Everybody Dies [Audio CD]

Lawrence Block (Author), Mark Hammer (Narrator)

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: RecordedBooks (1999)
• ISBN-10: 1436119952
• ISBN-13: 978-1436119955
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Lawrence Block (b. 1938) is the recipient of a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and an internationally renowned bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series as well as dozens of short stories, articles, and books on writing. He has won four Edgar and Shamus Awards, two Falcon Awards from the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan, the Nero and Philip Marlowe Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of the United Kingdom. In France, he has been awarded the title Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice received the Societe 813 trophy.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Block attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Leaving school before graduation, he moved to New York City, a locale that features prominently in most of his works. His earliest published writing appeared in the 1950s, frequently under pseudonyms, and many of these novels are now considered classics of the pulp fiction genre. During his early writing years, Block also worked in the mailroom of a publishing house and reviewed the submission slush pile for a literary agency. He has cited the latter experience as a valuable lesson for a beginning writer.

Block's first short story, "You Can't Lose," was published in 1957 in Manhunt, the first of dozens of short stories and articles that he would publish over the years in publications including American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and the New York Times. His short fiction has been featured and reprinted in over eleven collections including Enough Rope (2002), which is comprised of eighty-four of his short stories.

In 1966, Block introduced the insomniac protagonist Evan Tanner in the novel The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep. Block's diverse heroes also include the urbane and witty bookseller--and thief-on-the-side--Bernie Rhodenbarr; the gritty recovering alcoholic and private investigator Matthew Scudder; and Chip Harrison, the comical assistant to a private investigator with a Nero Wolfe fixation who appears in No Score, Chip Harrison Scores Again, Make Out with Murder, and The Topless Tulip Caper. Block has also written several short stories and novels featuring Keller, a professional hit man. Block's work is praised for his richly imagined and varied characters and frequent use of humor.

A father of three daughters, Block lives in New York City with his second wife, Lynne. When he isn't touring or attending mystery conventions, he and Lynne are frequent travelers, as members of the Travelers' Century Club for nearly a decade now, and have visited about 150 countries.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a worthy entry in a great series, January 10, 2000

By 

Louisianian (Lake Charles, LA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everybody Dies (Matthew Scudder #14) (Mass Market Paperback)

I read "Everybody Dies" in a single sitting, and was as involved in the story as I have been in any of Block's previous Scudder novels. I certainly think that this book is an improvement over the last couple of stories, which lacked intensity and the edgy, fascinating Scudder we have grown used to. While "Everybody Dies" may ultimately lack the haunting power of the best entries in the series--for my money, "Eight Million Ways to Die," "When the Sacred Ginmill Closes," and "A Dance at the Slaughterhouse," it has some of the same grim intensity as those books. At their best, Block's Scudder novels almost enter the horror genre--he walks a fine line between mystery, suspense, and outright terror. No one does this as well as he does. Block seems to be consciously trying to go back to what made his series work so well in this volume--adding much more violence, raising the personal stakes for Scudder tremendously over the last couple of books, and having him explicitly reject the professional "respectablility" that somewhat alienated many of his longtime fans, I think, in the last couple of books. A minor criticism might be that we never get to encounter the main villain directly, but the action in the final sequence is so explosive and riveting that I didn't even realize that until later. Keep up the good work, Mr. Block.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Even Block's 'less than best' is better than most, December 27, 1999

By 

Doug Vaughn - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Everybody Dies (Matthew Scudder #14) (Mass Market Paperback)

There are no bad Matthew Scudder books. While I agree thatEverybody Dies is not as good as some of the previous Scudder books,Lawrence Block on any bad day can out write almost anyone else doing this kind of thing. There is a familiarity of place, character and action about these books that always satisfies. The writing is spare and evocative and seems perfectly tuned to the violence and the moral ambiguity of the world that Scudder inhabits.

I don't know what others sense as lacking in this book, and I doubt that I can put my own impressions clearly, but it seems that as Scudder's domestic scene has become more stable, some edge has been lost from the character. I think I liked it better when his woman was still turning tricks and he seemed more lost and unhappy. It added a dimension to the stories that I miss.

Nevertheless, I will continue to read Block's Scudder series as long as he wants to turn them out. They are a fine way to pass a few hours

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, December 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Everybody Dies (Matthew Scudder Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The newest Matthew Scudder novel, "Everybody Dies" is up there among the best of the series. Everyone directly and indirectly connected to Mick Ballou are meeting untimely ends. There seems to be no suspect until very late in the novel. Not only is Matt Scudder a top detective, even Mick Ballou shows he has some sense of detection. One likable characted that has been a fixture in the Scudder series is killed so the reader is drawn into the investigation. This book is probably not the best Scudder novel in which to start the series. There are so many characters here that are in other novels, but for long-time fans of the series this has to rank up there with the best of them.