces of poverty and neglect, but create the blooms of health, knowledge and self-respect. Sadly, in "Even the Wicked" Scudder himself becomes a spokesman for someone's (who else but the writer's?) banal views, in this case the double-edged sword of technology in our lives. Finally, we come to the plotting in "Even the Wicked," and we find ourselves asking a simple question, like that about the number of angels dancing on the head of a pin. In one novel, how many unsatisfactory plots can Block fire from his shotgun? "Even the Wicked" is only for the Scudder fans who admire, as well we should, the battle with compulsions, the talks with the sponsor, the AA meetings at midnight that end outside with a cold wind and a renewed heart. Everything else in this novel leaves us with that cold wind merely.

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 a crossfire. Scudder is a sober alcoholic "Even the Wicked " is not as well as written as the 12 previous Matt Scudder novels. In the past I found in difficult to put a Scudder novel down. This one was difficult to pick up. It failed to keep my interest. I have read them all with the exception of "Everybody Dies," Block's latest in the series and "In the Midst of Death," one of his earlier ones. In "Even the Wicked" we find a vigilante is writing letters to the New York papers. Each time he targets some person by name he makes good on his promise. He calls himself "the will of the people: and is nicked named "will" by the media. Eventually the mystery is solved. Elaine, how Scudder's wife, returns in this novel and so does TJ the street smart teen that has been assisting Scudder in the past few novels. Although I didn't enjoy this novel I'm looking forward to the two in the series I haven't read.

I think Lawrence Block is a great writer, but this book failed to hold my interest. Usually I have a difficult time putting Block's books down; this one, on the other hand, I had a difficult time keeping up.

When Mr. Block created Matthew Scudder he created a character with whom many people could identify. However, as Block writes new books in this line, both Scudder and the handful or so of people who regularly appear in his little world have become very precidtable. There is not much new to learn about Scudder, Elaine, T.J. We know all there is to know about Ray the police sketch artist, Mick Ballou, Joe Durkin. The book spends too much time rehashing what we regulars already know of these characters, and not enough time on story development. Block's first 10 books in this series were excellent, but the last few have delivered nothing out of the ordinary. If Block wants to wow us, he needs to take one or more of these characters and shock us with something we didn't already know, something that will turn the character's life upside down and tune his readers back in!