From Publishers Weekly
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. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Reviews
Another powerful meditation on mortality in thriller’s clothing
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A thrilling, satisfying concotion brewed by a master storyteller in top form."
Bookreporter.com
"A welcome addition to the Scudder mythos."
New York Times Book Review
"Scudder is back after a four-year absence in All the Flowers Are Dying, more melancholy and more endearing than ever."
Buffalo News
"Block, as always, takes his readers on a wildly entertaining ride."
Buffalo News
"Block, as always, takes his readers on a wildly entertaining ride."
Los Angeles Times
"Block, who couldn’t write a dull scene even if he tried to, is in fine form here."
Bookreporter.com
"A welcome addition to the Scudder mythos."
Orlando Sentinel
"[Block] ratches up the suspense with breathtaking results as only a skilled, inventive and talented writer can do."
Book Description
In his sixteenth Matthew Scudder novel, All the Flowers Are Dying, New York Times bestselling author Lawrence Block takes the award-winning series to a new level of suspense and a new depth of characterization. Building on the critical and commercial success of Hope to Die, Block puts Scudder -- and the reader -- at the very edge of the abyss.
Scudder, a complex character who has grown and aged in real time, confronts the implacable challenge of mortality. But he must also tackle a determined, relentless, and icily inhuman adversary, perhaps the most unforgettable villain Block has ever created.
A man in a Virginia prison awaits execution for three hideous murders he swears, in the face of irrefutable evidence, he did not commit. A psychologist who claims to believe the convict spends hours with the man in his death row cell, and ultimately watches in the gallery as the lethal injection is administered. His work completed, the psychologist heads back to New York City to attend to unfinished business.
Meanwhile, Scudder has just agreed to investigate the ostensibly suspicious online lover of an acquaintance. It seems simple enough. At first. But when people start dying and the victims are increasingly closer to home, it becomes clear that a vicious killer is at work. And the final targets may be Matt and Elaine Scudder.
The suspense is breathtaking, the outcome never certain. A series that has garnered no end of awards -- the Edgar, the Shamus, the Philip Marlowe, the MalteseFalcon -- has ascended to a dizzying new height. With this novel, Lawrence Block, who recently received the Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement from the Crime Writers Association of the United Kingdom, is at the very top of his form.
About the Author
A Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, Lawrence Block is a four-time winner of the Edgar Allan Poe and Shamus Awards, as well as a recipient of prizes in France, Germany, and Japan. The author of more than fifty books and numerous short stories, he is a devout New Yorker who spends much of his time traveling.
All the Flowers Are Dying FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
For more than 30 years now, Lawrence Block has not only made his mark on bestseller lists but also earned numerous awards at home and abroad. The Mystery Writers of America named him a Grand Master, and he recently became only the third American writer in history to be honored with the Diamond Dagger award from the British Crime Writers. All the Flowers Are Dying finds Block at the top of his game -- and that's saying a lot!
Like his creator, Block's compelling P.I. Matthew Scudder is still going strong. Scudder may say he's retired, but that doesn't stop a fellow A.A. member from asking him for a favor. The woman is dating a man she met online -- a man she thinks she should be able to trust but somehow can't, a man whose insistence on secrecy is exciting but also a little bit scary. Retired or not, ex-cop and longtime investigator Scudder understands completely the importance of instinct; so he agrees to take on the job.
Meanwhile, in Virginia, miles from Scudder's home turf of New York City, a man visits a condemned prisoner on death row, gaining his trust by claiming to believe in his innocence, despite the overwhelming forensic evidence that has sealed the prisoner's fate. And once the execution is over, that man heads to the Big Apple to take care of unfinished business.ﾽ Suddenly the body count starts mounting. There's a cold-blooded killer on the loose who has too many connections to Scudder; and this killer seems determined not just to cut Scudder off from everything important in life but to retire him permanently. Sue Stone
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"A man in a Virginia prison awaits execution for three hideous murders he swears, in the face of irrefutable evidence, he did not commit. A psychologist who claims to believe the convict spends hours with the man in his death row cell, and ultimately watches in the gallery as the lethal injection is administered. Hsis work completed, the psychologist heads back to New York City to attend to unfinished business." Meanwhile, Matthew Scudder has just agreed to investigate the ostensibly suspicious online lover of an acquaintance. It seems simple enough. At first. But when people start dying and the victims are increasingly closer to home, it becomes clear that a vicious killer is at work. And the final targets may be Matt and Elaine Scudder.
FROM THE CRITICS
Marilyn Stasio - The New York Times
Although Scudder's hunt for the killer turns into a companionable tour of colorful neighborhoods, his thoughts on the city run deep and reflect real feelings about its humanity.
Publishers Weekly
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. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
No word on the plot of Block's next blockbuster, but the setting is the Big Apple. With a ten-city author tour. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
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."
Art & Photography
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