In the Midst of Death (Matthew Scudder Mysteries) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Lawrence Block (Author), Alan Sklar (Narrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Block's detective, Matthew Scudder, the former New York City police officer, now tries to discover who killed a call girl and pinned the murder on a policeman who is cooperating with an investigation into corruption. The story is very tight and well written and filled with a cross section of New York City denizens. The person who hired Scudder is blatantly crooked, and Scudder himself was involved with both money and women while on the force. However, as with the other entries in this series, the compelling focus is the detective's battle with alcoholism. As presented in A Stab in the Dark, Scudder's drinking increases; he functions well enough to solve the case, but suffers more and more from the effects of the booze. Reader Alan Sklar does an excellent job; recommended for all audio collections. Stephen L. Hupp, Urbana Univ., OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile

[Editor's note: The following is a combined review with THE BURGLAR WHO TRADED TED WILLIAMS.]--Two Lawrence Block mysteries have nearly identical strengths and weaknesses. MIDST calls upon alcoholic ex-cop Matthew Scudder to prove a dirty cop innocent of murder. In BURGLAR, former second-story-man Bernie Rhodenbarr tracks down another killer, this one tied up with stolen baseball cards. Narrators Sklar and Ferrone both adopt an appropriately gritty, streetwise tone and adhere to an even rhythm throughout the short volumes. Sklar exhibits a bit more versatility with characterizations. But both sometimes miss the purport of a line, invariably when some ironic double entendre is called for. Y.R. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Sound Library; Unabridged edition (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792723678
• ISBN-13: 978-0792723677
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,050,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Early Scudder, Still Great, June 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: In the Midst of Death (Matthew Scudder Mysteries) (Audio Cassette)

Through no deliberate intent, I've been reading the Matt Scudder series backwards. I started with A Long Line of Dead Men (#11) then went on the Even the Wicked (#12) and that's all well and good (I've done the same thing with his Burglar series, having read #'s 4, 5, 6, and 7 in that order), but then I dropped back to Eight Million Ways to Die (#5) because it was the only audiobook my library had.

Now I've come to #2, this book. It's very interesting to see Scudder's life in this way, because I already have insight into his future actions. In the later ones, Matt is a recovering alcoholic, in Eight Million, he begins his treatment after deciding to do something about it. However, in Midst, he doesn't yet seem to be aware that he even has a problem. Although he's never far from his next drink, when someone mentions the word "alcoholic," he rationalizes it away.

The mystery is never the reason to read Lawrence Block (even though I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate that because he works hard to create the mystery), it's the characters. And Scudder is not exception. I don't even remember what the mystery was in Eight Million Ways to Die, but it stand out as my favorite because of the way Block writes about Scudder's struggle with realization.

Matt Scudder is one of the most interesting characters in fiction, but I haven't read all his books because they are invariably dark and I have to be in the mood for them. But read them I will.

A note on the audiobook presentation: Alan Sklar's voice fits this material nicely. This is a wonderful addition to the Chivers Audio presentations of Block's works. The only one I liked more was Block's own reading of Eight Million Ways to Die.