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Matthew Scudder #9
A Dance At The Slaughterhouse - A Matt Scudder Mystery
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
309 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
Lawrence Block
736 books2,847 followersLawrence Block has been writing crime, mystery, and suspense fiction for more than half a century. He has published in excess (oh, wretched excess!) of 100 books, and no end of short stories.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y., LB attended Antioch College, but left before completing his studies; school authorities advised him that they felt he’d be happier elsewhere, and he thought this was remarkably perceptive of them.
His earliest work, published pseudonymously in the late 1950s, was mostly in the field of midcentury erotica, an apprenticeship he shared with Donald E. Westlake and Robert Silverberg. The first time Lawrence Block’s name appeared in print was when his short story “You Can’t Lose” was published in the February 1958 issue of Manhunt. The first book published under his own name was Mona (1961); it was reissued several times over the years, once as Sweet Slow Death. In 2005 it became the first offering from Hard Case Crime, and bore for the first time LB’s original title, Grifter’s Game.
LB is best known for his series characters, including cop-turned-private investigator Matthew Scudder, gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, globe-trotting insomniac Evan Tanner, and introspective assassin Keller.
Because one name is never enough, LB has also published under pseudonyms including Jill Emerson, John Warren Wells, Lesley Evans, and Anne Campbell Clarke.
LB’s magazine appearances include American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Linn’s Stamp News, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and The New York Times. His monthly instructional column ran in Writer’s Digest for 14 years, and led to a string of books for writers, including the classics Telling Lies for Fun & Profit and The Liar’s Bible. He has also written episodic television (Tilt!) and the Wong Kar-wai film, My Blueberry Nights.
Several of LB’s books have been filmed. The latest, A Walk Among the Tombstones, stars Liam Neeson as Matthew Scudder and is scheduled for release in September, 2014.
LB is a Grand Master of Mystery Writers of America, and a past president of MWA and the Private Eye Writers of America. He has won the Edgar and Shamus awards four times each, and the Japanese Maltese Falcon award twice, as well as the Nero Wolfe and Philip Marlowe awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Diamond Dagger for Life Achievement from the Crime Writers Association (UK). He’s also been honored with the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award from Mystery Ink magazine and the Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement in the short story. In France, he has been proclaimed a Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice been awarded the Societe 813 trophy. He has been a guest of honor at Bouchercon and at book fairs and mystery festivals in France, Germany, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Taiwan. As if that were not enough, he was also presented with the key to the city of Muncie, Indiana. (But as soon as he left, they changed the locks.)
LB and his wife Lynne are enthusiastic New Yorkers and relentless world travelers; the two are members of the Travelers Century Club, and have visited around 160 countries.
He is a modest and humble fellow, although you would never guess as much from this biographical note.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 294 reviews
December 3, 2019
In this ninth volume of the series, detective Matt Scudder not only confronts an evil as absolute as any he has yet encountered, but is also forced to accept he is powerless to bring this evil to justice by any means he has yet permitted himself to use. Scudder faces a moral dilemma, and the way he resolves it is both cathartic and unsettling.
A brother, convinced his wealthy sister has been murdered by her husband, hires Scudder to collect the evidence to prove it. When Scudder follows the husband to a heavyweight bout in Maspeth, he sees something, a little gesture--a father and son at ringside, the father brushing the boy's hair from his eyes—that stirs his memory. Eventually Scudder remembers, and soon finds himself exploring a dark, merciless world filled with blackmail and murder, sadomasochistic sex and sudden death.
The usual characters are here—Joe Durkin, Elain Mardell, and Mick Ballou (this time in a crucial role).
A grim detective novel, but an extremely effective one.
August 27, 2016
A few years ago I was talking to somebody in my cube at work, and the name of the small town I grew up in came up. A woman who worked in the cube across the aisle from mine looked up and said that since I was from that town, that I must know of this other smaller town that was nearby. I laughed and replied that my relatives made up 80% of the population of that town. She asked if I was related to X. He was my second cousin. She was his ex-wife. We had worked across from each other for a year with no idea.
Weird little things like that happen all the time in real life, but if a writer incorporates coincidence into a mystery plot, the readers will generally turn up their nose and start booing. Somehow using an unlikely link to advance a story seems like a cheat even though they do happen. But Lawrence Block has never been afraid to throw some happenstance into his plots. One of the recurring things in his various books is that New York is really a small town, it just has a lot of people in it, and that paths cross and recross all the time.
A Dance At The Slaughterhouse has a couple of big coincidences driving the plot, and ordinarily I would be the first to shout “Foul! Foul!” and heap scorn on the author. However, in the context of Matt Scudder’s life, the weird twists of fate seem completely natural. And they help to create a great crime novel.
Richard Thurman and his wife supposedly interrupted a robbery. He was roughed up and knocked unconscious. She was raped and strangled. A lot of people, including the cops, think that Thurman may have arranged the murder, but there’s no proof. Her brother hires Matt to try and dig up something that would let the cops press the case against Thurman.
While trailing Thurman to a boxing match, Matt sees a man make a casual gesture in the crowd. It triggers the memory of a brutal S&M snuff film that Matt had come across and briefly investigated the previous summer. With little more than a hunch, Matt starts following a trail that leads to the kinkiest and most twisted villains you can imagine.
Along the way, we learn that Matt is now dating Elaine, the high priced call girl, but it’s not always easy having a hooker as your snuggle bunny. Matt’s friendship with the Irish gangster Mick Ballou has also grown to the point where the men trust each other with their deepest secrets. Matt also meets TJ, a young black street hustler with a knack for digging up information, and he’ll be another important player in future Scudder books.
What really makes this one memorable is the conclusion. The wrap-up is beyond shocking and surprised me again even reading this the second time. Nine books into the series, Block still refused to allow Scudder to become a safe and predictable character, and it makes for yet another stunning crime novel. This one won an Edgar Award for best mystery novel in 1992, and it damn well deserved it.
Weird little things like that happen all the time in real life, but if a writer incorporates coincidence into a mystery plot, the readers will generally turn up their nose and start booing. Somehow using an unlikely link to advance a story seems like a cheat even though they do happen. But Lawrence Block has never been afraid to throw some happenstance into his plots. One of the recurring things in his various books is that New York is really a small town, it just has a lot of people in it, and that paths cross and recross all the time.
A Dance At The Slaughterhouse has a couple of big coincidences driving the plot, and ordinarily I would be the first to shout “Foul! Foul!” and heap scorn on the author. However, in the context of Matt Scudder’s life, the weird twists of fate seem completely natural. And they help to create a great crime novel.
Richard Thurman and his wife supposedly interrupted a robbery. He was roughed up and knocked unconscious. She was raped and strangled. A lot of people, including the cops, think that Thurman may have arranged the murder, but there’s no proof. Her brother hires Matt to try and dig up something that would let the cops press the case against Thurman.
While trailing Thurman to a boxing match, Matt sees a man make a casual gesture in the crowd. It triggers the memory of a brutal S&M snuff film that Matt had come across and briefly investigated the previous summer. With little more than a hunch, Matt starts following a trail that leads to the kinkiest and most twisted villains you can imagine.
Along the way, we learn that Matt is now dating Elaine, the high priced call girl, but it’s not always easy having a hooker as your snuggle bunny. Matt’s friendship with the Irish gangster Mick Ballou has also grown to the point where the men trust each other with their deepest secrets. Matt also meets TJ, a young black street hustler with a knack for digging up information, and he’ll be another important player in future Scudder books.
What really makes this one memorable is the conclusion. The wrap-up is beyond shocking and surprised me again even reading this the second time. Nine books into the series, Block still refused to allow Scudder to become a safe and predictable character, and it makes for yet another stunning crime novel. This one won an Edgar Award for best mystery novel in 1992, and it damn well deserved it.
October 21, 2016
It goes against my OCD tendencies to read a book series out of order, but the Matt Scudder books aren’t easy to come by for me – so it was Eight Million Ways to Die (read about a million years ago), then The Sins of the Fathers and now this one – I read them as I get them. At least, I haven’t been reading the Dark Tower series out of order or the Game of Throne books.
I realize these are PI books and it isn’t that important to keep the order straight, jump in anywhere the water’s fine, but here Scudder has a cool, funny girl friend, a Irish mobster pal, a contact in the NYPD (this is a given for this genre and I believe the guy was in Sins of the Fathers), and assorted colorful pals that he can go to for bits of information.
And I missed it all!
Stop it, you big, sociopathic, cry-baby and get on with the review!!
*sigh*
As you wish.
Reading this book, a few elements rang true. First, I lived in New York City at the time this book was set and as Scudder wandered around Manhattan, it had a ghostly reality for me, bringing up places I vaguely remember and I time I can almost recall. Second, Scudder is a recovering alcoholic and I’ve known my share of them in my lifetime and Block is right on the money as he draws out Scudder’s continuing battle with the tendencies that drove him to drinking in the first place – all the while struggling to hold onto his sobriety dealing with a horrific case.
Given the scenario Block has created, it’s difficult to see how Scudder managed to stay on the wagon. His investigative job draws him into the world of and it’s about as stomach churning and bone chilling as you can imagine. If you want confirmation that civilization is on the fast track to chaos, then check this out.
Any decent mystery should be as much about the problem solver as it is about the problem (murder) and Block’s Matt Scudder is some of the best written PI fiction that you can find. Block’s writing is rich, with moments that explore what makes Matt Scudder tick - the down time isn’t just cooking, sex and quips. There’s a dollop of black humor here and the supporting cast is one of the best in the business without drifting into the nether regions of cliché land.
If you can get your hands on some Scudder, this series is recommended reading.
I realize these are PI books and it isn’t that important to keep the order straight, jump in anywhere the water’s fine, but here Scudder has a cool, funny girl friend, a Irish mobster pal, a contact in the NYPD (this is a given for this genre and I believe the guy was in Sins of the Fathers), and assorted colorful pals that he can go to for bits of information.
And I missed it all!
Stop it, you big, sociopathic, cry-baby and get on with the review!!
*sigh*
As you wish.
Reading this book, a few elements rang true. First, I lived in New York City at the time this book was set and as Scudder wandered around Manhattan, it had a ghostly reality for me, bringing up places I vaguely remember and I time I can almost recall. Second, Scudder is a recovering alcoholic and I’ve known my share of them in my lifetime and Block is right on the money as he draws out Scudder’s continuing battle with the tendencies that drove him to drinking in the first place – all the while struggling to hold onto his sobriety dealing with a horrific case.
Given the scenario Block has created, it’s difficult to see how Scudder managed to stay on the wagon. His investigative job draws him into the world of and it’s about as stomach churning and bone chilling as you can imagine. If you want confirmation that civilization is on the fast track to chaos, then check this out.
Any decent mystery should be as much about the problem solver as it is about the problem (murder) and Block’s Matt Scudder is some of the best written PI fiction that you can find. Block’s writing is rich, with moments that explore what makes Matt Scudder tick - the down time isn’t just cooking, sex and quips. There’s a dollop of black humor here and the supporting cast is one of the best in the business without drifting into the nether regions of cliché land.
If you can get your hands on some Scudder, this series is recommended reading.
May 17, 2022
New York City investigator Matt Scudder is handed a video (playable on a VCR, for those with a long memory) by a fellow attendee at one of his regular AA meeting. It’s ostensibly a classic movie but includes an unwelcome surprise. This sets Matt off on a crusade to find those responsible for the horror imbedded within. He’s also been hired by the brother of a murdered woman who is convinced (unlike the police) that her husband killed her and dressed the whole thing up as act performed as a result of a burglary they interrupted.
This tale is gruesome and explicit in parts and is also notable for the regular meetings Scudder has with Irish bar owner and killer Mick Ballou, during which they tell each other stories from their past. In turn, each details a strange event or a deed and every one of these is a little gem of a tale in its own right. Mick is inclined to don an old, bloodstained butcher’s apron when he’s intending violence and the morning after he attends mass at a downtown church, sometimes now with Scudder. The two have formed an alliance on a par with that described by Ian Rankin in his pairing of John Rebus and Morris ‘Big Ger’ Cafferty. Another notable moment in this book is the introduction of the street smart TJ, in a cameo role here but destined for bigger things in future episodes.
All of the Scudder books are first class. It’s a series I’m really enjoying re-reading, though I’ll probably take a break now and come back to it again at some point in the future.
This tale is gruesome and explicit in parts and is also notable for the regular meetings Scudder has with Irish bar owner and killer Mick Ballou, during which they tell each other stories from their past. In turn, each details a strange event or a deed and every one of these is a little gem of a tale in its own right. Mick is inclined to don an old, bloodstained butcher’s apron when he’s intending violence and the morning after he attends mass at a downtown church, sometimes now with Scudder. The two have formed an alliance on a par with that described by Ian Rankin in his pairing of John Rebus and Morris ‘Big Ger’ Cafferty. Another notable moment in this book is the introduction of the street smart TJ, in a cameo role here but destined for bigger things in future episodes.
All of the Scudder books are first class. It’s a series I’m really enjoying re-reading, though I’ll probably take a break now and come back to it again at some point in the future.
June 27, 2011
Matthew Scudder is hired to figure out if a TV anchor man killed his wife. But what does that have to do with a snuff film a friend of Matt's found disguised as the Dirty Dozen at a video store?
Scudder really stepped in it this time. The Stettners, and to a lesser extent Richard Thurman, the accused anchor, are perverts and psychopaths of the worst kind, the kind that prey on children. I thought James Leo Motely in the previous Scudder book was the worst villain Block could come up with but I was wrong. The thing about Block is that he gets you to see things Scudder's way. While Scudder did something illegal and a little unsettling at the end, you agree that it had to be done.
The supporting cast continues to be one of the hallmarks of the series. Danny Boy Bell, Elaine, Mick, Durkin, even TJ, give the series a little something extra.
A Dance at the Slaughterhouse is one of my top three favorite Scudder books so far. I wouldn't start the Scudder series with it but it's quite a read.
Scudder really stepped in it this time. The Stettners, and to a lesser extent Richard Thurman, the accused anchor, are perverts and psychopaths of the worst kind, the kind that prey on children. I thought James Leo Motely in the previous Scudder book was the worst villain Block could come up with but I was wrong. The thing about Block is that he gets you to see things Scudder's way. While Scudder did something illegal and a little unsettling at the end, you agree that it had to be done.
The supporting cast continues to be one of the hallmarks of the series. Danny Boy Bell, Elaine, Mick, Durkin, even TJ, give the series a little something extra.
A Dance at the Slaughterhouse is one of my top three favorite Scudder books so far. I wouldn't start the Scudder series with it but it's quite a read.
March 4, 2014
Picking this one up I was not prepared for such a trip into dark and depraved waters. This is more than Scudder has ever gone up against previously and definitely the strongest in the series since Eight Million Ways To Die. While we've moved along in years out of the 80's into the early 90's, New York City continues to be a seething trap of anger and violence and desperation with all those ways to die and Scudder has stumbled upon yet another one. This time, he didn't even go looking for it, not really. It sort of finds him in a weird, chilling series of coincidences.
Two words: snuff film. Yeah, like I said, dark and depraved waters.
Scudder is moving along nicely in his life these days. He's sober and regularly attending meetings. He's got his girlfriend Elaine (who one dewy-eyed reviewer wistfully and with no irony whatsoever refers to as Matt's snuggle bunny) no matter that she's a call girl and continues to see clients. He's also forged a pretty meaningful friendship with Mick Ballou, the Irish gangster who may or may not have carried around some guy's head in a bowling ball bag, the man who proudly wears his father's blood stained butcher's apron (and which of those stains are man or animal, nobody knows).
I keep coming back to these books mostly for Scudder. He's such a great character to spend time with. But also for the sense of time and place that Block is able to conjure. I find the Scudder books act like time capsules in a way. So much of the plotting of this story relies on VHS tapes and renting them from a video store. It made me remember what that was like and how long it's been since I've actually done it.
I remember when my family got its first VCR ever and it was this huge exciting moment, like we had finally arrived at a Jetsons' version of the future. And with Block, it's so authentic, because he's not writing these books from a 21st century perspective and recreating 1991, he actually wrote this one in 1991 without the long view and hindsight that we have as readers. I love that. That doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to Scudder aging and getting Block's take on a 21st century New York. I can't wait actually.
I'll wrap this up with a note on the ending -- holy shit snacks.
Now I think I'll go for a walk among the tombstones.
June 7, 2021
I didn’t love this #8 Matthew Scudder mystery by Lawrence Block. I liked parts of it. I loved the first several of them, focused on the psychology/theology of an ex-cop whose life is pretty much in ruins. He’s an alcoholic, and the publisher names these early stories crime novels, but they are really straight-up novels with a developing existentialist theme running through them about this guy who just happens to be a detective with the emphasis on his emotional and physical recovery and not the details of the actual crimes. The point is that he (intuitively?) picks cases and doggedly pursues them because they seem connected in some way to his spiritual struggles.
Then, in #7, A Ticket to the Boneyard, the last one, things turn unrealistic, sloppy and grisly, where Scudder makes dumb mistakes he never would have made in the previous books in taking on a sadistic super-villain. And it’s literally torture porn. And the book is even (torturously) much longer than any of the earlier books! And in the end Scudder makes a turn to the dark side. What is going on, Block? After seeing some of the Hollywood money, are we just now scripting outlandish movies? Or are we descending into nihilism, ironically, after kicking the habit?
This book, Dance in the Slaughterhouse (guess what happens in the end, from that title, but there’s not really any dancing), now that Scudder is a dry alcoholic, continues the same mistake of (largely) swapping characterization and expiation of past sins for sensationalism, with crimes even MORE gruesome than in the last book. Literally torture porn and other things I promise not to mention. Quick, what’re the worst things you can think of that humans might possibly do, make a list! Let’s put them in a book and make you read about each of these in the kind of painfully graphic detail we never saw in books 1-5!
I had heard that Block thought the series would end with the triumphant Eight Million Ways to Die, a classic crime novel, but that he felt pressured (by his success?) to somehow continue the series. Either way, I think Block is by now spinning his wheels in this series, out of fresh ideas. The existential crisis seems largely over, well, until that last scene of this book. Oh, there’re themes going on in this book and the last, that humans have always been capable of evil, and that things in New York are going straight down the toilet, and cops’ hands seem to be tied so you sometimes have to take things in your own hands, and that Matthew seems to be sucked into this void, but yeah, I saw Dirty Harry, I get it. The villains here seem like cartoon characters, beyond evil, sexual murderers “for fun,” and who really needs to read about that?
The one great thing the book has going for it is that Scudder talks and talks often entertainingly in this book with several great characters we have come to like—Elaine, his call-girl girlfriend who was nearly murdered in the last book; Joe Durkin, his buddy on the force, teen TJ, a talented sketch artist, and (especially) Mick, the (now) lovable, but still potentially murderous Irish gangster who he goes to the fights with Matt and who tries to get him to come along to Mass. That—after the slaughter we expected from the title—we end up at Mass, with the unrepentant Scudder even taking Communion for reasons he can’t name, that’s cool, but it's kind of a coda in a book with less reflection per pound than any of the first five books. It’s the continuing Mick-Matt connection in this book that raises it from two to three stars for me and will get me to continue reading.
The book begins well with descriptions of Scudder at the fights, lots of closely observed inside-the-ring-world talk, but as we turn to the crimes to be solved, there seems to be no real discussion of the horrific, over-the-top events of the last book. No psychological or physical after-effects of the near-death experience?! One reference early on is made about Elaine’s physical devastation, in a JOKE between Elaine and Matt?! In fact, this is a problem with some of the typically tight and clever Block dialogue in this book—it is sometimes too clever, too cute, too jokey, when the content actually sometimes involves (sorry) child murder, among many other terrible things. Well, I don’t like it, we didn’t have to go that far into the sewer, and thematically, it feels like a lazy, too-easy distraction.
The early Scudder books are tight and taut and lean, but this one is half again as long, bloated in the middle, and it just may be the most brutal, ugly book I have read in a long time. So I will depart from the majority love showered on this book by my respected Goodreads reviewer colleagues. Make your own decision, though. This book won the 1992 Edgar Award for best mystery novel, so a lot of people like it. I stand my ground! (wherever did that expression come from??!)
Then, in #7, A Ticket to the Boneyard, the last one, things turn unrealistic, sloppy and grisly, where Scudder makes dumb mistakes he never would have made in the previous books in taking on a sadistic super-villain. And it’s literally torture porn. And the book is even (torturously) much longer than any of the earlier books! And in the end Scudder makes a turn to the dark side. What is going on, Block? After seeing some of the Hollywood money, are we just now scripting outlandish movies? Or are we descending into nihilism, ironically, after kicking the habit?
This book, Dance in the Slaughterhouse (guess what happens in the end, from that title, but there’s not really any dancing), now that Scudder is a dry alcoholic, continues the same mistake of (largely) swapping characterization and expiation of past sins for sensationalism, with crimes even MORE gruesome than in the last book. Literally torture porn and other things I promise not to mention. Quick, what’re the worst things you can think of that humans might possibly do, make a list! Let’s put them in a book and make you read about each of these in the kind of painfully graphic detail we never saw in books 1-5!
I had heard that Block thought the series would end with the triumphant Eight Million Ways to Die, a classic crime novel, but that he felt pressured (by his success?) to somehow continue the series. Either way, I think Block is by now spinning his wheels in this series, out of fresh ideas. The existential crisis seems largely over, well, until that last scene of this book. Oh, there’re themes going on in this book and the last, that humans have always been capable of evil, and that things in New York are going straight down the toilet, and cops’ hands seem to be tied so you sometimes have to take things in your own hands, and that Matthew seems to be sucked into this void, but yeah, I saw Dirty Harry, I get it. The villains here seem like cartoon characters, beyond evil, sexual murderers “for fun,” and who really needs to read about that?
The one great thing the book has going for it is that Scudder talks and talks often entertainingly in this book with several great characters we have come to like—Elaine, his call-girl girlfriend who was nearly murdered in the last book; Joe Durkin, his buddy on the force, teen TJ, a talented sketch artist, and (especially) Mick, the (now) lovable, but still potentially murderous Irish gangster who he goes to the fights with Matt and who tries to get him to come along to Mass. That—after the slaughter we expected from the title—we end up at Mass, with the unrepentant Scudder even taking Communion for reasons he can’t name, that’s cool, but it's kind of a coda in a book with less reflection per pound than any of the first five books. It’s the continuing Mick-Matt connection in this book that raises it from two to three stars for me and will get me to continue reading.
The book begins well with descriptions of Scudder at the fights, lots of closely observed inside-the-ring-world talk, but as we turn to the crimes to be solved, there seems to be no real discussion of the horrific, over-the-top events of the last book. No psychological or physical after-effects of the near-death experience?! One reference early on is made about Elaine’s physical devastation, in a JOKE between Elaine and Matt?! In fact, this is a problem with some of the typically tight and clever Block dialogue in this book—it is sometimes too clever, too cute, too jokey, when the content actually sometimes involves (sorry) child murder, among many other terrible things. Well, I don’t like it, we didn’t have to go that far into the sewer, and thematically, it feels like a lazy, too-easy distraction.
The early Scudder books are tight and taut and lean, but this one is half again as long, bloated in the middle, and it just may be the most brutal, ugly book I have read in a long time. So I will depart from the majority love showered on this book by my respected Goodreads reviewer colleagues. Make your own decision, though. This book won the 1992 Edgar Award for best mystery novel, so a lot of people like it. I stand my ground! (wherever did that expression come from??!)
September 9, 2014
A wealthy New York couple, Richard and Amanda Thurman, arrives home at their upscale apartment after a night on the town. Several hours later, Richard punches out 9-1-1 with a pipe tool between his teeth, and the police arrive to find him beaten and tied up in the neighbors' apartment immediately below his own. Amanda Thurman, who was pregnant with the couple's first child, has been raped, beaten and strangled to death.
Thurman tells detectives that two men who had burgled the neighbors' apartment were just leaving when the Thurmans were coming up the stairs. The burglars forced the Thurmans into the apartment, bound and gagged him and committed the savage assault on his wife. Hours later, Thurman was able to partially undo the gag and call the police. The responding patrolmen found him with his hands and feet still bound. Something doesn't sit right about his story with the detectives, but there's no evidence to contradict it.
The story doesn't sit right with Amanda Thurman's brother, either. As a practical matter, all the money in the family belonged to Amanda who was also heavily insured. The brother believes that Richard Thurman killed Amanda, and the brother hires Matthew Scudder to look into the matter.
Richard Thurman is a producer for a cable television company. Scudder follows Thurman to a boxing arena where Thurman is producing a televised match. While there, Scudder sees something apparently unrelated but deeply disturbing. A few months earlier, another recovering alcoholic had approached Matt at an AA meeting, seeking his advice about a snuff film that had been taped over the middle of a commercial copy of "The Dirty Dozen." Matt looked into the matter but hit a dead end. Then, at the boxing match, he sees a man whom he believes was the "star" of the snuff film.
From that point on, Matt divides his time between investigating Richard Thurman and the man in the snuff film. As always, it's a gripping tale and a tour of what are, in this book especially, New York's very mean streets. It's a very kinky and violent tale with some particularly nasty villains and a shattering conclusion.
A number of familiar characters put in an appearance, including Elaine Mardell and Mick Ballou, and Matt's relationship with both of them is growing deeper. This is also the novel in which the street kid, TJ, first appears, and all-in-all, it's another great ride from Lawrence Block. This book deservedly won the MWA's Edgar Award for best novel and is a terrific addition to the series.
Thurman tells detectives that two men who had burgled the neighbors' apartment were just leaving when the Thurmans were coming up the stairs. The burglars forced the Thurmans into the apartment, bound and gagged him and committed the savage assault on his wife. Hours later, Thurman was able to partially undo the gag and call the police. The responding patrolmen found him with his hands and feet still bound. Something doesn't sit right about his story with the detectives, but there's no evidence to contradict it.
The story doesn't sit right with Amanda Thurman's brother, either. As a practical matter, all the money in the family belonged to Amanda who was also heavily insured. The brother believes that Richard Thurman killed Amanda, and the brother hires Matthew Scudder to look into the matter.
Richard Thurman is a producer for a cable television company. Scudder follows Thurman to a boxing arena where Thurman is producing a televised match. While there, Scudder sees something apparently unrelated but deeply disturbing. A few months earlier, another recovering alcoholic had approached Matt at an AA meeting, seeking his advice about a snuff film that had been taped over the middle of a commercial copy of "The Dirty Dozen." Matt looked into the matter but hit a dead end. Then, at the boxing match, he sees a man whom he believes was the "star" of the snuff film.
From that point on, Matt divides his time between investigating Richard Thurman and the man in the snuff film. As always, it's a gripping tale and a tour of what are, in this book especially, New York's very mean streets. It's a very kinky and violent tale with some particularly nasty villains and a shattering conclusion.
A number of familiar characters put in an appearance, including Elaine Mardell and Mick Ballou, and Matt's relationship with both of them is growing deeper. This is also the novel in which the street kid, TJ, first appears, and all-in-all, it's another great ride from Lawrence Block. This book deservedly won the MWA's Edgar Award for best novel and is a terrific addition to the series.
September 18, 2022
A Dance At The Slaughterhouse" is the ninth novel in Block's Matthew Scudder series. It is a finely-tuned piece of work and, in it, Scudder meets people so twisted and so evil even he is shocked. You would think that there was nothing left to surprise this battle-hardened man, but there are things people do to each other for amusement and power games that are just truly evil. And, often, the most evil ones are the most charming and the most seductive.
At this point in the series, Scudder has given up drinking, but not given up hanging in bars. In particular, he hangs out with the giant butcher Mick Ballou, shoots the breeze with him, and attends mass with him in the early morning hours. Scudder has a steady lady friend now and attends meetings all the time.
The opening scene with the boxing match works tremendously well and captures the atmosphere of the match and the way you look around at the audience.
There are parts of this book that are quite graphic and will make some readers very uncomfortable, but there's a point to it and it's that Scudder is uncomfortable too.
At this point in the series, Scudder has given up drinking, but not given up hanging in bars. In particular, he hangs out with the giant butcher Mick Ballou, shoots the breeze with him, and attends mass with him in the early morning hours. Scudder has a steady lady friend now and attends meetings all the time.
The opening scene with the boxing match works tremendously well and captures the atmosphere of the match and the way you look around at the audience.
There are parts of this book that are quite graphic and will make some readers very uncomfortable, but there's a point to it and it's that Scudder is uncomfortable too.
January 12, 2016
*3.5 Stars*
This time around Scudder takes on two cases that somehow end up connected, determining whether or not a TV producer was responsible for the rape and murder of his wife, as well as tracking down the masked sex killers in a grisly smut film he stumbles onto in the middle of watching a VHS rental of The Dirty Dozen. This novel's plot developments were based on so many coincidences that the plotting seemed a bit lazy this time around. But even with these issues that I personally had and the fact that this book lacks the emotional weight of Eight Million Ways To Die , the freshness of When The Sacred Ginmill Closes , or the urgent danger of A Ticket To The Boneyard , it's still as thoughtful, readable, and well-written as any of the other novels in Block's Scudder series, with some cool characters and nasty villains.
“Sometimes it's a dog-eat-dog world and the rest of the time it's the other way around.”This year I've realized that I'm not that big of a fan of standard detective series. They get too repetitive and frankly boring after a while. It nearly broke my heart when I realized that I was starting to feel the same way about this book in Lawrence Block's Scudder series, arguably the top of the detective pack. As I read, I started to notice the formula and the trends. Once again, Scudder has to explain that he's not an official private detective, once again Scudder "struggles" with what to charge people for his services, even though he always seems to settle on the same price (somewhere between $2-3K), and once again Scudder has a moment where he's unsatisfied with his work and considers giving the client a refund, even though he's never actually gone through with it yet. I guess it's designed for the casual reader that might jump into the series at anytime, but for me it becomes a slog reading the same shit over and over. At least in this book we were spared him having to explain why he's not a cop anymore; I'm a little tired of hearing that story too.
This time around Scudder takes on two cases that somehow end up connected, determining whether or not a TV producer was responsible for the rape and murder of his wife, as well as tracking down the masked sex killers in a grisly smut film he stumbles onto in the middle of watching a VHS rental of The Dirty Dozen. This novel's plot developments were based on so many coincidences that the plotting seemed a bit lazy this time around. But even with these issues that I personally had and the fact that this book lacks the emotional weight of Eight Million Ways To Die , the freshness of When The Sacred Ginmill Closes , or the urgent danger of A Ticket To The Boneyard , it's still as thoughtful, readable, and well-written as any of the other novels in Block's Scudder series, with some cool characters and nasty villains.
"We are closer than close, you and I. We are brothers in blood and semen."So although it suffers from the usual stale repetitiveness as other later novels in most mystery series, it's still a Block novel so it's still one of the better detective books out there. If you're going to read a repetitive detective series, this should be the one you read.
"Well it's a hell of a story," he said. "And I guess you could say it has a happy ending, because you didn't drink and you aren't going to jail."
April 27, 2024
Брутална история, която ми допадна с развръзката си!
При Мат идва негов познат с видео касета, на която има "сниф" филм - маскирани мъж и жена правят секс с младо момче и после го убиват жестоко пред камерата. Той не успява да разкрие много за произхода на лентата и постепенно историята отшумява.
По-късно през годината е нает да разследва смъртта на млада жена. Брат ѝ мисли, че може би съпругът ѝ е забъркан в убийството. Дали двата случая няма да се окажат свързани?
"Танц в кланицата" е мрачен трилър, поставящ твърде много въпроси, без еднозначни отговори!
Това е и книгата, с която открих за себе си тази чудесна поредица преди двайсетина години.
P.S. За желаещите да я прочетат - има и българско издание.
При Мат идва негов познат с видео касета, на която има "сниф" филм - маскирани мъж и жена правят секс с младо момче и после го убиват жестоко пред камерата. Той не успява да разкрие много за произхода на лентата и постепенно историята отшумява.
По-късно през годината е нает да разследва смъртта на млада жена. Брат ѝ мисли, че може би съпругът ѝ е забъркан в убийството. Дали двата случая няма да се окажат свързани?
"Танц в кланицата" е мрачен трилър, поставящ твърде много въпроси, без еднозначни отговори!
Това е и книгата, с която открих за себе си тази чудесна поредица преди двайсетина години.
P.S. За желаещите да я прочетат - има и българско издание.
November 6, 2017
Writing about child sex abuse and torture, gratuitously FOR PROFIT is sick. Perhaps Block does it to make the reader angry enough to forgive Matt's testosterone-fuelled vengance at the end ?
Early on, this book displays the worst kind of graphic sickness: snuff films and child torture. Block did not have to show it so graphically, unless he thought there was a market or profit in it. I fail to see how the graphic presentation of using hedge-clippers to cut off the nipple of a young boy is not mentally deranged.
20% of all girls in America and 8% of all boys are sexually abused before they are 18. Why do we allow this?
Rejected.
Early on, this book displays the worst kind of graphic sickness: snuff films and child torture. Block did not have to show it so graphically, unless he thought there was a market or profit in it. I fail to see how the graphic presentation of using hedge-clippers to cut off the nipple of a young boy is not mentally deranged.
20% of all girls in America and 8% of all boys are sexually abused before they are 18. Why do we allow this?
Rejected.
August 5, 2016
A Dance at the Slaughterhouse may not have the most inspired name, but this 9th entry in Lawrence Block’s inimitable series of novels starring Matthew Scudder—a reformed alcoholic and an ex-dirty-cop who now makes a living as an unlicensed PI—stands as yet another beacon of excellence in a line-up of absurdly high quality mysteries that prove, again and again, the unique literary traits and themes that a well-written genre novel can reckon with unlike any other game in town, and does so in a manner rife with subtlety and panache. In short: this book is the shit, yo!
This novel begins in territory well-treaded in earlier entries—Scudder is paid to figure out whether or not some slick and sleazy husband did in the old ball n’ chain. But this case of uxoricide is thrown for a disturbing and kinky loop when a one-in-a-million coincidence sets our melancholy and thoughtful hero’s sights on a pair of fetishistic killers who get their kicks making snuff films.
All the hallmarks of the series are set on hyper drive this time around: dialogue that is addicting and packed with memorable broodings on death; descriptions of New York City that, while terse, are evocative and gritty; prose that is succinct yet never bland or cliché; a rogue’s gallery of supporting characters that you wish were your own friends; and an ending that is unexpected, shocking, punk rock, and utterly satisfying.
Lawrence Block is the kind of writer that all you two-bit jabronis out there who think they can make an honest killing at being an author (like me) should read and learn from, whether or not you like mystery novels or you happen to think you’re the cat’s pajamas and can’t be arsed with such “disposable” literature (subext: blow me).
In a series of emotionally-ravaging and existentially-sobering gems, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse ranks as one of the best.
This novel begins in territory well-treaded in earlier entries—Scudder is paid to figure out whether or not some slick and sleazy husband did in the old ball n’ chain. But this case of uxoricide is thrown for a disturbing and kinky loop when a one-in-a-million coincidence sets our melancholy and thoughtful hero’s sights on a pair of fetishistic killers who get their kicks making snuff films.
All the hallmarks of the series are set on hyper drive this time around: dialogue that is addicting and packed with memorable broodings on death; descriptions of New York City that, while terse, are evocative and gritty; prose that is succinct yet never bland or cliché; a rogue’s gallery of supporting characters that you wish were your own friends; and an ending that is unexpected, shocking, punk rock, and utterly satisfying.
Lawrence Block is the kind of writer that all you two-bit jabronis out there who think they can make an honest killing at being an author (like me) should read and learn from, whether or not you like mystery novels or you happen to think you’re the cat’s pajamas and can’t be arsed with such “disposable” literature (subext: blow me).
In a series of emotionally-ravaging and existentially-sobering gems, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse ranks as one of the best.
January 19, 2012
Matt Scudder is hired by the brother of a recently murdered woman. He's given the unfortunate task of investigating the husband who is believed by most to have had a hand in her demise. Shortly after taking the job, Matt finds himself drawn back into something that had impacted his life just a few months earlier.
Coming off the heels of the 8th Scudder novel in which Matt encounters his most dangerous adversary, Block created an impressive follow up. Block gives Scudder plenty to do here, hitting him with two mysteries.
The surrounding cast within Scudder's universe both expands and develops nicely. In fact, there's quite a bit of development. His relationship with Elaine becomes a little more defined and you do get that sense that something is going to have to change. His friendship with Durkin becomes a little complicated at points and Mick Ballou is just as awesome as ever.
I will sneak this in here - I've read a lot of Chuck Palahniuk so I've got a taste for over-the-top, disgusting events taking place. Some of the stuff that Block throws in here is pretty uncharacteristic for the series up to this point. While it didn't disturb me nor offend me, it was certainly unexpected.
In typical Block fashion (basing this on the 8 other books I've read), the ending is pretty quick. The final pages are filled with action and suspense which wrap up the book excellently. In fact, something rather significant occurs prompting Scudder to act in a way you probably couldn't predict.
I'm going to say 4.5. I really loved this book, I just can't put it on the same level as its predecessor.
Coming off the heels of the 8th Scudder novel in which Matt encounters his most dangerous adversary, Block created an impressive follow up. Block gives Scudder plenty to do here, hitting him with two mysteries.
The surrounding cast within Scudder's universe both expands and develops nicely. In fact, there's quite a bit of development. His relationship with Elaine becomes a little more defined and you do get that sense that something is going to have to change. His friendship with Durkin becomes a little complicated at points and Mick Ballou is just as awesome as ever.
I will sneak this in here - I've read a lot of Chuck Palahniuk so I've got a taste for over-the-top, disgusting events taking place. Some of the stuff that Block throws in here is pretty uncharacteristic for the series up to this point. While it didn't disturb me nor offend me, it was certainly unexpected.
In typical Block fashion (basing this on the 8 other books I've read), the ending is pretty quick. The final pages are filled with action and suspense which wrap up the book excellently. In fact, something rather significant occurs prompting Scudder to act in a way you probably couldn't predict.
I'm going to say 4.5. I really loved this book, I just can't put it on the same level as its predecessor.
September 10, 2014
Matt Scudder's finest outing to date. Potentially also the darkest and most brutal too. As Matt investigates the possibility that a husband murdered his wife he stumbles across a snuff film and all the hell that that entails. Block's descriptive passages are shocking and disturbing and the impact on his protagonist is equally as impressively written. The constant evolution of Scudder as a person is at the heart of all that is good about this series, the further away he gets from the booze the more clarity he gives to his life outside of investigating degenerates who think that they can live outside of the law. Over the past few books he's made some interesting friends and they all make an appearance here, some of them not even involved in the investigation and yet its still a pleasure to hang out however briefly with Chance and Gary, Elaine and Sonny Boy, Durkin and of course that great French-Irish bastard himself Mick Ballou. With such a wide selection of wonderful characters I'm sure I must be alone in finding Gary to be my favourite background character in these Scudder novels, his constant mentions of the one time Matt asked him for help feels like the most authentic piece of characterisation I could imagine.
To quote Anthony, a huge fan of the series and great reviewer to boot, "in a series of emotionally-ravaging and existentially-sobering gems, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse ranks as one of the best."
To quote Anthony, a huge fan of the series and great reviewer to boot, "in a series of emotionally-ravaging and existentially-sobering gems, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse ranks as one of the best."
September 6, 2022
At a certain point, you get the itch to award five stars just for consistent excellence. But it's also deserved in this case, because the ninth Matt Scudder mystery is definitely a highlight of the series, possibly my favorite so far.
As usual, there are a number of threads that Block takes his leisurely time pulling together. You don't mind though, or at least I didn't, because the dialogue is so sharp and funny that it's enjoyable to simply hang out with these characters for a while. The first chapter alone is a tour-de-force that kicks off in Maspeth, Queens, where Matt and his French-Irish gangster friend Mick Ballou are watching an amateur boxing match from the stands, their conversation weaving in and out of the action in the ring. Matt enjoys the pugilists just fine, but he's also there to do recon on a man in charge of the local television broadcast, a man whose wife has recently been murdered. Over the course of the night, Matt and his friend Mick bump into Chance, the pimp-turned-art-dealer from 8 Million Ways to Die who has a betting interest on the fight, and Matt gets a nagging feeling that he can't account for while observing a middle-aged man (who looks like a balder and burlier version of Gene Hackman) sitting in the crowd below them, next to a teenage boy. Block's dialogue in this chapter fires on all cylinders:
"Never saw him before."In the second chapter, which chronologically takes place before the first, Matt is in Manhattan, sitting across a table in Armstrong's from a forty-year-old man whose sister has recently been murdered. She was married, in fact (to the television man who will later be at the boxing match), and she and her husband were assaulted in their apartment while coming back home late one night. The woman was killed while the husband was merely beaten and left tied-up, but the woman's brother suspects that the husband had it all arranged. The brother pitching the case to Matt also happens to be gay, and dying of AIDS. Matt then goes to the precinct house to talk over the specifics of the crime with his increasingly cantankerous old friend on the force, Joe Durkin, who as usual takes a break from chain-smoking long enough to ask Matt what the hell's the matter with him- he's barking up the wrong tree, this is an open-and-shut case, and he should just take the brother's money and go through the motions. I don't know which actor would have been ideal to play Matt in a movie (70s Gene Hackman might not have been a bad choice, come to think of it- Night Moves Gene Hackman, that is), but this time it was suddenly the most obvious thing in the world to me- Joe Durkin should have been played by Dennis Franz. In fact, Dennis Franz is Joe Durkin.
"I can't think where I know him from."
"He looks like a cop."
"No", I said. "Do you really think so?"
"I'm not saying he's a cop. I'm saying he has that look. You know who he looks like? It's an actor who plays cops, I can't think of his name. It'll come to me."
"An actor who plays cops. They all play cops."
"Gene Hackman", Mick said.
I looked again. "Hackman's older", I said. "And thinner. This guy's burly where Hackman's sort of wiry. And Hackman's got more hair, doesn't he?"
"Jesus help us", he said. "I didn't say he was Hackman. I said that's who he looks like."
"If it was Hackman they'd have made him come up and take a bow."
"If it was Hackman's fucking cousin they'd have made him take a bow, desperate as they are."
"But you're right", I said, "there's a definite resemblance."
"Not that he's the spitting image, mind you, but--"
"But there's a resemblance. That's not why he looks familiar. I wonder where I know him from."
"One of your meetings, maybe."
"That's possible."
"Unless that's a beer he's drinking. If he's a member of your lot he wouldn't be drinking a beer, would he now?"
"Probably not."
"Although not all of your lot make it, do they?"
"No, not all of us do."
"Well then, let's hope it's a Coke in his cup", he said. "Or if it's a beer, let's pray he gives it to the lad."
In any case, it's not long afterwards that Matt wakes in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, thinking about the man at the boxing match. And he remembers a tape that an acquaintance from AA had brought to him a few months before, a video rental of The Dirty Dozen that had a snuff film recorded over it.
The snuff-film angle initially made me worry that Block was trying to one-up the sensationalism of A Ticket to the Boneyard in lieu of telling a good story. Not that the content bothers me, but I don't like it when the shock value becomes the point of the story. That's not really the case here, though- even though we do find out exactly what's on that tape, and no, it's not pleasant, it mostly serves to give a visceral edge to the story's menacing atmosphere and to establish that Matt is going to get close to some truly dangerous characters before all is said and done.
Although the way the moving pieces converge is genuinely thrilling, and there are some riveting scenes- like when Matt "accidentally" finds himself sitting across from the yuppie husband in an empty bar, pretending not to know who he is- very little in this novel feels like a textbook thriller or mystery. Block rather breaks multiple storytelling “rules”, allowing for a few odd coincidences that in lesser hands would seem like flaws, but in this case contribute to the syncopated rhythm of a story that suggests to the reader that just about anything can happen. Of all the Scudder novels so far, this one felt the most like listening to music with unfamiliar time signatures.
But what really puts this into five-star territory for me are the hints that Matt finds something appealing about the villain(s) he eventually comes face-to-face with, as well as the disturbing way he ultimately resolves the situation- the note of moral ambiguity on which the story ends. I guess I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.
September 14, 2016
Matthew Scudder is hired to investigate the death of Richard Thurmans wife which was considered suspicious by one of the investigating police officers and the brother of the deceased wife.
The story starts with a boxing match before we find out that is actually the way for Scudder to eyeball his "target". The Scudders stories so far all have in common the pedestrian pace in which you slowly find out what did happen.
As it happens Scudder also gets involved in another situation which involves a snuff movie and he finds out that the culprits which he also finds are untouchable. And nobody will be surprised if both cases do seem to be involved with each other.
The usual suspects are here Elain Mardell for the romantic purposes and being an anchor and Mick Ballou who this time plays a rather crucial part in Scudders' solution.
Another excellent tale coming from the pen of Lawrence Block, this series never fails to deliver.
The story starts with a boxing match before we find out that is actually the way for Scudder to eyeball his "target". The Scudders stories so far all have in common the pedestrian pace in which you slowly find out what did happen.
As it happens Scudder also gets involved in another situation which involves a snuff movie and he finds out that the culprits which he also finds are untouchable. And nobody will be surprised if both cases do seem to be involved with each other.
The usual suspects are here Elain Mardell for the romantic purposes and being an anchor and Mick Ballou who this time plays a rather crucial part in Scudders' solution.
Another excellent tale coming from the pen of Lawrence Block, this series never fails to deliver.
Want to read
January 20, 2019This is an Advanced Reading Copy of the book and is signed by Lawrence Block.
April 5, 2020
I loved and hated this. The writing, the story, the characters, everything really, is great. The problem is Block did too good of a job at portraying some really horrific people. I felt sick to my stomach from about the halfway mark to the end. It's the following day after I finished the book and I still feel a bit queasy. So...WELL DONE, MR. BLOCK!
January 15, 2018
This harrowing and chilling book, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, detailing private detective Matt Scudder’s search for the origins of a snuff film, was made even more harrowing and chilling by the variety of stains, spatters, and smears adorning the library book I was reading. The cover illustration portrayed a murder victim’s blood circling down a floor drain, and while I rationally understood that the markings in my book were the typical library leavings of previous borrowers (chocolate fingerprints, SpaghettiO droppings, boogers, semen), I couldn’t stop thinking however that they might in fact be blood, brain matter, chunks of intestines and other viscera from murdered library patrons.
The markings became so disturbing I had to read only while wearing rubber surgical gloves and even then one time while in bed I dozed off only to awaken and find this unsavory mystery novel laying on my pillow! My pillow!!!! After quickly swapping pillows with my unsuspecting wife, I continued reading.
Lawrence Block is a prominent crime writer and his series about recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder has been generally viewed as a high mark in the mystery genre. A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, the 9th addition to this series continues on this course—it’s a firecracker. But be warned: it is also nightmarish and bleak.
Coming home from a night out on the town, Richard Thurman and his wife are abruptly dragged into their downstairs neighbor’s empty apartment. Richard is beaten and bound as his wife is raped and than strangled to death. Now Scudder has been hired by the late Mrs. Thurman’s brother to see if her husband was maybe not such an innocent victim after all. Maybe he planned to murder his wife. At the same time Scudder is drawn to an old VHS tape a friend has given him at an evening AA meeting. In the middle of this rental tape (of the classic movie The Dirty Dozen), sits a snuff film. Through happenstance, both these grim unrelated cases begin to cross into one diabolical manifestation of depravation and murder.
A Dance at the Slaughterhouse was written in 1991, so there are no cell phones, no internet, yet lots of gang violence, video rental stores and AIDS. It’s amusing to realize how primitive and unsophisticated this era was. It seems the 1990’s were the time when we were all rocking out to the Macarena on our portable CD players wishing we could drive a Hummer HI like Arnold Schwarzenegger as we roller bladed in our colorful (and breathable) Zubas pants. Thankfully none of that is in this book. However, what is in this novel is extremely lurid and unpleasant and readers might feel the need to shower afterwards to remove that think layer of fatalism that now coats their skin. But sometimes a bleak novel hits the spot and if you are in the mood for this, pretty much any of the fantastic Scudder novels will satiate your cravings. A Dance at the Slaughterhouse is no exception—it’s bitter, and mean and extremely well written. The characters, led by Scudder are all fascinating and the villains, an icky bondage couple, are particularly vile and loathsome.
The markings became so disturbing I had to read only while wearing rubber surgical gloves and even then one time while in bed I dozed off only to awaken and find this unsavory mystery novel laying on my pillow! My pillow!!!! After quickly swapping pillows with my unsuspecting wife, I continued reading.
Lawrence Block is a prominent crime writer and his series about recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder has been generally viewed as a high mark in the mystery genre. A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, the 9th addition to this series continues on this course—it’s a firecracker. But be warned: it is also nightmarish and bleak.
Coming home from a night out on the town, Richard Thurman and his wife are abruptly dragged into their downstairs neighbor’s empty apartment. Richard is beaten and bound as his wife is raped and than strangled to death. Now Scudder has been hired by the late Mrs. Thurman’s brother to see if her husband was maybe not such an innocent victim after all. Maybe he planned to murder his wife. At the same time Scudder is drawn to an old VHS tape a friend has given him at an evening AA meeting. In the middle of this rental tape (of the classic movie The Dirty Dozen), sits a snuff film. Through happenstance, both these grim unrelated cases begin to cross into one diabolical manifestation of depravation and murder.
A Dance at the Slaughterhouse was written in 1991, so there are no cell phones, no internet, yet lots of gang violence, video rental stores and AIDS. It’s amusing to realize how primitive and unsophisticated this era was. It seems the 1990’s were the time when we were all rocking out to the Macarena on our portable CD players wishing we could drive a Hummer HI like Arnold Schwarzenegger as we roller bladed in our colorful (and breathable) Zubas pants. Thankfully none of that is in this book. However, what is in this novel is extremely lurid and unpleasant and readers might feel the need to shower afterwards to remove that think layer of fatalism that now coats their skin. But sometimes a bleak novel hits the spot and if you are in the mood for this, pretty much any of the fantastic Scudder novels will satiate your cravings. A Dance at the Slaughterhouse is no exception—it’s bitter, and mean and extremely well written. The characters, led by Scudder are all fascinating and the villains, an icky bondage couple, are particularly vile and loathsome.
October 30, 2015
The world is an unforgiving place and for Matt Scudder, it's the very bottom of humanities pecking order that helps him ply his trade. Wallowing in the pits of despair, reformed alcoholic and ex-cop Scudder gets knee deep in the criminal underworld of exploration, false promises, and broken dreams as he tries to solve a rape and murder of which the key suspect is the victim's husband. The case leads him down a dark rabbit hole that shines a light on the snuff film trade.
Lawrence Block doesn't deviate from the dastardly nature of the disturbed mind, coupling rape and murder, snuff films and corruption into a noir soaked story that is nothing short of addictive.
Despite being a private eye book at it's core, A DANCE AT THE SLAUGHTER HOUSE does read as a traditional police procedural, such is the Q&A platform. The dark nature of the plot instills a truer sense of noir which differentiates it from the sub crime genre.
A DANCE AT THE SLAUGHTER HOUSE reads well as a standalone (I read the first 3 series books some time ago, this being book 9) and is new reader friendly, something I look for when wanting to give a series a try.
I highly recommend picking this one up, irrespective if you're familiar with the character.
http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
Lawrence Block doesn't deviate from the dastardly nature of the disturbed mind, coupling rape and murder, snuff films and corruption into a noir soaked story that is nothing short of addictive.
Despite being a private eye book at it's core, A DANCE AT THE SLAUGHTER HOUSE does read as a traditional police procedural, such is the Q&A platform. The dark nature of the plot instills a truer sense of noir which differentiates it from the sub crime genre.
A DANCE AT THE SLAUGHTER HOUSE reads well as a standalone (I read the first 3 series books some time ago, this being book 9) and is new reader friendly, something I look for when wanting to give a series a try.
I highly recommend picking this one up, irrespective if you're familiar with the character.
http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
December 6, 2008
This is my second P.I. Matt Scudder book. First class hardboiled fare. Snuff films, Matt's meetings, boxing matches -- it's all in here. Mr. Block has to write some of the smoothest prose in fiction today. Great stuff.
February 12, 2019
A Dance at the Slaughterhouse brought home Block's only Edgar award for Best novel (he won 3 more in other categories). I don't think any fan will call it the best in the series but most would admit it is pretty representative of the series as a whole. It touches the usual high points of a Scudder book - The cast of recurring characters who are eccentric enough to be entertaining but not kooky enough to be outlandish. The black humor or a wicked sense of wit, whatever you call it, is equal parts subtle and smart. The plot that is well written enough to make crazy coincidences palatable. And the usual low point - Character motivation and behavior is not consistent relying mainly on the need of the narrative.
Scudder comes across a snuff film and traces down its stars while simultaneously trying to prove a TV producer staged the brutal murder of his wife. The plot is more violent than previous installments with the main antagonist a bit too psychopathic to be credible. The series has always taken a street-level, low-key approach to its narrative and hence the villain did not work well for me. The most shocking/memorable part of the book is its ending which pushes its protagonist down a path that most fans would have found unimaginable.
Because I am binge reading the series and I remember Scudder's earlier motivations and actions more clearly, I had problems with the ending. He had cajoled criminals into committing suicide, planted evidence, betrayed confidence but he had never been this cold blooded before. The narrative did not convince me that Scudder's moral spectrum needed such a massive realignment. This is what the previous book, A Ticket to the Boneyard did masterfully - the plot pushed Scudder to his limits and his extreme reprisal felt much more organic rather than a shock device.
Like most Block books individual scenes shine brighter than the overall plot. There is one where Scudder and his gangster friend Mick Ballou talk through the night laughing at the absurd violence levels in NYC. It is a beautiful piece of writing where two lonely, guilt ridden men try to find some sort of solace sharing stories that will be too trivial to be shared on most days and too gory to laugh at in most company. Ballou confesses to cold blooded premeditated murder in one of his yarns and Scudder is hardly bothered. I found it unbelievable and that is essentially my whole review. The book is undoubtedly well written but I kept on having trouble matching a character's action with what I had expected of him through the course of the series.
So A Dance at the Slaughterhouse is either a slow erosion of Scudder's morals or a shock ending not backed up by character beats. I fall in the second camp and yet recommend it to genre fans provided more than usual depravity (by the series standards) doesn't bother them. Rating - 4/5.
Scudder comes across a snuff film and traces down its stars while simultaneously trying to prove a TV producer staged the brutal murder of his wife. The plot is more violent than previous installments with the main antagonist a bit too psychopathic to be credible. The series has always taken a street-level, low-key approach to its narrative and hence the villain did not work well for me. The most shocking/memorable part of the book is its ending which pushes its protagonist down a path that most fans would have found unimaginable.
Because I am binge reading the series and I remember Scudder's earlier motivations and actions more clearly, I had problems with the ending. He had cajoled criminals into committing suicide, planted evidence, betrayed confidence but he had never been this cold blooded before. The narrative did not convince me that Scudder's moral spectrum needed such a massive realignment. This is what the previous book, A Ticket to the Boneyard did masterfully - the plot pushed Scudder to his limits and his extreme reprisal felt much more organic rather than a shock device.
Like most Block books individual scenes shine brighter than the overall plot. There is one where Scudder and his gangster friend Mick Ballou talk through the night laughing at the absurd violence levels in NYC. It is a beautiful piece of writing where two lonely, guilt ridden men try to find some sort of solace sharing stories that will be too trivial to be shared on most days and too gory to laugh at in most company. Ballou confesses to cold blooded premeditated murder in one of his yarns and Scudder is hardly bothered. I found it unbelievable and that is essentially my whole review. The book is undoubtedly well written but I kept on having trouble matching a character's action with what I had expected of him through the course of the series.
So A Dance at the Slaughterhouse is either a slow erosion of Scudder's morals or a shock ending not backed up by character beats. I fall in the second camp and yet recommend it to genre fans provided more than usual depravity (by the series standards) doesn't bother them. Rating - 4/5.
December 28, 2021
It's been a while since I have read a Scudder novel by Lawrence Block. I remember reading A Walk Among the Tombstones after the movie version came out. This one, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse is the novel immediately preceding Tombstones and it is another gritty page-turner that I was immersed in for a few days. In this one, Scudder is hired to look into the death of a woman who was brutally raped and tortured. The woman's brother wants to find out if her husband, Richard Thurman, was responsible for the murder. Thurman benefitted monetarily from the murder and the circumstances seem too pat for a random murder. But as Scudder looks into the murder he is shown a snuff tape by an acquaintance from AA where a young boy is tortured and murdered and he can't get this out of his mind. He thinks he may recognize the killer in the film even though he is masked in a rubber hood. Can this film be related to the death of Thurman's wife? And can Scudder sort out the pieces of the puzzle?
This novel really takes the reader to the underbelly of the sex-for-sale world in New York City of the late 1980s. It was a very compelling and intense read and I'll be looking forward to reading more in the series.
This novel really takes the reader to the underbelly of the sex-for-sale world in New York City of the late 1980s. It was a very compelling and intense read and I'll be looking forward to reading more in the series.
April 19, 2021
Block pulls no punches in this gritty detective story, with a plethora of unsavory characters. Previously I had only read the first Matthew Scudder book 'Sins of the Fathers' and had not found it very engaging. This one is in a totally different league.
Great, sometime disturbing, story that had an unexpected ending. It may be that if I had read the other Matthew Scudder books, and been more familiar with the character, I would not have been so surprised.
Based on my enjoyment of this book, it looks like I will have to track down the others in the series.
Great, sometime disturbing, story that had an unexpected ending. It may be that if I had read the other Matthew Scudder books, and been more familiar with the character, I would not have been so surprised.
Based on my enjoyment of this book, it looks like I will have to track down the others in the series.
August 9, 2019
... este o călătorie palpitantă și complet dezgustătoare în lumea prostituției infantile, a pedofililor, a sado-masochiștilor și a dezaxaților care sălășluiesc în partea întunecată și tenebroasă a New York-ului. Știu că sună ca o prezentare de carte făcută de o editură complet lipsită de imaginație, dar acesta este adevărul. Pe măsură ce dai paginile și sunt introduse noi elemente în poveste, atmosfera cărții devine din ce în ce mai apăsătoare, iar autorul scoate la iveală lucruri pe care orice om obișnuit ar prefera să nu le cunoască.
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May 29, 2024
This was a difficult read at times. The subject matter was super dark but Block treats is respectfully. Scudder surprised me at the end. I was NOT expecting that.
Scudder is hired to look into one murder but it leads him to a whole other universe. The universe of runaways and them being used for snuff films. The good thing is everyone gets what they deserve in this installment. Scudder stays sober and solves everything. Maybe even his singledom 🤔🤔
Scudder is hired to look into one murder but it leads him to a whole other universe. The universe of runaways and them being used for snuff films. The good thing is everyone gets what they deserve in this installment. Scudder stays sober and solves everything. Maybe even his singledom 🤔🤔
December 19, 2022
بی نظیر و خواندنی. یکی دیگر به لیست عشقهای کارآگاه من اضافه شد.
February 28, 2014
"Stay tuned," I said. "Don't change the channel."
Why would anyone get to the 9th book in the Matthew Scudder series and not be eager and ready to read the 10th??
This one is all about nasty sex crimes against children, murder...and of course Matt as he ties it all together and then decides what he’s going to do about it. Love the returning appearance of many characters... Elaine...Joe Durkin...even Andy the dart player. And my personal favourite...Mick Ballou. Block is genius at reminding his readers of what passed before...without slamming it into your face.
Great reading and continued amazement over Scudder...!!!
Why would anyone get to the 9th book in the Matthew Scudder series and not be eager and ready to read the 10th??
This one is all about nasty sex crimes against children, murder...and of course Matt as he ties it all together and then decides what he’s going to do about it. Love the returning appearance of many characters... Elaine...Joe Durkin...even Andy the dart player. And my personal favourite...Mick Ballou. Block is genius at reminding his readers of what passed before...without slamming it into your face.
Great reading and continued amazement over Scudder...!!!
June 22, 2020
“Edgar Award for best mystery novel in 1992, and it damn well deserved it.”
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