A Drop of the Hard Stuff (Matthew Scudder, #17)

Matthew Scudder is approaching his one year sobriety. He attends AA meetings, where he is reconnected with an old friend Jack Ellery. Soon Jack is murdered and Matt beings to investigate. As he beings to search for the killer (he) finds it could be someone who attends AA meetings.

The story moves at a steady pace with a great plot. Matt is very likable, he struggles with sobriety, but will stop at nothing to find the killer of his friend. Engaging dialog adds to the story as we follow Matt along his journey.

Overall I found A Drop of the Hard Stuff enjoyable. I highly recommend to those who enjoy hard-case crime. I look forward to reading more in this series. ( )

Not so bad; half of the book is vintage Block. The other half is all Alcoholics Anonymous. The conceit of the book is that Matt Scudder, the intrepid ex-cop, un-licensed private detective, tries to figure out the murder of a friend of a friend when the clue resides in the victim's Ninth Step (or is it the Fourth Step?). Smile. I've read all the Matt Scudder books and they are mostly fabulous. Especially the first five. He's still drinking thru three and then tries to get sober thru five. They continue. ( )

During one of their through the long dark hours of the night talks, Matthew Scudder relates to Mick Ballou at Grogan's Open House, the story of one of the kids from his early childhood in the Bronx that he barely knew when they were kids of 12 and 13, but who would have a great impact on Scudder's later life. Scudder's family left the Bronx and some years passed until Scudder saw Jake Ellery again this time Ellery is wearing number four in a police line-up, Scudder is a cop, and the NYPD is still at the old Charles Street station. Ellery wasn't picked by the victim of the line-up who was trying to identify the perpetrator, and It would be 20 years more before Scudder would see Jake Ellery again. This time, Ellery's plight would change Scudder's path in life forever. Well plotted, well written, great read as always, this 17th book in the Matthew Scudder series, is a terrific reminder to how good a writer Lawrence Block is. ( )

A nice return to form with Matt telling an old story from his first year of sobriety. This functions as a guide to AA as much as a detective story with the crime revolving around the 12-step program and Matt recounting some detail about every meeting he attends. And he attends a lot of meetings. Sometimes more than one a day. Still, somehow it works. ( )

It is a story that primarily moves through conversations, not through action. Not everyone will like this style and some will hate it. Personally, I thought it was brilliant. Scudder is an ex-cop who does a little of this and that. He reminisces about a childhood pal who went into a life of crime, jack. Lost track of him after grade school. Saw him once in a lineup, but the
witness didn't make him. Ran into him years later at an AA meeting. Yeah, Scudder is coming up on his one year anniversary of being sober. The next Scudder hears his old pal was shot twice, once in the head and once in the mouth. Kind of a shut your mouth message.
Jack's sponsor asks Scudder to look into it and Scudder follows up leads to try and get some answers. It's brilliant work although its subdued. ( )