Title: Even Block's 'less than best' is better than most
Review: There are no bad Matthew Scudder books. While I agree thatEverybody Dies is not as good as some of the previous Scudder books,Lawrence Block on any bad day can out write almost anyone else doing this kind of thing. There is a familiarity of place, character and action about these books that always satisfies. The writing is spare and evocative and seems perfectly tuned to the violence and the moral ambiguity of the world that Scudder inhabits.I don't know what others sense as lacking in this book, and I doubt that I can put my own impressions clearly, but it seems that as Scudder's domestic scene has become more stable, some edge has been lost from the character. I think I liked it better when his woman was still turning tricks and he seemed more lost and unhappy. It added a dimension to the stories that I miss.Nevertheless, I will continue to read Block's Scudder series as long as he wants to turn them out. They are a fine way to pass a few hours
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