Matt Scudder is a hard boiled ex cop non- drinking alcoholic that roams New York City looking for people to help and to pick up a fee. Mr. Block knows the city like few others. He puts us into the back rooms and alleyways with people that are seldom totally evil and never perfectly good. His plots are tight and complicated. I have enjoyed Mr. Blocks writing for many years now.

            This book is special. It is Matt reminiscing. He is looking back on a case that happened in the seventies when he was still drinking and thought nothing of it. For a while I thought ‘what is wrong with this guy’? It isn’t the Scudder I know and then I got it. Matt was now a drinking alcoholic.

            Did that mean he couldn’t function, was a complete idiot and totally inept? Not at all. I don’t think I have ever read a better description of how drink affects a person without their being aware of it. It is a good mystery. It is a great portrait of the wrong drinking life. A very good book.

            For those who want to write, Mr. Block is a great friend. Read about his life, his perseverance with writing and if you can find them the series of articles he wrote for Writer’s digest. He not only knows how to write he know how to tell you about writing.

Thank you Mr. Block.