A Drop of the Hard Stuff by Lawrence Block

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A reason I enjoyed this novel so much is the author skillfully reveals much of the character of the protagonist, Matthew Scudder, through conversations and Matt's inner monologue while advancing the story so the mystery gets solved by Matt before this reader did. The reader can empathize and get involved in this fictive dream.

The novel is set-up with Matt telling a story about his past to a saloonkeeper, Mick Ballou, and that way the story has a certain timelessness to this narrative so that it can be enjoyed by fans of the sixteen Matthew Scudder novels or by a first time reader. You don't even have to be a fan of the mystery genre because this is well-written fiction.





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