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Matthew Scudder #2
Time to Murder and Create
Small-time stoolie, Jake " The Spinner" Jablon, made a lot of new enemies when he switched careers, from informer to blackmailer. And the more "clients", he figured, the more money -- and more people eager to see him dead. So no one is surprised when the pigeon is found floating in the East River with his skull bashed in. And what's worse, no one cares -- except Matthew Scudder. The ex-cop-turned-private-eye is no conscientious avenging angel. But he's willing to risk his own life and limb to confront Spinner's most murderously aggressive marks. A job's a job after all -- and Scudder's been paid to find a killer -- by the victim...in advance.
185 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
428 people are currently reading
1462 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Block
768 books2,958 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 444 reviews
August 1, 2023
This is the second book in Lawrence Block's excellent series featuring Matthew Scudder. It doesn't pack quite the emotional wallop of the first, The Sins of the Fathers, but it's a very good read nonetheless.
For those who don't know, Matthew Scudder is an ex cop who lives in New York City and who works as an unlicensed P.I. He left the force under tragic circumstances and has since developed a drinking problem which is here noticeably worse than it was in the first book. His "office" is in a saloon, where he passes most days and evenings drinking coffee laced with bourbon.
One afternoon an old acquaintance, "Spinner" Jablon, finds Matt in Armstrong's, the saloon where Matt spends much of his time. Spinner is a minor criminal that Matt knows from his days on the force. Jablon has apparently gotten himself into some sort of trouble and believes that his life may be in danger. He asks Matt to hold an envelope for him and to open it only in the event that something happens to him. Matt presses for an explanation, but Jablon tells him that he'll know what to do if and when he has to open the envelope.
Well, obviously, we all know what's going to happen next. Poor Spinner winds up floating in the East River, and when Matt opens the envelope, he discovers that Jablon had been blackmailing three fairly wealthy people. Jablon assumes that one of them will have been responsible for his death and leaves three thousand dollars in the envelope along with the blackmail materials. He wants Matt to discover who killed him and bring him or her to justice.
Matt could just stuff the three grand in his pocket and forget about it since his client is no longer around to complain about it. But Matt isn't that kind of guy, and Spinner knew it. Matt feels morally obligated to follow through and so develops a plan for smoking out the killer. But naturally, the best laid plans sometimes have unintended consequences. As a result, Matt finds himself in the middle of a moral quandary and discovers that his own life may now be on the line.
This book is now nearly forty years old, but the story is still as gripping as if it were written yesterday. One gets so caught up in it that you're only marginally aware of the fact that it takes place in an era when there were no cell phones or computers and when investigative techniques were significantly more primitive than they are today. Given that this is one of the most celebrated series in all of crime fiction, it's hard to imagine that there's any fan of the genre who has not yet discovered it, but if that should somehow be the case, do yourself a very great favor and look for it.
For those who don't know, Matthew Scudder is an ex cop who lives in New York City and who works as an unlicensed P.I. He left the force under tragic circumstances and has since developed a drinking problem which is here noticeably worse than it was in the first book. His "office" is in a saloon, where he passes most days and evenings drinking coffee laced with bourbon.
One afternoon an old acquaintance, "Spinner" Jablon, finds Matt in Armstrong's, the saloon where Matt spends much of his time. Spinner is a minor criminal that Matt knows from his days on the force. Jablon has apparently gotten himself into some sort of trouble and believes that his life may be in danger. He asks Matt to hold an envelope for him and to open it only in the event that something happens to him. Matt presses for an explanation, but Jablon tells him that he'll know what to do if and when he has to open the envelope.
Well, obviously, we all know what's going to happen next. Poor Spinner winds up floating in the East River, and when Matt opens the envelope, he discovers that Jablon had been blackmailing three fairly wealthy people. Jablon assumes that one of them will have been responsible for his death and leaves three thousand dollars in the envelope along with the blackmail materials. He wants Matt to discover who killed him and bring him or her to justice.
Matt could just stuff the three grand in his pocket and forget about it since his client is no longer around to complain about it. But Matt isn't that kind of guy, and Spinner knew it. Matt feels morally obligated to follow through and so develops a plan for smoking out the killer. But naturally, the best laid plans sometimes have unintended consequences. As a result, Matt finds himself in the middle of a moral quandary and discovers that his own life may now be on the line.
This book is now nearly forty years old, but the story is still as gripping as if it were written yesterday. One gets so caught up in it that you're only marginally aware of the fact that it takes place in an era when there were no cell phones or computers and when investigative techniques were significantly more primitive than they are today. Given that this is one of the most celebrated series in all of crime fiction, it's hard to imagine that there's any fan of the genre who has not yet discovered it, but if that should somehow be the case, do yourself a very great favor and look for it.
June 4, 2019
Two-bit blackmailer “Spinner” Jablon hires Matthew Scudder to find a murderer. The victim? “Spinner” himself. He entrusts Matt with an envelope filled with “dirt” on three blackmail “clients," and, if he dies suddenly, wants Scudder to discover which of the three is responsible. Soon Jablon's body is fished out of the East River with a smashed-up skull, and Scudder decides to act as if he were the inheritor of the blackmail operation, hoping this strategy will compel the murderer to show his hand. And it works: soon somebody is trying to kill Scudder too.
Matthew Scudder, the alcoholic, guilt-ridden ex-cop who tithes his fees to random poorboxes, is as compelling a character here as he was in the his first adventure, and the plot too is equally interesting. This time, though, in order to draw out the plot, savvy, cynical Matt seemed a little too slow on the uptake. Of course I discovered the murderer before he did—that is one of the pleasures of reading detective fiction—but it was a much longer period of time than it should have been. Sure, there was a psychological reason for his blindspot. But still. He is the detective, after all.
September 2, 2020
”A bullet ricocheted. Those things happen.
Part of the reason I left the force was that those things happen and I did not want to be in a position where I could do wrong things for right reasons. Because I had decided that, while it might be true that the end does not justify the means, neither does the means justify the end.”
Matthew Scudder has a lot of reasons to drink, but seeing the face of the little girl his errant bullet killed is a constant reminder of the demise of his heroic vision of himself. He might not be a cop anymore, but he can’t completely move on. He’s working as a private investigator and trying to the best of his abilities to help people. Unlike being a cop, he can say no, or he can say yes.
He doesn’t really want to help Spinner Jablon, a low level criminal, but Spinner gives him a nice stack of much needed green to keep an envelope for him. It is an envelope that Scudder is supposed to open if anything unexpected happens to Spinner. Easy money, right?
Wrong.
When Spinner is fished out of the river with his head caved in, Scudder finds himself up to his neck in a sordid blackmailing scheme, and the only way he will find out who killed Spinner is to pick up where Spinner left off and put himself in the crosshairs of the killer.
Blackmailing someone is almost irresistible. Having leverage through knowledge or brawn is used all the time in business or in personal relationships. If you don’t do this, I won’t do that or maybe even something more forceful, like you better do this or I’ll make your life very difficult. Suck my cock or I’ll break your face approach to the world. In the case of Spinner, he had photographic evidence that would ruin several people.
The problem for those being blackmailed is, even if the blackmailers are asking for a reasonable amount of money, something they can swing, the thought has to be going through their minds...how long before they are back for more? The blackmailers blow through the money, and they think,...let’s tap that money pipeline one more time. We always have choices. We can come clean to the spouse or to the public and remove any hold that the blackmailer has on us. Of course, that may involve forfeiting your entire life, and few of us want to make that choice. It hardly seems fair, after all. We can pay the blackmailer and hope for the best, but how do we really ever trust someone willing to turn to blackmail to make money? The last and most unsavory of our choices is to kill the blackmailer. We can hire it done through some thug who is a friend of a friend or that blacksheep cousin we haven’t talked to in years, but then, by doing so, we create another loose end. We can do it ourselves; unsavory as the thought is, it is the most practical decision. This shows how dangerous blackmailing really is. When it becomes logical for a normal, law-abiding citizen to reach the conclusion that murder is the best option, blackmailing turns out to be a very, very dangerous profession.
Not that Scudder had any illusions about the insidiousness of becoming a blackmailer, but even he is shocked by the devastating effects it has on those who are faced with watching the imminent destruction of their life’s work. The loss of the esteem they have garnered with those around them is sometimes much more shattering than the loss of their position or money.
This is the second entry in the Matthew Scudder series and certainly fulfills all the promise from the first book in the series. I plan to read at least the first six in the series, and who knows, by then Scudder might be a comfortable addiction that is a necessary part of my reading list each year.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
Part of the reason I left the force was that those things happen and I did not want to be in a position where I could do wrong things for right reasons. Because I had decided that, while it might be true that the end does not justify the means, neither does the means justify the end.”
Matthew Scudder has a lot of reasons to drink, but seeing the face of the little girl his errant bullet killed is a constant reminder of the demise of his heroic vision of himself. He might not be a cop anymore, but he can’t completely move on. He’s working as a private investigator and trying to the best of his abilities to help people. Unlike being a cop, he can say no, or he can say yes.
He doesn’t really want to help Spinner Jablon, a low level criminal, but Spinner gives him a nice stack of much needed green to keep an envelope for him. It is an envelope that Scudder is supposed to open if anything unexpected happens to Spinner. Easy money, right?
Wrong.
When Spinner is fished out of the river with his head caved in, Scudder finds himself up to his neck in a sordid blackmailing scheme, and the only way he will find out who killed Spinner is to pick up where Spinner left off and put himself in the crosshairs of the killer.
Blackmailing someone is almost irresistible. Having leverage through knowledge or brawn is used all the time in business or in personal relationships. If you don’t do this, I won’t do that or maybe even something more forceful, like you better do this or I’ll make your life very difficult. Suck my cock or I’ll break your face approach to the world. In the case of Spinner, he had photographic evidence that would ruin several people.
The problem for those being blackmailed is, even if the blackmailers are asking for a reasonable amount of money, something they can swing, the thought has to be going through their minds...how long before they are back for more? The blackmailers blow through the money, and they think,...let’s tap that money pipeline one more time. We always have choices. We can come clean to the spouse or to the public and remove any hold that the blackmailer has on us. Of course, that may involve forfeiting your entire life, and few of us want to make that choice. It hardly seems fair, after all. We can pay the blackmailer and hope for the best, but how do we really ever trust someone willing to turn to blackmail to make money? The last and most unsavory of our choices is to kill the blackmailer. We can hire it done through some thug who is a friend of a friend or that blacksheep cousin we haven’t talked to in years, but then, by doing so, we create another loose end. We can do it ourselves; unsavory as the thought is, it is the most practical decision. This shows how dangerous blackmailing really is. When it becomes logical for a normal, law-abiding citizen to reach the conclusion that murder is the best option, blackmailing turns out to be a very, very dangerous profession.
Not that Scudder had any illusions about the insidiousness of becoming a blackmailer, but even he is shocked by the devastating effects it has on those who are faced with watching the imminent destruction of their life’s work. The loss of the esteem they have garnered with those around them is sometimes much more shattering than the loss of their position or money.
This is the second entry in the Matthew Scudder series and certainly fulfills all the promise from the first book in the series. I plan to read at least the first six in the series, and who knows, by then Scudder might be a comfortable addiction that is a necessary part of my reading list each year.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
October 11, 2011
Matthew Scudder, assisted by larger and larger doses of bourbon & coffee, investigates the brutal murder of a blackmailer known as the Spinner. The prime suspects are the Spinner’s three cash cows, including:
1. A former hooker/porn star turned high society wife;
2. A wealthy father of a reckless driving, man-slaughtering ex-drug addict; and
3. A buggery loving, pederast politician running for Governor of New York.
As Scudder begins to look into his dead friend’s operation, he finds himself the target of the same killer that sent the Spinner swimming in the East River with the back of his head caved in. Written in Block’s crisp, condensed prose, this is a fast paced, wonderfully gritty story that you can breeze through in a couple hours.
In sum….a terrific experience.
All of the things that made The Sins of the Fathers such a memorable read are even better in this second installment of Block’s excellent noir, mystery series. The plot is more complicated, the bad guys are well drawn and far more dangerous and Matt’s dysfunctional life and growing alcoholism becomes increasingly more apparent.
When I reviewed The Sins of the Fathers, I asked the question, ‘Who is Matthew Scudder?’ After finishing the second book, I am pleased to report that I know more about him...and even MORE pleased to report that I still don’t have a good answer to the question. Yep, this man is a complicated riddle wrapped in a booze-soaked enigma. I can say this, he has become a favorite literary character and is one of the most compelling figures I’ve come across in my crime/noir reading.
Here’s what I have been able to ascertain about the man to date:
Matt’s a basically decent man (not snow white, but decent) whose life as a New York detective was derailed when he accidentally shot an 8 year old girl while taking down a pair of armed robbers. Since that fateful event, Matt left the force, walked away from his wife and two sons and crawled into a bottle. Now he comes out of his daily alcohol fog to “do favors for friends” as an off-the-books, unlicensed investigator. The world Matt navigates is a smoky, charcoal gray of ethical rationalizations and moral ambiguity. Despite that, Matt generally has his compass pointed towards what he believes is “just” and is unquestionably one of the “good guys.” He just doesn’t look (or always act) the part.
Did I mention that he drinks...a lot?
One of the really interesting things about this series is that when we first meet Matt in The Sins of the Fathers, his downward spiral hadn’t hit bottom. Thus, we get to watch his self-destructive pattern of behavior continue to accelerate. These stories are as much about what Scudder does away from the “case” as his investigations and that makes this something fairly unique. As I reader, I find myself coming back to the series as much to catch up on how Matt’s doing (hoping he’s doing better, but knowing he probably isn’t) as to see what kind of horrible crime he’s investigating.
Block has a real winner of a series here and there are more layers to these stories than you find in your typical noir mystery. This is good, good stuff. Lawrence Block’s writing is clean, understated and subtly powerful. Plus, the best part is that the GR friends that turned me on to this series all say that the stories only get…..BETTER.
I can’t wait.
4.5 stars. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
1. A former hooker/porn star turned high society wife;
2. A wealthy father of a reckless driving, man-slaughtering ex-drug addict; and
3. A buggery loving, pederast politician running for Governor of New York.
As Scudder begins to look into his dead friend’s operation, he finds himself the target of the same killer that sent the Spinner swimming in the East River with the back of his head caved in. Written in Block’s crisp, condensed prose, this is a fast paced, wonderfully gritty story that you can breeze through in a couple hours.
In sum….a terrific experience.
All of the things that made The Sins of the Fathers such a memorable read are even better in this second installment of Block’s excellent noir, mystery series. The plot is more complicated, the bad guys are well drawn and far more dangerous and Matt’s dysfunctional life and growing alcoholism becomes increasingly more apparent.
When I reviewed The Sins of the Fathers, I asked the question, ‘Who is Matthew Scudder?’ After finishing the second book, I am pleased to report that I know more about him...and even MORE pleased to report that I still don’t have a good answer to the question. Yep, this man is a complicated riddle wrapped in a booze-soaked enigma. I can say this, he has become a favorite literary character and is one of the most compelling figures I’ve come across in my crime/noir reading.
Here’s what I have been able to ascertain about the man to date:
Matt’s a basically decent man (not snow white, but decent) whose life as a New York detective was derailed when he accidentally shot an 8 year old girl while taking down a pair of armed robbers. Since that fateful event, Matt left the force, walked away from his wife and two sons and crawled into a bottle. Now he comes out of his daily alcohol fog to “do favors for friends” as an off-the-books, unlicensed investigator. The world Matt navigates is a smoky, charcoal gray of ethical rationalizations and moral ambiguity. Despite that, Matt generally has his compass pointed towards what he believes is “just” and is unquestionably one of the “good guys.” He just doesn’t look (or always act) the part.
Did I mention that he drinks...a lot?
One of the really interesting things about this series is that when we first meet Matt in The Sins of the Fathers, his downward spiral hadn’t hit bottom. Thus, we get to watch his self-destructive pattern of behavior continue to accelerate. These stories are as much about what Scudder does away from the “case” as his investigations and that makes this something fairly unique. As I reader, I find myself coming back to the series as much to catch up on how Matt’s doing (hoping he’s doing better, but knowing he probably isn’t) as to see what kind of horrible crime he’s investigating.
Block has a real winner of a series here and there are more layers to these stories than you find in your typical noir mystery. This is good, good stuff. Lawrence Block’s writing is clean, understated and subtly powerful. Plus, the best part is that the GR friends that turned me on to this series all say that the stories only get…..BETTER.
I can’t wait.
4.5 stars. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
December 14, 2016
Spinner Jablon is a small-time criminal and hustler that Matt Scudder knows from his days on the police. One day he shows up with money in his pockets and an offer for Matt: Hold onto an envelope to be opened if Spinner gets killed. It seems like easy money and weeks pass until Spinner misses his regular check-in and his body is found in the river.
When Matt opens the envelope he finds a note from Spinner, a wad of cash, and blackmail info on three people. Spinner’s note explains that he thought one of his blackmail victims was trying to kill him, but he wasn’t sure which one. He asks Matt to track down his killer, but to let the other two off the hook since Spinner thinks they’ve fulfilled their part of the deal. Matt contacts the three and pretends to be a new blackmailer that Spinner sold out too and demands more money. The idea is to get whoever killed Spinner to try and kill Matt so he can know who had Spinner murdered, but his plan may have succeeded a little too well.
This is another great entry in the Scudder series. I love how this one illustrates the murky ethical world that Matt inhabits. Spinner may have been considered a small time lowlife by everyone else, but Matt notes that Spinner never hurt anyone physically and tried to uphold his own version of a moral code. (It’s interesting that Matt seems to like and relate more to Spinner than he did the cop he worked for in the next book.) While Matt may be willing to pretend to be a blackmailer and to do shady things like take money from a dead man’s wallet he still has a core conviction that murder is a crime that should always be punished. He could easily take Spinner's cash and do nothing or just dump the whole mess on the cops, but he feels duty bound to honor Spinner’s request even though it leads him into a tangled web of unintended consequences.
I also like how Block has shown Matt’s drinking getting progressively worse as the books have gone on. Matt’s control is slipping and he engages in a full blown bender in this one unlike his usually steady not-quite-sober but not-quite-drunk regular drinking.
When Matt opens the envelope he finds a note from Spinner, a wad of cash, and blackmail info on three people. Spinner’s note explains that he thought one of his blackmail victims was trying to kill him, but he wasn’t sure which one. He asks Matt to track down his killer, but to let the other two off the hook since Spinner thinks they’ve fulfilled their part of the deal. Matt contacts the three and pretends to be a new blackmailer that Spinner sold out too and demands more money. The idea is to get whoever killed Spinner to try and kill Matt so he can know who had Spinner murdered, but his plan may have succeeded a little too well.
This is another great entry in the Scudder series. I love how this one illustrates the murky ethical world that Matt inhabits. Spinner may have been considered a small time lowlife by everyone else, but Matt notes that Spinner never hurt anyone physically and tried to uphold his own version of a moral code. (It’s interesting that Matt seems to like and relate more to Spinner than he did the cop he worked for in the next book.) While Matt may be willing to pretend to be a blackmailer and to do shady things like take money from a dead man’s wallet he still has a core conviction that murder is a crime that should always be punished. He could easily take Spinner's cash and do nothing or just dump the whole mess on the cops, but he feels duty bound to honor Spinner’s request even though it leads him into a tangled web of unintended consequences.
I also like how Block has shown Matt’s drinking getting progressively worse as the books have gone on. Matt’s control is slipping and he engages in a full blown bender in this one unlike his usually steady not-quite-sober but not-quite-drunk regular drinking.
April 23, 2018
3.5*
A very entertaining read.
A very entertaining read.
March 11, 2016
Second edition of Matthew Scudder's saga, and I'm looking forward to the next.
(Oh, who am I kidding? I've already started the next one, but had to stop and do the review for this so I can give it the thought it deserves).
Scudder's daily meander between bourbon and coffee is interrupted when Spinner, one of his ex-stoolies, comes to him with a request. Hold on to an envelope; if Spinner dies, open it and take whatever action Scudder thinks is right. If nothing happens to Spinner, no fair eyeballing the contents. Needless to say, something happens to Spinner, the envelope is opened and Scudder finds himself contacting the unsavory victims of Spinner's blackmail in an effort to solve his murder.
Block's skill at characterization continues to shine. Scudder's actions, while somewhat considered, still have unintended and unfortunate consequences, much like his shooting the bystander in the robbery. Good intentions, half-baked implementation and disastrous consequences. I liked that Block was willing to throw his lead into such difficult situations, but equally unwilling to let him wallow there. Even as Scudder flirts with an alcoholic haze, he finds himself unable to abandon responsibility. I can see why this would be an Edgar nominee; the level of moral ambiguity and compassion for the characters is impressive.
Trina is fast becoming one of my favorite guest characters, with her sympathetic ear and her sassy humor. Here she checks out a visitor for Scudder and her description makes a strange kind of sense:
"You know who he looks like? The Marlboro man."
"From the commercials? Didn't they use more than one guy?"
"Sure. He looks like all of them. You know, high rawhide boots and a wide-brimmed hat and smelling of horseshit, and the tattoo on his hand. He's not wearing boots or a hat, and he doesn't have the tattoo, but it's the same image. Don't ask me if he smells of horseshit. I didn't get close enough to tell."
Block's writing so clearly captures an image that there are spots that I find myself re-reading for sheer pleasure. He had the best description of a cigarette after a long hiatus that almost lured me into picking one up:
"I brought a pack of cigarettes out of the machine and smoke three of them with my coffee. They were the first I'd had in almost two months, and I couldn't have gotten a better hit if I'd punched them right into a vein. They made me dizzy but in a nice way."
That's right, kids--cigarettes used to be sold in vending machine. But don't worry; there was a sign on them that said it was illegal to sell or buy them if you were under 18, so it was perfectly safe).
For me, the one downside was the mystery itself. Scudder thinks he's fingered the killer, and it is such an illogical assumption that one can almost see the flick of a red tail in the pages. Still, the twists and big reveal are satisfactory, if for no other reason than Scudder's unique resolution skills.
Three and a half stars, rounding up because Trina made me laugh and Block made me remember a cigarette from ten years ago.
(Oh, who am I kidding? I've already started the next one, but had to stop and do the review for this so I can give it the thought it deserves).
Scudder's daily meander between bourbon and coffee is interrupted when Spinner, one of his ex-stoolies, comes to him with a request. Hold on to an envelope; if Spinner dies, open it and take whatever action Scudder thinks is right. If nothing happens to Spinner, no fair eyeballing the contents. Needless to say, something happens to Spinner, the envelope is opened and Scudder finds himself contacting the unsavory victims of Spinner's blackmail in an effort to solve his murder.
Block's skill at characterization continues to shine. Scudder's actions, while somewhat considered, still have unintended and unfortunate consequences, much like his shooting the bystander in the robbery. Good intentions, half-baked implementation and disastrous consequences. I liked that Block was willing to throw his lead into such difficult situations, but equally unwilling to let him wallow there. Even as Scudder flirts with an alcoholic haze, he finds himself unable to abandon responsibility. I can see why this would be an Edgar nominee; the level of moral ambiguity and compassion for the characters is impressive.
Trina is fast becoming one of my favorite guest characters, with her sympathetic ear and her sassy humor. Here she checks out a visitor for Scudder and her description makes a strange kind of sense:
"You know who he looks like? The Marlboro man."
"From the commercials? Didn't they use more than one guy?"
"Sure. He looks like all of them. You know, high rawhide boots and a wide-brimmed hat and smelling of horseshit, and the tattoo on his hand. He's not wearing boots or a hat, and he doesn't have the tattoo, but it's the same image. Don't ask me if he smells of horseshit. I didn't get close enough to tell."
Block's writing so clearly captures an image that there are spots that I find myself re-reading for sheer pleasure. He had the best description of a cigarette after a long hiatus that almost lured me into picking one up:
"I brought a pack of cigarettes out of the machine and smoke three of them with my coffee. They were the first I'd had in almost two months, and I couldn't have gotten a better hit if I'd punched them right into a vein. They made me dizzy but in a nice way."
That's right, kids--cigarettes used to be sold in vending machine. But don't worry; there was a sign on them that said it was illegal to sell or buy them if you were under 18, so it was perfectly safe).
For me, the one downside was the mystery itself. Scudder thinks he's fingered the killer, and it is such an illogical assumption that one can almost see the flick of a red tail in the pages. Still, the twists and big reveal are satisfactory, if for no other reason than Scudder's unique resolution skills.
Three and a half stars, rounding up because Trina made me laugh and Block made me remember a cigarette from ten years ago.
December 7, 2016
When a criminal "friend" goes belly up in the river with a bump on his head, retired cop Matthew Scudder takes it upon himself to find out whodunnit.
In this, the second of the so-far-enjoyable Scudder series, our hero is tasked with figuring out which of three shitty people with a darkened past was the one who did-in his friend. None of the three are likable, hell, even Matt has some unpleasant skeletons in his closest, so why the hell is this such a good read?!
I've pondered that quite a bit. In fact, I was just saying to Kemper how Lawrence Block's books are fast becoming one of my comfort-reads. I find that strange since you don't usually think of crime, murder, rape, pedophilia, and other shitty things as something you find comfort in. And yet, I do. Obviously, it's not the subject matter. I find comfort in the way the subject is handled, the way Matt Scudder handles the situation, and the way Lawrence Block handles his words. He's got a way with them, that man does!
Also, I've been listening, as opposed to reading, this Scudder series, and I absolutely love the narrator, Alan Sklar's voice, cadence, etc etc. He's done a fantastic job. His somber tone melds with the material meticulously. I believe he is a down-and-out, former cop trying to forget his past in drink.
Somber! Yes, I just called this stuff somber. So, we've got despicable criminals doing shitty things, a detective who's a decent man but not the most likable of people, and a somber narrator. WHY DO I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH?!?!?
In this, the second of the so-far-enjoyable Scudder series, our hero is tasked with figuring out which of three shitty people with a darkened past was the one who did-in his friend. None of the three are likable, hell, even Matt has some unpleasant skeletons in his closest, so why the hell is this such a good read?!
I've pondered that quite a bit. In fact, I was just saying to Kemper how Lawrence Block's books are fast becoming one of my comfort-reads. I find that strange since you don't usually think of crime, murder, rape, pedophilia, and other shitty things as something you find comfort in. And yet, I do. Obviously, it's not the subject matter. I find comfort in the way the subject is handled, the way Matt Scudder handles the situation, and the way Lawrence Block handles his words. He's got a way with them, that man does!
Also, I've been listening, as opposed to reading, this Scudder series, and I absolutely love the narrator, Alan Sklar's voice, cadence, etc etc. He's done a fantastic job. His somber tone melds with the material meticulously. I believe he is a down-and-out, former cop trying to forget his past in drink.
Somber! Yes, I just called this stuff somber. So, we've got despicable criminals doing shitty things, a detective who's a decent man but not the most likable of people, and a somber narrator. WHY DO I LOVE THIS SERIES SO MUCH?!?!?
February 20, 2011
Stoolie and blackmailer Spinner Jablon winds up dead and due to a mysterious envelope entrusted to him by Spinner, Matthew Scudder is trying to find out who killed him. Only Spinner was blackmailing three people: a former porn actress, a rich man who covered up his daughter's hit and run accident, and a pedophile who may just be the next governor of New York. Can Scudder find out who killed Jablon before he becomes a victim himself?
Wow. I knew I had something with Lawrence Block after I read the Grifter's Game a few years ago but I had no idea he was capable of something like this. Block really dished out the red herrings in this one. I picked out the killer out of the list of three suspects at the very beginning but Block kept tricking me into changing my mind. Crafty bastard. Scudder continues to develop as a character; he's opposed to murder but not opposed to picking a dead man's pockets. The victims were all well drawn, not cardboard cutouts. Scudder's friendship with Trina grew and his relationship with his estranged wife and kids continued on its course.
If you like noir, look no further. The Matthew Scudder series has what you need.
Wow. I knew I had something with Lawrence Block after I read the Grifter's Game a few years ago but I had no idea he was capable of something like this. Block really dished out the red herrings in this one. I picked out the killer out of the list of three suspects at the very beginning but Block kept tricking me into changing my mind. Crafty bastard. Scudder continues to develop as a character; he's opposed to murder but not opposed to picking a dead man's pockets. The victims were all well drawn, not cardboard cutouts. Scudder's friendship with Trina grew and his relationship with his estranged wife and kids continued on its course.
If you like noir, look no further. The Matthew Scudder series has what you need.
April 24, 2021
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
From The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot
For “tea” substitute “bourbon and coffee” Re: Matt Scudder.
Matthew Scudder stopped being a cop and husband after a stray bullet from his gun killed a little girl. Though he says he has no beliefs, he tithes on every dollar he makes as an unlicensed P. I. And in this one he’s reading The Lives of the Saints and alternating between sitting in bars sipping coffee with more and more bourbon or sitting in the back of churches “just thinking” as ways to deal with his guilt/despair.
This is my third Scudder mystery and I liked it a lot, but less than A Million Ways to Die (#5), which is terrific, and Sins of the Fathers (#1). It’s pretty complex, though, in many ways. The tale opens with stoolie Jake "The Spinner" Jablon asking Scudder to hold on to a sealed envelope, which he is not to open unless Jablon is found dead. Which happens. The note has it that The Spinner has woven a web of blackmail for three different bad guys: A former prostitute now married to a rich guy; a wealthy father who protects his bad, reckless-driving, man-slaughtering, ex-drug-addict son, and a (former?!) pedophile who wants to be Governor of New York.
Spinner left Scudder with the goods on all three of the baddies, He’s also left $3K for Scudder, asking him to continue the blackmail, if he wants, but to (especially) punish the perpetrators. Scudder, being the decent guy he is, elects to 1) pretend he is continuing the blackmail schemes and 2) find out whodunnit. And he does, instead of just taking the $3K. And endangers his life in the process.
What I like is all the ambiguity. Well, some of the ambiguity; he should have just turned in the pedophile. Scudder’s drinking is getting worse. He is a guy who kills people who may not actually have deserved it and yet still wants to do the right things, which is something that is also true of each of the three people he encounters, one of whom committed The Spinner murder. All the people being blackmailed are less than admirable, and yet they have some admirable or sympathetic qualities. Complicated.
The images for ambiguity or light/dark struggles include bars/churches, Bourbon/coffee, attraction/revulsion. We all are both good and bad, Block seems to be saying. I say 3.5 for this one, rounded up, but it is better than the average mystery, and I am already listening to the next one, so I’m in.
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
From The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot
For “tea” substitute “bourbon and coffee” Re: Matt Scudder.
Matthew Scudder stopped being a cop and husband after a stray bullet from his gun killed a little girl. Though he says he has no beliefs, he tithes on every dollar he makes as an unlicensed P. I. And in this one he’s reading The Lives of the Saints and alternating between sitting in bars sipping coffee with more and more bourbon or sitting in the back of churches “just thinking” as ways to deal with his guilt/despair.
This is my third Scudder mystery and I liked it a lot, but less than A Million Ways to Die (#5), which is terrific, and Sins of the Fathers (#1). It’s pretty complex, though, in many ways. The tale opens with stoolie Jake "The Spinner" Jablon asking Scudder to hold on to a sealed envelope, which he is not to open unless Jablon is found dead. Which happens. The note has it that The Spinner has woven a web of blackmail for three different bad guys: A former prostitute now married to a rich guy; a wealthy father who protects his bad, reckless-driving, man-slaughtering, ex-drug-addict son, and a (former?!) pedophile who wants to be Governor of New York.
Spinner left Scudder with the goods on all three of the baddies, He’s also left $3K for Scudder, asking him to continue the blackmail, if he wants, but to (especially) punish the perpetrators. Scudder, being the decent guy he is, elects to 1) pretend he is continuing the blackmail schemes and 2) find out whodunnit. And he does, instead of just taking the $3K. And endangers his life in the process.
What I like is all the ambiguity. Well, some of the ambiguity; he should have just turned in the pedophile. Scudder’s drinking is getting worse. He is a guy who kills people who may not actually have deserved it and yet still wants to do the right things, which is something that is also true of each of the three people he encounters, one of whom committed The Spinner murder. All the people being blackmailed are less than admirable, and yet they have some admirable or sympathetic qualities. Complicated.
The images for ambiguity or light/dark struggles include bars/churches, Bourbon/coffee, attraction/revulsion. We all are both good and bad, Block seems to be saying. I say 3.5 for this one, rounded up, but it is better than the average mystery, and I am already listening to the next one, so I’m in.
September 2, 2012
Ahhh, Scudder...I have a bone to pick with you. Why you wanna hurt me so bad?
More on that in just a bit, first just a little note on the numbering of these early Scudder books. Feel free to skip this paragraph which cuts right to the nerd in me. I tend to be a tad OCD when I take on any series, and always want to read them in order. Goodreads has this book listed as #2 which turns out to be correct. In the afterword Block explains that Time to Murder and Create is the second Scudder book he wrote, but it was the third to be published. If I had been going by another source (like the Great and Terrible Wikipedia), I would have read In the Midst of Death second (when it's actually third). OCD, I know, I know, considering all the books were written very close together in the same year and don't spoil each other in any way, but still. Now I know I've read the books in the order which the author intended. Somebody give this girl a cookie to make her shut up already.
On to the review. Time to Murder has all the good stuff I've already come to expect. First and foremost great, snappy dialogue that's sharp and sexy. There's no flowery language here, no overly complicated metaphors. Scudder's world is populated by New Yorkers who have seen more of the underbelly and bottom-feeding side of humanity than they care to recount. Blunt and direct is the catch of the day. That's not to say some wordplay is entirely absent. Scudder can be a cheeky bastard when he wants to be, especially when anyone is trying to put the squeeze on him. I like the way he talks to the ladies too, the ones he likes, and the ones he's wary of. Buy me a gin and tonic and light up my Marlboro, Matt, I'd shoot the shit with you til the bar closed any time. I'd even let you walk me home afterwards.
The mystery is a bit meatier this time around than the one introduced in Sins of the Fathers. Matt finds himself investigating three victims of blackmail who are desperate to keep their secrets. One of them has had enough and murders the blackmailer holding all the cards. That would be low-life Spinner Jablon, who ends up with his head caved in and his body dumped in the East River. Low-life though he may be, he was smart enough to leave all the juicy details to Scudder in a sealed envelope (which Scudder is not to open unless Spinner winds up in the morgue). When that day arrives, Scudder is on the case and uses himself as the bait. I love the unintended consequences that arise as Scudder quietly and diligently goes about his unconventional investigation. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems, and that goes double for Scudder's emotions and reactions.
Here's the thing: Scudder is no saint, nor does he pretend to be. But he's one of the good guys always trying to do the right thing, whatever that might be. It's not always clear though, especially if you're a live and let live kind of guy. Scudder doesn't suffer from a self-righteous arrogance, or a moral certainty of what's right and wrong. The only real crime in Scudder's books (that I can see so far) is murder. You can steal, lie, prostitute yourself, blackmail, extort, bribe, whatever, and he'll shrug and look the other way. It's your business. But intentionally with malice aforethought take the life of another human being? Not on his watch.
I like that. I like that even in this Scudder doesn't suffer from hubris:
I'm still with you though, Scudder. We just have a little making up to do.
More on that in just a bit, first just a little note on the numbering of these early Scudder books. Feel free to skip this paragraph which cuts right to the nerd in me. I tend to be a tad OCD when I take on any series, and always want to read them in order. Goodreads has this book listed as #2 which turns out to be correct. In the afterword Block explains that Time to Murder and Create is the second Scudder book he wrote, but it was the third to be published. If I had been going by another source (like the Great and Terrible Wikipedia), I would have read In the Midst of Death second (when it's actually third). OCD, I know, I know, considering all the books were written very close together in the same year and don't spoil each other in any way, but still. Now I know I've read the books in the order which the author intended. Somebody give this girl a cookie to make her shut up already.
On to the review. Time to Murder has all the good stuff I've already come to expect. First and foremost great, snappy dialogue that's sharp and sexy. There's no flowery language here, no overly complicated metaphors. Scudder's world is populated by New Yorkers who have seen more of the underbelly and bottom-feeding side of humanity than they care to recount. Blunt and direct is the catch of the day. That's not to say some wordplay is entirely absent. Scudder can be a cheeky bastard when he wants to be, especially when anyone is trying to put the squeeze on him. I like the way he talks to the ladies too, the ones he likes, and the ones he's wary of. Buy me a gin and tonic and light up my Marlboro, Matt, I'd shoot the shit with you til the bar closed any time. I'd even let you walk me home afterwards.
The mystery is a bit meatier this time around than the one introduced in Sins of the Fathers. Matt finds himself investigating three victims of blackmail who are desperate to keep their secrets. One of them has had enough and murders the blackmailer holding all the cards. That would be low-life Spinner Jablon, who ends up with his head caved in and his body dumped in the East River. Low-life though he may be, he was smart enough to leave all the juicy details to Scudder in a sealed envelope (which Scudder is not to open unless Spinner winds up in the morgue). When that day arrives, Scudder is on the case and uses himself as the bait. I love the unintended consequences that arise as Scudder quietly and diligently goes about his unconventional investigation. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems, and that goes double for Scudder's emotions and reactions.
Here's the thing: Scudder is no saint, nor does he pretend to be. But he's one of the good guys always trying to do the right thing, whatever that might be. It's not always clear though, especially if you're a live and let live kind of guy. Scudder doesn't suffer from a self-righteous arrogance, or a moral certainty of what's right and wrong. The only real crime in Scudder's books (that I can see so far) is murder. You can steal, lie, prostitute yourself, blackmail, extort, bribe, whatever, and he'll shrug and look the other way. It's your business. But intentionally with malice aforethought take the life of another human being? Not on his watch.
I like that. I like that even in this Scudder doesn't suffer from hubris:
"I don't know if human life is sacred. I just don't like murder, and that bothers me, and there's just one thing I'm going to do about it. I don't want to kill you, I don't want to expose you...I'm sick of playing an incompetent version of God."And that almost makes it okay for me to swallow the fact that
I'm still with you though, Scudder. We just have a little making up to do.
June 10, 2025
В тази част навлизаме по-дълбоко в света на Мат Скъдър. Научаваме защо е прегорял, напуснал е полицията и семейството си. Добиваме усет за това, как работи моралния му компас и за борбата, която всекидневно води с живота.
Дребен, но видимо позамогнал се мошеник се уговаря с него за услуга - ако един ден Скъдър узнае, че са го убили, трябва да отвори поверения му плик и да разобличи убиеца.
Заподозрените са трима, изнудвани с години от него - архитект, съпруга на богаташ и новоизгряваща политическа звезда. Кой от тях обаче е способен хладнокръвно да нареди или да извърши убийство?
Моята оценка 3,5*.
Дребен, но видимо позамогнал се мошеник се уговаря с него за услуга - ако един ден Скъдър узнае, че са го убили, трябва да отвори поверения му плик и да разобличи убиеца.
Заподозрените са трима, изнудвани с години от него - архитект, съпруга на богаташ и новоизгряваща политическа звезда. Кой от тях обаче е способен хладнокръвно да нареди или да извърши убийство?
Моята оценка 3,5*.
February 10, 2014
Oh Scudder, Scudder, Scudder. Other than learning that you do not, in fact, vote, my literary crush on you knows no bounds. With one-liners like
and
I, in fact, find you downright irresistible.
Since some pretty kick-ass reviewers have tackled this the second-written of Block's Matthew Scudder stories (see Trudi, Carol, Kemper, and Dan's reviews for starters), I decided that I could best contribute to the Scudder fandom by attempting to create a visual for the character described as (and, yes, the Watergate reference made me fall a little harder for Lawrence Block):
As I'm sure you can tell, I'm not exactly what you would call a "photoshop-wiz," but I mean, well, I tried...sort of.
Somebody put money in the jukebox, and Lesley Gore said it was her party and she would cry if she wanted to.
and
You don’t want people driving cars at you. It’s unhealthy.
I, in fact, find you downright irresistible.
Since some pretty kick-ass reviewers have tackled this the second-written of Block's Matthew Scudder stories (see Trudi, Carol, Kemper, and Dan's reviews for starters), I decided that I could best contribute to the Scudder fandom by attempting to create a visual for the character described as (and, yes, the Watergate reference made me fall a little harder for Lawrence Block):
A Marlboro man with eyes like Ehrlichman.
As I'm sure you can tell, I'm not exactly what you would call a "photoshop-wiz," but I mean, well, I tried...sort of.
January 12, 2020
3.5 stars. No dilly dallying here. Scudder gets straight to it, in what feels like a kind of shell game as Scudder seeks to pin the murder of a friend on one of three guilty parties by jumping into the fray and risking himself in order to expose them. I found the ending a bit of a let down. Partly because I figured out most of what was going on pretty early, and partly because it felt like Block kind of pulled the rest of it right out of thin air at the last minute. One thing becomes crystal clear here. In Scudder's world of 5000 shades of gray, he hates murder. He can tolerate just about any other sin, but once you've killed, even if only indirectly, you've crossed over a line that just can't be forgiven or forgotten until you've paid a price.
"I don’t know if human life is sacred. I just don’t like murder. And you’re in the process of getting away with murder, and that bothers me, and there’s just one thing I’m going to do about it. I don’t want to kill you, I don’t want to expose you, I don’t want to do any of those things. I’m sick of playing an incompetent version of God."
"I don’t know if human life is sacred. I just don’t like murder. And you’re in the process of getting away with murder, and that bothers me, and there’s just one thing I’m going to do about it. I don’t want to kill you, I don’t want to expose you, I don’t want to do any of those things. I’m sick of playing an incompetent version of God."
March 1, 2022
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 23, 2014
While I agree with Scudder that murder is worse than most other crimes & that Spinner, for all his faults, at least has never killed anyone & thus deserves better than being dumped in the river with a broken skull, let's be honest here - raping kids is pretty much as horrible & reprehensible as murder. This would've been a four-star book for me, but the fact that Scudder is willing to let Huysendahl off the hook basically because he says he's not into pedophilia all that much anymore does not sit well with me. It jars with my (admittedly limited) experience with what Scudder finds reasonable & with how he defines his morality. It reminds me a lot of why I was angry with Spero Lucas at the end of The Double. I'm not breaking up with Scudder or anything, but in the future, please let's have the pedophiles get more than just a slap on the wrist, shall we?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 11, 2016
8/10
Another stonking effort in this, my 3rd in the series…stupid audible! The plot synopsis was far more intriguing than the previous novels in the series and so it turned out as this story was my favourite to date.
"Spinner" Jablon entrusts Matt to do some investigating should he meet an untimely demise. Low and behold, he's required to look into things a little quicker than Jablon would have liked. Who would have thought that being a serial blackmailer would endanger oneself? There turns out to be three people to investigate and more red herrings than Agatha Christies back catalogue.
As in the previous novels it takes some good old fashioned detective work to get to the bottom of this mystery and a bit of hardcore drinking. I might try me this drinking coffee and whiskey malarkey, sounds like it just lets you drink for longer and be more alert whilst doing so.
The audiobook was the same as before, good but not great. The narrator does different voices to help distinguish characters and has a bit of a gravelly voice to add to the old school detective feel. I noticed that from here the narrators will vary going forward so not sure how that will go but keen to find out soon enough.
All in all a very good outing leaving me wanting more which is always a sign of a good series. If you're on the fence on trying this, jump off and get them.
Another stonking effort in this, my 3rd in the series…stupid audible! The plot synopsis was far more intriguing than the previous novels in the series and so it turned out as this story was my favourite to date.
"Spinner" Jablon entrusts Matt to do some investigating should he meet an untimely demise. Low and behold, he's required to look into things a little quicker than Jablon would have liked. Who would have thought that being a serial blackmailer would endanger oneself? There turns out to be three people to investigate and more red herrings than Agatha Christies back catalogue.
As in the previous novels it takes some good old fashioned detective work to get to the bottom of this mystery and a bit of hardcore drinking. I might try me this drinking coffee and whiskey malarkey, sounds like it just lets you drink for longer and be more alert whilst doing so.
The audiobook was the same as before, good but not great. The narrator does different voices to help distinguish characters and has a bit of a gravelly voice to add to the old school detective feel. I noticed that from here the narrators will vary going forward so not sure how that will go but keen to find out soon enough.
All in all a very good outing leaving me wanting more which is always a sign of a good series. If you're on the fence on trying this, jump off and get them.
March 1, 2025
Another well told story from Block, concerning his Matthew Scudder character. I've only read the first two books in this series thus far, but Block is far more concerned with character work and dialogue, than over the top action. Scudder is an interesting detective of sorts, with very different motivations than most of his literary contemporaries, and he's compulsively interesting to follow and read about. Block gives his character a lot of moral questions to consider, and puts a lot of weight on his shoulders. Very interested to see where he takes him from here.
August 12, 2024
Scudder's Choice
Review of the William Morrow eBook (October 13, 2009) of the original Dell paperback (1976).
Time to Murder and Create finds alcoholic ex-cop Matthew Scudder fulfilling a promise to a some-time colleague, the informer/blackmailer "Spinner" Jablon. Jablon entrusted Scudder with an envelope to be opened in the event of his death. It contains his blackmail material on three victims and a fee for Scudder. Accepting the assignment means finding the murderer and giving the other two a pass.
In order to find the culprit, Scudder adopts the persona of a blackmailer who has inherited Jablon's hoard and who plans to continue the squeeze. This makes him yet another potential target for the guilty one of the three desperate victims. But which one is it and will Scudder survive long enough to solve the case?
Front cover of the original 1976 Dell paperback edition. Image sourced from Goodreads.
This was again an excellent early outing for Block's anti-hero un-official investigator who has no licence and works on the basis of doing "favours" for cash. The descent into alcoholism continues with a steady intake of bourbon. This won't be relieved until several books into the series when Scudder goes to his first AA meeting. Remarkably he still manages to function, even though his instincts at times fail him, with others suffering the consequences.
Trivia and Links
I read a considerable number of Lawrence Block books in my pre-GR and pre-reviewing days. Probably 40 or so out of the 100+ that are available. That included all of the Matt Scudder books, several of the Bernie Rhodenbarrs, several of the Evan Tanners, several of the John Kellers, a dozen or so standalones and some of the memoirs. There were even a few of the earlier pulp novels which were originally published under pseudonyms. This re-read is a look back at some of those.
Lawrence Block (June 24, 1938 - ) considers himself retired these days, but still maintains an occasional newsletter with the latest issued in August 2024. He self-publishes some of his earlier works that have otherwise gone out of print, using his own LB Productions imprint.
Review of the William Morrow eBook (October 13, 2009) of the original Dell paperback (1976).
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create. - excerpt from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and Other Poems by T.S. Eliot.
Time to Murder and Create finds alcoholic ex-cop Matthew Scudder fulfilling a promise to a some-time colleague, the informer/blackmailer "Spinner" Jablon. Jablon entrusted Scudder with an envelope to be opened in the event of his death. It contains his blackmail material on three victims and a fee for Scudder. Accepting the assignment means finding the murderer and giving the other two a pass.
In order to find the culprit, Scudder adopts the persona of a blackmailer who has inherited Jablon's hoard and who plans to continue the squeeze. This makes him yet another potential target for the guilty one of the three desperate victims. But which one is it and will Scudder survive long enough to solve the case?
Front cover of the original 1976 Dell paperback edition. Image sourced from Goodreads.
This was again an excellent early outing for Block's anti-hero un-official investigator who has no licence and works on the basis of doing "favours" for cash. The descent into alcoholism continues with a steady intake of bourbon. This won't be relieved until several books into the series when Scudder goes to his first AA meeting. Remarkably he still manages to function, even though his instincts at times fail him, with others suffering the consequences.
Trivia and Links
I read a considerable number of Lawrence Block books in my pre-GR and pre-reviewing days. Probably 40 or so out of the 100+ that are available. That included all of the Matt Scudder books, several of the Bernie Rhodenbarrs, several of the Evan Tanners, several of the John Kellers, a dozen or so standalones and some of the memoirs. There were even a few of the earlier pulp novels which were originally published under pseudonyms. This re-read is a look back at some of those.
Lawrence Block (June 24, 1938 - ) considers himself retired these days, but still maintains an occasional newsletter with the latest issued in August 2024. He self-publishes some of his earlier works that have otherwise gone out of print, using his own LB Productions imprint.
January 7, 2013
Has the feel of Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye
Matt Scudder returns to investigate the death of a former acquaintance who has been murdered in the middle of a blackmail scam, the only difficulty is that there are three suspects "on the rope" and all three are equally reprehensible in their own way.
Again in this series the story is less about the investigation and more about the life choice of the detective, Scudder is a drunk who stumbles around New York in a manner highly reminiscent of Elliot Gould's take on Philip Marlowe, his moral compass the only thing guiding him through cases. Much as the ending of Robert Altman's movie features a "morally just" murder as an addition after the case is solved Matt Scudder takes the same "morally just" attitude towards closing this second case, only without the bloody corpse floating in a river.
Lawrence Block writes this stuff better than anyone else I know, his style is addictive to the point where I actively have to consider reading other writers in between hits. You might say that I take other novelists in the same way Scudder divides his drinks between liquor and coffee, I want more Block but I know that it's dangerous not to temper the effects by partaking of other, lesser substances.
The case as it is features some great red herrings that cause you to doubt your convictions as in his subtle way Block toys with his readers; Matt takes off on a two day bender, gets things wrong as much as he gets them right, earns and turns down fantastic sums of money, enters in to a knife fight without a knife, steals from a corpse, starts fights with cops and sleeps with two women. All in a weeks work and safe to say my favourite Scudder to date.
Matt Scudder returns to investigate the death of a former acquaintance who has been murdered in the middle of a blackmail scam, the only difficulty is that there are three suspects "on the rope" and all three are equally reprehensible in their own way.
Again in this series the story is less about the investigation and more about the life choice of the detective, Scudder is a drunk who stumbles around New York in a manner highly reminiscent of Elliot Gould's take on Philip Marlowe, his moral compass the only thing guiding him through cases. Much as the ending of Robert Altman's movie features a "morally just" murder as an addition after the case is solved Matt Scudder takes the same "morally just" attitude towards closing this second case, only without the bloody corpse floating in a river.
Lawrence Block writes this stuff better than anyone else I know, his style is addictive to the point where I actively have to consider reading other writers in between hits. You might say that I take other novelists in the same way Scudder divides his drinks between liquor and coffee, I want more Block but I know that it's dangerous not to temper the effects by partaking of other, lesser substances.
The case as it is features some great red herrings that cause you to doubt your convictions as in his subtle way Block toys with his readers; Matt takes off on a two day bender, gets things wrong as much as he gets them right, earns and turns down fantastic sums of money, enters in to a knife fight without a knife, steals from a corpse, starts fights with cops and sleeps with two women. All in a weeks work and safe to say my favourite Scudder to date.
October 14, 2024
The second Matt Scudder adventure begins with a former informer/con man named Spinner finding Matt at this favorite bar. Spinner wants to give Matt a thick envelope 'just in case' something happens to him. It seems wily Spinner came up with a new scheme-- blackmail-- and has three fish on his string. Someone recently tried to run him down and he suspects one of his fish has had just about enough. Well, Spinner buys it, and Matt opens the envelope.
All three fish have motive and means. One, an architect, bought his daughter out of trouble after she killed a young kid while driving stoned. The second, now rich socialite after marriage, used to be a prostitute and run scams on the West Coast. The third, a rich and up and coming politico with a taste for young boys. Spinner had the goods for sure in what he gave Matt, so Scudder comes up with a plan-- brace all three and then wait for someone to try to pick him off!
Not much of a plan, but Matt promised Spinner he would let the two who did not put a contract on his life off; extortion is one thing, murder is another in Matt's book. A fun a fast read delivered with trademark Block prose and pacing, Time to Murder and Create fleshes out Matt a bit more and the premise was intriguing. I did have some issues, however. . Overall, 3.5 stars, but rounding down for what is in the spoiler tag above.
All three fish have motive and means. One, an architect, bought his daughter out of trouble after she killed a young kid while driving stoned. The second, now rich socialite after marriage, used to be a prostitute and run scams on the West Coast. The third, a rich and up and coming politico with a taste for young boys. Spinner had the goods for sure in what he gave Matt, so Scudder comes up with a plan-- brace all three and then wait for someone to try to pick him off!
Not much of a plan, but Matt promised Spinner he would let the two who did not put a contract on his life off; extortion is one thing, murder is another in Matt's book. A fun a fast read delivered with trademark Block prose and pacing, Time to Murder and Create fleshes out Matt a bit more and the premise was intriguing. I did have some issues, however. . Overall, 3.5 stars, but rounding down for what is in the spoiler tag above.
February 7, 2019
Lesser Block which means it's still fairly good. Scudder must figure out which of three people being blackmailed killed his acquaintance, who was doing the blackmailing. This is a very quick read (I read it in one afternoon) and the mystery wasn't that hard to solve. Recommended to Block fans.
August 30, 2015
Onto part deux of the adventures of Matthew Scudder former policeman turned into and investigator of the non-legal variety. This one is about a former acquaintance of Scudder in his cop years. The Spinner was a petty crook and a blackmailer. And by the look at his wardrobe he was doing very well. Which was no excuse for anybody to kill him. Which brings us to the letter he left in Scudders possession which contains the information that probably has killed Spinner to gebin with.
Scudder now has an envelope with the information that Spinner was blackmailing three people: a former porn actress, a rich man who covered up his daughter's hit and run accident, and a pederast politician who might just be the next governor of New York. Scudder decides to do a little blackmailing himself. Can Scudder find out who killed the Spinner before he becomes a victim himself?
Once again a great moral tale about truths people rather not want to get known and go great lengths to hide or kill for it? Scudder is still drinking like a fish but still goes the extra mile to avenge his acquaintance from being fishfodder.
A great tale that is worth anybodies while that enjoys a good tale that is grounded into a nice morality tale.
Scudder now has an envelope with the information that Spinner was blackmailing three people: a former porn actress, a rich man who covered up his daughter's hit and run accident, and a pederast politician who might just be the next governor of New York. Scudder decides to do a little blackmailing himself. Can Scudder find out who killed the Spinner before he becomes a victim himself?
Once again a great moral tale about truths people rather not want to get known and go great lengths to hide or kill for it? Scudder is still drinking like a fish but still goes the extra mile to avenge his acquaintance from being fishfodder.
A great tale that is worth anybodies while that enjoys a good tale that is grounded into a nice morality tale.
April 12, 2015
Lawrence Block created a tremendous character in Mathew Scudder. Looking forward to reading more of this series. Very enjoyable and entertaining from start to finish!
August 15, 2011
Matt Scudder has been entrusted with an envelope following the death of blackmailer, Jacob “Spinner” Jablon. The contents of said envelope you ask? Oh, nothing crazy, just evidence that could ruin the lives of three New Yorkers. Basically, Spinner has posthumously asked Scudder to find out who killed him. The only catch is that one of the 3 that Spinner had wrapped around his finger intends to silence Scudder just like they silenced Spinner. It all comes down to if Matt’s mind can work fast enough to survive and deduce who killed Jablon.
I was hoping for something just as strong as The Sins of the Fathers and boy, oh boy, did I ever get what I wanted. Not only did Block add a bit of dry humour to Scudder and his encounters with the above mentioned 3 (a particularly hilarious line upon meeting Beverly Ethridge for the first time), he had my mind thrown all over the place as I consistently thought I had it all figured out.
Scudder is just such an awesome character. As I said in an earlier review, my love of “gray” anti-hero type characters has a great deal to do with why I love this series so much. I hate one dimensional good guys. Scudder has a past that he is constantly struggling with; the accidental death of a 7 year old girl when she inadvertently stumbled into a crime.
He says that he usually donates to the Catholic Church due to the fact that they’re always open, that they seem to work the hardest. I think he identifies with their strong association with personal grief and guilt. He has no problem with causing mental anguish to those involved in solving a case but when an unjustified killing takes place, his whole mind seems to shut down and if he’s not turning to booze, he’s sitting on a wooden bench inside a church.
Maybe I’m just looking too deep into the character but this is where I found my mind wandering when I put the book down.
Nevertheless, I have ridiculously high hopes for the rest of this series. As many have pointed out, apparently it only gets better from here on in; something that I’m extremely happy with.
I was hoping for something just as strong as The Sins of the Fathers and boy, oh boy, did I ever get what I wanted. Not only did Block add a bit of dry humour to Scudder and his encounters with the above mentioned 3 (a particularly hilarious line upon meeting Beverly Ethridge for the first time), he had my mind thrown all over the place as I consistently thought I had it all figured out.
Scudder is just such an awesome character. As I said in an earlier review, my love of “gray” anti-hero type characters has a great deal to do with why I love this series so much. I hate one dimensional good guys. Scudder has a past that he is constantly struggling with; the accidental death of a 7 year old girl when she inadvertently stumbled into a crime.
He says that he usually donates to the Catholic Church due to the fact that they’re always open, that they seem to work the hardest. I think he identifies with their strong association with personal grief and guilt. He has no problem with causing mental anguish to those involved in solving a case but when an unjustified killing takes place, his whole mind seems to shut down and if he’s not turning to booze, he’s sitting on a wooden bench inside a church.
Maybe I’m just looking too deep into the character but this is where I found my mind wandering when I put the book down.
Nevertheless, I have ridiculously high hopes for the rest of this series. As many have pointed out, apparently it only gets better from here on in; something that I’m extremely happy with.
January 13, 2012
I guess I should state that this is the second Matthew Scudder novel.
Sometime while reading the second half of this book today it dawned on me that Scudder is quite a bit like another character I came across recently. At first I couldn't remember which one, but I knew it was from one of the Hard Case novels I've devoured in the past three months. I thought maybe it was from an earlier Lawrence Block novel, but then it hit me, Scudder is a lot like Matt Cordell (I had to look this up just now, I have no memory of character names for the most part) from Ed McBain's 1958 novel The Gutter and the Grave. Now I'm looking at the names and I see two Matts, and I see two surnames with two syllables each and d sound at the end of the first syllable. I don't know if I'm on to anything, or if I'm just noticing something that maybe Block was upfront about, or if I'm just an idiot and really there are only so many ways to create an ex-New York's Finest who reluctantly solves crimes (but Cordell wasn't a cop he was a PI, actually the more I think about it there are quite a few differences, but there are quite a few similarities, too).
I didn't love this one as much as Sins of the Father, the first book in the series. Actually, I'm sort of lying. I liked it about as much, but what made me love the first book was the weird surprise revelation of Scudder's character towards the end of the novel, and well, I now know that part of his character and when something similar to the ending of the first novel happens in this one there wasn't really the awe inspiringness going on. It's sort of like when you first read someone's witty review, that is say written in the style of the book they just read or uses a particularly funny style of pictures and you think it's good and you vote on it, and then you see that the same thing is done again for the next book, and the one after that and the one after that and so on and so on, and you stop liking it and you realize that it's actually sort of annoying. This is kind of like that, but since it's only the second novel and there were lots of other things to enjoy about the novel it didn't bother me (this thing I'm talking about but not actually saying what it is), and I can imagine Block continuing to use this device or aspect of Scudder's character and still keeping his books fresh and enjoyable, unlike say a James Bond movie which is a whole franchise that I find unbearably tedious in it's cookie cutter plot. I really dislike those movies.
I'm not complaining though, I'm just trying to obtusely point out why I only gave this book four stars.
On to book three now.
Sometime while reading the second half of this book today it dawned on me that Scudder is quite a bit like another character I came across recently. At first I couldn't remember which one, but I knew it was from one of the Hard Case novels I've devoured in the past three months. I thought maybe it was from an earlier Lawrence Block novel, but then it hit me, Scudder is a lot like Matt Cordell (I had to look this up just now, I have no memory of character names for the most part) from Ed McBain's 1958 novel The Gutter and the Grave. Now I'm looking at the names and I see two Matts, and I see two surnames with two syllables each and d sound at the end of the first syllable. I don't know if I'm on to anything, or if I'm just noticing something that maybe Block was upfront about, or if I'm just an idiot and really there are only so many ways to create an ex-New York's Finest who reluctantly solves crimes (but Cordell wasn't a cop he was a PI, actually the more I think about it there are quite a few differences, but there are quite a few similarities, too).
I didn't love this one as much as Sins of the Father, the first book in the series. Actually, I'm sort of lying. I liked it about as much, but what made me love the first book was the weird surprise revelation of Scudder's character towards the end of the novel, and well, I now know that part of his character and when something similar to the ending of the first novel happens in this one there wasn't really the awe inspiringness going on. It's sort of like when you first read someone's witty review, that is say written in the style of the book they just read or uses a particularly funny style of pictures and you think it's good and you vote on it, and then you see that the same thing is done again for the next book, and the one after that and the one after that and so on and so on, and you stop liking it and you realize that it's actually sort of annoying. This is kind of like that, but since it's only the second novel and there were lots of other things to enjoy about the novel it didn't bother me (this thing I'm talking about but not actually saying what it is), and I can imagine Block continuing to use this device or aspect of Scudder's character and still keeping his books fresh and enjoyable, unlike say a James Bond movie which is a whole franchise that I find unbearably tedious in it's cookie cutter plot. I really dislike those movies.
I'm not complaining though, I'm just trying to obtusely point out why I only gave this book four stars.
On to book three now.
June 7, 2022
"Did you watch Watergate?"
"Not much."
"One of those pricks, one with a German name-"
"They all had German names, didn't they?"
"No, but there were two of them. Not Haldeman. The other one."
"Ehrlichman."
"That's the prick. Did you happen to see him? Did you notice his eyes? No depth to them."
"A Marlboro man with eyes like Ehrlichman."
"This isn't connected with Watergate or anything, is it, Matt?"
"Only in spirit."
Time to Murder and Create probably has my favorite title and favorite premise of the four of these books I've read so far. A middle-aged minor crook- or maybe he's more like a stool pigeon- everyone just calls The Spinner (because of his habit of spinning a silver dollar on the table while he talks to you) pays Matt Scudder to hold on to a mysterious envelope for him, to be opened only in the event of his death. When The Spinner turns up in the East River, Scudder opens the envelope (though he'd really rather not) to find that the man had been blackmailing three different New Yorkers with various things to lose, one of whom would seem to be responsible for The Spinner's murder. So Scudder takes the only obvious course of action- he visits each of them (each one turns out to be a pretty interesting character, especially an aspiring governor of New York with certain perverse appetites), convinces them that the blackmailing will continue and that he's going to be even more of a hard-ass about it than The Spinner was, then sits back and waits for one of the three to try to murder him. What could go wrong? Another very entertaining entry in the series.
August 25, 2017
Written in '76, we find Scudder approached by a small-time acquaintance, Spinner Jablon. Spinner, sporting a nice suit, appears to have moved up in the world. He asks Matt to hold on to an envelope for him, as he fears his life may be in danger.
The danger is that Spinner has moved into blackmail, and of his 3 fish on the line, one plans on erasing the blackmailer.
For $3000, Scudder is on retainer to open the envelope on Spinner's demise, and put things right.
A preposterous premise done right in a hard-boiled way, along with some deliciously devious bad people.
The danger is that Spinner has moved into blackmail, and of his 3 fish on the line, one plans on erasing the blackmailer.
For $3000, Scudder is on retainer to open the envelope on Spinner's demise, and put things right.
A preposterous premise done right in a hard-boiled way, along with some deliciously devious bad people.
Want to read
October 4, 2017This hardcover is numbered 239 of 300 and is signed by Lawrence Block and Jonathan Kellerman (introduction).
August 22, 2022
Jake Jablon is known as The Spinner because of his habit of spinning a silver dollar whenever he’s in somebody’s company. He’s also a low level criminal who Matt Scudder, in his days as an NYPD cop, picked up on a fairly regulator basis. But Jake always thought that Matt was square with him and so one day he turns up at Matt’s regular watering hole to ask for a favour: would he look after an envelope that is only to be opened upon Jake’s death? Some while later The Spinner is fished out of the East River and that moment has arrived.
It transpires that Jake had feared that his latest enterprise as a blackmailer might be his last and he’d filled the envelope with information that might just lead Scudder to the person responsible for his demise. He’d even enclosed payment for this enterprise. But if Matt chooses to follow through on this task it isn’t going to be easy, you see there are a number of candidates and Jake hadn’t been sure which was one going to turn out to be his personal Grim Reaper.
It’s a great setup, and Block milks it for all its worth. He’s perfectly at home in this tale of intrigue, deception, threats and violence. The dialogue is sharp and the characters he introduces us to are all perfectly formed. And there are twists aplenty as Matt, warming to the challenge, puts his own life at risk by taking up the challenge with a high risk plan.
I’m somewhere between a four star and a five star rating for this one but I’m going to the former as I know there are even better stories to come in this series. We will get to explore the mean streets and even meaner characters who inhabit the streets of New York City but more importantly we’ll begin to fully understand just who Matt Scudder – this brilliant creation of Block’s – is. I can’t wait to continue my re-visit to these books.
It transpires that Jake had feared that his latest enterprise as a blackmailer might be his last and he’d filled the envelope with information that might just lead Scudder to the person responsible for his demise. He’d even enclosed payment for this enterprise. But if Matt chooses to follow through on this task it isn’t going to be easy, you see there are a number of candidates and Jake hadn’t been sure which was one going to turn out to be his personal Grim Reaper.
It’s a great setup, and Block milks it for all its worth. He’s perfectly at home in this tale of intrigue, deception, threats and violence. The dialogue is sharp and the characters he introduces us to are all perfectly formed. And there are twists aplenty as Matt, warming to the challenge, puts his own life at risk by taking up the challenge with a high risk plan.
I’m somewhere between a four star and a five star rating for this one but I’m going to the former as I know there are even better stories to come in this series. We will get to explore the mean streets and even meaner characters who inhabit the streets of New York City but more importantly we’ll begin to fully understand just who Matt Scudder – this brilliant creation of Block’s – is. I can’t wait to continue my re-visit to these books.
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