This fine entry in the Matt Scudder series provides some closure to the story line of Hope to Die (2001)—but at tremendous personal cost to the New York P.I. Scudder fans who expected to find some hard-boiled literary comfort food shortly after 9/11 should have known better. Block, who seems to pick up his various series characters only when he has something fresh and interesting to say about and through them, defied the genre's expectations by letting an inhuman killer get away at that novel's end. Scudder gets another shot at him here, but it's a "be careful what you wish for" situation for him and for his readers, who get plenty of chapters from the psycho's POV to help them get their hate on. As the harrowing tale unfolds, Block showcases an aging Scudder who, having emerged from his early days of drunken alienation both sober and centered, suddenly finds he has everything to lose at precisely the moment when he might have slipped too far past his prime to save the day. It's suspenseful, blood-soaked, and achingly good. -- Sennett, Frank (Reviewed 05-01-2008) (Booklist, vol 104, number , p)
/* Starred Review */ Matt Scudder, bestseller Block's extraordinary private detective, has been around for almost 30 years, and if his aging has been neither gentle nor graceful, it's certainly been eventful. In his stellar 16th outing (after 2001's Hope to Die ), the 60-something Scudder proves to be as tough and resilient as ever when faced with the slickest, sickest killer to ever test his mettle. Fans won't be surprised that the killer is linked to the unresolved murders of Hope to Die or that Elaine and Scudder may become the fiend's target. The narrative smoothly shifts between Scudder's point-of-view and the thoughts and actions of the killer, whose ingenuity, daring and pure viciousness sear the pages. Aware of the danger but without a clue to the person behind the threat, Scudder and Elaine are forced into a protective siege while Scudder uses all his skills to probe the mystery. Series fans will welcome the familiar characters and places that have become such an important part of Scudder's universe: TJ, Mick Ballou, Grogan's Bar, the AA meeting spots. Add them together with some brilliant twists and one gets a thrilling, satisfying concoction brewed by a master storyteller in top form. Agent, Daniel Baror at Baror International. (Mar. 1) FYI: MWA Grandmaster Block has won numerous Edgar and Shamus awards and recently began his first full-time job in 40 years as an executive story consultant on the ESPN series Tilt!, which debuted in January. --Staff (Reviewed February 14, 2005) (Publishers Weekly, vol 252, issue 7, p56)
In a Virginia prison, a man awaits execution for the torture and murder of three young boys, a crime he denies to the very end. After the execution, one of the witnesses—the sole person who knows the truth—heads back to Manhattan to attend to unfinished business. Meanwhile, ex-cop and investigator Matthew Scudder is semiretired, content with the fact that his toughest battles are now with his own sobriety. But the killing of his wife's best friend, along with a series of seemingly random murders, leads Scudder head-on into a confrontation with a killer he ran out of town years earlier. Are these crimes connected to the Virginia execution? Are Scudder and Elaine the next victims? In his 16th Matthew Scudder novel, the prolific Block offers another mesmerizing tale of psychological suspense. To the traditional elements of a crime mystery, Block adds the subject of aging, as Scudder faces his own mortality. Recommended for most crime fiction collections. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 11/1/04.]—Ken Bolton, Cornell Univ. Lib., Ithaca, NY --Ken Bolton (Reviewed March 15, 2005) (Library Journal, vol 130, issue 5, p78)
For Matthew Scudder's 16th case, and his first in three years, Block borrows the time-honored pattern of the sleuth whose hearth and home are menaced by a killer from his past.Like his friends, Scudder is watching the shadows thicken while he inches toward retirement. But first he takes an unofficial case for an acquaintance, checking out the bona fides of a suitor who's suspiciously secretive. Meantime, a man identifying himself as Yale psychiatrist Dr. Arne Bodinson drops into a Virginia prison to interview Preston Applewhite, who insists against all the evidence that he never saw the three boys he's been convicted of raping and killing. The portentous atmosphere hanging over the scenes between Bodinson and Applewhite is so thick that most readers will intuit the true relationship between the two men, but that's just the point: Block is less interested in springing surprises than in evoking the kind of dread of melodramatic threats that's only an inch from the abiding terror of death in all its shapes. Soon enough the shadowy killer strikes close to the hero, and from that point on it's war without quarter between Scudder, his wife Elaine, his assistant TJ, and the solicitous but not terribly helpful NYPD, and the killer, resurrected from Hope to Die (2001) for a return match.Another powerful meditation on mortality in thriller's clothing. As Scudder puts it, "There's always another funeral to go to. They're like buses." (Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2005)

http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/bookUI: 131759

Cataloging source: DLC

http://library.link/vocab/creatorName: Block, Lawrence

Dewey number: 813/.54

Index: no index present

LC call number: PS3552.L63

LC item number: A55 2005

Literary form: fiction

http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred: True

Series statement: Matthew Scudder mysteries. 16

Series volume: 0016

http://library.link/vocab/subjectName

Scudder, Matt (Fictitious character)
Private investigators
New York (N.Y.)
New York (N.Y.)
Private investigators
Scudder, Matt (Fictitious character)
New York (State)

Label: All the flowers are dying, Lawrence Block

Link: http://lawrenceblock.wordpress.com

Instantiates

trueAll the flowers are dying

Publication

New York, William Morrow, ©2005

Carrier category: volume

Carrier category code

Carrier MARC source: rdacarrier

Content category: text

Content type code

Content type MARC source: rdacontent

Control code: ocm56685098

Dimensions: 24 cm.

Edition: 1st ed.

Extent: 288 pages

Isbn: 9780060198312

Lccn: 2004053643

Media category: unmediated

Media MARC source: rdamedia

Media type code

Specific material designation: regular print

System control number: (OCoLC)56685098

Label: All the flowers are dying, Lawrence Block

Link: http://lawrenceblock.wordpress.com

Publication

Carrier category: volume

Carrier category code

Carrier MARC source: rdacarrier

Content category: text

Content type code

Content type MARC source: rdacontent

Control code: ocm56685098

Dimensions: 24 cm.

Edition: 1st ed.

Extent: 288 pages

Isbn: 9780060198312

Lccn: 2004053643

Media category: unmediated

Media MARC source: rdamedia

Media type code

Specific material designation: regular print

System control number: (OCoLC)56685098

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Reviews

Review

This fine entry in the Matt Scudder series provides some closure to the story line of Hope to Die (2001)—but at tremendous personal cost to the New York P.I. Scudder fans who expected to find some hard-boiled literary comfort food shortly after 9/11 should have known better. Block, who seems to pick up his various series characters only when he has something fresh and interesting to say about and through them, defied the genre's expectations by letting an inhuman killer get away at that novel's end. Scudder gets another shot at him here, but it's a "be careful what you wish for" situation for him and for his readers, who get plenty of chapters from the psycho's POV to help them get their hate on. As the harrowing tale unfolds, Block showcases an aging Scudder who, having emerged from his early days of drunken alienation both sober and centered, suddenly finds he has everything to lose at precisely the moment when he might have slipped too far past his prime to save the day. It's suspenseful, blood-soaked, and achingly good. -- Sennett, Frank (Reviewed 05-01-2008) (Booklist, vol 104, number , p)
Matt Scudder, bestseller Block's extraordinary private detective, has been around for almost 30 years, and if his aging has been neither gentle nor graceful, it's certainly been eventful. In his stellar 16th outing (after 2001's Hope to Die ), the 60-something Scudder proves to be as tough and resilient as ever when faced with the slickest, sickest killer to ever test his mettle. Fans won't be surprised that the killer is linked to the unresolved murders of Hope to Die or that Elaine and Scudder may become the fiend's target. The narrative smoothly shifts between Scudder's point-of-view and the thoughts and actions of the killer, whose ingenuity, daring and pure viciousness sear the pages. Aware of the danger but without a clue to the person behind the threat, Scudder and Elaine are forced into a protective siege while Scudder uses all his skills to probe the mystery. Series fans will welcome the familiar characters and places that have become such an important part of Scudder's universe: TJ, Mick Ballou, Grogan's Bar, the AA meeting spots. Add them together with some brilliant twists and one gets a thrilling, satisfying concoction brewed by a master storyteller in top form. Agent, Daniel Baror at Baror International. (Mar. 1) FYI: MWA Grandmaster Block has won numerous Edgar and Shamus awards and recently began his first full-time job in 40 years as an executive story consultant on the ESPN series Tilt!, which debuted in January. --Staff (Reviewed February 14, 2005) (Publishers Weekly, vol 252, issue 7, p56)
In a Virginia prison, a man awaits execution for the torture and murder of three young boys, a crime he denies to the very end. After the execution, one of the witnesses—the sole person who knows the truth—heads back to Manhattan to attend to unfinished business. Meanwhile, ex-cop and investigator Matthew Scudder is semiretired, content with the fact that his toughest battles are now with his own sobriety. But the killing of his wife's best friend, along with a series of seemingly random murders, leads Scudder head-on into a confrontation with a killer he ran out of town years earlier. Are these crimes connected to the Virginia execution? Are Scudder and Elaine the next victims? In his 16th Matthew Scudder novel, the prolific Block offers another mesmerizing tale of psychological suspense. To the traditional elements of a crime mystery, Block adds the subject of aging, as Scudder faces his own mortality. Recommended for most crime fiction collections. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 11/1/04.]—Ken Bolton, Cornell Univ. Lib., Ithaca, NY --Ken Bolton (Reviewed March 15, 2005) (Library Journal, vol 130, issue 5, p78)
For Matthew Scudder's 16th case, and his first in three years, Block borrows the time-honored pattern of the sleuth whose hearth and home are menaced by a killer from his past.Like his friends, Scudder is watching the shadows thicken while he inches toward retirement. But first he takes an unofficial case for an acquaintance, checking out the bona fides of a suitor who's suspiciously secretive. Meantime, a man identifying himself as Yale psychiatrist Dr. Arne Bodinson drops into a Virginia prison to interview Preston Applewhite, who insists against all the evidence that he never saw the three boys he's been convicted of raping and killing. The portentous atmosphere hanging over the scenes between Bodinson and Applewhite is so thick that most readers will intuit the true relationship between the two men, but that's just the point: Block is less interested in springing surprises than in evoking the kind of dread of melodramatic threats that's only an inch from the abiding terror of death in all its shapes. Soon enough the shadowy killer strikes close to the hero, and from that point on it's war without quarter between Scudder, his wife Elaine, his assistant TJ, and the solicitous but not terribly helpful NYPD, and the killer, resurrected from Hope to Die (2001) for a return match.Another powerful meditation on mortality in thriller's clothing. As Scudder puts it, "There's always another funeral to go to. They're like buses." (Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2005)

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Appeal Terms

Pace Pace is the rate at which a story unfolds for the reader.

Tone Tone is the feeling that a book evokes in the reader. In many cases, this category best answers the question, "What are you in the mood for?"

Writing style Writing style terms tell us how a book is written, from the complexity of the language to the level of the detail in the background.

Storyline Storyline is a quick way to determine a book's focus and structure

Character Only applied to fiction books, character appeal is especially for those readers who love books *because* of the characters.

Audio Characteristics of the audiobook (e.g. folksy, energetic, read by the author, etc.)

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Character Only applied to fiction books, character appeal is especially for those readers who love books because of the characters.