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REVIEWS Named to PW Book Life's Best Mysteries & Thrillers list for 2005! It's either remarkable and revealing, or the result of delusion,
when you already have one of your "best books of the year" picked
out by March. But Lawrence Block's All The Flowers Are Dying,
his 16th novel starring New York City private eye Matthew Scudder,
isn't one of those unobtrusive works that waits patiently to be
measured and appreciated against its fellows. Instead, it's a
muscular zenith piece, featuring some sharp insights into the darker
side of the human condition, that sprints out immediately to the
front of the pack. All the Flowers Are Dying is also a
bouquet of roses tossed to readers of literary mystery novels,
because it's written with a flourish that shows Block as a master
and commander of the English language. Unlike mythic heroes who can slap aside whichever laws of nature
slow them down, Lawrence Block's private eye, Matthew Scudder, is
mortality's slave, a philosophical New Yorker who celebrates the
life of the city with every breath he takes in -- and broods over
its death with every sigh he lets out. Scudder is back after a
four-year absence... more melancholy and more endearing than ever.
Some of his troubles are strictly personal. Now in his mid-60's, he
frets about the memory lapses and physical frailties that go with
the territory ("I hate feeling helpless and useless and out of the
loop"). And the loss of good friends has him prowling old
neighborhood hangouts, hoping to catch a glimpse of a ghost. But
some of his melancholia is rooted in a persistent sense of loss for
the World Trade Center, which he and his wife, Elaine, could see
from their Midtown apartment. The view still draws him, but "the
towers were still absent, even as more gaps seemed to be forming in
my own personal skyline." [Block is] just too damn readable, not to mention addictive.
Scudder proves to be as tough and resilient as ever when faced
with the slickest, sickest killer to ever test his mettle [and]
whose ingenuity, daring and pure viciousness sear the pages. [B]rilliant
twists and a thrilling, satisfying concoction brewed by a master
storyteller in top form. Block's extraordinary skill as a writer is evident in the way he
brings together the different parts of his plot into one
electrifying whole. He spins his story with such cunning ability
that you can't help being drawn into his web. The suspense is acute
enough to make you hold your breath. Combine that with a hero for
the ages and a villain to match,
and Block has given us yet another triumphant entry in this fine and
memorable series. Have you had moments, while reading a really good book, when the
suspense is so intense, so unbearable, that you lose a little
control of your eyes? When they won't stay on the line you're
reading but flit to the next paragraph, to the bottom of the page,
to the next page, against your will, so that you have to force
yourself, with serious willpower, to go back to the sentence you
were reading in order to do it properly and follow events in their
proper sequence? Well, that just happened tome while reading "All
the Flowers Are Dying". [F]or nighthawk readers, who like their streets mean and their
characters down and gritty.... 9/11 has put Scudder and New York out
on the cutting edge again. [One of] the best this year, the wit and thoughtfulness of which
make one feel better about how much one enjoyed the (very) grisly bits. This one is the literary equivalent of a Napoleon, with layers
and layers of plot both sweet and crisp, all layered with a
chocolate sauce of extremely skillful writing and trimmed with
characters we know and like. Anyone got a fork? Block is absolutely masterful in building up and sustaining the
tension and suspense [which is] simply palpable, heart pounding and
nerve-racking. Site contents copyright
2006 Lawrence Block
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