Customer Reviews

A Walk Among the Tombstones: A Matthew Scudder Crime Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

If there is a better living crime novelist than Lawrence Block, I'd like to know who it is. I have yet to read a Scudder story that did not have me riveted! Having only recently discovered this series, every time I read another one it is deemed my new "favorite."

So, until I finish "Time to Murder and Create", which is excellent so far, "A Walk Among the Tombstones" is my favorite to date - vicious killers, flawed protagonists, interesting secondary characters and lots of action - what more could you want? I am a big fan of the Lawrence Sanders Commandment and Deadly Sin series so now that he is gone, I am glad that there are so many Scudder books yet to be read and savored. By the way, I have not read these books in any kind of order and it makes absolutely no difference!

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.

Block has created one of the best serial mystery characters with Matt Scudder and this book is no exception to the series success. The reason behind this success is Block's easy writing style and his atmospheric descritions of New York. In this installment, after some reluctance, Scudder decides to take the case of drug dealer who's wife was kidnapped and killed. A dark, brooding book, it shows the seamier side of the world, but also gives us portraits of some interesting supporting characters.

I rate this the best of the Scudder novels. I couldn't put this book down. I loved the other characters in it too. Can't wait for the movie to come out. It was so good I will most likely read it again sometime. Mr. Block outdoes himself on this one.

As good a book as any ive ever read traveling through the city with old school detective mathew scudder ands his underground friends this book makes me wanna go back and read all the scudders from the last 3 decades.

Lawrence Block is at the top of his game here. The plot crackles with moral questions. Make no mistake about it this is a dark, brooding book but it is also fascinating. I honestly could not put the book down. Block excels in probing those grey areas of morality, his characters are real and we can easily sit long into the night wondering what we would do under their dire circumstances. Highly recommended but not for the faint of heart...

I am a huge fan of Block and love his Matthew Scudder series, and I do think his books just keep getting better. But I have to say I almost wish I hadn't read this one. The details of the crimes commited by the serial killer psychos are the most gruesome I've ever encountered, and he goes over and over them. I realize he's trying to create really scary bad guys, but for me, this was over the top. Anybody out there who has trouble with explicit descriptions of torture should skip this one.

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.

Now, this isn't exactly literature, so I'm not giving this five stars over Dickens or anything, but for hard-boiled, raw, simple prose, Scudder kicks ass, and Block deserves all his accolades.