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Dead Girl Blues
You might as well know this going in: Lawrence Block's new novel is not for everyone. It's recounted in journal form by its protagonist, and begins when he walks into a roadhouse outside of Bakersfield, California, and walks out with a woman.
And rapes and murders her.
But, um, not in that order.
Right. But it's what he does with the rest of his life that's really interesting...
And rapes and murders her.
But, um, not in that order.
Right. But it's what he does with the rest of his life that's really interesting...
218 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2020
116 people are currently reading
349 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Block
768 books2,995 followersLawrence 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 122 reviews
May 20, 2020
I received a free copy of this from the author for review.
This is a great book, but also a fairly tough read.
That’s not because there’s a graphic account of a shocking crime in the opening chapter although anyone who picks this up should be aware that they are in for one dark ride. And it’s certainly not because of the writing because this is Lawrence Block we’re talking about it, and that guy could make a lawnmower maintenance manual a page turner.
What makes it uncomfortable is that it asks some tough questions. Like does committing one terrible crime make a person evil even if they go on to be an upstanding citizen for the rest of their life? I suspect that a lot of people would be inclined to chalk it up to youth or one bad decision made in the heat of the moment.
The wrinkle here is that the first person narrator isn’t holding back, and we know exactly just how much he enjoyed the act as well as how he continues to fantasize about it for years afterwards. There’s no guilt, nor any empathy for the victim. In fact, it seems like the main reason he doesn’t do it again is that he feels like he was lucky to get away with it once so deliberately holds himself in check.
However, it isn’t exactly as black and white on the part of the main character, and the tricky thing that Block pulls off here is putting us in this guy’s head for an entire book so that you understand him. I’m not saying that you sympathize with him. That’s nigh on impossible after that first chapter. Yet, you do get a feel for how he’s just one of those people who has a head full of bad wiring, and there’s something to be said for his self-awareness that makes no excuses or rationalizations. While he originally drifts onto the path that becomes his new life as an average Joe, he also deliberately makes choices to make that happen and is careful to avoid putting himself in a position where he may not be able to help doing it again.
So again, while we’re dealing with a monster, he knows he’s a monster, and he’s not giving in to his worst impulses. Does it matter that his reasons for behaving himself are still driven by self-interest?
If you ask that question then you also need to consider how many seemingly decent people only obey the rules out of fear of getting caught. The narrator discusses many other crimes he sees in the news, and one that catches his attention is the story of a man who killed a woman years ago and went on to live a seemingly normal life and never did it again. So it makes you wonder just how many people you see walking around your neighborhood who may have left a body in a shallow grave in the woods.
Block also makes good use of some recent resolutions of real cold cases to add in a feeling that the curtain is coming down on the main character after decades of getting away with it. His thoughts and plans about what he might do if he feels like he’s finally caught are bone chilling and go in a surprising direction that add more uneasiness about what so-called average people might do in similar circumstances.
The only quibble I have with the book is that I’m not entirely sure that the timeline holds up if you start thinking about the age of the narrator and other characters in relation to him at certain points, but that’s minor nitpicking in an otherwise fascinating book.
Again, this might not be for all crime fiction fans because there are parts that are tough sledding. It might not even be for all Lawrence Block fans. He seems to be very aware of that, and he posted an interesting account of how he came to write and publish this one. It certainly shocked me at the start, and then surprised me even more with different direction the book takes after that. In the end it’s a meditation on dark impulses and trying to live with them that is going to haunt me for a good long while.
Some people have already noted that this is one of Block’s best books, and you can add me to that list.
This is a great book, but also a fairly tough read.
That’s not because there’s a graphic account of a shocking crime in the opening chapter although anyone who picks this up should be aware that they are in for one dark ride. And it’s certainly not because of the writing because this is Lawrence Block we’re talking about it, and that guy could make a lawnmower maintenance manual a page turner.
What makes it uncomfortable is that it asks some tough questions. Like does committing one terrible crime make a person evil even if they go on to be an upstanding citizen for the rest of their life? I suspect that a lot of people would be inclined to chalk it up to youth or one bad decision made in the heat of the moment.
The wrinkle here is that the first person narrator isn’t holding back, and we know exactly just how much he enjoyed the act as well as how he continues to fantasize about it for years afterwards. There’s no guilt, nor any empathy for the victim. In fact, it seems like the main reason he doesn’t do it again is that he feels like he was lucky to get away with it once so deliberately holds himself in check.
However, it isn’t exactly as black and white on the part of the main character, and the tricky thing that Block pulls off here is putting us in this guy’s head for an entire book so that you understand him. I’m not saying that you sympathize with him. That’s nigh on impossible after that first chapter. Yet, you do get a feel for how he’s just one of those people who has a head full of bad wiring, and there’s something to be said for his self-awareness that makes no excuses or rationalizations. While he originally drifts onto the path that becomes his new life as an average Joe, he also deliberately makes choices to make that happen and is careful to avoid putting himself in a position where he may not be able to help doing it again.
So again, while we’re dealing with a monster, he knows he’s a monster, and he’s not giving in to his worst impulses. Does it matter that his reasons for behaving himself are still driven by self-interest?
If you ask that question then you also need to consider how many seemingly decent people only obey the rules out of fear of getting caught. The narrator discusses many other crimes he sees in the news, and one that catches his attention is the story of a man who killed a woman years ago and went on to live a seemingly normal life and never did it again. So it makes you wonder just how many people you see walking around your neighborhood who may have left a body in a shallow grave in the woods.
Block also makes good use of some recent resolutions of real cold cases to add in a feeling that the curtain is coming down on the main character after decades of getting away with it. His thoughts and plans about what he might do if he feels like he’s finally caught are bone chilling and go in a surprising direction that add more uneasiness about what so-called average people might do in similar circumstances.
The only quibble I have with the book is that I’m not entirely sure that the timeline holds up if you start thinking about the age of the narrator and other characters in relation to him at certain points, but that’s minor nitpicking in an otherwise fascinating book.
Again, this might not be for all crime fiction fans because there are parts that are tough sledding. It might not even be for all Lawrence Block fans. He seems to be very aware of that, and he posted an interesting account of how he came to write and publish this one. It certainly shocked me at the start, and then surprised me even more with different direction the book takes after that. In the end it’s a meditation on dark impulses and trying to live with them that is going to haunt me for a good long while.
Some people have already noted that this is one of Block’s best books, and you can add me to that list.
October 6, 2025
How dark is too dark? Thinking about your own capacity to absorb tales featuring abhorrent deeds, this is the question you should be asking yourself before picking up a copy of this book. Make no mistake, it’s a deeply affecting tale of a man who steps beyond the norm and then spends many years trying to come to terms with himself and his tolerance for, indeed perhaps his need for, such acts. Let’s put a name to it then: necrophilia.
Block has a huge back catalogue and has never been afraid of taking a risk or two. His Bernie Rhodenbarr books are old fashioned crime fiction with a humorous twist, his best known books are probably the hardboiled novels featuring Matt Scudder, but early in his career he wrote quite a number of hardcore sex novels using a pseudonym or two. And he’s also tried out a few other styles I haven’t mentioned here. But what unites them all is his mastery of the written word. He has a gift for dropping in phrases that make you smile or cause you to halt your reading and take a deep breath. Yes, he knows how to string words together, does LB.
This is essentially a monologue featuring a man who is introduced to us as ‘Buddy’. The man who used this moniker is sat at his computer as he records his story, for purposes that remain unclear. It starts in the late 1960’s with a visit to a bar, where he meets a woman. After befriending her over a drink or two, they leave the bar together. Buddy soon finds a secluded spot, and not long after that, he has his hands around her neck. What happens next is hard to stomach, not least because Block takes us into the head of the perpetrator so that we can share his thoughts as he carries out the monstrous act.
Perhaps the most chilling aspect of this story is the fact that as we learn more of the man’s back story and follow his onward journey through life we realise that he’s man who, for the most part, functions in a way that most of us could easily relate to. He is largely able to bury his urges – yes they’ve not gone away, they’ve just lain dormant – and he develops relationships with people that both he and they value. But as time passes and crime solving capability is transformed by science, he starts to consider whether his past will, at last, catch up with him.
After such a tough start, this story settles into the tale of a man tortured not so much by his dark thoughts and the time he allowed these free rein, but more the fear of what discovery might do to the people in his life who he loves. What should he do? His thoughts lead him in more dark directions. It’s gripping stuff, and I confess I was totally absorbed by the whole thing.
I’ve read more than seventy of the author’s books and had lately began to wonder if LB still had the capacity to release something that would grab an audience in the way he used to – he is after all now an octogenarian. With this one, I think he’s produced a piece that will delight some – certainly many of his core readers – whilst horrifying others. For me, this is an eye-opening and engrossing tale of a flawed but anguished man as he wrestles with who he is, what he’s done, and what the impacts of this may be. Hats off, I think it’s brilliant.
Block has a huge back catalogue and has never been afraid of taking a risk or two. His Bernie Rhodenbarr books are old fashioned crime fiction with a humorous twist, his best known books are probably the hardboiled novels featuring Matt Scudder, but early in his career he wrote quite a number of hardcore sex novels using a pseudonym or two. And he’s also tried out a few other styles I haven’t mentioned here. But what unites them all is his mastery of the written word. He has a gift for dropping in phrases that make you smile or cause you to halt your reading and take a deep breath. Yes, he knows how to string words together, does LB.
This is essentially a monologue featuring a man who is introduced to us as ‘Buddy’. The man who used this moniker is sat at his computer as he records his story, for purposes that remain unclear. It starts in the late 1960’s with a visit to a bar, where he meets a woman. After befriending her over a drink or two, they leave the bar together. Buddy soon finds a secluded spot, and not long after that, he has his hands around her neck. What happens next is hard to stomach, not least because Block takes us into the head of the perpetrator so that we can share his thoughts as he carries out the monstrous act.
Perhaps the most chilling aspect of this story is the fact that as we learn more of the man’s back story and follow his onward journey through life we realise that he’s man who, for the most part, functions in a way that most of us could easily relate to. He is largely able to bury his urges – yes they’ve not gone away, they’ve just lain dormant – and he develops relationships with people that both he and they value. But as time passes and crime solving capability is transformed by science, he starts to consider whether his past will, at last, catch up with him.
After such a tough start, this story settles into the tale of a man tortured not so much by his dark thoughts and the time he allowed these free rein, but more the fear of what discovery might do to the people in his life who he loves. What should he do? His thoughts lead him in more dark directions. It’s gripping stuff, and I confess I was totally absorbed by the whole thing.
I’ve read more than seventy of the author’s books and had lately began to wonder if LB still had the capacity to release something that would grab an audience in the way he used to – he is after all now an octogenarian. With this one, I think he’s produced a piece that will delight some – certainly many of his core readers – whilst horrifying others. For me, this is an eye-opening and engrossing tale of a flawed but anguished man as he wrestles with who he is, what he’s done, and what the impacts of this may be. Hats off, I think it’s brilliant.
September 10, 2020
In 1968, Buddy got away with a horrible crime and went on the run. When will his past inevitably catch up with him?
A while back, Lawrence Block sent me a PDF of this, asking if I might be interested in reviewing it. When your favorite living crime writer sends you something, you read it ASAP. Since we have a toddler running around, constantly shoving things into his mouth and plowing into things head first, ASAP wound up taking longer than expected.
The old dog still has quite a few tricks left in him, it seems. This was a gripping read. While Buddy isn't a sympathetic character, having killed a woman, having sex with her still warm body, and going on the lam under an assumed name, you wind up understanding him and even liking him just a little bit.
Does one horrible crime make someone an evil monster, even decades after the fact? That's the question Lawrence Block is posing in this one. Buddy assumes the name of a kid that died years earlier and lives a normal, full life for decades, not exactly looking over his shoulder constantly but with an awareness that the check is going to need to be paid one of these days.
The thing about Buddy is that he's not like a Jim Thompson sociopath where he's just a drink and some cross words away from hacking up his family. He's got his urges under control and runs a hardware store. He has a wife and kids. Huh, I just realized Buddy's assumed name is John James Thompson.
As with all Lawrence Block books, he wields misdirection like an expect surgeon with a scalpel. He even mentions Chekov's Gun when Thompson's looking at his revolver! I thought his goose was cooked for sure a couple times before the ending.
Dead Girl Blues is one of the more powerful Lawrence Block books in recent years. If it's his swan song, it's a worthy one. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
A while back, Lawrence Block sent me a PDF of this, asking if I might be interested in reviewing it. When your favorite living crime writer sends you something, you read it ASAP. Since we have a toddler running around, constantly shoving things into his mouth and plowing into things head first, ASAP wound up taking longer than expected.
The old dog still has quite a few tricks left in him, it seems. This was a gripping read. While Buddy isn't a sympathetic character, having killed a woman, having sex with her still warm body, and going on the lam under an assumed name, you wind up understanding him and even liking him just a little bit.
Does one horrible crime make someone an evil monster, even decades after the fact? That's the question Lawrence Block is posing in this one. Buddy assumes the name of a kid that died years earlier and lives a normal, full life for decades, not exactly looking over his shoulder constantly but with an awareness that the check is going to need to be paid one of these days.
The thing about Buddy is that he's not like a Jim Thompson sociopath where he's just a drink and some cross words away from hacking up his family. He's got his urges under control and runs a hardware store. He has a wife and kids. Huh, I just realized Buddy's assumed name is John James Thompson.
As with all Lawrence Block books, he wields misdirection like an expect surgeon with a scalpel. He even mentions Chekov's Gun when Thompson's looking at his revolver! I thought his goose was cooked for sure a couple times before the ending.
Dead Girl Blues is one of the more powerful Lawrence Block books in recent years. If it's his swan song, it's a worthy one. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
June 25, 2020
The Smiling Psychopath
Writing in a style reminiscent of the books he wrote many decades ago, Block offers us a story that makes you wonder who is hiding among us. Indeed, among the cookie cutter suburban homes or in the cars on the freeways or in line at the supermarket could be people who are somewhat twisted, somewhat psychopathic. Not everyone is who you think they are. Here, Buddy walks into a bar in the greater Bakersfield area no less and acts out his sickest, most twisted fantasies. And, he's not exactly consumed with guilt. Rather, he's consumed with being caught and takes steps never to be found. But, he worries about real unsolved crime tv shows and scientific developments in forensic analysis. Such a normal guy. You'd never suspect him. And that's creepy.
Writing in a style reminiscent of the books he wrote many decades ago, Block offers us a story that makes you wonder who is hiding among us. Indeed, among the cookie cutter suburban homes or in the cars on the freeways or in line at the supermarket could be people who are somewhat twisted, somewhat psychopathic. Not everyone is who you think they are. Here, Buddy walks into a bar in the greater Bakersfield area no less and acts out his sickest, most twisted fantasies. And, he's not exactly consumed with guilt. Rather, he's consumed with being caught and takes steps never to be found. But, he worries about real unsolved crime tv shows and scientific developments in forensic analysis. Such a normal guy. You'd never suspect him. And that's creepy.
August 26, 2022
Story 4/5
Narration 5/5
I liked the writing style, the story. But I wish it was more brutal.
I recommend it to readers who like psychological thrillers, spiced with brutal sexual subjects.
Narration 5/5
I liked the writing style, the story. But I wish it was more brutal.
I recommend it to readers who like psychological thrillers, spiced with brutal sexual subjects.
May 12, 2023
first lets just set aside that microsoft paint cover for lawrence blocks most recent book — agreed?
good.
because once inside you will find one helluva twisted story about a sociopath that violently strangles a woman one day, then flees with regret to start his life anew in another town, only to be haunted by the dead girls memory/ghost.
a book that’s as slyly subversive and as assuredly off-beat as early jim thompson novels, and yet still somehow overflows with buckets of humanity if you can get past the irredeemable early crime in the story — i know it’s one big mf’er of a mountain to climb and most readers won’t ever crest the peak.
this way block cleverly weeds out the lazy or comfort readers, while those that crossed the mountain top get to experience something wholly fresh and life affirming.
this is a book that reads butter smooth, but also one that dares you to put it down, just before it takes that wickedly suspenseful turn towards possible redemption for the main character. a book which, despite its darkness and pitch-black humor, ends up reminding you of the meaning of love and the power of any family.
that’s right. love and family. just get past that purposefully dark opening and stay with it. you’ll be rewarded.
i’d say casual readers beware, but casual readers won’t make it to summit top anyway, likely freezing to death somewhere on the side of the mountain, buried in snow next to warning signs that read: “only the strongest of men and women shall pass here.”
as for that cover?
i want to email lawrence block and offer to make him a new one for free, but that’s just a niggle and a half. at the end of the day, the content is immeasurably better than i expected from a writer who’s at an age now where he has no business still writing this damned good.
and i guess the cover does have a lofi kinda charm to it — innit?
whatever. block’s a twisted genius.
that last sentence could’ve been my whole review.
good.
because once inside you will find one helluva twisted story about a sociopath that violently strangles a woman one day, then flees with regret to start his life anew in another town, only to be haunted by the dead girls memory/ghost.
a book that’s as slyly subversive and as assuredly off-beat as early jim thompson novels, and yet still somehow overflows with buckets of humanity if you can get past the irredeemable early crime in the story — i know it’s one big mf’er of a mountain to climb and most readers won’t ever crest the peak.
this way block cleverly weeds out the lazy or comfort readers, while those that crossed the mountain top get to experience something wholly fresh and life affirming.
this is a book that reads butter smooth, but also one that dares you to put it down, just before it takes that wickedly suspenseful turn towards possible redemption for the main character. a book which, despite its darkness and pitch-black humor, ends up reminding you of the meaning of love and the power of any family.
that’s right. love and family. just get past that purposefully dark opening and stay with it. you’ll be rewarded.
i’d say casual readers beware, but casual readers won’t make it to summit top anyway, likely freezing to death somewhere on the side of the mountain, buried in snow next to warning signs that read: “only the strongest of men and women shall pass here.”
as for that cover?
i want to email lawrence block and offer to make him a new one for free, but that’s just a niggle and a half. at the end of the day, the content is immeasurably better than i expected from a writer who’s at an age now where he has no business still writing this damned good.
and i guess the cover does have a lofi kinda charm to it — innit?
whatever. block’s a twisted genius.
that last sentence could’ve been my whole review.
May 21, 2020
As the calendar turned to 2020, and with the release of Dead Girl Blues, Lawrence Block entered his eighth decade as an author. With published work spanning all the way back to the 1950s, and a level of quality most authors can only dream of, it certainly says something that this book is being called perhaps his best work yet.
That being said, a book receiving such praise won’t be for everyone. Why? Well, there’s a graphic, brutal crime committed at the very beginning that would likely turn off most readers. I won’t go into detail here but suffice it to say, it’s as heinous an act as you can imagine. Block then asks the reader to stick with this human being for the duration of the story. It’s a tough sell, but it’s Lawrence Block after all and I think he’s owed a chance to tell the story he wants to tell here.
After the crime is committed, the story follows the perpetrator as he travels across the United States in search of a new life for himself. As time passes and he weaves himself into everyday life, he faces an ongoing battle with whether or not he should chance it and commit that crime once again.
Maybe it’s the supporting cast that Block chose to surround his main character with or the quaint charm of small town life that had me flying through this novel. And let’s be honest, Block’s prose is so effortlessly digestible that it can be fed to anyone looking to nurse themselves back from a reading slump. It could be any one of these. Or it could just be a really good story in the end?
The truth is, it’s a story about a hopelessly damaged individual with little to no regret for his actions, yet the path he chooses in life is an honorable one. Does he only do this because he thinks it's what he has to do to keep himself in check or does he begrudgingly enjoy this life he’s made for himself? I would find myself at times actually rooting for this guy and pleased he was able to find security but then I remember just exactly what he is and get brought back down to earth. It’s such an incredible achievement in what I want to say is reader manipulation, but I don’t even believe it's quite that as the narrator isn’t at any point dishonest or misleading to his audience.
Dead Girl Blues is an easy five-star read from me and is likely going to be the most interesting book I read in 2020. Whether you’re a fan of Block or not, it’s worth checking out. Screw the publishers who passed on it!
I received an advanced copy from the author for a review.
That being said, a book receiving such praise won’t be for everyone. Why? Well, there’s a graphic, brutal crime committed at the very beginning that would likely turn off most readers. I won’t go into detail here but suffice it to say, it’s as heinous an act as you can imagine. Block then asks the reader to stick with this human being for the duration of the story. It’s a tough sell, but it’s Lawrence Block after all and I think he’s owed a chance to tell the story he wants to tell here.
After the crime is committed, the story follows the perpetrator as he travels across the United States in search of a new life for himself. As time passes and he weaves himself into everyday life, he faces an ongoing battle with whether or not he should chance it and commit that crime once again.
Maybe it’s the supporting cast that Block chose to surround his main character with or the quaint charm of small town life that had me flying through this novel. And let’s be honest, Block’s prose is so effortlessly digestible that it can be fed to anyone looking to nurse themselves back from a reading slump. It could be any one of these. Or it could just be a really good story in the end?
The truth is, it’s a story about a hopelessly damaged individual with little to no regret for his actions, yet the path he chooses in life is an honorable one. Does he only do this because he thinks it's what he has to do to keep himself in check or does he begrudgingly enjoy this life he’s made for himself? I would find myself at times actually rooting for this guy and pleased he was able to find security but then I remember just exactly what he is and get brought back down to earth. It’s such an incredible achievement in what I want to say is reader manipulation, but I don’t even believe it's quite that as the narrator isn’t at any point dishonest or misleading to his audience.
Dead Girl Blues is an easy five-star read from me and is likely going to be the most interesting book I read in 2020. Whether you’re a fan of Block or not, it’s worth checking out. Screw the publishers who passed on it!
I received an advanced copy from the author for a review.
June 27, 2020
This is a tense, lucid, meditative little novel that I read almost in one sitting. Some of the tensions Block explores here--how much can someone really change after doing something appalling, what it's like to be inside the head of someone who is naturally bent, the feeling of living your life waiting for the other shoe to drop--are some of my favorite ones in crime fiction, and it's rare to see them handled with such depth and clear vision. Block builds empathy between the reader and his narrator, but he lets that exist alongside the horror and revulsion. There's the feeling that he's telling us everything about this guy--or, rather, letting him tell us everything himself--and how we feel about it? Well, that's our business. He's not trying to convince you of anything, and that both heightens the suspense and makes the book feel honest and even moving in its peculiar way.
All of this is right up my alley, and it would make for a book I would enthusiastically push on everyone if, as the blurb itself tells you, it didn't open with a brutal murder followed by the rape of the victim's dead body. But Block warned you, and so did I, so if that's not an automatic deal-breaker, you should really check this out.
So--a man walks into a bar. He does something absolutely horrible. He feels a little bit of guilt, but the guilt is tempered--and quickly subsumed--by both excitement and the fear of getting caught. He makes his victim into a recurring fantasy, trying to sate his urges by revisiting her in his mind and playing out all the different-but-still-fatal ways their encounter could have gone. It's skin-crawling. But we also see how--and this is almost, in its weird way, uplifting--someone could hypothetically manage to live with these kinds of nasty urges without acting on them. One of my favorite, queasily fascinating parts of the book is how the narrator eventually, in the context of a genuinely loving relationship with his wife, manages to recapture some of those treasured necrophiliac rape memories, and it's actually really good sex for both of them and an eventual cornerstone of their marriage. And while it starts as a way to relive grotesque memories, age mellows him, and eventually it's just how they have sex, and he's connecting fully with his wife rather than with his own dark fantasy.
Of course, as the narrator is becoming an upstanding member of society, as he's discovering that he truly does love his wife and kids and dog, time is marching on. And DNA testing is becoming a major way of solving cold cases. Maybe his old life isn't as far behind him as he thought. And as his actions threaten to catch up to him, he's reminded that his old self isn't really gone, just repressed. He knows he can still be that person. Like Faulkner said, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
In some ways, what this book reminded me of most was the original novel version of A Clockwork Orange, where it's posited that sometimes violence and sadism might be things a person can actually grow out of. If that's true, what does it mean for the rest of that person's life? What are we supposed to do with them? What do we owe their victims?
There's another time in the book when a man walks into the bar. This time, it's closer to the end of the novel than the beginning; he's closer to the end of his life than the beginning. It would be harder for him to lure in and overpower a woman now, but maybe he still could. What he thinks and feels in those moments, a seemingly harmless older man drinking alone feels like a distillation of the book's complex essence. A powerful, memorable read.
All of this is right up my alley, and it would make for a book I would enthusiastically push on everyone if, as the blurb itself tells you, it didn't open with a brutal murder followed by the rape of the victim's dead body. But Block warned you, and so did I, so if that's not an automatic deal-breaker, you should really check this out.
So--a man walks into a bar. He does something absolutely horrible. He feels a little bit of guilt, but the guilt is tempered--and quickly subsumed--by both excitement and the fear of getting caught. He makes his victim into a recurring fantasy, trying to sate his urges by revisiting her in his mind and playing out all the different-but-still-fatal ways their encounter could have gone. It's skin-crawling. But we also see how--and this is almost, in its weird way, uplifting--someone could hypothetically manage to live with these kinds of nasty urges without acting on them. One of my favorite, queasily fascinating parts of the book is how the narrator eventually, in the context of a genuinely loving relationship with his wife, manages to recapture some of those treasured necrophiliac rape memories, and it's actually really good sex for both of them and an eventual cornerstone of their marriage. And while it starts as a way to relive grotesque memories, age mellows him, and eventually it's just how they have sex, and he's connecting fully with his wife rather than with his own dark fantasy.
Of course, as the narrator is becoming an upstanding member of society, as he's discovering that he truly does love his wife and kids and dog, time is marching on. And DNA testing is becoming a major way of solving cold cases. Maybe his old life isn't as far behind him as he thought. And as his actions threaten to catch up to him, he's reminded that his old self isn't really gone, just repressed. He knows he can still be that person. Like Faulkner said, "The past is never dead. It's not even past."
In some ways, what this book reminded me of most was the original novel version of A Clockwork Orange, where it's posited that sometimes violence and sadism might be things a person can actually grow out of. If that's true, what does it mean for the rest of that person's life? What are we supposed to do with them? What do we owe their victims?
There's another time in the book when a man walks into the bar. This time, it's closer to the end of the novel than the beginning; he's closer to the end of his life than the beginning. It would be harder for him to lure in and overpower a woman now, but maybe he still could. What he thinks and feels in those moments, a seemingly harmless older man drinking alone feels like a distillation of the book's complex essence. A powerful, memorable read.
Read
July 19, 2020Interesting! This was, for me, a very different kind of Lawrence Block book. There was less of a story, but def more to think about. IMO, the wife and especially the son were not real people, but more of a "I need a character to say this or that to advance this story , so I'll just insert them doing or saying this here.
Very interesting, but ...
Very interesting, but ...
September 3, 2020
The opening of this book does set a rather disturbing and grim picture which could be considered very un-PC these days. But it does feel like a diary from a serious mentally challenged person and thus it opens in a most horrible way that is certainly not for the faint-hearted.
Thee rest of the story is a bit of a morality play in which the modern DNA technics plays a big role and we get to see how the horrible deed in this story is being experienced by this somewhat sociopath and his surroundings.
A very impressive book written by a master of story telling that shows the other side of crime in a somewhat chilling way.
Thee rest of the story is a bit of a morality play in which the modern DNA technics plays a big role and we get to see how the horrible deed in this story is being experienced by this somewhat sociopath and his surroundings.
A very impressive book written by a master of story telling that shows the other side of crime in a somewhat chilling way.
February 12, 2022
4.2 stars. The book cover of the Taiwanese translation is really tasteful!
Premise: Surprisingly the narrator is a murderer who killed and raped (exactly on this order) a woman in the past. He didn't repeat his action after this first kill, now he is a family’s man, with wife and children and a stable business, but can he really put his sick fantasy to rest and become a good man?
I'm glad to know Mr. Block is still writing at his advanced age!
I really do like this story! Although there isn't much action scene and we only see things through the narrator's POV but I do like spending time in this narrator's head! Mr. Block made things so believable I'm impressed! It's like spending time in the mind of a murderer who had been at large for decades and is now thinking about the horrible things he had done.
I also like how !!!
Though, the ending is in fact a bit weak. .
Premise: Surprisingly the narrator is a murderer who killed and raped (exactly on this order) a woman in the past. He didn't repeat his action after this first kill, now he is a family’s man, with wife and children and a stable business, but can he really put his sick fantasy to rest and become a good man?
I'm glad to know Mr. Block is still writing at his advanced age!
I really do like this story! Although there isn't much action scene and we only see things through the narrator's POV but I do like spending time in this narrator's head! Mr. Block made things so believable I'm impressed! It's like spending time in the mind of a murderer who had been at large for decades and is now thinking about the horrible things he had done.
I also like how !!!
Though, the ending is in fact a bit weak. .
July 11, 2020
This is probably one of the most powerful and scary books Block has written.
The opening slams the reader into front row seats at the commission of a horrible crime. The crime, however horrible is not the scary part though. The scary part is the way the sociopath who commits the crime proceeds, over the course of his life, to acquire the veneer of socialization that allows hi to become one of the pillars of his community -- even as he acknowledges that his sociopathic tendencies are still there, and not all that deeply under his skin. Oh, and his portrayal rings true. I have two sociopathic relatives, and the portrayal resonates very closely to how they behave.
I will never NOT recommend a Lawrence Block book. In my opinion he is one of the best living writers around. However, I will note that this particular Lawrence Block book is certainly not for everyone. If you are interested in a very good fictionalized version of what makes a sociopath tick, though, I think you will enjoy reading it.
Added on 11 Jul 20: And, just when I thought this book couldn't be better, I got floored by the audiobook version released by Tantor Books via Audible. Peter Berkrot does an excellent job of bringing "Buddy" to life and keeping him there throughout the many twists and turns of his life. If you are a fan of audiobook thrillers, you do not want to miss this one.
The opening slams the reader into front row seats at the commission of a horrible crime. The crime, however horrible is not the scary part though. The scary part is the way the sociopath who commits the crime proceeds, over the course of his life, to acquire the veneer of socialization that allows hi to become one of the pillars of his community -- even as he acknowledges that his sociopathic tendencies are still there, and not all that deeply under his skin. Oh, and his portrayal rings true. I have two sociopathic relatives, and the portrayal resonates very closely to how they behave.
I will never NOT recommend a Lawrence Block book. In my opinion he is one of the best living writers around. However, I will note that this particular Lawrence Block book is certainly not for everyone. If you are interested in a very good fictionalized version of what makes a sociopath tick, though, I think you will enjoy reading it.
Added on 11 Jul 20: And, just when I thought this book couldn't be better, I got floored by the audiobook version released by Tantor Books via Audible. Peter Berkrot does an excellent job of bringing "Buddy" to life and keeping him there throughout the many twists and turns of his life. If you are a fan of audiobook thrillers, you do not want to miss this one.
July 3, 2020
I'm a big fan of Lawrence Block and especially of the Matt Scudder novels, which is probably my all time favourite detective series, so it's always nice when a new Block publication emerges.
'Buddy', not his real name, our protagonist, picks up a drunk girl in a Bakersfield roadhouse and proceeds to rape and murder her but as the precis already revealed, not in that order. Buddy is already a bit of a drifter, so he changes his name several times and travels across the country in an effort to get as far away from the scene of the crime as possible. The only problem is he enjoyed what he did, likes to fantasise about it and wouldn't mind doing it again. However he also wants to settle down, find a wife and raise a family but how can he compromise the two options ? Unlikely as it seems he manages to do this but his stepson embarks on a course of action that not only potentially exposes 'Buddy' to possible detection but may also have fatal consequences for the whole family.
This novel is written in a pulpy noir style reminiscent of Block's earlier novels and it also takes the form of a journal written by our protagonist Buddy where he has an internal debate regarding what he has done in the past, the consequence of his actions and potentially where it will lead him. I felt this internal debate was written in a very similar style to the debates that his protagonists, in previous novels have taken with their closest allies, such as between Matt and Elaine, Bernie and Carolyn and Keller and Dot. If you're familiar with Block's writing I think you'll know what I mean. I didn't dislike the novel but for me it started off quite excitingly and I was keen to see where it would go but felt it ended a bit disappointingly. Probably I set too high a standard for this novel because he is one of my favourites and I just felt it fell a little short.
'Buddy', not his real name, our protagonist, picks up a drunk girl in a Bakersfield roadhouse and proceeds to rape and murder her but as the precis already revealed, not in that order. Buddy is already a bit of a drifter, so he changes his name several times and travels across the country in an effort to get as far away from the scene of the crime as possible. The only problem is he enjoyed what he did, likes to fantasise about it and wouldn't mind doing it again. However he also wants to settle down, find a wife and raise a family but how can he compromise the two options ? Unlikely as it seems he manages to do this but his stepson embarks on a course of action that not only potentially exposes 'Buddy' to possible detection but may also have fatal consequences for the whole family.
This novel is written in a pulpy noir style reminiscent of Block's earlier novels and it also takes the form of a journal written by our protagonist Buddy where he has an internal debate regarding what he has done in the past, the consequence of his actions and potentially where it will lead him. I felt this internal debate was written in a very similar style to the debates that his protagonists, in previous novels have taken with their closest allies, such as between Matt and Elaine, Bernie and Carolyn and Keller and Dot. If you're familiar with Block's writing I think you'll know what I mean. I didn't dislike the novel but for me it started off quite excitingly and I was keen to see where it would go but felt it ended a bit disappointingly. Probably I set too high a standard for this novel because he is one of my favourites and I just felt it fell a little short.
December 4, 2020
first half of the book was very good. slowed way down, just the inner thoughts of this guy the whole second half of the book. could have been a five star book, but ending was not there to support it.
May 7, 2020
How does someone live with guilt? And how does someone who's supposed to live with guilt live without it?
These are the central questions of Dead Girl Blues, the unexpected short new novel from Lawrence Block. The lead-up to the publication of this book has revolved around a warning, which may or may act as a fractured come-on: there's a scene of such queasy, unrelenting violence right up there at the start that regular readers of Block, especially those who know him primarily from his Bernie Rhodenbarr books, may find wholly unpleasant.
For those of us willing to stick it out past this extraordinarily dark scene (hint: there's a murder, and that's far, far from the worst part) are rewarded with a contemplative novel about the nature of guilt. It's also, I suppose, about the nature of people: do they change? Can they change? More pointedly, is a sociopath always a sociopath, or can they reform?
It's interesting, that word reform. Because the man who committed that especially heinous act does a lot of reforming over the course of this long, ruminating confessional. Starting out as a lonesome, aimless drifter, the crime he commits gives him a sudden sense of purpose. Immediately, he needs to hide out inside a life where no one can find him. Discovering that he likes that life is unexpected - and unexpectedly rewarding - and while he doesn't seem to make a conscious effort to change, slowly he becomes the person he pretends to be.
So we come to the heart of this book, and the questions it doesn't answer. What makes a man a sociopath? A single, brutal act? Fantasies about that act, casting different people in violent sexual scenarios? Play-acting with your wife, during which you get to recreate some echo of the crime you committed, and got away with? I don't know. I don't think Block knows. That's to this novel's credit.
Asking the questions is the important part. Well, no: the important part is how absorbing this book is, how deftly written, how bizarrely exciting. I don't know what I was expecting when I first heard about that hardcore early scene. Was the whole book going to be like this? When the novel turned out to be a weirdly quiet, weirdly gentle story of a man who may have gotten away with worse than murder, and how he lives with it ... well, it surprised me. I didn't know how compelling such a contemplation would be, and how tense and thrilling. Block lampshades a Chekov's gun midway through the novel, and one of the cleverest things about Dead Girl Blues is that it doesn't matter whether it goes off. It's that throttling sense of not knowing that makes this bizarre book so fantastic. Come for the violence. Stay for the if.
These are the central questions of Dead Girl Blues, the unexpected short new novel from Lawrence Block. The lead-up to the publication of this book has revolved around a warning, which may or may act as a fractured come-on: there's a scene of such queasy, unrelenting violence right up there at the start that regular readers of Block, especially those who know him primarily from his Bernie Rhodenbarr books, may find wholly unpleasant.
For those of us willing to stick it out past this extraordinarily dark scene (hint: there's a murder, and that's far, far from the worst part) are rewarded with a contemplative novel about the nature of guilt. It's also, I suppose, about the nature of people: do they change? Can they change? More pointedly, is a sociopath always a sociopath, or can they reform?
It's interesting, that word reform. Because the man who committed that especially heinous act does a lot of reforming over the course of this long, ruminating confessional. Starting out as a lonesome, aimless drifter, the crime he commits gives him a sudden sense of purpose. Immediately, he needs to hide out inside a life where no one can find him. Discovering that he likes that life is unexpected - and unexpectedly rewarding - and while he doesn't seem to make a conscious effort to change, slowly he becomes the person he pretends to be.
So we come to the heart of this book, and the questions it doesn't answer. What makes a man a sociopath? A single, brutal act? Fantasies about that act, casting different people in violent sexual scenarios? Play-acting with your wife, during which you get to recreate some echo of the crime you committed, and got away with? I don't know. I don't think Block knows. That's to this novel's credit.
Asking the questions is the important part. Well, no: the important part is how absorbing this book is, how deftly written, how bizarrely exciting. I don't know what I was expecting when I first heard about that hardcore early scene. Was the whole book going to be like this? When the novel turned out to be a weirdly quiet, weirdly gentle story of a man who may have gotten away with worse than murder, and how he lives with it ... well, it surprised me. I didn't know how compelling such a contemplation would be, and how tense and thrilling. Block lampshades a Chekov's gun midway through the novel, and one of the cleverest things about Dead Girl Blues is that it doesn't matter whether it goes off. It's that throttling sense of not knowing that makes this bizarre book so fantastic. Come for the violence. Stay for the if.
July 13, 2025
4.5 stars.
A modern day Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde drama where the same person inhabit the role of protagonist/antagonist.
Sick. But my cup of tea. Exploration of the human mind and action at its darkest. Love Blocks writing.
Its a very interesting protagonist that Block has created. And I learned that this character evolved as he wrote the novel. Organically. And Block stepped into the shoes of Roger/JJ Thompson and asked himself how he (Block) would have acted given the circumstances.
What stops most people from acting out their darkest fantasies?
We all have (dark) secrets (of different degrees of severity) from the past that haunts us one way or another. And people are not the same over time although our core remains...
We all have urges and lusts (legal or non legal) that steers us in a certain direction. How do we deal with and inhibit these urges? Its easy to claim "If you cant do the time dont do the crime" - but reality is so much more complex and complicated. In the heat of the moment our drive and impulses are stronger and less rational than any law.
In general, and on a broad scale, we all live three (different) lives; one public life, one family/friends life and one secret life.
The reaction of the other characters once they found out his dark secret was also incredibly interesting; does love conquer all? Or they will use it in the future to get their way?
My only objections are these;
wouldnt the distant relatives of Kristin notice her genetic match (as Alden did) and start to search for her or dig a bit at least?...Especially when they know they have an estranged brother/uncle that disappeared...
And wudnt the dog Chester die of age at some point in the story?
A modern day Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde drama where the same person inhabit the role of protagonist/antagonist.
Sick. But my cup of tea. Exploration of the human mind and action at its darkest. Love Blocks writing.
Its a very interesting protagonist that Block has created. And I learned that this character evolved as he wrote the novel. Organically. And Block stepped into the shoes of Roger/JJ Thompson and asked himself how he (Block) would have acted given the circumstances.
What stops most people from acting out their darkest fantasies?
We all have (dark) secrets (of different degrees of severity) from the past that haunts us one way or another. And people are not the same over time although our core remains...
We all have urges and lusts (legal or non legal) that steers us in a certain direction. How do we deal with and inhibit these urges? Its easy to claim "If you cant do the time dont do the crime" - but reality is so much more complex and complicated. In the heat of the moment our drive and impulses are stronger and less rational than any law.
In general, and on a broad scale, we all live three (different) lives; one public life, one family/friends life and one secret life.
The reaction of the other characters once they found out his dark secret was also incredibly interesting; does love conquer all? Or they will use it in the future to get their way?
My only objections are these;
wouldnt the distant relatives of Kristin notice her genetic match (as Alden did) and start to search for her or dig a bit at least?...Especially when they know they have an estranged brother/uncle that disappeared...
And wudnt the dog Chester die of age at some point in the story?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2020
I've read a loved Block's Hit Man/Keller series. I tried a few of his older books with mixed results. Despite the bad cover, this newer stand alone novel is well worth a read - as good or better than any book from the Keller series at least.
"Buddy" is a killer. We get to witness his horrific acts early in the book from his first person perspective, so be warned. Then, the book goes in so many different directions I didn't expect. I don't want to give away spoilers, so I'll ask the question I think Block does throughout this plot - If you killed someone and got away with it, how would you feel decades later with advances in forensics and the use of genetic genealogy? The first person perspective really works here as we follow "Buddy" throughout his life, although it is important to remember he is an unreliable narrator. I don't think I'm doing a great job of explaining the plot or emphasizing how good this is, but if you enjoy crime fiction at all, then I declare this a must read.
"Buddy" is a killer. We get to witness his horrific acts early in the book from his first person perspective, so be warned. Then, the book goes in so many different directions I didn't expect. I don't want to give away spoilers, so I'll ask the question I think Block does throughout this plot - If you killed someone and got away with it, how would you feel decades later with advances in forensics and the use of genetic genealogy? The first person perspective really works here as we follow "Buddy" throughout his life, although it is important to remember he is an unreliable narrator. I don't think I'm doing a great job of explaining the plot or emphasizing how good this is, but if you enjoy crime fiction at all, then I declare this a must read.
November 16, 2025
Plot yang buat aku ralit baca pada awalnya berkait kehidupan Buddy (bukan nama sebenar) tentang insiden bunuh dan rogol sehingga dia perlu berpindah-randah dan tukar identiti (sekali lagi) sebab nak lari dari dikenalpasti sebagai penjenayah dalam kes kehilangan dan kematian Cindy; perempuan di bar yang dia jumpa pada satu malam.
Jalan cerita dengan latar noir misteri dan sarat dengan babak-babak ciptaan dari fikiran Buddy yang selalu risau kalau-kalau siasatan ke atas kes Cindy bertemu si pelaku dan dia akan tertangkap. Buddy jadikan komputer sebagai tempat menulis jurnal harian tentang gangguan emosi yang dia hadap, kadang agak meleret semacam halusinasi dengan sifat resah yang melampau— mungkin karma atas rasa bersalah yang menumpuk atau penyesalan(?) sehingga setiap siri penyiasatan untuk kes yang belum selesai di TV buat Buddy asyik tak senang duduk.
Laras terjemahannya bagus dan mudah faham. Sedikit rasa statik dengan perkembangan plot sebab penceritaan dan eksplorasi psikologi Buddy seakan berulang-ulang. Ada hal kekeluargaan yang berkait hubungan ayah dan anak juga babak imbas semula tentang identiti sebenar Buddy dengan garis masa yang buat aku keliru sikit nak faham. Sebenarnya tak rasa simpati langsung dengan jenayah yang dia dah buat dan Buddy pun dah semacam teruja dan sinis dengan cara siasatan kes yang hingga puluhan tahun pun masih tak berjaya nak kaitkan dia sebagai pembunuh.
Naskhah yang ringan untuk tema saspens tapi agak menarik kalau gemar premis berkaitan psikologi atau jenayah dengan karakter dan perspektif daripada seorang antihero.
Jalan cerita dengan latar noir misteri dan sarat dengan babak-babak ciptaan dari fikiran Buddy yang selalu risau kalau-kalau siasatan ke atas kes Cindy bertemu si pelaku dan dia akan tertangkap. Buddy jadikan komputer sebagai tempat menulis jurnal harian tentang gangguan emosi yang dia hadap, kadang agak meleret semacam halusinasi dengan sifat resah yang melampau— mungkin karma atas rasa bersalah yang menumpuk atau penyesalan(?) sehingga setiap siri penyiasatan untuk kes yang belum selesai di TV buat Buddy asyik tak senang duduk.
Laras terjemahannya bagus dan mudah faham. Sedikit rasa statik dengan perkembangan plot sebab penceritaan dan eksplorasi psikologi Buddy seakan berulang-ulang. Ada hal kekeluargaan yang berkait hubungan ayah dan anak juga babak imbas semula tentang identiti sebenar Buddy dengan garis masa yang buat aku keliru sikit nak faham. Sebenarnya tak rasa simpati langsung dengan jenayah yang dia dah buat dan Buddy pun dah semacam teruja dan sinis dengan cara siasatan kes yang hingga puluhan tahun pun masih tak berjaya nak kaitkan dia sebagai pembunuh.
Naskhah yang ringan untuk tema saspens tapi agak menarik kalau gemar premis berkaitan psikologi atau jenayah dengan karakter dan perspektif daripada seorang antihero.
July 18, 2020
This book is something else. Really. Whatever you expect from Lawrence Block, this book is something else.
The choices the author and his character make are so unexpected you could almost call this book experimental. I can see why block thought it might be unpublishable. But it’s too good to stay hidden.
While I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone new to his work, it is a fine side road for longtime fans of his skill. Much like his friend Donald Westlake’s Novel Memory, it is a pleasant shock to the system.
You think you know what to expect from an author and this curveball comes from the side. I will be thinking about this for a long time because it crept into my reality.
The choices the author and his character make are so unexpected you could almost call this book experimental. I can see why block thought it might be unpublishable. But it’s too good to stay hidden.
While I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone new to his work, it is a fine side road for longtime fans of his skill. Much like his friend Donald Westlake’s Novel Memory, it is a pleasant shock to the system.
You think you know what to expect from an author and this curveball comes from the side. I will be thinking about this for a long time because it crept into my reality.
August 28, 2025
The first half is outstanding, full of tension; the second half settles into a duller and prosaic end.
October 6, 2025
Tidak mudah untuk menulis cerita dari sudut pandang seorang antihero yang cukup bermasalah, sekaligus tidak membenarkan pembaca simpati terhadapnya. Kita boleh agak pengakhirannya, cuma yang menjadikan kita terus membaca adalah bagaimana penulis meletakkan beberapa cliff hanger dan foreshadow menarik. Cuma dari sudut garis masa cerita dan watak sahaja yang menimbulkan persoalan.
Terjemahannya baik dan lancar. Ini bukan sebuah buku yang akan diulang baca, tetapi sangat sesuai dihabiskan dalam sebuah penerbangan atau ketika menunggu giliran temujanji doktor di hospital kerajaan yang padat.
Terjemahannya baik dan lancar. Ini bukan sebuah buku yang akan diulang baca, tetapi sangat sesuai dihabiskan dalam sebuah penerbangan atau ketika menunggu giliran temujanji doktor di hospital kerajaan yang padat.
November 27, 2020
When it became clear I was heading toward 100 books read this year - a mean feat for me - I knew I wanted to re-read my favorite book of the year. In 2020, a bleak and unsettling year, I fell in love with Dead Girl Blues, by Lawrence Block, a bleak and unsettling novel. It remains my favorite book of the year.
I said most of what I wanted to say about the novel itself in my last review, and I'll have more to say about my reading year as December winds its way down. But wowie kazowie, 100 books in a year. The Michener thing. The Ann Patchett thing. So much to think about and process, and I don't really want to do it at 2:00 AM the night of Thanksgiving. I'm still digesting.
This novel absorbed me and held me as it had done way back in May, when I'd read it as a Kindle exclusive. This time, it was all about the audio, which was read by the singular Peter Berkrot. Maybe I'll read the actual paperback sometime in the future.
In the meantime: what's next? I've got over a month to read as much as I want, and I'm so excited to do it. Let's jump in to the realm of Beyond 100.
I said most of what I wanted to say about the novel itself in my last review, and I'll have more to say about my reading year as December winds its way down. But wowie kazowie, 100 books in a year. The Michener thing. The Ann Patchett thing. So much to think about and process, and I don't really want to do it at 2:00 AM the night of Thanksgiving. I'm still digesting.
This novel absorbed me and held me as it had done way back in May, when I'd read it as a Kindle exclusive. This time, it was all about the audio, which was read by the singular Peter Berkrot. Maybe I'll read the actual paperback sometime in the future.
In the meantime: what's next? I've got over a month to read as much as I want, and I'm so excited to do it. Let's jump in to the realm of Beyond 100.
August 6, 2020
This short novel by prolific author Lawrence Block will even cause veteran crime fiction readers to shudder, the gateway to the bulk of the book is a raw and graphic description of a particularly violent and ugly act that defines the life of the narrator and is the basis for the rest of the story. As with his stamp collecting hit man for hire in his Keller books, Block’s narrator here appears to be an average citizen who blends in with those around him. His main concern seems to be about the personal consequences he will suffer if his terrible secret is revealed while having little regret for his past action or regard for his victim. Anyone triggered by depictions of sexual violence should stay away from this, but it’s a good read for those who enjoy exploring the amoral thinking of a sociopath and those who wonder just how well they know their neighbors.
July 31, 2020
There's a rape and a murder (not in that order) at the beginning of this book. It's committed by the protagonist and he shows little remorse.
If you haven't stopped reading at this horrifying premise, you'll find a challenging, nuanced novel about the shortfalls of justice, the traps of cognitive reframing and the fundamental absence of morals in our society. It's sometimes mind-numbingly bleak, but Lawrence Block is talented and experienced enough to keep the narrative moving along. Not a novel for everybody, but not exactly the unfortunate idea it first seems to be.
If you haven't stopped reading at this horrifying premise, you'll find a challenging, nuanced novel about the shortfalls of justice, the traps of cognitive reframing and the fundamental absence of morals in our society. It's sometimes mind-numbingly bleak, but Lawrence Block is talented and experienced enough to keep the narrative moving along. Not a novel for everybody, but not exactly the unfortunate idea it first seems to be.
February 12, 2021
I hated this. It kicks off with a graphic murder and rape and then follows the killer’s inner monologue as he skips town, thinks about killing again, reinvents himself, becomes a family man, worries about DNA. I hated feeling like I was supposed to feel bad for the protagonist’s worries bc he is a murderer and rapist!!! Also this is very short.
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July 25, 2020i respect this but i cannot condone it. i tried to rate it (won't say what the rating was, ever) and goodreads indicated the rating functionality on my account had been permanently suspended.
August 23, 2020
I've been reading and enjoying Lawrence Block's work since the mid-1980s when a writing teacher suggested I read his work. The thing that has drawn me to his writing is that it doesn't feel like genre-writing, but character studies. His series characters - Matt Scudder, Bernie Rhondenbar, and Keller - move their way through the mystery story, while changing and growing themselves. I was surprised when a 2nd & Charles bookstore opened near me, and the Lawrence Block novels/anthologies were shelved in the Fiction section rather than Mysteries.
Anyway. This book. It came to me with the warnings of it being a dark book. I remembered reading "Random Walk" when it came out in the late-1980s, and that Block dipped into the head of a serial killer in that novel. But it wasn't as deep into the head as this, and here we don't have a serial killer, but a guy who committed a single, brutal, horrific murder.
While reading this, I felt like the novel was speaking not only to the inner-workings of this character who murdered and raped a girl, then changed his identity and became an upstanding citizen three time zones away, and whether the respectable guy who lives next door to you might have a dark past himself. It was also speaking to the phenomenon of cancel culture. Should all the contributions the narrator had made as a business owner/employer, a positive member of the community, a good husband and father, be cancelled if this dark event in his past were revealed? It's an exaggerated consideration, but that's what fiction is. Does a decades-old, unsolved murder define the man, or what he made of himself afterward? What if he had been caught back when it happened? How would his life in prison be better for him, the dead girl, and society? Definitely things to ponder from this master storyteller.
Anyway. This book. It came to me with the warnings of it being a dark book. I remembered reading "Random Walk" when it came out in the late-1980s, and that Block dipped into the head of a serial killer in that novel. But it wasn't as deep into the head as this, and here we don't have a serial killer, but a guy who committed a single, brutal, horrific murder.
While reading this, I felt like the novel was speaking not only to the inner-workings of this character who murdered and raped a girl, then changed his identity and became an upstanding citizen three time zones away, and whether the respectable guy who lives next door to you might have a dark past himself. It was also speaking to the phenomenon of cancel culture. Should all the contributions the narrator had made as a business owner/employer, a positive member of the community, a good husband and father, be cancelled if this dark event in his past were revealed? It's an exaggerated consideration, but that's what fiction is. Does a decades-old, unsolved murder define the man, or what he made of himself afterward? What if he had been caught back when it happened? How would his life in prison be better for him, the dead girl, and society? Definitely things to ponder from this master storyteller.
August 10, 2020
There's not too much to say about this book that wouldn't give the ending away. The book is written as a confession by a murderer and most of the first half of the book is spent chronically his life after the murder.
The protagonist, Roger Edward Borden, is writing this confession fifty years after the murder he has committed and you don't know the circumstances under which he's writing. Is he in jail, on death row, living out a life sentence, or still at large?
Although you can guess that it's a cold case story told by the perpetrator, there are enough twists and turns to provide dramatic moments in the novel that sneak up on you.
The protagonist, Roger Edward Borden, is writing this confession fifty years after the murder he has committed and you don't know the circumstances under which he's writing. Is he in jail, on death row, living out a life sentence, or still at large?
Although you can guess that it's a cold case story told by the perpetrator, there are enough twists and turns to provide dramatic moments in the novel that sneak up on you.
July 5, 2020
I love the Matthew Scudder mysteries by Lawrence Block. So I read this. It begins with the murder and rape, in that order (so, a gross start by any standard), of a woman the protagonist picks up at a bar in 1968 in Bakersfield California. The rest consists of his 50 year efforts to escape the consequences of his crime: a new name and identity; marrying; fathering a daughter and adopting the son of his wife; becoming a respectable small town business owner in Lima Ohio; joining Rotary, Lions, and the rest; playing on a bowling team; etc. He details his monstrous deed and his many monstrous fantasies a similar sort in a journal he keeps on this lap top computer, which is one of the main ways he tells his story. We know, of course, how the world has changed since 1968; forensic DNA analysis; reality TV shows about unsolved crimes; the recognition that erasing things you write in your computer don't disappear. How could Block write about a less sympathetic character? Not easily. At any rate, although I do revisit the Matt Scudder mysteries from time to time, I am sure I will never reread this.
August 13, 2020
This is a very good book by Leonard Block. I have read a limited amount of his books, mostly reprints under the Hard Case Crime imprint. This is a new book and a good one. It examines a very interesting questions. If someone commits a heinous crime once, and never commits another crime, even learning from their crime to be a better person through introspection, what should be done with such a person?
The book is a short book. It is very well done. The crime is heinous. The redemption is... best left to the reader to contemplate on. I recommend this book highly.
The book is a short book. It is very well done. The crime is heinous. The redemption is... best left to the reader to contemplate on. I recommend this book highly.
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