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Eight Million Ways to Die: A Matthew Scudder Novel Audiobook
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(4.00) - 2,116 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Battling the bottle one day at a time, ex-cop, sometime PI Matthew Scudder finds that next to staying sober, staying alive seems easy. But in the mean streets of New York City it never is. Not for the prostitute who wanted out and got her beautiful self slashed to ribbons. Not for a pimp named Chance who is betting his life that the broken-down detective can find her murderer. And not for Matthew Scudder—just trying to stay alive in a city that knows nothing better than how to die.
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"The actual murder mystery takes second place to Scudder's struggle with the bottle in 8 Million Ways to Die. When I realized that I was 60 pages in and the murder hadn't been committed yet I knew I was going to like this book. I look forward to reading the earlier books in the series to get more of Matthew Scudder's back story, but I enjoyed the way Lawrence Block lets us truly get inside his character's head, and live his problems along with him. If you like your mysteries with lots of characterization and good dialogue, then the Matthew Scudder series is for you. It's not lighthearted by any means, but it's a poetic darkness."
— Mark (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Superb…An exceptional novel…Remarkably rich in plot, character development, and crackling dialogue.”
— San Diego Union-Tribune -
“Block’s latest novel is both a rousing private-eye story and an extended meditation on the whimsical ways of death—through freak accident, premeditated murder, and self-destruction…A magnificently plotted, sensitive portrayal of two kinds of death—the kind that comes as an intruder and the kind that comes as an invited guest.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“Lawrence Block writes a tight story. Not a lot of chaff. Scudder stumbles, Scudder falls, Scudder makes mistakes. He’s everyman trying to solve a murder. He is tenacious, amassing clues until he finally figures it out. Once a police officer, Matthew Scudder is a student of police procedure, and finding murderers as a PI (but not really a private detective; he has no license) is the same as finding them as a cop. Without the badge.”
— Voices.Yahoo.com -
“By the end of the last [track], you can’t imagine anyone else impersonating Scudder.”
— AudioFile
Awards
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Winner of the 1983 Edgar Allan Poe Award
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Winner of the 1983 Shamus Award
Eight Million Ways to Die Listener Reviews
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" I loved this book. Matt Scudder always seems quite detached but he is starting to unravel because he had excepted that he is an alcoholic. The last photograph was very powerful. I could not recommend this more. "
— Keiran, 2/9/2014 -
" The first Block / Scudder book I read, and I've been hooked since. Superb. "
— Charles, 2/5/2014 -
" I loved all Block's Scudder books. "
— Marni, 1/26/2014 -
" A "Matthew Scudder" novel. This one has a few interesting characters but the mystery itself isn't difficult to solve and the ending is rather weak. "
— Mel, 1/26/2014 -
" This may be my favorite novel. I'll re-read it and some point and confirm this. "
— Bill, 1/13/2014 -
" I couldn't put it down until I got to the end, but the ending wasn't all that clever. However, it was actually the subplot that kept me turning pages. Skillful management of mystery itself and detective's personal journey. "
— Wendy, 1/11/2014 -
" Another Scudder mystery (see When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes). In this one, Scudder keeps remembering the old Naked City TV show epilogue: "There are eight million stories in the Naked City. this has been one of them." "
— Gary, 11/21/2013 -
" This book is R-rated, and I'm not sure I should have enjoyed it as much as I did. But the writing impressed me, and I like Matt Scudder. I am not going to go around recommending it though. "
— Alex, 10/21/2013 -
" Scudder looks for a killer of a prostitute he was helping. His alcoholic cravings are so real you feel his pain. Nice noir. "
— Carol, 8/28/2013 -
" The solution to the whodunit is an afterthought. It's not so much the plot that draws me in as it is the experiences Matt Scudder has while investigating. That said, I come back to read more books in the series because of his experiences with alcoholism. "
— Craig, 7/18/2013 -
" This novel, featuring Block's very dark character Matthew Scudder is filled with New York atmosphere and real bits of evidence that truth is trule stranger than fiction. Block can craft a good mystery novel without doubt but this tour of death in its weirdness is a masterpiece. "
— Peter, 7/13/2013 -
" Apparently this author has several respected mystery series. This series has a burned-out ex-NYC cop as the sleuth. I almost stopped reading it early on, but my interest grew. In general gritty, see-the-underbelly-of-a-city mysteries aren't my type, but this was good. I may read more of this series. "
— Sally, 6/1/2013 -
" Great descriptions of characters and locales in New York City as scenery in a well-told story. "
— Bruce, 4/20/2013 -
" Lawerence Block's Matt Scudder series is one of the greats in crime fiction. He belongs alongside the likes of Spenser, Travis McGee, and even Marlowe. This installment was intense and very moving. "
— Matt, 4/10/2013 -
" I actually teared up when Scudder last his last line in the book. I have begun my Scudder journey "
— Kathy, 3/17/2013 -
" Slow, lackluster, monotone and completely devoid of conflict. Only read this so-called mystery if you're in need of a sleep aide. "
— William, 12/25/2012 -
" Lawrence Block always provides a good read and this is one of them. "
— Ron, 12/13/2012 -
" This was my first introduction to the Matt Scudder series. I fell in love with him and had to read everything Lawrence Block wrote about him. He is one of my favorite characters of all time. His struggles with alcoholism while trying to find a killer is extrodinary. "
— Gina, 9/1/2012 -
" Best book in the series do far! "
— Arlene, 8/12/2012
About Lawrence Block
Lawrence Block is the recipient of a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and a New York Times bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series and dozens of short stories and articles. He has won multiple Edgar, and Shamus awards, two Falcon Awards from the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan, the Nero and Philip Marlowe Awards, the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of America, and many others. Aside from being a mystery writer, he has also written a number of episodes for television, including two episodes of the ESPN series Tilt; he also cowrote the screenplay for the film My Blueberry Nights, starring Norah Jones. Block currently lives in New York City with his wife, Lynne.