Publisher's Weekly Review
Best known for his Matt Scudder private eye novels, Block is also an accomplished writer of short fiction, and the 22 stories here, most of them post-1984, have appeared in a variety of magazines, including Playboy and the Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines. They are all skilful, written tightly and economically, with a mastery of dialogue; several are also, however, terribly slight. Some, like ``Cleveland in My Dreams,'' ``As Good as a Rest'' or the title story, are essentially no more than extended shaggy-dog tales. One of the three Scudder stories, ``By the Dawn's Early Light,'' is a treat--like one of the novels in miniature, and full of the tough melancholy that shrouds that impassive PI; another, ``Batman's Helpers,'' is a cutting New York cameo of casual brutality toward helpless street merchants. ``Hilliard's Ceremony,'' a story of faith and cynicism set in West Africa, could have been written by Somerset Maugham; ``Someday I'll Plant More Walnut Trees'' is also atypical, a brooding Chekhovian country tale. Only Block, however, could have conceived ``The Burglar Who Dropped In on Elvis,'' a welcome reminder of Bernie Rhodenbarr, one of Block's series heroes he seems to have abandoned. Sometimes the author's macabre imagination lends a remoteness, as in ``The Tulsa Experience,'' ``How Would You Like It?'' or ``Like a Bug on a Windshield,'' that is less chilling than distasteful. But the entertainment level is high throughout, and there is never any doubt of Block's prose mastery. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Twenty-one stories by the winner of last year's Edgar for Best Novel (A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, 1981), demonstrating his versatility, productiveness, and growth as a writer. Though this is Block's third collection (after Like a Lamb to Slaughter and Sometimes They Bite), focusing on tales written after 1984, it includes four pieces published in the 60's in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. Each Hitchcock yarn concerns murder and packs a final twist but no emotional resonance: practice scales, really, played diligently by a writer learning his craft. The later stories show the development of Block's more mature themes. Three series characters appear in them: Bernie Rhodenbarr, a thief who steals nothing of value and is a veteran of five novels (The Burglar Who Liked Mondrian, etc.); Martin H. Ehrengraf, an attorney whose ruthless methods get his clients (accused murderers) off the hook and who appears only in stories; and popular p.i. Matt Scudder. Rhodenbarr's turn, in ``The Burglar Who Dropped in on Elvis''--a witty puzzler in which the thief is hired to break into and photograph Elvis's sequestered bedroom at Graceland--highlights Block's lighter vein, which has been drying out lately. The two Ehrengraf stories--which show the lawyer crucifying innocents to defend his clients--demonstrate how Block's earlier irony grew into a sharper mordancy. And the two Scudder tales, as well as several others, reflect his more recent concern with ever-darker subjects. ``Answers to Soldier,'' for instance, tells of a hit man who regularly warms up to his intended victims but inevitably reverts to his cruel ways; and ``The Merciful Angel of Death,'' a powerful exploration of compassion, relates Scudder's tracking of a woman who may be sending AIDS victims to a gentle death. A mixed bag ranging from the hack to the sublime--and, for its best work, a must for Block/Scudder fans.
Booklist Review
Two nerdy brothers choose Tulsa for their vacation. They take a bus tour, see the sights, visit the city's museums, buy T-shirts, and then kidnap, rape, and murder a young woman. At the conclusion of this twisted tale, the narrator says they're considering Buffalo for their next trip--and he's sure it will be as wonderful as Tulsa. Block, who's best known for his excellent Matt Scudder novels, has put together a creepy collection of some 20 short stories. Predictably, most of the stories are about crime and criminals. Scudder, his once-alcoholic PI, appears; discovering he's been duped into helping clear a murderer, Scudder metes out justice--Old Testament style. Bernie Rhodenbarr, Block's antiquarian bookseller-cat burglar, scams a supermarket tabloid. Other stories involve serial murderers, and people who murder spouses, lovers, and total strangers with a matter-of-factness that is effectively unsettling. Crime fans who favor the short story form will love this one. ~--Thomas Gaughan
