Praise for Lawrence Block

The New York Times Book Review

Notable Book of the Year 1997

MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA GRAND MASTER

LAWRENCE BLOCK

“THERE IS ONLY ONE WRITER OF MYSTERY AND DETECTIVE FICTION WHO COMES CLOSE TO REPLACING THE IRREPLACEABLE JOHN D. MACDONALD…THE WRITER IS LAWRENCE BLOCK.”

Stephen King

EVEN THE WICKED

“Block, a clever and extremely gifted author, playfully places Matthew Scudder at the center of three complicated cases…Like such legendary sleuths as Hercule Poirot or Nero Wolfe or even Sherlock Holmes, he must unmask the guilty by exercising brain over brawn…Block’s dialogues sing with slang and color and humor…And Scudder’s logical method of explaining the inexplicable is as satisfying as it is unique.”

Los Angeles Times

“Scudder’s most satisfying case in years…An ingenious whodunit that’s also a provoking meditation on morality.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Block’s story telling and plot-planning skills run at full speed. EVEN THE WICKED is no blood-and-guts detective story. It’s a skillfully crafted mystery that has an amazing cast of fascinating characters. Block’s characters have an emotional depth that always seems to lift his stories above those of other mystery writers…In the end, the reader will be left asking the same old question: ‘When’s the next Matthew Scudder novel coming out?’”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“There is a new Matt Scudder novel by Lawrence Block in the stores, and you have to go right for that.”

New York Daily News

“Like the best roller coasters, this one carries readers through a series of hills and valleys…Block cleverly and readably knits all the subplots neatly into one piece.”

Denver Post

“Lawrence Block is a master of crime fiction; the Matthew Scudder novels are among the finest detective novels penned this century.”

Jonathan Kellerman

“Block’s crime novels are embedded in the streets of New York City…It takes a writer like Lawrence Block to find the humor, the horror, and the only-in-New York absurdity of a vigilante serial killer who calls himself ‘the Will of the People’…The story has some sharp angles and the usual fancy footwork from our intrepid private eye.”

The New York Times Book Review

“Lawrence Block is the best writer working in the private eye genre today…Scudder is one of the most vivid characters in crime fiction…Block’s ear for dialogue and eye for New York life are as sharp as ever.”

Newark Star-Ledger

“Matthew Scudder will always be one of my favorite detectives.”

Orlando Sentinel

“Scudder doggedly pursues his investigations while offering readers more insights into his life and the evermore bizarre life of his city…Block has graced fans with another wonderfully textured Scudder novel.”

Booklist

“Scudder is tough…the quintessential New York hero…EVEN THE WICKED rings true to New Yorkers and those who wish they were.”

The New York Times

“Block’s writing is clean and muscular, with that rarity in his trade, high humor.”

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

“The plots [are] ingeniously intertwined . . Block’s ingenuity in finding new motives for crime is endless, his narration polished, his entertainment value high.”

Publishers Weekly

“Block dusts off the old ‘murder in a locked room’ gambit and brings it freshly up to date…Well done, Lawrence Block, well done.”

Maine Sunday Telegram