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cclurejam's review against another edition
5.0
Extremely good. Scudder continues to gain depth with every book.
snrubydolem's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Worth staying up late to finish, but damn, it’s gonna suck when my alarm goes off in a few hours.
lou1sb's review against another edition
5.0
I'm trying to think of reasons to give this less than five stars. Because it was different to the movie? The movie added a bit, threw out one outdated computer subplot and added another, made TJ sickle-cell anemic. In the book TJ even jokes 'if this was a movie then...' and then he does it in the movie! Layers of meaning!
Another possible reason to lop off a star is the image I have of body parts being removed with various sharp objects. Less layers of meaning there, but there's some.
When I realised the book was set in 1992 I got excited because I thought Lawrence Block predicted Y2K, but I think it's easier to just say "the internet" rather than explain how he found everything. Kids these days never seen a payphone.
Another possible reason to lop off a star is the image I have of body parts being removed with various sharp objects. Less layers of meaning there, but there's some.
When I realised the book was set in 1992 I got excited because I thought Lawrence Block predicted Y2K, but I think it's easier to just say "the internet" rather than explain how he found everything. Kids these days never seen a payphone.
atreenamedjulia's review against another edition
4.0
A good, solid detective story. It’s hard-boiled in all the right ways and soft when it needs to be.
Some of the characters are a little dated and tropey but that may be a result of when it was written rather than prejudice by the author. I can’t say for sure cause I don’t know a whole lot about the author though so keep it in mind.
Also, it’s not the kind of mystery book you can solve along the way. It’s more like a thriller you follow along with. This isn’t a complaint just a heads up for genre preference purposes.
Some of the characters are a little dated and tropey but that may be a result of when it was written rather than prejudice by the author. I can’t say for sure cause I don’t know a whole lot about the author though so keep it in mind.
Also, it’s not the kind of mystery book you can solve along the way. It’s more like a thriller you follow along with. This isn’t a complaint just a heads up for genre preference purposes.
andrexq's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
james7634's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Dark in parts but the tone was inconsistent. Author was afraid or unwilling to enter the grey— it was really dark villains and obnoxiously wholesome protagonist and victim families even though they were drug traffickers.
Consider that your drug trafficking victims works with the Taliban and Cartels and the KKK to secure drugs. Now imagine those same scum bags being described as humble down on their luck fellows who care so deeply for their family—they just can’t understand why something would happen to their family. Jeez they really don’t like violence and don’t know how to talk to hostage takers. Blah!
The author doesn’t feel comfortable making grey characters . So everyone is a good person except the criminal villains….even though the other characters are all corrupt and criminals .
I won’t continue with this author or series.
Consider that your drug trafficking victims works with the Taliban and Cartels and the KKK to secure drugs. Now imagine those same scum bags being described as humble down on their luck fellows who care so deeply for their family—they just can’t understand why something would happen to their family. Jeez they really don’t like violence and don’t know how to talk to hostage takers. Blah!
The author doesn’t feel comfortable making grey characters . So everyone is a good person except the criminal villains….even though the other characters are all corrupt and criminals .
I won’t continue with this author or series.
jakewritesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
One thing I’ve come to appreciate about Lawrence Block’s Matthew Scudder series the further I get into it is how unique each book feels. Sure, as with any writer one reads a lot of, I’m used to Block’s rhythms and characters but every plot and finale feels fresh. I’m ten books into this series and it’s remarkable that he can keep such a streak going. There are other series I like more than this one but I can’t say the same about them. Block is such a creative writer.
This is my monthly Hard Case Crime book, a reissue from HCC to promote the movie based on the book. I got it long before I delved into this series. I think I tried to read it once years ago but couldn’t get into it. Picking it back up, I start to remember why.
A Walk Among the Tombstones is kind of messy for a Scudder book. It begins with the perspective of the client instead of Scudder, which felt weird to me and I wonder if that (and perhaps some other material) was tacked on for the benefit of the movie-going crowd. I was never really able to connect with the clients the way I normally do. And while Block is great at making Scudder’s shoe-leather detective work seem exciting, here it just felt boring with the endless searching for payphones. I just couldn’t connect with the tension and drama the way I normally could. Add on the sadism that felt too familiar from the last Scudder novel and…I don’t know, this one just didn’t work for me.
It’s a Scudder novel so it’s still fun to watch him work and again, I had no idea how it was going to end. Block also dips into Matt and Elaine’s relationship in a heartrending way. So it’s not a hopeless cause but it’s far from his best work.
This is my monthly Hard Case Crime book, a reissue from HCC to promote the movie based on the book. I got it long before I delved into this series. I think I tried to read it once years ago but couldn’t get into it. Picking it back up, I start to remember why.
A Walk Among the Tombstones is kind of messy for a Scudder book. It begins with the perspective of the client instead of Scudder, which felt weird to me and I wonder if that (and perhaps some other material) was tacked on for the benefit of the movie-going crowd. I was never really able to connect with the clients the way I normally do. And while Block is great at making Scudder’s shoe-leather detective work seem exciting, here it just felt boring with the endless searching for payphones. I just couldn’t connect with the tension and drama the way I normally could. Add on the sadism that felt too familiar from the last Scudder novel and…I don’t know, this one just didn’t work for me.
It’s a Scudder novel so it’s still fun to watch him work and again, I had no idea how it was going to end. Block also dips into Matt and Elaine’s relationship in a heartrending way. So it’s not a hopeless cause but it’s far from his best work.