The city caught its collective breath when upscale couple Byrne and Susan Hollander were slaughtered in a brutal home invasion. Now, a few days later, the killers themselves have turned up dead behind the locked door of a Brooklyn hellhole -- one apparently slain by his partner in crime who then took his own life. There's something drawing Matthew Scudder to this case that the cops have quickly and eagerly closed: a nagging suspicion that a third man is involved, a cold, diabolical puppet master who manipulates his two accomplices, then cuts their strings when he's done with them. No one but Scudder even suspects he exists. And his worst fear is that the guy is just getting started ...

Hope to Die

"Byrne e Susan Hollander fanno una bella vita. Lui è un avvocato, lei una scrittrice. La loro casa di pietra a Manhattan, che vale tre milioni di dollari, è a due passi dal Lincoln Center. E lì, in quella particolare notte, assistono a un concerto di beneficenza. Dopo il concerto tornano a casa a piedi. E qua termina la loro bella vita. Interrompono un furto in corso nella loro casa e vengono uccisi dai delinquenti. Dopo pochi giorni, la polizia trova i due colpevoli, entrambi morti, apparentemente per omicidio-suicidio. Caso ufficialmente chiuso. Ma, non ufficialmente, Matt Scudder si interessa alla vicenda quando la figlia degli Hollander lo assume per esplorare la possibilità che vi sia coinvolta una terza persona. Gli indizi sono tenui, per la maggior parte circostanziali, ma Scudder segue il suo istinto, affinato da quarant'anni di indagini nella polizia. "Block, che scrive best-seller e raccoglie premi nella stessa misura, segue la maggior parte delle formule del genere poliziesco, eppure riesce a portarvi una profondità e una potenza rare. Scudder, comparso nei primi romanzi come un ex poliziotto alcolizzato che si crogiola nell'autocommiserazione, si è evoluto in un consapevole osservatore della vita moderna, sobrio e a volte cupo. I delitti nei romanzi di Scudder sono il mezzo per portarci negli angoli più bui dell'esperienza umana. Con Matt Scudder come guida, emergiamo da queste visite nel lato oscuro della vita un po' più timorosi, ma sempre arricchiti dall'esperienza." ~Wes Lukowsky in Booklist#"Questo è il quindicesimo romanzo in venticinque anni che ha per protagonista Matthew Scudder, e i lettori della serie noir di Block sanno che cosa aspettarsi. C'è tutto: una perfetta rappresentazione di luoghi, suoni e odori di New York; visite alle riunioni degli Alcoolisti Anonimi nei seminterrati delle chiese; il bar di Mick Ballou, e i personaggi fissi, come Ballou; TJ, il giovane ragazzo di strada, ed Elaine, l'influenza civilizzatrice. "In questa ultima vicenda, Matt ed Elaine assistono a un concerto di beneficenza al Lincoln Center. Allo stesso concerto vi è una coppia che poco dopo viene uccisa nel proprio appartamento dell'Upper West Side. Successivamente, i due assassini sono essi stessi trovati morti a Brooklyn. "Senza che nessuno glielo abbia veramente chiesto, e non avendo di meglio da fare, Scudder inizia a interessarsi a questo caso, e l'intera vicenda si chiarisce davanti ai suoi occhi, fino alla sconcertante conclusione. Ogni tanto, la voce narrante del capitolo è quella del vero assassino, il che aggiunge un elemento intrigante. Ma chi cerca un'azione mozzafiato non la troverà. Lo stile è rilassato, e i personaggi e le pedine del gioco sono importanti tanto quanto la trama. "Raccomandato, in particolare per le biblioteche pubbliche, dove verrà sicuramente richiesto dai lettori." ~Fred Gervat in Library Journal

Spera di Morire - Matthew Scudder, #15

À l'heure du numérique, difficile de gagner sa vie avec une modeste boutique de livres anciens et d'occasion sur la 11e Rue Est de New York... Heureusement, Bernie Rhodenbarr a d'autres atouts dans sa manche. Cambrioleur chevronné, on fait souvent plus volontiers appel à lui pour ses talents de crocheteur de serrures que pour ceux de bouquiniste. Mais lorsque "M. Smith", un mystérieux collectionneur, lui propose une petite fortune pour plusieurs vols (incluant aussi bien le manuscrit de L'Étrange Histoire de Benjamin Button de F. Scott Fitzgerald que d'inestimables cuillères en argent), Bernie ignore dans quelle histoire improbable il met les pieds. 

Car, pendant ce temps, une riche vieille dame a été retrouvée morte à son domicile, apparemment terrassée par une attaque lors d'un cambriolage qui aurait mal tourné. Toutefois les raisons de son décès ne sont pas si évidentes, et l'expertise de Bernie est également requise par son meilleur ennemi, le policier Ray Kirschmann, afin de l'aider dans son enquête... 

Voleur rémunéré et détective amateur, notre (anti-)héros trouve en outre des messages rageurs sur la porte de la librairie qu'il est bien obligé de délaisser... Y aurait-il encore des gens qui lisent ?

Le voleur qui comptait les cuillères - Une aventure de Bernie Rhodenbarr

Kirkus Reviews meint: »Ist Bernie Rhodenbarr - der coolste, ruhigste und am wenigsten gewalttätige professionelle Einbrecher Manhattans - anständig geworden? Es scheint so, denn er ist nun Besitzer eines Antiquariats in der 11th Street. Aber keine Angst, das ist nur eine Nebenbeschäftigung und Bernie ist umtriebig wie eh und je. Jetzt wurde er angeheuert, um eine einzigartige Kipling-Rarität aus einem luxuriösen Anwesen zu stehlen. Das gelingt ihm natürlich problemlos, doch als er die Ware abliefern will, wird er unter Drogen gesetzt und nach dem Aufwachen - wie üblich - eines Mordes verdächtigt. Also ist Bernie wieder einmal auf der Flucht, versteckt sich bei seiner lesbischen Freundin Carolyn und spürt verschiedenen Verdächtigen nach ... Ein weiteres raffiniertes Rhodenbarr-Abenteuer, voll von gestohlenen Autos, schwindelerregenden Intrigen und der Atmosphäre der Straßen von Manhattan.« Publishers Weekly meint: »Bernie hat gerade die Buchhandlung Barnegat Books übernommen, seine zutiefst liebenswerte Freundin, die lesbische Hundefriseuse Carolyn, kennengelernt und wird nun engagiert, um ein seltenes Buch zu stehlen. Wie immer bekommt er es mit einer Leiche und einem Labyrinth voller seltsamer Motive zu tun. Und wie immer machen Blocks stilvoller Erzählfluss, sein Humor und sein perfektes Gespür für das New Yorker Leben den Weg zum Ende viel lustiger als die Auflösung des Rätsels. Bis es so weit ist, ist es ein ungetrübtes Vergnügen - und, ja, wir sind bereit für ein weiteres Abenteuer.« Und Lawrence Block meint: »Ich wusste seit dem ersten Kapitel seines ersten Auftritts in Ein Einbrecher zum Verlieben, wer Bernie Rhodenbarr war. Die Persönlichkeit stand schon fest. Aber erst im dritten Band, Der Einbrecher, der gerne Kipling zitierte, fand er sich in dem Leben wieder, das er eigentlich heute noch führt. In diesem Buch treffen wir ihn als Inhaber von Barnegat Books, einem Antiquariat in Greenwich Village, in dem er auf niveauvolle Gespräche mit sympathischen jungen Damen hofft - und das gleichzeitig als Fassade für seine diebischen Aktivitäten nach Ladenschluss dient. Und hier lernen wir auch Carolyn kennen, die zwei Häuser weiter in der Poodle Factory Hunde wäscht und sich zu Bernies lesbischer bester Freundin entwickelt.«

Der Einbrecher, der gerne Kipling zitierte - Bernie Rhodenbarr, #3

The basis of the recent film starring Liam Neeson, A Walk Among the Tombstones is Matthew Scudder's tenth appearance. He's hired by a drug dealer whose wife has been savagely murdered, and Scudder's pursuit of the faceless killers leads him on a chase through Manhattan and Brooklyn, with an unforgettable denouement in Green-Wood Cemetery. TJ, Scudder's streetwise young friend, is on hand, and Scudder's girlfriend Elaine plays a vital role, even as their relationship has its challenges. Publishers Weekly: "Despite their dark titles (the words Slaughterhouse and Boneyard figured in the previous two), Block's splendid, award-winning Matt Scudder novels are by no means unrelievedly bleak. His latest-as well as offering the customary skillful plotting, adroit pacing and sure sense of New York character-features a wry humor all its own, along with a particularly ingratiating and convincing pair of computer hackers. The premise is grim, certainly: a pair of men who prey murderously on women progress to kidnapping the womenfolk of drug dealers and demanding huge ransoms. Former alcoholic PI Scudder-now going to more AA meetings than ever-reluctantly agrees to help one dealer, a Lebanese, after his wife is killed by the kidnappers. Slowly and methodically he discerns a pattern in the mayhem. With the help of his erstwhile police colleagues, his black Times Square sidekick TJ and his call-girl sweetheart, Elaine, Scudder tightens the net on the culprits. When they seize the daughter of a Russian dealer, he is ready for the showdown. Block isn't big on action, though when it comes it is swift, vivid and horribly convincing; his Scudder books are built on character, atmosphere, crackling dialogue and a great deal of brooding-the taste for them is addictive. An equal of Elmore Leonard and Robert Parker, Block deserves similar acclaim."Other reviews:"This is fantastic stuff, and a must for fans of gritty, realistic suspense." - My Bookish Ways"A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES is indispensable reading for all crime fiction fans. Add it to your "must read" pile immediately." - Bookgasm

A Walk Among the Tombstones - Matthew Scudder, #10

Nous sommes à la fin des années 70.
L'illustre privé Matt Scudder a déjà quitté la police et tente, dans les bars, d'oublier Estrellita Rivera, la fillette qu'il a tuée au cours d'une arrestation mouvementée. Il est seul. Jusqu'à Jacob Jablon, alias " La Toupie ", qui ne lui téléphone plus. et dont on repêche le cadavre, dans l'East River. 
Est-ce le détective qui a contracté une dette à l'égard de l'escroc, ou l'inverse ? Peu importe. Scudder se lance sur la piste de celui - ou de celle - qui a commandité l'assassinat de son ami.
Il découvre que celui-ci faisait chanter trois personnes très haut placées. Toutes trois avaient d'excellentes raisons de faire exécuter " La Toupie ". Toutes trois ont maintenant d'aussi bonnes raisons de faire disparaître Scudder.

Tuons et créons, c'est l'heure

Vol et volupte

Sheesh. What a lousy title. Flesh Mob was published by Midnight Reader, a fellow imprint of Nightstand Books, in 1962. I can tell at a glance that it's my work, although I don't specifically recall writing it. And I must have put a title on it, but I  an assure you that it wasn't Flesh Mob. It could only have been the inspiration of some editor in Illinois. Several notables filled that role over the years, including Earl Kemp, A. J. Budrys, and Harlan Ellison, but it's hard to imagine any of those three making a eureka moment of Flesh Mob. For years it struck me as merely a bad title, two works that when combined had a sort of reverse synergy, amounting to rather less than the sum of their parts. Then just this week I looked at the title and saw that it could only be a pun on the phrase "flash mob." That still didn't make it a good title, but at least it gave it a lame reason for being. Except not. Because a little internet research shows that "flash mob" came into existence, as both phrase and concept, sometime shortly after the turn of the present century, and approximately forty years after my humble little novel first appeared wherever bad books were sold. AJ and Harlan and Earl were grounded in science fiction, but that's not enough to account for a title that was a pun on a phrase nobody would utter for another four decades. Never mind. The book's a multiple-viewpoint novel, with a rich cast of characters. Here's a sample of two of them:#"I'M LEAVING MATT, " Kitty said. Linc digested this bit of information. She searched his face, trying to decide whether he approved or disapproved. His face was a mask. She couldn't tell how he felt about it. "I'm leaving him, " she said again. "He didn't even come home last night. And the fact doesn't even bother me. There's not a thing left between us, Linc. Nothing at all. He can go his way and I can go mine and neither of us gives a whoop in hell about the other one. That's no basis for marriage." "Will he give you a divorce?" "I think so. He barely knows I'm alive. He'll probably be glad to get rid of me." Linc shrugged. "His pride might be hurt. And he might be upset from a pure financial standpoint. Divorce can be costly to a man. Alimony." "I wouldn't want alimony from him." "Oh?" "Just freedom." He said: "What will you do after the divorce?" "Oh, " she said. "I don't know. I may stay in Clifton, at least until I decide where I want to go next. New York eventually, I think. Small towns can get to you. I think I'm ready for the city." "You'd fit right in." "But for the time being we can have our fun. Do you feel like. like some fun now, Linc?" "God, you're insatiable." "I've been inactive for a long time, " she told him. "Too long. It can get to you. Are you interested, Linc?" "I'll race you to the bedroom, " he said.#There you go, Gentle Reader. Flesh Mob. It is what it is.

Flesh Mob - Collection of Classic Erotica, #25

Dans cet ouvrage à la construction éblouissante, Lawrence Block révèle le secret de New York. En fait, la mégalopole n'est qu'une manière de grand village rempli d'individus de toutes sortes unis par des liens aussi solides qu'ils sont invisibles. Et qu'ils soient écrivain, ex-grand manitou de la police, galeriste, avocat spécialisé dans la défense des criminels ou drogué reconverti dans le nettoyage des hauts lieux de la vie nocturne, tous ces gens ont un point commun : un amour immodéré de cette ville qui les abrite. Voilà pourquoi lorsque, dans l'ombre terrifiante des attentats du 11 septembre, un tueur fou commence à livrer une guerre sans merci contre l'immense métropole, tous se sentent concernés.
Et désemparés devant cette machine à tuer qui frappe où et quand elle veut.
Écrit dans un style à la fois lyrique et détaché, l'ouvrage est d'une grande violence, - en particulier dans la description de scènes érotiques qui pourront en choquer plus d'un.
Où l'illustre Grand Maître du roman policier américain définit ce qui, à ses yeux, constitue l'essence même de New York et dans un récit d'une grande violence raconte comment un tueur s'est mis en devoir de purger la mégalopole de tous les péchés qui s'y commettent.
Grand Maître des Mystery Writers of America, Lawrence Block a décroché quatre fois l'Edgar et le Shamus Award et a reçu de nombreux prix à l'étranger, notamment en Allemagne et au Japon. Il réside à  New York.

Hope to Die

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