A Walk Among the Tombstones

A Walk Among the Tombstones by Lawrence Block
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A gang of psychopaths kidnap, rape, torture, and murder a drug dealer's wife after getting a ransom from him. The drug dealer hires Matthew Scudder to find the men for him. But was this the only time the psychopaths have struck? And will they strike again...?

As the series goes by, Matthew Scudder goes up against sicker and sicker foes and gets put into worse and worse situations. Like usual, it makes the book a page turner because you can't wait to see him settle the bad guys's hash. The high points of this books were the development of the relationship between Scudder and TJ and the conflict in Elaine and Scudder's relationship. The introduction of The Kongs was a nice touch. I'll be anxious to see if they get used again in a later book. I was eager for Mick Ballou to return from Ireland, though I didn't miss him as much as Matt did.

The Matthew Scudder series continues to impress. I heartily recommend it to noir fans.

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A Dance at the Slaughterhouse

A Dance At The Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Matthew Scudder is hired to figure out if a TV anchor man killed his wife. But what does that have to do with a snuff film a friend of Matt's found disguised as the Dirty Dozen at a video store?

Scudder really stepped in it this time. The Stettners, and to a lesser extent Richard Thurman, the accused anchor, are perverts and psychopaths of the worst kind, the kind that prey on children. I thought James Leo Motely in the previous Scudder book was the worst villain Block could come up with but I was wrong. The thing about Block is that he gets you to see things Scudder's way. While Scudder did something illegal and a little unsettling at the end, you agree that it had to be done.

The supporting cast continues to be one of the hallmarks of the series. Danny Boy Bell, Elaine, Mick, Durkin, even TJ, give the series a little something extra.

A Dance at the Slaughterhouse is one of my top three favorite Scudder books so far. I wouldn't start the Scudder series with it but it's quite a read.

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A Ticket to the Boneyard

A Ticket to the Boneyard by Lawrence Block
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A psychopath Matthew Scudder framed years ago when he was still a cop has gotten out of jail and is looking for revenge, killing Scudder's women friends one by one. Can Scudder stop him before he becomes another of the killer's victims?

Holy crap! James Leo Motley was the scariest villain I've run into a long time, far from a mustache twirling James Bond villain. He's crazy and nigh unstoppable. A few times while I was reading, I had to look over my shoulder and make sure he hadn't slipped into my house.

Aside from a chilling villain, Ticket has a lot going for it. Matthew Scudder is as capable as ever and Block does a good job at conveying his frustration and powerlessness as Motley kills victim after victim. Mick Ballou and Elaine Mardell are developed further as supporting characters, probably to return again. And the ending went down just like I hoped.

A Ticket to the Boneyard is another great entry in the Matthew Scudder series but definitely isn't for the squeamish.

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Out on the Cutting Edge

Out on the Cutting Edge by Lawrence Block
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A car dealer from Indiana hires Matthew Scudder to find his missing daughter, who went to New York to become an actress. Meanwhile, a fellow AA member of Scudder's dies in his apartment in what appears to be an accidental death. Can Scudder find the missing girl and figure out what really happened to his friend?

Out on the Cutting Edge is yet another of Lawrence Block's great Matthew Scudder books. As usual, the ending was a big surprise. The character of Mickey Ballou was a nice contrast to Scudder and has future promise as a character. Having Scudder join AA a couple books ago looks like it was a good decision, not only for the good of the Scudder character but also to provide a source of future plots.

While I wouldn't start with this one, it's a good entry in the Scudder series.

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Deadly Honeymoon

Deadly Honeymoon by Lawrence Block
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dave and Jill are just beginning their honeymoon when they witness a murder. The killers give Dave a savage beating and rape Jill while Dave can only listen helplessly. But they made one mistake. They let them live...

Deadly Honeymoon is a fairly standard revenge plot, masterfully paced by the esteemed Lawrence Block. I picked this up after reading about it in Telling Lies for Fun and Profit, Block's spectacular writing book. It's a good example of building suspense.

Dave and Jill aren't hugely detailed characters. Block's done a lot better but this was really early in his career. The couple's tracking down of their enemies was believable and well done. The story felt a little dated at times but was still an enjoyable read. It was almost orgasmic when the hitmen finally got what was coming to them.

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Hellcats and Honey Girls

Hellcats and Honeygirls by Lawrence Block
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Before becoming successful crime fiction writers, Lawrence Block and Donald Westlake broke into the industry by writing soft-core porn novels. The three in this volume are books they collaborated on.

A Girl Called Honey: Honor Mercy Bane goes to Newport to become a prostitute and gets mixed up with a spineless Air Force deserter named Richie Parsons. Honor, now called Honey, and Richie flee to New York. Things go well until a rich man wants Honey for his mistress...

To be honest, this isn't much of a porn novel. I thought there was going to be a lot more smut. Aside from that, I enjoyed it. Block and Westlake blended seamlessly. The story is actually pretty good, enough twists to keep it moving. If I hadn't read the intro, I wouldn't have seen some of it coming.

So Willing: Seventeen year old Vince is looking to have sex with a virgin. But are there any left?

So Willing was hilarious, more akin to American Pie than a porn novel. Block and Westlake managed to recreate the experience of being a 17 year old male and thinking about sex 99.5% of your waking life. Vince's sexual misadventures were pretty funny. My only complaint would be that the ending seemed tacked on.

Sin Hellcat: Ad agency exec Harvey Christopher meets up with an old college girlfriend who became a prostitute. In between reminiscing about old conquests, Harvey gets roped into helping Jodie, the old girlfriend, smuggle something into Brazil.

Sin Hellcat was by far the most enjoyable story of this trio. It had the most smut, the most laughs, and actually was pretty damn good. Harvey Christopher was kind of a bastard but I liked him anyway. I had not idea where the plot was going but I have a feeling Block and Westlake didn't either when they were writing it.

Hellcats and Honeygirls, while not the best work of Block or Westlake, is a pretty good read for those wanting to see how the masters got their start in the business. While not as good as their later works, there are still flashes of brilliance in each of the stories.

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Hit and Run

Hit and Run by Lawrence Block
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Keller goes to Des Moines on his last job and winds up getting framed for murdering the governor. Meanwhile, Dot's house in White Plains is torched, Dot's body found in the wreckage, and Keller is suddenly cut off from all help he could have gotten. Can Keller survive on the run long enough to find out who set him up?

Unlike the previous books in the Keller series, this one is more like a conventional novel rather than a lot of related episodes. The desperation and panic is a tangible thing. Keller assuming a new identity and a new life was good but you knew something would show up to turn it upside down. The ending was great since I was left hoping things weren't as they seemed in the beginning. While I love Keller, I hope Block doesn't write another Keller book. This one left things at a good stopping point.

To sum up, Hit and Run is a great read and a great ending to the Keller saga.

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