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A review by usbsticky
Everybody Dies by Lawrence Block
4.0
Summary/Spoilers ahead:
Mick's stash of whisky ($10k worth) is robbed from his storage unit and a couple of his boys killed during the robbery. Scudder is roped in when he is asked to help bury the bodies at the farm. And thus it starts.
Next Scudder is waylaid and given a beating to warn him away from Mick but Scudder fights back and wounds the two assailants instead. Things get serious when Jim Faber (Scudder's sponsor) is accidentally murdered in a case of mistaken identity. Finally Grogan's Bar is attacked by 2 assailants with an automatic gun and a bomb killing a dozen people and wounding 7 more.
Mick goes into hiding but they don't know who or why he is being targeted. Mick hires Scudder to find out who is trying to kill Mick's gang, including Scudder. Scudder uses his usual sources such as Danny Boy and TJ. The shooters are identified and working backwards, Scudder is able to find the source.
Real spoilers here, don't read if you don't want to know.
It turns out that the instigator is Paddy Farrelly's son, who has grown up to be a violent criminal. Somehow he has convinced a bunch of other criminals he met in Attica to kill Mick in revenge. The book ends in a gigantic gunfight at the farm.
The plot is different from any of the others so far and we're given a look into Mick's enterprise and his gang (all of whom are eventually killed) including the O'Garas at the farm. The action is pretty fast paced except for the stretched dialog between Mick and Scudder concerning confession. I'm not really sure what to think about these stretched dialogs anymore. I usually fast read them but this one about confession made me read it in its entirety.
Overall not a bad plot, linear and quick to read. I finished it within a day or two.
Mick's stash of whisky ($10k worth) is robbed from his storage unit and a couple of his boys killed during the robbery. Scudder is roped in when he is asked to help bury the bodies at the farm. And thus it starts.
Next Scudder is waylaid and given a beating to warn him away from Mick but Scudder fights back and wounds the two assailants instead. Things get serious when Jim Faber (Scudder's sponsor) is accidentally murdered in a case of mistaken identity. Finally Grogan's Bar is attacked by 2 assailants with an automatic gun and a bomb killing a dozen people and wounding 7 more.
Mick goes into hiding but they don't know who or why he is being targeted. Mick hires Scudder to find out who is trying to kill Mick's gang, including Scudder. Scudder uses his usual sources such as Danny Boy and TJ. The shooters are identified and working backwards, Scudder is able to find the source.
Real spoilers here, don't read if you don't want to know.
It turns out that the instigator is Paddy Farrelly's son, who has grown up to be a violent criminal. Somehow he has convinced a bunch of other criminals he met in Attica to kill Mick in revenge. The book ends in a gigantic gunfight at the farm.
The plot is different from any of the others so far and we're given a look into Mick's enterprise and his gang (all of whom are eventually killed) including the O'Garas at the farm. The action is pretty fast paced except for the stretched dialog between Mick and Scudder concerning confession. I'm not really sure what to think about these stretched dialogs anymore. I usually fast read them but this one about confession made me read it in its entirety.
Overall not a bad plot, linear and quick to read. I finished it within a day or two.