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A Long Line of Dead Men Matt Scudder Mystery Lawrence Block 9780752827483 Books

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A Long Line of Dead Men Matt Scudder Mystery Lawrence Block 9780752827483 Books

Some are better than others, but I have never been disappointed by a Lawrence Block novel. A Long Line of Dead Men stands out as one of his best. Block is a master of slow-building tension. Some mystery writers have fast-moving stories with short, punch chapters. Block takes a different approach. For me, most of Block's novels featuring Matt Scudder are like being strangled slowly by a python. The books move along, but almost have a leisurely feel. A single conversation can go on for 20 or 30 pages, and 2 or 3 chapters. But after a hundred pages, I realize I've been completely entranced by the story and characters. I'm trapped. But in the best possible way.

The story find Scudder hired to investigate a private men's club whose members are dying at an unusually high rate. Is it accident, or murder? I won't give away more than that for those who haven't read the book. But I will say the novel has a particularly devious climax that caught me totally off guard and lingered long afterwards.


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A Long Line of Dead Men Matt Scudder Mystery Lawrence Block 9780752827483 Books Reviews

I just finished Lawrence Block's latest Matt Scudder book, "A Drop of the Hard Stuff". It's his first book in a few years and I found it of 5 star quality and wrote a review for . But it is not Block's best Scudder book. That was "A Long Line of Dead Men", originally published in the mid-1990's. (After the first attack on the World Trade Center but before the second.) I make it a habit to reread the book every few years, but I hadn't done so in about 5 years. So, I went back and read it, hoping it would be as good as I remembered it. And it was.

Lawrence Block's novels - and he has had several series using different characters - are never particularly action-filled. Oh, people get killed - in Block's "Keller" series a lot of people get killed - but he's not a graphic writer. In the Scudder series, Block writes in the first person, as Matt Scudder. Scudder is a retired cop, a recovering alcoholic, and an under-the-table private investigator. People hire him to "look into things". And as I wrote in my review of "Hard Stuff", most of the Scudder series touches on AA and its Step program. "Hard Stuff" was heavily into it and this book, "Long Line" also uses AA as a plot point. But the focus of this story is on a club - a private, secret men's group that meets yearly at a steakhouse in New York. The "Club of 31" meets to mark the march of life and death. Every year they enjoy a good meal, good drinks, good conversation, and list the men who have died since the club was formed. Then, when the club is down to the last man living, he chooses 30 young men to start the march all over again. The old list of names is destroyed and a new list of names begins as the 30 age. A long line of dead men.

But the members seem to be dying off at a quicker rate than nature or accidents would account for. By the time Matt is hired to "look around", the club of 31 is down to 16 or so members. Scudder takes the case and begins a quiet search for who is knocking off the members. The only ones who know about the club are the members themselves, so suspicion is focused inward.

Now, Lawrence Block is a master of dialog and conversation. Most of this book is written as conversation between the various characters - Scudder, his girlfriend, the club members, TJ, old friends who are cops and drinkers, etc. Each character is finely drawn and the information about them expands in Block's dialog.

This is not a book for readers who want action. Neither is it so cerebral that it's in any way boring. Block is such a good writer that each page of this book is a treat. I thought it was the best mystery/detective book I'd read when I first read it years ago. I have no reason to change my mind about it now!
In this, the twelfth volume of the world famous Matthew Scudder Saga, the Scud is hired by a member of the "Thirty One Club" - a group of men who meet annually (but secretly) to discuss the finest and most significant business of the day - to determine who, and why, certain members of the club are being slowly but surely targeted for murder. It takes a while for both our hero and the reader to be convinced of the case at all, as the first truly pivotal moment of the book arrives at the end of chapter four. Not only does it hook Scudder into the case but it seals the deal for the reader, too. Up to this point, the book has certainly been intriguingly original but certainly not tense or gripping. Earlier books in the series have the reader hooked by the end of chapter one, so it is rare for Mr Block to wait this long to grab both the heart and soul of his readers in his traditional vice like grip. But he does, and he does so with aplomb.

The writing is outstanding. We get to know the Scud and Elaine in even greater detail than we have up to now and the plot moves at a terrific pace. Everyone's favourite street urchin (TJ) does not have a major role to play but he does get a mention intermittently. The book, however, is primarily about the Scud. He solves the case - of course - but he also witness his personal development in a not entirely unexpected manner. The character interaction is the hidden jewel in this word mine of a book and it should come as no surprise to the readers of this fine series where the inspiration to solve the case should come from. Reminders are issued by Mr Block that the world we live in is real, it's gritty and most importantly, it is populated by adults. Blessedly for some, this part of the book is only a short chapter and it is interesting in a hypothetical way that even the Scud thought about taking offence at some activity undertaken in public by his unofficial fiancé, Elaine.

In summary, then this is not your standard hunt-out-the-psychopath murder mystery. This one grabs the reader by the hand and takes them on a journey into the mind and personal space of a twentieth century icon. The writing of the book is personal, direct and yet a couple of phrases in the second half border being poetically moving. Taken from location 3828 of the kindle version, Scudder is analysing his relationship with Mick Ballou

"... Or perhaps, as had sometimes occurred to me,
Mick was at once the brother i never had,
And the road I'd left untaken..."

Book twelve of this classic series is as good as any. It takes a different route to its destination, but wind down the windows, let the fresh air in, and enjoy the ride. When Mr Block is driving the taxi you know you are in safe hands. Just don't let him stop for any un - logged or unplanned fares along the way.

BFN Greggorio!
The story is intringuing - a club of men with an extraordinary promise, killed one by one by a mistery murderer. The book is well paced, I enjoyed the NY setting, and some of the details - ie how AA work. But I could not like the main character he's human in his being flawed, but I can't just sympathise, or identify, with him - like sleeping remorseless with a woman who's doing it just because she's been abused by her father? Or consistently cheating with his partner? No real trouble here for our detective (or, it seems, with the author). Main characters have done worst than this, and still been likeable for ther moral struggle. But I can't just like Matthew Scudder. though I'll probably read another one or two before giving up.
Some are better than others, but I have never been disappointed by a Lawrence Block novel. A Long Line of Dead Men stands out as one of his best. Block is a master of slow-building tension. Some mystery writers have fast-moving stories with short, punch chapters. Block takes a different approach. For me, most of Block's novels featuring Matt Scudder are like being strangled slowly by a python. The books move along, but almost have a leisurely feel. A single conversation can go on for 20 or 30 pages, and 2 or 3 chapters. But after a hundred pages, I realize I've been completely entranced by the story and characters. I'm trapped. But in the best possible way.

The story find Scudder hired to investigate a private men's club whose members are dying at an unusually high rate. Is it accident, or murder? I won't give away more than that for those who haven't read the book. But I will say the novel has a particularly devious climax that caught me totally off guard and lingered long afterwards.