Rating: 
Summary: Boneyard is Classic Material
Review: I liked Lawrence Block's "A Ticket to the Boneyard" right off. This was my first Matthew Scudder novel to read, and I found the character very easy to associate with. Not that you'd have to be an alcoholic bum, because I am not, but his humble, desperate situations make him a great character immediately. I liked him, and found him to be very interesting. Of course the plot itself was a nice piece of work, with its twists and sudden turns, and the uncanny amount of realism in the story really brings it all together as a truly great read. It's written with a slightly amateurish style of grammatical structure, which merely adds to the authenticity of the book, but I thought that some of the words that came from Matt and Elaine's mouths were a little advanced for an ex-cop and a prostitute. Either way, the book was great and I will certainly pick up more Scudder novels to read in the future!
Rating: 
Summary: Wrong Boneyard
Review: I read all eight sample pages of this book and was captivated immediately by the author's use of adjectives. Well done Mr. Block. Well done.Tom Emery
the-boneyard.com
Rating:
Summary: Wrong Boneyard
Review: I read all eight sample pages of this book and was captivated immediately by the author's use of adjectives. Well done Mr. Block. Well done. Tom Emery
the-boneyard.com
Rating:
Summary: Now I am hooked on Block.
Review: I was mildly entertained by Lawrence Block's "Even the Wicked." "A Walk Among the Tombstones" was gritty enough to get me to try my third Matthew Scudder: "A Ticket to the Boneyard." Now I am hooked, and will read the entire series. Scudder is an ex-NYPD cop...a flawed, complex, likeable, pragmatic character. Now an unlicensed PI, he investigates for his friends. The plot in "Boneyard" roars along from page one with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing all the way. Not predictable. The villain is one of the most realistic, despicable and depraved I have run across. Great hard-edged writing that leaps off the pages. I am making Lawrence Block a priority.
Rating: 
Summary: A Ticket to the Boneyard
Review: In A Ticket to the Boneyard Matthew Scudder is a former New York detective who left because he had a drinking problem. He is involved with a hooker called Elaine. They get into some trouble because of a man Elaine was involved with, James Leo Motley. Parts of the book explain the problems and results in drinking. It also describes the difficulty the main character, Matt, deals with the problem of drinking. Motley was not a normal customer of Elaine; he was new but caused trouble. The story starts out telling the life story about Matt and how he got involved with the hooker, Elaine and the man she was in trouble with. Then it goes to tell how Motley was put in jail, but before he can go he vows to revenge the man who puts him in jail. Motley was in for a number of years and yet he still remembers his vow. His vengeance toward the man who put him into jail encourages him to harm innocent people. The whole book is talks about how Matt and Elaine are scared of Motley and searching for him. Most of the time Matt is plays detective to find Motley and to protect Elaine from any danger from Motley. Although Matt is not a detective anymore he uses some of the skills he acquired and he goes searching around the city of New York for Motley after he got out of jail.
This book was written quite well and people. Although the descriptions of some people and some details do not help as much as other descriptions; the book does paint a good picture of the deaths. The details of how people were killed gave a nice description of how everything came together and how each event occurred in order. Like the saying "Never judge a book by its covers." It is part of what this book is like. The cover changes every once in a while yet it helps depicts what kind of story this is. When I first saw the cover of the book, I thought the book was going to be about a murderer and its victims. But when I finished reading the book it was not close to how the cover depicted the book to be like. I enjoyed his book very much. Some times it put me at the edge of my seat reading faster to find out what was going to occur next. Although there were not many exciting parts it was deep in learning one kind of problems a former detective. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy a nice murder story before they go to bed. Sometime there are scary parts, which you want to put down the book but it is so interesting that you rather finish the book.
Rating:
Summary: A Ticket to the Boneyard
Review: In A Ticket to the Boneyard Matthew Scudder is a former New York detective who left because he had a drinking problem. He is involved with a hooker called Elaine. They get into some trouble because of a man Elaine was involved with, James Leo Motley. Parts of the book explain the problems and results in drinking. It also describes the difficulty the main character, Matt, deals with the problem of drinking. Motley was not a normal customer of Elaine; he was new but caused trouble. The story starts out telling the life story about Matt and how he got involved with the hooker, Elaine and the man she was in trouble with. Then it goes to tell how Motley was put in jail, but before he can go he vows to revenge the man who puts him in jail. Motley was in for a number of years and yet he still remembers his vow. His vengeance toward the man who put him into jail encourages him to harm innocent people. The whole book is talks about how Matt and Elaine are scared of Motley and searching for him. Most of the time Matt is plays detective to find Motley and to protect Elaine from any danger from Motley. Although Matt is not a detective anymore he uses some of the skills he acquired and he goes searching around the city of New York for Motley after he got out of jail.
This book was written quite well and people. Although the descriptions of some people and some details do not help as much as other descriptions; the book does paint a good picture of the deaths. The details of how people were killed gave a nice description of how everything came together and how each event occurred in order. Like the saying "Never judge a book by its covers." It is part of what this book is like. The cover changes every once in a while yet it helps depicts what kind of story this is. When I first saw the cover of the book, I thought the book was going to be about a murderer and its victims. But when I finished reading the book it was not close to how the cover depicted the book to be like. I enjoyed his book very much. Some times it put me at the edge of my seat reading faster to find out what was going to occur next. Although there were not many exciting parts it was deep in learning one kind of problems a former detective. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy a nice murder story before they go to bed. Sometime there are scary parts, which you want to put down the book but it is so interesting that you rather finish the book.
Rating:
Summary: Who Let the Psycho Out?
Review: It would seem that Matt Scudder bought his ticket to the boneyard when he was instrumental in putting away James Leo Motley for aggravated assault. It turns out that Motley is rather psychotic and tends to hold a grudge before violently acting on it. And now that he's out of prison, Scudder's on top of his hit list, as is just about anyone remotely friendly to him. In between trips to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, Scudder desperately tries to convince the police that Motley is a deranged killer and is responsible for a few of the latest deaths around town. Motley, however, is clever enough to provide no provable evidence for Scudder to give the police. So in the end, it looks as though it will have to come down to a man on man confrontation. Apart from being worried about being murdered by a psychopath, Scudder is also working hard on not taking a drink. This is something he works at throughout the book and is very important to his character's development. Scudder is a very complex character who appears to be finally getting some sort of grip on his life. Although appearing to bumble his way through some situations he is able to stand up during the important moments. This is quite a good thriller that occasionally loses momentum while attending AA meetings.
Rating:
Summary: Scudder is never like Mike Hammer.
Review: Like Hime Hammer, this time Scudder is a trial. He punished Motley twice and sentenced him to death finally. Unlike Hammer, Hammer usually killed for revenge. Scudder never regards himself as god or trial, except this time, for the safe of other people, and he is not addicted to kill. It is easy to solve the problem by murder, but not easy to give up murder once you are addicted to it. That's what Block told us between lines.
Rating:
Summary: Great character study as well as a crime story
Review: Matthew Scudder, P.I., fights the urge to return to the booze as vigorously as he battles an old nemesis who's killing friends, family, associates and even people who share the surname Scudder.
Fortunately Matthew, like Lawrence Block's bookstore owner/cat burglar/sleuth Bernie (THE BURGLAR WHO TRADED TED WILLIAMS), has good friends, including a prostitute ex-lover with whom he rekindles a romance. The dialogue is as sharp and explosive as the action scenes. My personal favorite bit, after Bernie and his ladylove go to a Kevin Costner/Michelle Pfeiffer caper...
"She's (Michelle Pfeiffer) not really pretty, but there's something about her, isn't there? If i were a man, I'd want to ----- her."
"Repeatedly."
"Oh, she does it for you, huh?"
"She's all right."
"'Repeatedly.'"
Rating:
Summary: "Hard to Put Down"
Review: This is a great book and keeps you glued to its pages. I have read almost all of Block's books and have enjoyed them all but, so far, this is the absoulute best one.
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