A Drop of the Hard Stuff (Matthew Scudder)
"A Great American Crime Novel ... good to the last drop. Totally gripping. The perfect introduction to Scudder's shadow-strewn world and the pleasures of Block's crisp yet brooding prose, [and] a bracing distillation of Block's powers."—Time"Moving ... elegiac ... right up there with Mr. Block's best."—Wall Street Journal"One of the finest in the entire Scudder series ... highly recommended."—Entertainment Weekly"Sometimes you open a novel and you just know you're in the hands of a master. In the case of Lawrence Block's latest Matt Scudder mystery, the tipoff is a brazenly simple plot premise, faultlessly executed...Like a lot of great mystery fiction,A Drop of the Hard Stuffis also a ghost story. Matt's attempt to exorcise his phantoms results in a classic tale about the stubborn persistence of memory and regret."—NPR"Block is a mesmerizing raconteur ... elegiac ... a lament for all the old familiar things that are now almost lost, almost forgotten."—The New York Times Book Review"Smart and cunning ... reminds us that the really good writers can make even familiar situations seem newfound and energized."—Tampa Tribune"Intriguing. Strong characterization and great eye for atmospheric detail makes his latest effort a dark but enjoyable tale."—Lansing State Journal"A satisfyingly adult story, with a believable number of false starts and lose ends, as it pays tribute to the power of persistence and acceptance."—Columbus Dispatch"Genius...the prose, as always, is like the club soda Scudder sips in the opening pages: cool, fizzy, and completely refreshing."—Booklist, starred review"Powerful...Block's pitch-perfect prose bolsters the elegiac plot. Accessible to first-timers, this book should add many more fans to the author's considerable following."—Publishers Weekly(starred review)"Lonesome, wintry, and compassionate . . . guaranteed to get under your skin."—Kirkus Reviews"Pensive and philosophical, at times bleak, and at others surprisingly warm and human ... as rich and rewarding as it is devastating ... if you haven't read any of the Scudder books yet, this might be the perfect way to introduce yourself to one of crime fiction's most enduring characters."—www.PulpSerenade.com"Hypnotic. You don't realize you're being sucked in until - BANG! - the plot thickens and suddenly you can't put it down. Another solid entry in the in one of mystery's most reliable series."—www.SpinetinglerMag.com"There is really only one writer of mystery and detective fiction who comes close to replacing the irreplaceable John D. MacDonald ...The writer is Lawrence Block."—Stephen King