Riveting, fast-paced and insightful thriller with a wonderful feel for New York. This is the 17th in Matt Scudder series and finds the ex-cop turned Private Investigator, now a sober AA member, taking on the case of the murder of a fellow addict. Lawrence Block is a master craftsman of the crime novel, hiding key clues in plain site - that you only spot on the second reading. Infuriatingly brilliant.
Matt Scudder and Jack Ellery were at school together but never exactly friends. Twenty years later, when Scudder was a detective and Jack was standing on the other side of the one-way glass in a police line-up, it was clear their lives had taken very different paths. What they shared, however, was a battle with alcohol. Now Jack is on the ninth step of the AA program and it's time to make amends to the people he's wronged over the years because of his addiction. But when he ends up shot in the head, and it's clear that stirring up the past was not such a good idea, it's up to Scudder to find the killer.
Lawrence Block was awarded the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2004. He is also a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America. He is the author of many novels and short stories and has won numerous awards for his mystery writing. He lives and works in New York City.
