Lawrence Block - Everybody Dies (1998)
Lawrence Block's Everybody Dies is one of the best books in this excellent series. The fourteen (so far) books that make up the Matthew Scudder canon get my vote as the best in the mystery genre. They are as consistently fine, entertaining, and well written as anything I've discovered.
This latest entry is a haunting powerful tale of life, death, and loss. Scudder, the private investigator and reformed drunk, is older now; perhaps not wiser, but clearly interested in slowing down. He's married, he actually has a license from the state, he's not the carefree man he was ten or twenty years ago.
Scudder's life, though, will not necessarily allow him to just walk away. In particular, his close friendship with organized crime "boss" Mick Ballou proves very troublesome. Some unknown gang is attacking Ballou and his associates, and Matt finds himself caught up in the middle of it. Despite his ties to Ballou, he still tries to stay out of it. Friendship will only carry him so far. But when his own life is threatened as well, he is left with little choice.
Block really demonstrates his ever-evolving skill as a writer with this book. This is not the work of a young man. The overtones of age, death, and time are too real and too pronounced. This is clearly the product of a mature, gifted storyteller.
The plot is interesting and suspenseful, the mystery entertaining as Block's always are. But more than that, this is a moving book, a book that touches you and makes you think. The title Everybody Dies may be more figurative than literal, but there is still enough death and pain in this book to reach even the coldest heart.
It takes a fine writer to make you feel sadness at the loss and pain of fictional characters, and Block does that very much here. I have come to regard the character of Matt Scudder as something more than just a made-up person in a book. It may sound silly, but I think of him as a friend. Matt is not the superhero of some mystery novels, although he on occasion does some extraordinary things. He is just a man; a flawed, troubled man, but a good one. Spending time with him never fails to bring me pleasure.
The author plans to continue Matt's adventures -- and I truly hope he does -- but if he never writes another word, this would be a fitting end to a fine series.
Posted by David J. Montgomery in Book Reviews | Permalink
