A review by moreadsbooks
Eight Million Ways to Die by Lawrence Block

3.0

I broke up with Scudder a few years ago and I don't think we rekindled our relationship with this novel; the solution to the crime was ridiculous and the way Scudder goes about solving it needlessly repetitive. The decisions he makes run the gamut from side-eye worthy - stealing a bracelet from a dead sex worker to give to Jan - to eye-rollingly ludicrous - incapacitating a would-be mugger by jumping on both of his legs until they break. But the heart of this novel is his struggle with sobriety, and that's where the good stuff is. His stacking of sober days. His bargaining, which leads to the decision to stick to two drinks a day, which of course leads to the conclusion that he doesn't have a drinking problem, which leads to a decision to get wasted, which leads to a blackout. His involvement with AA, at first grudging and then accepting. There is not a conversation in this book that Scudder has with himself about alcohol that I have not experienced myself. I've satisfied my curiosity and determined that there are enough books out there in the world that I'm more willing to spend my time with, but I'm happy that the guy got his 10-day chip.