Rating: 
Summary: Listening to stories
Review: Matt Scudder walks and Elaine goes to the gym for exercise. Mick Ballou is a notorious criminal and Grogans, in Hell's Kitchen, is his bar and headquarters. Mick is an unlikely friend for a private detective to have. Matt is faced with the mystery of two deceased persons, formerly of the North of Ireland, and a substantial amount of twice stolen whiskey. Mick believes he has an enemy. Matt Scudder still attends AA meetings. He usually fits in two or three a week. He enjoys listening to the stories. On Sunday evenings he eats dinner with his sponsor. When he and his sponsor go out to dinner, by coincidence, they are dressed in similar garb. The sponsor becomes another victim while Matt is using the lavatory. Matt knows his sponsor would destroy his guilty thoughts by pointing out that Matt is just an alcoholic. Matt finds himself explaining to the investigating officers the role of a sponsor in the AA program. Matt is saved from danger by Mick. Gary Alan Dowling is the son of Patrick Farrelly, a man who had operated in opposition to Mick Ballou. He may have some involvement in the recent matters of conflict. This is an exceptionally dark tale in the Matt Scudder series.
Rating:
Summary: Listening to stories
Review: Matt Scudder walks and Elaine goes to the gym for exercise. Mick Ballou is a notorious criminal and Grogans, in Hell's Kitchen, is his bar and headquarters. Mick is an unlikely friend for a private detective to have. Matt is faced with the mystery of two deceased persons, formerly of the North of Ireland, and a substantial amount of twice stolen whiskey. Mick believes he has an enemy. Matt Scudder still attends AA meetings. He usually fits in two or three a week. He enjoys listening to the stories. On Sunday evenings he eats dinner with his sponsor. When he and his sponsor go out to dinner, by coincidence, they are dressed in similar garb. The sponsor becomes another victim while Matt is using the lavatory. Matt knows his sponsor would destroy his guilty thoughts by pointing out that Matt is just an alcoholic. Matt finds himself explaining to the investigating officers the role of a sponsor in the AA program. Matt is saved from danger by Mick. Gary Alan Dowling is the son of Patrick Farrelly, a man who had operated in opposition to Mick Ballou. He may have some involvement in the recent matters of conflict. This is an exceptionally dark tale in the Matt Scudder series.
Rating: 
Summary: Everybody Dies
Review: This book dragged on for too long. It was hard to get into and even harder to finish. There really wasn't much plot or emotion involved, just a lot of killing. He could have done better.
Rating: 
Summary: Another extraordinary mystery from the Master.
Review: This latest entry in the Matt Scudder seires is a haunting powerful tale of life, death, and loss. Scudder, the private investigator and reformed drunk, is older now; perhaps not wiser, but clearly interested in slowing down. He's married, he actually has a license from the state, he's not the carefree man he was ten or twenty years ago. Scudder's life, though, will not necessarily allow him to just walk away. In particular, his close friendship with organized crime "boss" Mick Ballou proves very troublesome. Some unknown gang is attacking Ballou and his associates, and Matt finds himself caught up in the middle of it. Despite his ties to Ballou, he still tries to stay out of it. Friendship will only carry him so far. But when his own life is threatened as well, he is left with little choice. The plot is interesting and suspenseful, the mystery entertaining as Block's always are. But more than that, this is a moving book, a book that touches you and makes you think. The title Everybody Dies may be more figurative than literal, but there is still enough death and pain in this book to reach even the coldest heart.
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