Even the Wicked

Matthew Scudder #13

by Lawrence Block

An anonymous letter writer, the self-styled 'Will of the People', targets prominent criminals and evil-doers that the law cannot reach - and kills them. All of them are dubbed by the Will 'society offenders who might as well be in the ground' - and he sends his hit-list to a tabloid newspaper columnist. His latest target is a criminal defence attorney who's got one too many killers off a murder charge. Given the failure of New York's finest to protect his predecessors, DA Adrian Whitfield wants the most stubborn PI in the Big Apple watching his back.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Detective, Noir, Thriller, Mystery Thriller

340 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Lawrence Block has been writing crime, mystery, and suspense fiction for more than half a century. He has published in excess (oh, wretched excess!) of 100 books, and no end of short stories.

Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.

His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.

LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.

Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.

LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.

Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.

LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)

LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.

He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a bad book. I am not sure Lawrence block is capable of writing a bad book. But it is a book in which the Block Magic—that deceptively discursive narrative style which can unite a couple of plots, a smattering of anecdotes and a few observations into a pleasing whole—just does not work.

I’m not sure exactly why. Perhaps because neither of detective Matt Scudder’s cases (a series of killings by “The Will of the People” who announces his targets in advance, and one random execution of a guy who is dying of aids) is all that interesting in itself, perhaps because I guessed one of the murderers way too early, or perhaps because the book’s ending (involving Scudder’s faithful hip-hop companion T.J., whose “street talk” always struck me as zoot-suit corny, like something out of an old Bill Haley song) is cloyingly sentimental. And sentimental is something Block does not do well.

Still, I liked a lot of the book, particular the surprisingly casual way one of the murderers (the one I did not guess) ended up committing his crime. And Mick Ballou—the Irish criminal Scudder calls friend—is here, and I always enjoy Ballou. I especially liked the following discussion between Mick and Scudder about the motivations of “Will of the People”:

”He’s full of himself, isn’t he? Killing and claiming credit like a fucking terrorist.”

“It’s like that,” I said. “Like a terrorist.”

“They all start with a cause,” he said, “and it’s noble or it’s not, and along the way it fades and grows dim. For they fall in love with what they’re doing, and why they’re doing it scarcely matters.” He looked off into the distance. “it’s a terrible thing,” he said, “when a man develops a taste for killing.

“You have a taste for it.”

“I have found joy in it,” he allowed. “it’s like drink, you know. It stirs the blood and quickens the heart. Before you know it you’re dancing."

Just listen to that dialogue! No wonder he can’t write a bad book!

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A vigilante calling himself The Will of the People is killing undesirables and gloating about it in the Daily News and Matthew Scudder is one the case. But what, if anything, do these killings have to do with man afflicted with AIDs being gunned down in broad daylight?

Block lead me around by my nose through most of this one. It took me forever to figure out what was going on with Will and what was behind Byron Leopold's murder. I liked how TJ kept trying to drag Matt into the computer age. As in most of his cases, Matt struggled with ethical dilemmas.

Matthew Scudder and the supporting cast continue to grow as characters. Matt quits seeing his mistress, the bond between Matt and TJ continues to grow, coming to a point at the end that I saw coming books ago. Hard Way Ray makes strides as one of Scudder's supporting cast and the ever put-upon Joe Durkin makes a welcome appearance as well.

If you've stuck with Lawrence Block and Matthew Scudder this far, you'll want to devour this one like the rest of them.

[James Thane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've said several times here now that I believe Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder series to be the best PI series ever written. Some of the books individually stand with any of the classics produced by people like Raymond Chandler et al., but Block has produced far more books in this series (sixteen and soon to be seventeen) than any of the other "Masters" of the genre. The books are consistently very good if not great, and in addition to writing a number of inventive and absorbing plots, Block has created a cast of memorable, fully-drawn characters in addition to Scudder, the main protagonist. He has also allowed them all to age and become more complex through the years, so that reading one of these books is like returning to visit a group of old and very interesting friends. If that weren't enough, Block has also built a lushly-drawn set--Scudder's New York City--in which these stories take place.

Even the Wicked is the thirteenth book in the series. Scudder is in his middle fifties, now, happily married and domesticated. He's a much more mellow character than he was in the early years, and this particular book is also a bit tamer than some of the earlier entries. The violence is not as gruesome and doesn't seem as threatening; the sex is not as hot and bothered, and Scudder doesn't have to get really nasty and violent with anyone.

Which is not to say that this isn't a very enjoyable read. Scudder is forced to deal with a series of complicated crimes, perpetrated by at least three separate characters. In the main case, a vigilante, inspired by a newspaper columnist, is ridding NYC of despicable characters that the legal system is unable to touch for one reason or another. After claiming three scumbag victims, he announced that his next target will be a criminal defense attorney who has won a number of high profile cases. The attorney hires Scudder to try to find the killer, even though the police are working night and day to catch him.

Scudder arranges protection for the attorney and gets on the job. At the same time a friend asks Matt to look into the shooting death of an AIDS victim who was killed in a city park. The police are not pursuing the case very aggressively and are apparently ready to write it off as a random act of violence in the big city. Matt, of course, will not dismiss it so easily.

Scudder works the two investigations in and around evenings with his wife, Elaine, and again engages the services of TJ, the street kid who first appeared as Scudder's semi-sidekick a few books earlier. It's fun to watch him work and it's also fun to listen to the banter among the characters. And inevitably, Matt's dogged persistence will pay dividends in the end.

This book certainly doesn't have the hard edge of some of the earlier Scudder novels, but you wouldn't expect a fifty-five-year-old PI to be wrapped as tightly and to act as fiercely as the young, alcoholic ex-cop that we first met in The Sins of the Fathers. After a very long wait, we are about to finally get a new Matthew Scudder novel, A Drop of the Hard Stuff, which is set earlier in Scudder's career. I would expect this new book to resemble much more closely in tone some of the best books in the series, and I, for one, can hardly wait.

[Kemper · Rating 4 out of 5]

And you thought the tabloids were bad when they were just bugging phones….

After a child rapist and murderer gets released on a technicality, a New York columnist writes a piece openly wishing for the man’s death. Someone helps make this become a reality by stringing the pedophile up and then writes to the columnist taking credit and calling himself the “Will of the People”.

Apparently murder is just like eating potato chips because Will can’t stop after just one and begins writing more letters identifying other targets like a Mafia don and a violent anti-abortion advocate and then making good on his threats. Will becomes a media sensation as New York is both captivated and horrified by his actions.

When a prominent defense attorney is named as Will’s next target, the lawyer hires Matt Scudder to try and find the killer before he’s the next victim. Matt helps arrange some personal security, but isn’t sure what he can do that the police can’t to find the killer. He also finds his attention drawn to the case of a man in the late stages of AIDS who was murdered.

As usual, I find any of the Matt Scudder stories compelling reads that are some of the best crime novels that money can buy. This rereading of the series has definitely convinced me that Scudder deserves to be in The Detective Hall of Fame along with the likes of Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade. This one isn’t quite up to the creative high that Block was on from Eight Million Ways to Die through A Walk Among the Tombstones, but it’s still an intriguing mystery.

It’s also a bit of a departure because for the first half of the book, we don’t really see Matt do his usual detecting thing which usually consists of him wandering all over New York talking to various people. Instead, a lot of the legwork is glossed over, and it focuses on Matt thinking about a previous case and having dreams that leave him trying to figure out what he already knows on a subconscious level that hasn’t registered with him yet.

As a bonus, this one also has a bit of a Christmas epilogue with Matt giving a special gift to an old friend, and it’s enough to make even a cynical bastard like me want to say, “God bless us, every one.”

[Andrew Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book fifteen to twenty years ago. During a long journey I’d popped into a bookshop, somewhere in Oxfordshire, I think, and found a whole wall of Lawrence Block books for sale on a ‘buy one get one free’ offer. I’d filled a carrier bag full of Mathew Scudder titles and pretty soon began working my way through them. Scudder is a typical hardboiled lead man: an alcoholic ex-cop who’d walked away from the NYPD after accidentally shooting dead a child and subsequently walked away from his wife and kids too. He now earns a living as a private investigator, previously unlicensed but formally sanctioned by the time of this title (book 13 in the series).

Here, Matt is hired by a lawyer who’s the latest to be threatened by a killer calling himself ‘Will of the People’. The targets are people who are perceived to have somehow escaped justice for ‘crimes’ spelt out in letters sent to a tabloid newspaper. There’s also a second – smaller – case that Matt becomes interested in: that of a man suffering from AIDS who was gunned down in a New York park. By the time of this story, Scudder is married to Elaine Mardell, an ex-sex worker, and has an unofficial assistant in the shape of a smart street kid called TJ.

The Scudder books are, in my eyes, towards the top of the pile when it comes to quality crime fiction. Block’s characterisation of his melancholy front man is so deftly handled that I’d challenge anyone reading just one episode not to become hooked to the extent that they devour the whole series. The books are intelligently plotted, but it’s really the feel of NYC, of the streets, the bars, and the (mainly lowlife) people who inhabit this place that bring the books alive. This story is a pretty straightforward investigation of the cases without some of the entertaining meanderings that crop up in other episodes, but it’s none the worse for it.

This time around, I listened to an audio version, narrated by the excellent Mark Hammer. I had a few nagging memories of my first time around with this tale, but not enough to spoil the experience. I loved it – possibly more than on my first reading, as I’ve upped the rating from four to five stars.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Even The Wicked,” first published in 1997, is the thirteenth novel in the Scudder series and it has a bit of a different feel to it than some of the other Scudder books. This one is more polished and doesn’t feel
quite as gritty. Scudder, here, is not drinking his life away at bars and ginmills. And, he isn’t as focused on the AA meetings as he is in some of the earlier books. He has even left his hotel room and lives a life with some domestic bliss. In some ways, you wonder if this started as a non-Scudder novel and then found its way into the world of Scudder. Nevertheless, it is a terrific, compelling story and well worth reading.

A killer is out there and he is announcing his kills before they happen in the newspaper by a letter to a columnist. His targets are people who have gotten away with the unthinkable. A child killer who walked out of court instead of spending his life behind bars. An untouchable mafia don. A racist in a walled compound. No one can figure out how the killer does it, but he claims he is merely carrying out the will of the people. Scudder is called in to help protect the next victim. It feels much more like a locked-room who-done-it and how-did-he-do-it story than other Scudder stories and perhaps was more carefully orchestrated to appeal to a wider audience.

[carol. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid three star read in which Matt Scudder takes on the classic locked-room mystery. Although not one of the more memorable Scudder books, it's an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. Let the rain begin!

We begin with a pleasant domestic scene, TJ and Scudder at Scudder's house, watching a boxing match. TJ is leafing through a spy catalog idly suggesting ideas for their business, particularly a computer system. It becomes a telling detail about moving Scudder forward into the future and his reluctance to do so, and anchors the story in time and culture. They are interrupted when Scudder gets a call from Adrian Whitfield, a lawyer who Scudder has worked for once or twice before. He's just been notified that the latest anonymous letter to show up in columnist Marty McGaw's mailbox has marked him for death. "The Will of the People" is a vigilante who has been using a columnist to share his exploits, murdering people who are untouchable, at least by the legal system. This first victim was a murdering pedophile that Adrian had defended and had been recently released. Adrian consults with Scudder for safety strategies and ends up adding a retainer for finding Will. Half-heartedly working the case, Scudder ends up taking on a second investigation when an friend from AA asks for his help. Her friend, already dying of AIDS, was murdered as he sat on a park bench.

Thankfully, the two cases don't converge, which would have stretched credulity. While the solution to the locked-room mystery was predictable, a subsequent twist surprised me and kept me interested. Block continues to have a good ear for realistic dialogue that does more than feed the reader plot points. Characters are steady, largely without significant development in this installment. Fair enough; can't have drama all the time. Scudder's personal life is solidly domestic, and a few friends return for cameos. TJ plays a larger role, as well as a police officer from a former investigation.

Perhaps the most disconcerting section is when Scudder attempts to modernize his phone investigation skills. I find I miss the days when he would drop a dime in the corner booth and sweet-talk an operator into giving information. Block reminds of those times as he notes the disappearance of phones from the city, and the inability to accept incoming calls. It's an odd note; is it because Block missed the old days? Scudder? Is Block highlighting the difference? Maybe that's a series motif all along; after all, a few books ago, a number of mentions was made of his 'call forwarding' feature on his room's phone.

Overall, a steady entry into the Scudder series.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a long book for Block, but hey, you get three murders solved in one book for the price of one! Let's call it a hat trick, hockey fans, and yes, at least twice Goodreads reviewers I've seen use this term to describe Scudder's accomplishment in the book. First he solves what seems to be a public serial killer mystery where the killer--The Will of the People--bumps off people we all are not sorry to see go and writes letters to the newspaper about his plans and accomplishments. Anyway, two of these three cases get accomplished with taped confessions where Scudder actually walks the perps into the police station (?!). Confession seems to be good for the soul, Matt knows from his own past. These are also "uptown"(better neighborhood) stories versus the early Scudder gritty, booze-soaked "downtown" stories. And this, as it turns out in the end, is a Christmas volume, too, in that Scudder, who gets well-paid in one case, actually buys great presents for Elaine and TJ, a feel good ending. Nice, sweet, but actually, not enough noir, Block! Where's the misery?! Is this a date book?

I'll admit that there are indeed surprises in this book, and some of the dialogue is as you expect from Block terrific, and if you were to only pick up this book to read a sample of Block's Scudder series you would admire it, but in the entire Scudder series, this is not imho one of the best of the books. It needs more Mick, needs more Durkin. Lacks some of that requisite sleazy noir grit, I think. For instance, one murderer profits in "viatical transactions" with insurance companies (yes, I had to look it up, and am still yawning), and works to cash in on double indemnity pay-offs in the process. Well, Double Indemnity was a great concept in a great novel by Raymond Chandler and adapted in a great movie by Billy Wilder, but in this book the insurance scam issue feels a little less than great, Block, sorry. It's still a good book, though, it really is.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the urging of an opinion piece, a vigilante takes to the streets of New York knocking off an accused child molester who up until now, has escaped the hand of justice. Succeeding in his mission, he dubs himself “The Will of the People” (or “Will” for short). Shortly after, he writes into a prominent New York newspaper threatening the lives of several other less than savory citizens.

It isn’t until a particularly well known lawyer finds himself in Will’s crosshairs that Matt Scudder is brought into the fold. Hired to track down and uncover Will, Matt enlists the assistance of his sometimes employer, Reliable Security to keep an eye on the frightened barrister.

If that isn’t enough on Scudder’s plate, he’s also recruited to look into the murder of a friend of a friend; a man named Byron Leopold, who had been shot in cold blood while sitting on a park bench. With Matt unsure of where to begin with Will, he concentrates his time tracking down this other killer. With such a heavy workload on his shoulders, can Matt juggle both cases?

While I was disappointed Mick Ballou’s small role, Block shines the spotlight on both TJ and “Hard Way” Ray, hoping they can hold their own as the supporting cast. A relatively new addition to the world of Scudder, “Hard Way” Ray provides a great wall for Matt to bounce theories off of and offers a distinctly different viewpoint that no other character can offer – what with being a criminal defense lawyer and all. TJ makes strides as Scudder’s right hand man as the two grow closer than ever; further developing a father/son relationship.

While I enjoyed the case surrounding “Will” and the payoff was surprising; it’s the case that involves Byron that I found most compelling. It’s hard to really talk about how interesting it was and how it unraveled without getting heavy into spoiler territory but given my chosen profession, I thought it was an intriguing angle (even if it is a common staple of the detective fiction genre) and brought to light a practice I wasn’t even aware of.

Even The Wicked is another strong entry in the Scudder saga that clearly shows that despite being the thirteenth entry in the series, Block still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

Also posted @ Every Read Thing

[Jason Koivu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Block piled more than a mouthful on his detective's plate in Even the Wicked. Matt Scudder is up against three murders in this one! It's not action-packed. A Scudder novel seldom is. But there's plenty to think about. I was able to solve one of the crimes before our hero, but otherwise these are pretty clever whodunits. Juggling them all and tying them all together is what's impressive. The ending is perhaps the most warm fuzzy feel good finish to any in the series.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initially thought that Even the Wicked must have been the first in the Matt Scudder series to never be published by Avon Books, but I was wrong- the novel instead only marks the point in the series at which Avon evidently decided that their covers needed to look more respectable, in this case dispensing with their usual lurid B-movie artwork and opting rather for gray text against a black background that looks like it belongs on a Grisham novel. And yet even that blandness is more appealing than the cover pictured above, which makes me feel like I'm reviewing a criminology textbook. The quality of the artwork obviously doesn't have any causal relationship with the quality of the story, but I couldn't help feeling uneasy about the shift in presentation. And sure enough, this novel does give the impression that the series is moving into a new, relatively comfortable phase, with Matt middle-aged, more-or-less happily married, and finally (respectably) licensed as a P.I. With only four of these books to go, this one made it feel likely that I've already read the best of Scudder.

Not that it's terrible by any stretch. The premise- an anonymous letter-writer who calls himself the Will of the People pledges to enact vigilante justice against specific targets untouchable by the law- is admittedly a bit cringy, and I could swear it's the same set-up as some Bronson or Eastwood movie from the 80s whose title currently escapes me. And sure, Matt's investigation also ends up involving a fair amount of dull insurance-law arcana. I did however enjoy the denouement of this novel quite a bit, despite the fact that I guessed the identities of two of the three killers fairly early, which is indicative of a problem only because I never guess the killer. Take this one time, for example, when a blizzard stranded me with a handful of strangers at a roadside diner on I-80 in Iowa, and...but no, surely you don't want to hear the details of that terrible and bloody night, a night I shall never forget.

My favorite scenes in the book involved a character with the actual name of Marty McCraw, the kind of name that any self-respecting author would only bestow on a hard-drinking cigar-smoking cantankerous prick of an Irish newspaper columnist, one of whose outraged columns in this case seems to have inspired "Will" to embark on his murder spree. Matt's late-night conversations with Mick Ballou are always reliable as well, and though their scenes together here are brief, there's a great exchange, already quoted by Bill Kerwin in his review, where Mick, a habitual killer himself, offers his own insight into Will's actions.

This is book #13, and Block's consistency throughout the series has been pretty amazing. He's rounding the home-stretch now, and yeah, he might be starting to slip a little. No one's perfect, but this is probably a good place for me to take a short break from these books, before I hopefully pick up #14 (the much-hyped and cheerfully-titled Everybody Dies) sometime in November, and close out the rest of the series before the New Year. 

[Aditya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last two entries in the Scudder series were a bit weaker compared to the overall high standards it has maintained since The Sins of the Fathers. Even the Wicked brings it right back on track. It has a fluidity that the best books in the series have though the protagonist has mellowed with age. By fluidity I mean though the story has two unrelated cases it never feels episodic.

The cases consist of a vigilante serial killer called Will and the murder of a man who was already dying of AIDS. Both the cases have solid resolutions and one of them even provides a wonderful investment opportunity provided one has the morbid instincts of a vulture! As always in the series the mysteries are complex but not solved by reliance on forensics or prodigal genius. Scudder has only one thing going for him - sheer bloody-mindedness. One reason I like the series so much, I feel if I was in a detective simulation I will work the case exactly like Scudder does.

Will being cheered on by the fourth estate is milked for some pitch black humor, it's no Clockwork Orange for sure but nevertheless pretty smart. I felt Block could have at least acknowledged that Scudder himself had committed acts of vigilantism in the past. It would have been interesting to see Scudder wonder a bit more about the hypocrisy of his actions. But that opportunity is wasted, Scudder has usually remained inscrutable and continues to do so here. Block actually has never been huge on character development. His characters do change over the course of the series but it is often a matter of his whim rather than any consistent development. Scudder's battle with the alcohol is the only part of his character that has remained constant but his morality is often dictated by practicality. Anyway it is more a bugbear for long time fans like me and most readers won't even be aware of any double standards on Scudder's part.

Block's dialogue may not be as stylish or quotable like some of the old school noir authors like Chandler and Hammett but there are few crime authors who write overall conversations better than Block when he is at his best. He makes regular conversation between regular people sarcastic and entertaining. Scudder's odyssey through AA remains interesting as does his supporting cast. Street kid TJ gets a chance to shine at fan favorite Mick Ballou's expense. I actually preferred Ballou's absence and his void is anyway filled by another equally shady character - returning defense lawyer Ray Gruliow.

Even the Wicked reminded me of the early Scudder books when the focus was squarely on the mystery. The series changed directions somewhere around book #8 but it is good to see it getting back to its roots . Nothing fancy here just good old solid detective fiction. Rating - 4/5.

[Metodi Markov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Нещо не можа да ме заинтригува достатъчно за разлика от останалите романи от серията. Вероятно това е нормално, когато книгите станат 10+.

Второстепенната криминална интрига се оказа далеч по-интересна от главната, а ѝ е отделено от автора доста по-малко място.

Забравям я бързо и продължавам с останалите от поредицата.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not have a great deal of spare time to devote to reading this 374-page book, and while I was enjoying parts of it I became impatient with the length of it because it did have two legitimately separate areas of inquiry that could have been split into two books. But then...Block has to tie a big Christmas bow around it in one of the sweetest imaginable endings and all is forgiven.
One focus: "Will of the People" pronouncements to OpEd writer that garners attention of all of NYC that leads to several executions and one assignment from a threatened attorney for Matt.
Another focus: shooting of a friend of one of Matt's AA connections that he investigates involving insurance policy purchases held by AIDS patients.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars for this very entertaining entry in the Mathew Scudder series. Why the high rating? Well, quite simply, the writing demonstrates a top notch author in full bloom, commanding a complicated plot while drawing the reader into Scudder’s world. Characters are fully drawn and interesting, complete with flaws, aspirations and fears.

Scudder is middle aged in this novel, and Block imbues him with a hard won patience and insight wrought only though the passage of time.

The dual investigation keeps things interesting, and the street urchin turned young assistant, TJ, rounds out the cast while adding invaluable humor as well.

When you finish reading a book and have a desire to have a drink or dinner with the main characters, you know that it was well written. This is just one of those books.

Happy New Year to all.

[ML · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very satisfying conclusion. When Scudder is on the case, there is no way it won’t be solved.
He solved 3 crimes in this installment. The usual characters shows up in TJ the rhyme king and Elaine.
All added to the over all success of this plot.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

PROTAGONIST: PI Matt Scudder
SETTING: New York City
SERIES: #13 of 18
RATING: 3.5
WHY: Matt Scudder is investigating 2 cases. The first focuses on a serial killer who is following the "will of the people" and killing those who clearly deserve it. The way this plays out is very interesting. The second involves a man dying of AIDS who is shot in the park while reading the paper. The dialog is excellent. However, there were too many digressions which didn't add to the plot and some rather lengthy letters that I ended up skimming. However, I do love to see the recurring characters of TJ and Elaine and appreciated the ending.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a good read. Matt seems like a friend after all these books (ok, imaginary friend, but still).

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scudder takes on two cases in this novel, investigating a vigilante killer who calls himself "Will of the People", and the case of a terminally ill man shot to death whilst sitting on a park bench, in an apparently random attack. Personally I found the plot of the vigilante thread a little contrived. By contrast I thought the second thread was very well put together. Not the best of the Scudder series but still a perfectly decent read from a consistently high quality series.

[SuperWendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Block has 3 mysteries going in this one and while two of them tie together the third one is purely tacked on. It's like Block's editor told him the book had to be longer (for some reason) so the author took two different plot threads that couldn't be a fully knitted scarf on their own and hastily tied the two bits of yarn together. It felt disjointed.

I did like the "Will of the People" storyline with the murderer writing letters to a local newspaper columnist a la Son of Sam. Also, it's a good TJ book with a suitably nice TJ ending. Also, praise Jebus, it looks like Matt is over his side-chick. Hopefully we're done with Matt's half-baked mid-life crisis. On to the next book in the series...

[Mack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everybody’s all grown up, and three plots don’t save it when the voice and the attitude are no more.

[Emmanuel Gharbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pas le meilleur Scudder
L’intrigue est un peu trop décousue mais il y a de bons moments

[Jez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this, and more than I expected to. It starts off more on the high concept end of the Scudder scale, where I prefer the other end, the procedural stuff. It also had me a little annoyed that I felt I had it figured out before the halfway point.
But then it turned into something a bit different and I loved it. It's basically 3 stories and it ties together as a kind of meditation on bad choices and how they can spiral out of control, leaving us feeling helpless, confused and bemused. Good stuff.
There's also some nice development re the supporting characters. All in all a solid, above-average book in the series, so bloody good by other standards.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew Scudder in his thirteenth novel, he is now in his fifties and happily married with his Eileen when he gets asked by a lawyer how he can be protected by the cities apparent moral knight. This character seems to be a response to the injustice that is experienced by the people of New York when certain persons cannot be punished simply because there are no grounds or evidence to convict. Only this time the target of the proclaimed "Will of the people" communicates his intentions and targets high profile people who then die.

Scudder gets asked to protect this lawyer and he knows he is out of league and is honest about it. He still gets a retainer and advises on the use of a certain protection agency. Still it does not stop the demise of the lawyer. So Scudder does start to look into the matter to find this so-called "will of the people"to stop him before he targets another person.

At the same time Scudder is looking into the assassination of friend of a friend who suffered AIDS and was hot on a bench in a park while enjoying the sun and his paper. The murder walked in, shot the victim and walked out again. The police has no leads to follow. Scudder decides to follow the money due to the lack in leads and finds a whole new industry that depends on the life insurances of terminal ill people.

Both case involve some moral issues of our modern times and perhaps in dawn of his live this would be cases best suited for the PI who has seen terrible acts already. This book is not bloody at all and there is no real action. But the stories gets told as good as Block always manages and they make sense and you wonder about the moral compass of our society.

A very satisfying read.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Matt Scudder is my least favorite of Block's ongoing series. This book explains why. It's a really slow, meandering story that winds up being the most boring reign of terror ever. A vigilante killer starts by killing a pedophile and claiming credit in the paper. Then he goes on to kill a mob boss and some other guys. Scudder does nothing much more than read about it in the paper because, "Meh. The cops got this." Even after a friend of his dies, he still doesn't really want to get involved. Instead he reluctantly looks into another case that doesn't have anything to do with the first. It's all so dull and uninteresting when really it should be far more so. At least if a Bernie Rhodenbarr book is boring there's usually some humor in it. Or in a Keller book there are inventive ways to kill people. The Scudder books have none of these, so they end up lacking.

That is all.

[Tom S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lawrence Block is my "go to" for detective stories. The Matthew Scudder series is great. I have been reading a lot of heavy stuff lately, so a fun read for a Saturday night!

[Wyckliffe Howland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun - clever. "The Will of the People" calling for wrongs to be righted - vigilante style.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt Scudder is one of my favorite characters. Lawrence Block always tells a great story.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhhh TJ

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re an attorney who defends the indefensible, and if there’s a serial killer out there who takes pride in doing the “will of the people,” by murdering the dregs of society, you’re probably pretty worried. New York city is in the grip of just such a serial killer as this book opens. Will, as he is known, writes letters to a newspaper columnist in which he announces his next kill. And by the time the lawyer calls his work associate, Matthew Scudder, to ask for help, the lawyer is among those who is being targeted.

This is a thriller that is in every way worthy of Block’s reputation for unparalleled excellence in the genre. It’s twisty surprise slam ending will leave you unprepared and more than a little breathless.

Add to that some fascinating subplots and truly memorable characters like Scudder’s street-wise employee A. J., and you have a book that will keep you up reading as this one did me.