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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Unlicensed PI Matthew Scudder returns after a three-year absence to investigate the murder of a wealthy couple savagely slain in their Manhattan townhouse. Matt's now 62, and his age shows in this relatively sedate outing. There's less violence than in many cases past, and the urban melancholy that pervaded his earlier tales has dissipated, replaced by a mature reckoning with the unending cycle of life and death. The mystery elements are strong. To the cops, the case is open-and-shut: the perps have been found dead, murder/suicide, in Brooklyn, with loot from the townhouse in their possession. Matt enters the scene when his assistant, TJ, introduces him to the cousin of the dead couple's daughter; the cousin suspects the daughter of having engineered the killings for the inheritance. At loose ends, Matt digs in, quickly rejecting the daughter as a suspect but uncovering evidence pointing to a mastermind behind the murders. Block sounds numerous obligatory notes from Scudder tales past the AA meetings, the tithing of Matt's income, cameo appearances by Matt's love interest, Elaine, and his friend, Irish mobster Mick Ballou and he adds texture with some familial drama involving Matt's sons and ex-wife. His prose is as smooth as aged whiskey, as always, and the story flows across its pages. It lacks the visceral edge and heightened emotion of many previous Scudders, however, and the ending seems patly aimed at a sequel. This is a solid mystery, a fine Block, but less than exceptional. (Nov.)Forecast: All Blocks sell and Scudder's return will do particularly well, especially with the attendant major ad/promo, including a 17-city author tour. Simultaneous Harper Audio and Harper large print edition.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.From Library Journal
First brought to our attention 25 years ago, Matthew Scudder is back at work, investigating the particularly unpleasant murder of a wealthy West Side couple.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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"It was a perfect summer evening, the last Monday in Jul." Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
"It was a perfect summer evening, the last Monday in Jul." Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Birth of a serial killer,
By
This review is from: Hope To Die (Mass Market Paperback)
When a young woman finds her parents brutally murdered, the NYPD track the killers to an apartment near Coney Island.Their two bodies are found a week after the first murder, an apparent murder-suicide.Matt Scudder, a retired cop and de-licensed P.I, is somehow dissatisfied by the murder scenes, feeling that they look too "pat".With the approval of the daughter of the murdered first couple, and the assistance of his street smart assistant TJ, Matt follows a computer generated trail to get close to the murderer. Mr.Block leads the reader on a cleverly laid red herring trail first of all and then finally to the realization that this is the work of a psycopath who is getting his kicks from the sheer thrill of killing someone. Lawrence Block is a very stylish writer with such an easy flow of words that his book kept me up reading, far too late into the night.
4.0 out of 5 stars
a reader from pasadena,
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This review is from: Hope To Die (Mass Market Paperback)
I absolutely love the Mathew Scudder character. I have read all the books in the series and find it to be one of the best. I tend to like mysteries that have great character development and insights about life, human nature, etc. This is one of the only series that I have read in this genre that I actually highlight great passages in every book. I love how Block intersperses Scudder's AA meetings and his struggles with his addiction with the plot of the story. Scudder is not as edgy and certainly more respectable than he used to be, but I still enjoy his story. I found this to be a really good book. The best scudder book, in my opinion is Eight Million Ways to Die.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Scudder in Quite Awhile,
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This review is from: Hope To Die (Mass Market Paperback)
Most longtime fans of the Matt Scudder series should be pleased with "Hope to Die". The writing is stronger than the more recent Scudder novels, which seemed like hastily constructed assembly line jobs to fulfill a contract. The writing is not as good as the early Scudder novels, but this is a satisfying read, nonetheless. Stylistically, it had a few too many asides and tangents, although some of these help in introducing characters or bringing us up-to-date on them. The ending is a bit of a let down and a bit formulatic (I won't spoil it further), but I don't read these books for plot, as much as for the characters. Scudder's kids get established as adults with problems of their own & I'm guessing we'll be seeing them again in the future, which is all for the good.Now, if only he'd do a new Bernie "Burglar" Rhodenberr--just leave out the guy who reminds of Inspector Lugar from the old Barney Miller tv series.
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