Böcker i Matthew Scudder-serien

In the dark days, in a sad and lonely place, ex-cop Matt Scudder is drinking his life away -- and doing "favors" for pay for his ginmill cronies. But when three such assignments flow together in dangerous and disturbing ways, he'll need to change his priorities from boozing to surviving.

Small-time stoolie, Jake " The Spinner" Jablon, made a lot of new enemies when he switched careers, from informer to blackmailer. And the more "clients", he figured, the more money -- and more people eager to see him dead. So no one is surprised when the pigeon is found floating in the East River with his skull bashed in. And what's worse, no one cares -- except Matthew Scudder. The ex-cop-turned-private-eye is no conscientious avenging angel. But he's willing to risk his own life and limb to confront Spinner's most murderously aggressive marks. A job's a job after all -- and Scudder's been paid to find a killer -- by the victim...in advance.

Nobody knows better than Matthew Scudder how far down a person can sink in this city. A young prostitute named Kim knew it also?and she wanted out. Maybe Kim didn't deserve the life fate had dealt her. She surely didn't deserve her death. The alcoholic ex-cop turned p.i. was supposed to protect her, but someone slashed her to ribbons on a crumbling New York City waterfront pier. Now finding Kim's killer will be Scudder's penance. But there are lethal secrets hiding in the slain hooker's past that are far dirtier than her trade. And there are many ways of dying in this cruel and dangerous town?some quick and brutal ... and some agonizingly slow.

Bad cop Jerry Broadfield didn't make any friends on the force when he volunteered to squeal to an ambitious d.a. about police corruption. Now he'saccused of murdering a call girl. Matthew Scudder doesn't think Broadfield's a killer, but the cops aren't about to help the unlicensed p.i. prove it -- and they may do a lot worse than just get in his way.

The pretty young prostitute is dead. Her alleged murderer?a minister's son?hanged himself in his jail cell. The case is closed. But the dead girl's fatherhas come to Matthew Scudder for answers, sending the unlicensed private investigator in search of terrible truths about a life that was lived and lost in a sordid world of perversion and pleasures.

Twelve years ago, Matthew Scudder lied to a jury to put James Leo Motley behind bars. Now the ingenious psychopath is free. And the alcoholic ex-cop-turned-p.i. must pay dearly for his sins. Friends and former lovers -- even strangers unfortunate enough to share Scudder's name -- are turning up dead. Because a vengeful maniac is determined not to rest until he's driven his nemesis back to the bottle...and then to the boneyard.

Ein Ticket für den Friedhof ist der achte Roman mit Lawrence Blocks fesselndster Figur, Matthew Scudder. Eher klassischer Thriller als Kriminalroman, ist er vielleicht sogar sein bester.Von heftigen Schuldgefühlen geplagt, hat Scudder Frau und Kinder verlassen und den Polizeidienst quittiert, um in einem Hotel in New Yorks Hell¿s Kitchen ein einsames Dasein zu fristen und sich in Jimmy Armstrong¿s Saloon gleich um die Ecke vorwiegend von Bourbon und Kaffee zu ernähren.Inzwischen hat er zwar dem Alkohol abgeschworen, lebt aber immer noch in demselben spartanischen Hotelzimmer und verdient sich das wenige Geld, das er zum Leben braucht, indem er, wie er es selbst nennt, "Freunden hin und wieder einen Gefallen tut".Dann holt ihn eines Tages die Vergangenheit ein. Zwölf Jahre zuvor hat Matthew Scudder vor Gericht eine Falschaussage gemacht, um James Leo Motley hinter Gitter zu bringen. Inzwischen ist der brutale Gewaltverbrecher wieder auf freiem Fuß und sinnt auf Rache. Scudders Freunde und ehemalige Geliebte - sogar vollkommen Fremde, die das Pech hatten, denselben Familiennamen zu tragen - bezahlen mit ihrem Leben. Denn der rachsüchtige Psychopath ist fest entschlossen, nicht eher zu ruhen, als bis er seinen Erzfeind wieder in den Suff getrieben - und dann ins Grab gebracht hat."Man kann dieses Buch einfach nicht mehr aus der Hand legen", schrieb die Washington Post Book World. "Anhaltende Spannung und ein atemberaubendes Ende." Der Boston Herald lobte Ein Ticket für den Friedhof als "fesselnden Spannungsroman, der die Nerven des Lesers auf eine harte Belastungsprobe stellt". Ins selbe Horn stößt die San Diego-Union Tribune: "Nervenzehrende, kaum zu ertragende Spannung. Lawrence Block ist einer von Amerikas besten Krimiautoren, und er war nie besser als in diesem Buch."