A Stab in the Dark Lib/E: A Matthew Scudder Novel
Audio CD – Unabridged, December 1, 2011
Description
Among the virtues of the book is its complete lack of sentimentality. The author is a deft surgeon, spare and economical, with no wasted motion, sure and precise in his technique. -- "New York Times" Lawrence Block is a master...The Matthew Scudder novels are among the finest detective books penned in this century. -- "Jonathan Kellerman" The more interesting aspect of the work is Scudder's alcoholism. Not yet bottomed out, he engages in morning eye-openers and all-day benders...Though his lover enters Alcoholics Anonymous at the end of the work, Scudder continues his heavy drinking. William Roberts's reading of the story is quite good. A required purchase for all detective story collections. -- "Library Journal" This is a Scudder mystery, and listeners will enjoy his relentless investigation into the brutal nine-year-old murder of a pregnant woman. The novel is early in the Scudder series, by the way, and an important stepping-stone on his way to sobriety. -- "AudioFile" Lawrence Block is the recipient of a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and a New York Times bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series and dozens of short stories and articles. He has won multiple Edgar and Shamus awards, two Falcon Awards from the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan, the Nero and Philip Marlowe Awards, the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of America, and many others. Aside from being a mystery writer, he has also written a number of episodes for television, including two episodes of the ESPN series Tilt ; he also cowrote the screenplay for the film My Blueberry Nights , starring Norah Jones. Block currently lives in New York City with his wife, Lynne. William Roberts ' theater appearances include Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mockingbird . Among his films are Cold Mountain and Death Wish III , while he has been seen on television in Martin Chuzzlewit and The Old Devils . An accomplished voice artist, he is a frequent narrator of audiobooks and has received an AudioFile Earphones Award.
Features & Highlights
- Nine long years have passed since the killer last struck-nine years since eight helpless young women were brutally slaughtered by an icepick-wielding maniac. The trail grew cold, and the book was unofficially closed on a serial killer who stopped killing. But now the Icepick Prowler has confessed-but only to seven of the killings. Not only does he deny the eighth but he also has an airtight alibi.
- Barbara Ettinger's family had almost come to accept that the young woman was the victim of a random killing. Now they must grapple with the shocking revelation that not only was her death disguised to look like the serial killer's work but her murderer may have been someone she knew and trusted.
- Matthew Scudder has been hired to finally bring her slayer to justice, setting the relentless detective on the trail of a death almost a decade old, searching for a vicious murderer who is either long gone, long dead-or patiently waiting to kill again.
