Synopses & Reviews
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.
Review
"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' and who includes a drama critic on his list of mobsters and child molesters." Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Even the Wicked is the My Dinner with Andre of mystery novels. Nearly all of it is talk, and nearly all of the talk is entertaining." Dick Lochte, Los Angeles Times Book Review
Review
"Block has developed a voice so sure and companionable...so sweetly grounded in daily life that you never doubt that all the wandering will pay off in a satisfying series of discoveries. As indeed it does in this most convincing tour of guilt and near redemption." Paul Skenazy, The Washington Post Book World
Review
"What is missing here is the violence, or the constant threat of it, that made Scudder's earlier appearances memorable. The ending, involving Scudder's streetwise sidekick TJ, is downright sentimental." Publishers Weekly
Review
"An ingenious whodunit that's also, in Block's recent manner, a provoking meditation on mortality with a particularly strong supporting role for the City of New York, which turns in its finest performance since Ellery Queen's Cat of Many Tails." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"From the epigraph Willa Cather's line, 'Even the wicked get worse than they deserve' to the last sentence, Block has graced mystery fans with another wonderfully textured Scudder novel." Thomas Gaughan, Booklist
Synopsis
The Block party continues with the spectacular repackaging of five of the best crime novels ever written, from "one of the surest, most distinctive voices in American fiction" (Martin Cruz Smith).
About the Author
Lawrence Block is one of the most widely recognized names in the mystery genre. He has been named a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America and is a four-time winner of the prestigious Edgar and Shamus Awards, as well as a recipient of prizes in France, Germany, and Japan. He received the Diamond Dagger from the British Crime Writers' Association—only the third American to be given this award. He is a prolific author, having written more than fifty books and numerous short stories, and is a devoted New Yorker and an enthusiastic global traveler.