2024 the best way to die review

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(as of Dec 12, 2024 07:42:08 UTC - Details)

Nobody knows better than Matthew Scudder how far down a person can sink in this city. A young prostitute named Kim knew it also—and she wanted out. Maybe Kim didn't deserve the life fate had dealt her. She surely didn't deserve her death. The alcoholic ex-cop turned p.i. was supposed to protect her, but someone slashed her to ribbons on a crumbling New York City waterfront pier. Now finding Kim's killer will be Scudder's penance. But there are lethal secrets hiding in the slain hooker's past that are far dirtier than her trade. And there are many ways of dying in this cruel and dangerous town—some quick and brutal ... and some agonizingly slow.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000FC11K6
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 13, 2009
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 826 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 388 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0380715732
Reviewer: JM Harvey
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Intricately plotted
Review: This might be my favorite Matthew. Scudder novel. We see him come full circle with his alcoholism, hitting rock bottom and finally realizing he has to stop. We also get a very satisfying murder mystery and an intriguing cast. Well written as always and a real page turner. This would be the pinnacle of the series for most writers but the books keep getting better from here. Well worth the read/reread.

Reviewer: A. Diamond
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Portrait of a character and a city
Review: Eight Million Ways to Die is the fifth in Lawrence Block’s Matthew Scudder detective series. You don’t need to have read any others in the series to follow this one.Scudder is a former New York City cop who quit the force after accidentally killing a child while pursuing two thieves. By the time the book begins, he has long since left his family, and has been living for years in a mid-town Manhattan hotel. He makes his living under the table, as a cash-only unlicensed detective. His training helps him out, as do his connections on the force and on the street. His chronic drinking hinders him.The story begins with Scudder in his favorite bar, talking to a prostitute who wants to get out of “the life.” She’s afraid to talk to her pimp, Chance, about leaving, and wants Scudder to feel him out first.The pimp is not an easy man to find. While trying to track him down, Scudder has the following exchange with his informer, Danny Boy. The informer asks, “What can I do for you?”“I’m looking for a pimp.”“Diogenes was looking for an honest man. You have more of a field to choose from.”“I’m looking for a particular pimp.”“They’re all particular. Some of them are downright finicky. Has he got a name?”When Scudder manages to track him down, he finds Chance is no ordinary pimp. He’s reserved, thoughtful, well-spoken, and introspective.After Scudder finds the pimp has no objection to his client’s leaving, the prostitute is brutally murdered in a Manhattan hotel room. The pimp, obviously, is the prime suspect. The only problem, though, is that he has an airtight alibi.With no other suspects to pursue, NYPD lets the case languish, but Scudder isn’t willing to let it go. The pimp returns and hires Scudder himself to find the killer.That’s the setup. Most of the action involves Scudder doing old-fashioned detective work, what Scudder calls “goyakod”: Get off your ass and knock on doors. We then follow the detective through a number of encounters with cops, pimps, prostitutes, artists, witnesses, and drinking buddies in three of New York’s five boroughs.The book is heavy on dialog, which is one of Block’s strong points as a writer. He doesn’t need to spend much time on backstory to develop rich characters. He reveals a person’s perspectives, attitudes, and temperament through their speech.Eight Million Ways to Die was published in 1982 and takes place around that time. Much of the book is a meditation on the state of New York City, and if you spent much time in the city in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, you’ll find that Scudder’s narrative brings the old city vividly to life.New York in the late ‘70s, with its filthy streets, its grafitti and general slovenliness was the urban incarnation of a hangover. By the early ‘80s, crime was rampant and seemed to be getting worse every day.Scudder begins most of his days reading the news, which seems to be a catalog of human depravity. The title of the book comes from his reflection, after reading about a number of murders, that in a city of eight million people, there are eight million ways to die.He spends much of the book working with an NYPD homicide detective named Durkin, a cop who has seen too many of the things cops see, and who bitterly laments the decline of the city. Many of Durkin’s complaints echo those of today’s political right: the influx of poor and struggling immigrants from all corners of the world has transformed the city into one he hardly recognizes. Many of the city’s new arrivals, it seems, have brought with them the troubles they were hoping to flee.Durkin complains that when he goes on the subway he feels like he’s in a foreign country. He is overwhelmed by a world he can no longer comprehend, and he confides to Scudder that he can’t wait to retire. Trying to keep order in such a vast, unruly city has sapped his energy to the point where he just wants to withdraw.As he tracks down the clues to the prostitute’s murder, Scudder spends an enormous amount of time and emotional energy contemplating his alcoholism and trying to resist the temptation of drinking. He admits that part of the reason he wants to keep working the murder case is to keep his mind off booze.I won’t say how the investigation pans out, since that’s the mystery the reader signs up for when he or she picks up the book. I will say that like most good mysteries, the story isn’t about the crime or even the solving of it. It’s about a time and a place, the psyche of the main character, the world he inhabits and the lens through which he sees it. It’s about a violent, paranoid city in decline after Son of Sam, and the struggles of one of that city’s eight million souls as he tries to come to terms with his personal demons. Its final scene, one of the most famous in all of detective fiction, tells you it’s a book about character. And it’s well worth the read.

Reviewer: Greggorio!
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: AND SO IT BEGINS....
Review: Reading this complex novel of detection set in the sprawling metropolis of a city the world loves like no other, the reader is at once saddened by the main character's slide into the depths of alcoholism, depression and loneliness. On the other hand, the reader will find themselves awestruck by the talents of the author to come up with such an impressively complex and brilliant plot.The book opens with our man Scudder enjoying the ambience of his favourite table in his favourite bar (Armstrong's) when a professional associate of Elaine joins him. It turns out that she wants to leave the employ of her "boss" (pimp) and so she has come to the famous PI for assistance. After a short time spent tracking down the elusive man, contact is made, and the proverbial hits the fan.Scudder's client is found horrifically murdered and of course the pimp "Chance" is the assumed assailant. in a brilliant piece of criminal irony, Chance himself hires Scudder to track down the real killer. And so the hunt is on. Clues as to the identity of the killer are scattered throughout the book by Mr Lawrence and by the half way mark, you will think, just like Scudder does, that it was the boyfriend in a crazed fit of violence that ended the poor girl's life in such a horrific manner. You may be right in this assumption, but then again, you may well be wrong.This glorious tale of detection and self realisation is a triumph of the imagination of one of the world's top thriller writers. Lawrence Block has proved once again that he has mastered the craft of the whodunit and raised it almost to perfection. Five stars for this classic.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An early Scudder novel
Review: I am an avid fan of Mathew Scudder. Lawrence Block, It turns out, in addition to being incredibly prolific, is a hell of a writer. Mathew Scudder, the "hero" is an alcoholic. Having close ties to people with this affliction, Block must either have been an alcoholic at some time in his life, or have had an incredibly empathetic relationship with someone who was. This book does deal with Scudder's affliction more than some of the other books in the series. This book is a delightful read. In addition, recovering alcoholics will find the description of Scudders affliction very close to home. Non alcoholics will find a great insight into that affliction. That aside, the book gives great insight into the incredibly difficult job law enforcement must have trying to piece together a crime.

Reviewer: Al
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Good read

Reviewer: Navneet Singh
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I quite enjoyed the characterisations and description of the alcoholics conflict to fight the addiction and overcoming it.Scudder himself is an addiction!

Reviewer: Michael Mooney
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I can’t praise this book enough. Chandler said that the hero is everything to a detective story, that he must be the best man in his world and good enough for any world. Matt Scudder would laugh at that, a short, bitter laugh with very little humour. He’d think about his life, like an ice floe far out at sea that’s broken up into pieces, none of which would ever join up again.Matt ends this book in tears. I did too.

Reviewer: Charlotte McCarthy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Enjoyable whodunnit with interesting characters and a bit of rye humour here and there. Lawrence Block is hard to beat.

Reviewer: benedetta
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Coming from a classic literature education, I'm a demanding reader. Black meets the expectations: he could write whatever he wanted, and it would be great.