Free Download | Even the Wicked: A Matthew Scudder Novel | Lawrence Block

 Matthew Scudder knows that justice is an elusive commodity in the big city, where a harmless man can be shot dead in a public place criminals fly free through holes in a tattered legal system. But now a vigilante is roaming among the millions, executing those he fees deserve to die. He calls himself "The Will of the People"--an ingenious serial killer who announces his specific murderous intentions to the media before carrying through on his threats. A child molester, a Mafia don, a violent anti-abortionist -- even the protected and untouchable are being ruthlessly erased by New York's latest celebrity avenger.

Scudder knows that no one is innocent -- but who among us has the right to play God? It is a question that will haunt the licensed p.i. on his journey through the bleak city grays, as he searches for the sanity in urban madness. . .and for a frighteningly efficient killer who can do the impossible.

This is far from the best of Lawrence Block's landmark Scudder series-too little action or suspense, too much domestic bliss--so I'll just use its publication as an excuse to introduce newcomers to some past glories. The best of them all is still When the Sacred Ginmill Closes, definitely on my short list of the 100 Best Mysteries. But close behind are such other Scudder classics as A Long Line of Dead Men, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, The Devil Knows You're Dead, Eight Million Ways to Die, In the Midst of Death, A Ticket to the Boneyard, and A Walk Among the Tombstones.

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Free Download | When the Sacred Ginmill Closes | Lawrence Block

"When the Sacred Ginmill Closes" is one of my favorite books ever. The way Block looks back and remembers things and doesn't remember things and the kind of perspective he puts all of it in is very close to home. It is one of those rare things in a book that really makes you feel like you have a kinship with the author. Lots of us have lived through not just a few booze soaked years. And sometimes it is natural to have, if not fond memories of these crazy times, then at least not a fatalistic view of them either. It is hard to say why some books are so important to some people, this is one of those.

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Free Download | In the Midst of Death | Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block is an excellent writer, and he is at his best with the grim streets of New York and bleak lives of many of its inhabitants. Matt Scudder is an ex-cop who quit the force after one of his shots went astray and killed a little girl. Now, he works as an investigator. In this story, Jerry Broadfield, a police officer, has blown the whistle on his fellow cops. Immediately, a prostitute charges him with extortion. He hires Scudder to investigate, but before Scudder can do much, the prostitute ends up dead in Broadfield's apartment. Scudder suspects a frame up, but proving it is difficult.

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Free Download | Time to Murder and Create | Lawrence Block, Jonathan Kellerman

The second in this series of 14 mysteries, soon to be 15, finds our unlikely hero Matthew Scudder further along on his trek to alcoholism, mixed up in unsavory mahem, and trying to get by day to day. It's an interesting case: A blackmailer posthumously hires Matt to determine which of his three pidgeons killed him. So the quasi-detective sets himself up as the blackmailer's replacement to entice the murderer to strike at him so he can solve the case. Matthew, because his mind is becoming benumbed by booze or maybe he just isn't a very good detective, bumbles this case every step of the way, and comes to a less than satisfactory conclusion -- the type of ending only Block has the nerve to create.

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Free Download | A Dance at the Slaughterhouse | Lawrence Block

Matt Scudder, the recovering alcoholic private eye from The Devil Knows You're Dead and A Ticket to the Boneyard, embarks on another descent into the nightmarish quarters of New York, this time to investigate the sex-for-sale industry. Hired by the brother of an heiress to investigate her rape and murder, Scudder tails her husband to a boxing match and notices another man whom he saw on video a few months earlier on a different case involving a snuff film. As Scudder calls on old friends for assistance and tours New York's dark physical and social landscapes, Block masterfully builds the pressure that leads Scudder to the violent resolution in this winner of the 1992 Edgar Award for best mystery novel.

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Free Download | The Devil Knows You're Dead | Lawrence Block

A deranged derelict, a crazed Vietnam vet, has been arrested for gunning down successful young lawyer Glenn Holtzmann at a corner phone booth on Eleventh Avenue -- and the suspect's brother wants p.i. Matthew Scudder to prove the madman innocent. But Scudder's curiosity and dedication are leading him to dark, unexplored places in his own heart...and to passions and secrets that could destroy everything be loves.

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Free Download | Even the Wicked: A Matthew Scudder Novel | Lawrence Block

Matthew Scudder knows that justice is an elusive commodity in the big city, where a harmless man can be shot dead in a public place criminals fly free through holes in a tattered legal system. But now a vigilante is roaming among the millions, executing those he fees deserve to die. He calls himself "The Will of the People"--an ingenious serial killer who announces his specific murderous intentions to the media before carrying through on his threats. A child molester, a Mafia don, a violent anti-abortionist -- even the protected and untouchable are being ruthlessly erased by New York's latest celebrity avenger.

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Free Download | Out on the Cutting Edge: A Matthew Scudder Crime Novel | Lawrence Block

In NYC there are the Lambs, the Friars, and the Players. Maurice Jenkins-Lloyd, a member of one of the organizations and known to Matt Scudder through their shared fate of alcoholism, died of a ruptured esophagus. At this stage Scudder attends AA and has handed in his police badge and functions as an unlicensed PI. He is looking for Paula Hoeldtke. Paula is from Muncie, Indiana. She attended Ball State, majoring in theater. The theater was an excuse for her to go to NYC. Unfortunately she has been missing for more than two months and her father has contacted Scudder to try to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

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Free Download | The Sins of the Fathers | Lawrence Block

The first thing that jarred me about this character--and immediately gave him depth--was that Scudder tithed 10% of his fee. Crime fiction that I am familiar with tends to be somewhat secular. I know there are PI series out there with priests and whatnot; I just haven't read them. And for a PI, down on his luck, divorced, with two boys he seems not to know what to do with, semi-alcoholic, who lives in a hotel, to give up 10% of his hard-earned cash is something remarkable. And he does it more than once. It's one of the neatest aspects of Scudder, that he knows there is a God and that he, Scudder, strayed though he is, is one of the sheep.

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Free Download | The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams | Lawrence Block

Bernie Rhodenbarr is actually trying to earn an honest living. It's been an entire year since he's entered anyone's abode illegally to help himself to their valuables. But now an unscrupulous landlord's threat to increase Bernie's rent by 1,000% is driving the bookseller and reformed burglar back to a life of crime -- though, in all fairness, it's a very short trip. And when the cops wrongly accuse him of stealing a priceless collection of baseball cards, Bernie's stuck with a worthless alibi since he was busy burgling a different apartment at the time . . . one that happened to contain a dead body locked inside a bathroom.

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Free Download | The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling | Lawrence Block

Bernie Rhodenbarr has gone legit -- almost -- as the new owner of a used bookstore in New York's Greenwich Village. Of course, dusty old tomes don't always turn a profit, so to make ends meet, Bernie's forced, on occasion, to indulge in his previous occupation: burglary. Besides which, he likes it. Now a collector is offering Bernie an opportunity to combine his twin passions by stealing a very rare and very bad book-length poem from a rich man's library. The heist goes off without a hitch. The delivery of the ill-gotten volume, however, is a different story. Drugged by the client's female go-between, Bernie wakes up in her apartment to find the book gone, the lady dead, a smoking gun in his hand, and the cops at the door. And suddenly he's got to extricate himself from a rather sticky real-life murder mystery and find a killer -- before he's booked for Murder One.

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Free Download | A Stab in the Dark | Lawrence Block

In this fourth novel of the Matt Scudder series, Scudder is hired to investigate the murder of a young woman that happened nine years ago. The police assumed that the Icepick Prowler, a serial killer, had murdered her, but they recently caught him, and he confessed to all the other murders, but swore he did not do this one. Although the murder showed the characteristics of the Icepick Prowler's work, Scudder notes enough differences to make him think that a copycat killer did it and is still loose. This leads us on Scudder's plodding, careful investigation through streets (and bars) of New York. It's a gritty picture, but the author gives us clues that help to identify the killer. Otherwise, it's a surprise. Block's writing is outstanding, and his descriptions of the dark streets and alleys of New York are priceless. This is a great book to keep your attention on a long flight.

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Free Download | Some Days You Get the Bear | Lawrence Block

"Some Days You Get the Bear," is one of Lawrence Blocks short story collections. It's the third of four. Collections such as these are difficult to tae 1-5 because each of them in the collection is different from the others. I enjoyed some more than others; and there was one or two I didn't enjoy at all. Characters we are familiar with from Blocks novels are here in the collection. Here we find Bernie Rhodenbarr, burglar and bookseller from the series of books that feature the person by that name. This time Bernie is hired to break into Graceland and hunt down the Elvis. Martin Ehrengraf, a lawyer who never loses a case is here, too. Ehrengraf does not have a series of his own but is featured in Blocks fourth collection of short stories. Matthew Scudder, Block's award winning detective is in at least two short stories. Scudder, as Block fans will recall, has is own series of more than a dozen novels. Hit Man Keller, the assassin for hire has an entry here ass well. All in all "Some Days You Get the Bear," is good reading and a must for Block enthusiasts.

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Free Download | The Burglar in the Closet | Lawrence Block

It's hard to ignore someone with his hands in your mouth. Bernie Rhodenbarr's all ears when Dr. Sheldrake, his dentist, starts complaining about his detestable, soon-to-be-ex wife, and happens to mention the valuable diamonds she keeps lying around the apartment. Since Bernie's been known to supplement his income as a bookstore owner with the not-so-occasional bout of high-rise burglary, a couple of nights later he's in the Sheldrake apartment with larceny on his mind -- and has to duck into a closet when the lady of the house makes an unexpected entrance. Unfortunately he's still there when an unseen assailant does Mrs. Sheldrake in . . . and then vanishes with the jewels.

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Free Download | The Burglar in the Library | Lawrence Block

Bookseller and New-Yorker-to-the-bone, Bernie Rhodenbarr rarely ventures out of Manhattan, but he's excited about the romantic getaway he has planned for himself and current lady love Lettice at the Cuttleford House, a remote upstate b&b. Unfortunately, Lettice has a prior engagement—she's getting married . . . and not to Bernie—so he decides to take best buddy Carolyn instead. A restful respite from the big city's bustle would be too good to waste. Besides, there's a very valuable first edition shelved in the Cuttleford's library that Bernie's just itching to get his hands on. Did we neglect to mention that Bernie's a burglar?

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Free Download | The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian | Lawrence Block

It's not that used bookstore owner and part-time burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr believes the less legal of his two professions is particularly ethical. (It is, however, a rush, and he is very good at it.) He just thinks it's unfair to face a prison term for his legitimate activities. After appraising the worth of a rich man's library -- conveniently leaving his fingerprints everywhere in the process -- Bernie finds he's the cops' prime suspect when his client is murdered.

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Free Download | The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart | Lawrence Block

Bookseller Bernie Rhodenbarr's in love—with an exotic Eastern European beauty who shares his obsession with Humphrey Bogart movies. He's in heaven, munching popcorn with his new amour every night at a Bogart Film Festival—until their Casablanca-esque idyll is cut short by his other secret passion: burglary. When he's hired to pilfer a portfolio of valuable documents from a Park Avenue apartment, Bernie can hardly refuse. But the occupant's early return forces Bernie to flee empty-handed—and he soon finds himself implicated in a murder. Before you can say "who stole the strawberries?" he's hunting for a killer, up to his neck in the outrageous intrigues of a tiny Balkan nation . . . and menaced by more sinister fat men and unsavory toadies than the great Bogie himself butted heads with in pursuit of that darn bird!

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Free Download | A Ticket To The Boneyard | Lawrence Block Novel

Twelve years ago, Matthew Scudder lied to a jury to put James Leo Motley behind bars. Now the ingenious psychopath is free. And the alcoholic ex-cop-turned-p.i. must pay dearly for his sins. Friends and former lovers -- even strangers unfortunate enough to share Scudder's name -- are turning up dead. Because a vengeful maniac is determined not to rest until he's driven his nemesis back to the bottle...and then to the boneyard. In A Ticket to the Boneyard Matthew Scudder is a former New York detective who left because he had a drinking problem. He is involved with a hooker called Elaine. They get into some trouble because of a man Elaine was involved with, James Leo Motley. Parts of the book explain the problems and results in drinking. It also describes the difficulty the main character, Matt, deals with the problem of drinking. Motley was not a normal customer of Elaine; he was new but caused trouble. The story starts out telling the life story about Matt and how he got involved with the hooker, Elaine and the man she was in trouble with. Then it goes to tell how Motley was put in jail, but before he can go he vows to revenge the man who puts him in jail. Motley was in for a number of years and yet he still remembers his vow. His vengeance toward the man who put him into jail encourages him to harm innocent people. The whole book is talks about how Matt and Elaine are scared of Motley and searching for him. Most of the time Matt is plays detective to find Motley and to protect Elaine from any danger from Motley. Although Matt is not a detective anymore he uses some of the skills he acquired and he goes searching around the city of New York for Motley after he got out of jail.

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Free Download | Even the Wicked: A Matthew Scudder | Lawrence Block

Matthew Scudder knows that justice is an elusive commodity in the big city, where a harmless man can be shot dead in a public place criminals fly free through holes in a tattered legal system. But now a vigilante is roaming among the millions, executing those he fees deserve to die. He calls himself "The Will of the People"--an ingenious serial killer who announces his specific murderous intentions to the media before carrying through on his threats. A child molester, a Mafia don, a violent anti-abortionist -- even the protected and untouchable are being ruthlessly erased by New York's latest celebrity avenger. Scudder knows that no one is innocent -- but who among us has the right to play God? It is a question that will haunt the licensed p.i. on his journey through the bleak city grays, as he searches for the sanity in urban madness. . .and for a frighteningly efficient killer who can do the impossible.

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Free Download | Out on the Cutting Edge | Lawrence Block Novel

In NYC there are the Lambs, the Friars, and the Players. Maurice Jenkins-Lloyd, a member of one of the organizations and known to Matt Scudder through their shared fate of alcoholism, died of a ruptured esophagus. At this stage Scudder attends AA and has handed in his police badge and functions as an unlicensed PI. He is looking for Paula Hoeldtke. Paula is from Muncie, Indiana. She attended Ball State, majoring in theater. The theater was an excuse for her to go to NYC. Unfortunately she has been missing for more than two months and her father has contacted Scudder to try to solve the mystery of her disappearance. Joe Durkin, Scudder's police contact, calls the hospitals for him. It is discovered that Paula moved out of her residence without telling the landlady. It seems that Paula had not held membership in any of the unions or clubs for actors, but by fine-combing the two theater programs featuring her, Scudder develops some leads to pursue in the search. Paula's last place of employment had been the Druid's Castle, an English-style pub. When a man from AA, Eddie dies, Matt Scudder arranges to meet one of the local tough guys, Mick Ballou. He finds out that Eddie had been friends with Mick's brother Dennis, a victim of the War in Vietnam.

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