This is a city that seduces dreamers...then eats their dreams.Matthew Scudder understands the futility of his search for a longtime missing Midwestern innocent who wanted to be an actress in the vast meat-grinder called New York City. But her frantic father heard that Schudder is the best -- and now the ex-cop-turned-p.i. is scouring the hell called Hell's Kitchen looking for anything that might resemble a lead. And in this neighborhood of the lost, he's finding love -- and death -- in the worst possible places.
Out on the Cutting Edge
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From Publishers Weekly
The prolific author's humanity and the immediacy of his understated style are again evidenced in his seventh mystery related by Matt Scudder: ex-NYPD officer, recovering alcoholic, and now private detective ( When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes , etc.). This novel opens with Matt looking for Paula Hoeldtke, an aspiring actress who disappeared a short time after she arrived in Manhattan from Muncie, Ind. In an unrelated case, Matt investigates the apparent suicide of a fellow AA member, Eddie Dunphy, and becomes the lover of Willa Rossiter, who manages the apartment house where Eddie lived. The affair flourishes despite warnings from his AA sponsor about an involvement with Willa, a heavy drinker. Matt ignores the advice, as he does the anonymous phone calls ordering him to quit asking questions about the missing girl and Eddie's death. In time, the dogged investigator uncovers the appalling facts that close both cases. In this riveting mystery, Block's artistry creates a full complement of fully realized characters, each a real person regardless of his or her perhaps tenuous connection to the plot.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"A Powerhouse." -- -- Philadelphia Inquirer
"Realistic, Gripping and Poignant." -- -- Kansas City Star
"Superb....If You Haven't Been Introduced To Scudder Yet, Start Here." -- -- Chicago Tribune
Exceptional...A Whale Of A Knockout Punch To The Solar Plexus." -- -- New York Daily News
"Realistic, Gripping and Poignant." -- -- Kansas City Star
"Superb....If You Haven't Been Introduced To Scudder Yet, Start Here." -- -- Chicago Tribune
Exceptional...A Whale Of A Knockout Punch To The Solar Plexus." -- -- New York Daily News
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
There are three prominent fraternal organizations for actors in New York, and years ago an actor named Maurice Jenkins-Lloyd had summed them up to anyone who'd listen. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
There are three prominent fraternal organizations for actors in New York, and years ago an actor named Maurice Jenkins-Lloyd had summed them up to anyone who'd listen. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By Robert T.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This was a good, fast-paced Scudder novel, but not much of an ending.
By Alex
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Once again Lawrence Block has managed to blow me away with another fantastic Matt Scudder book. This one is about a guy who is looking for his daughter, who went off to New York to try and find fame. He hires Scudder to find his missing daughter, but the only problem is, there arent many leads. He searches and goes through all the motions and has stumbling blocks in his way, but manages to get around them. I wont tell you the rest, because I dont want to ruin the book for you, but I will just say this. THE ENDING WILL SHOCK YOU!!!!!
Format:Mass Market Paperback
"Out on the Cutting Edge" follows the two best novels in the Matthew Scudder series, "8 Million Ways to Die" and "When the Sacred Ginmill Closes." It is also the first novel in which Scudder conducts a case (in this instance two cases) while not in an alcoholic stupor. We catch up with Scudder a few years after he joined AA. He has a sponser and has managed to recover control of his life. His day to day existence, meanwhile, hasn't changed much. He still lives in a residential hotel and still conducts cases off the books as "favors" for friends.
The two cases are interesting. One is for pay; a family wants to know the whereabouts of their missing daughter. One is personal; an AA companion apparently commits suicide just before he is ready to confess his sins to Scudder. Both take Scuder in some unlikely directions and the payoff is typically messy. Meanwhile, author Lawrence Block introduces one his most interesting side characters to the series, the Irish gangster Mickey Ballou. Overall, this is a solid Scudder novel that is not quite on par with the best of the series. But any Scudder novel makes for excellent reading.
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4.6 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another top-notch Scudder book.
Matt Scudder is dealing with the day-in, day-out struggle to stay sober in the Big Apple. He has a case he doesn't have much hope of solving and he's got an AA acquaintance who... Read more
Published on May 5 2000 by Gary Jonas
5.0 out of 5 stars
Number seven in the series just as exciting as the others.
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. Read more
Published on Dec 22 1998 by Harold L. Laroff
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