A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, Lawrence Block
A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, Lawrence Block
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A Dance at the Slaughterhouse
A Matthew Scudder Crime Novel

Author: Lawrence Block

Narrator: Joe Barrett

Unabridged: 8 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/15/2014

Synopsis

There is no accolade or major mystery award that has not already been bestowed upon Lawrence Block. His acclaimed crime novels are as intelligent, provocative, and emotionally complex as they are nerve-tighteningly intense. And perhaps the most respected of his myriad works are the Matthew Scudder books—masterworks of suspenseful invention featuring a remarkable protagonist rich in conscience and character, with all the flaws that his humanity entails. This is the detective novel as high art.In Matt Scudder's mind, money, power, and position elevate nobody above morality or the law. Now the ex-cop and unlicensed PI has been hired to prove that socialite Richard Thurman orchestrated the brutal murder of his beautiful, pregnant wife. During Scudder's hard-drinking years, he left a piece of his soul on every seedy corner of the Big Apple. But this case is more depraved and more potentially devastating than anything he experienced while floundering in the urban depths. Because this investigation is leading Scudder on a frightening grand tour of New York's sex-for-sale underworld—where an innocent young life is simply a commodity to be bought and perverted … and then destroyed.

About Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block is the recipient of a Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and an internationally renowned bestselling author. His prolific career spans over one hundred books, including four bestselling series as well as dozens of short stories, articles, and books on writing. He has won four Edgar and Shamus Awards, two Falcon Awards from the Maltese Falcon Society of Japan, the Nero and Philip Marlowe Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of the United Kingdom. In France, he has been awarded the title Grand Maitre du Roman Noir and has twice received the Societe 813 trophy. Born in Buffalo, New York, Block attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Leaving school before graduation, he moved to New York City, a locale that features prominently in most of his works. His earliest published writing appeared in the 1950s, frequently under pseudonyms, and many of these novels are now considered classics of the pulp fiction genre. During his early writing years, Block also worked in the mailroom of a publishing house and reviewed the submission slush pile for a literary agency. He has cited the latter experience as a valuable lesson for a beginning writer. Block's first short story, "You Can't Lose," was published in 1957 in Manhunt, the first of dozens of short stories and articles that he would publish over the years in publications including American Heritage, Redbook, Playboy, Cosmopolitan, GQ, and the New York Times. His short fiction has been featured and reprinted in over eleven collections including Enough Rope, which is comprised of eighty-four of his short stories. In 1966, Block introduced the insomniac protagonist Evan Tanner in the novel The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep. Block's diverse heroes also include the urbane and witty bookseller-and thief-on-the-side-Bernie Rhodenbarr; the gritty recovering alcoholic and private investigator Matthew Scudder; and Chip Harrison, the comical assistant to a private investigator with a Nero Wolfe fixation who appears in No Score, Chip Harrison Scores Again, Make Out with Murder, and The Topless Tulip Caper. Block has also written several short stories and novels featuring Keller, a professional hit man. Block's work is praised for his richly imagined and varied characters and frequent use of humor. A father of three daughters, Block lives in New York City with his second wife, Lynne. When he isn't touring or attending mystery conventions, he and Lynne are frequent travelers, as members of the Travelers' Century Club for nearly a decade now, and have visited about 150 countries.

About Joe Barrett

Joe Barrett, an actor and Audie Award and Earphones Award–winning narrator, has appeared both on and off Broadway as well as in hundreds of radio and television commercials.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bill on December 03, 2019

In this ninth volume of the series, detective Matt Scudder not only confronts an evil as absolute as any he has yet encountered, but is also forced to accept he is powerless to bring this evil to justice by any means he has yet permitted himself to use. Scudder faces a moral dilemma, and the way he......more

Goodreads review by Kemper on August 26, 2016

A few years ago I was talking to somebody in my cube at work, and the name of the small town I grew up in came up. A woman who worked in the cube across the aisle from mine looked up and said that since I was from that town, that I must know of this other smaller town that was nearby. I laughed and......more

Goodreads review by Andrew on May 17, 2022

New York City investigator Matt Scudder is handed a video (playable on a VCR, for those with a long memory) by a fellow attendee at one of his regular AA meeting. It’s ostensibly a classic movie but includes an unwelcome surprise. This sets Matt off on a crusade to find those responsible for the hor......more

Goodreads review by Trudi on March 04, 2014

Picking this one up I was not prepared for such a trip into dark and depraved waters. This is more than Scudder has ever gone up against previously and definitely the strongest in the series since Eight Million Ways To Die. While we've moved along in years out of the 80's into the early 90's, New Yo......more

Goodreads review by Dave on June 06, 2021

I didn’t love this #8 Matthew Scudder mystery by Lawrence Block. I liked parts of it. I loved the first several of them, focused on the psychology/theology of an ex-cop whose life is pretty much in ruins. He’s an alcoholic, and the publisher names these early stories crime novels, but they are reall......more

Quotes

“Darkly entertaining…Shocking…This one has more voltage than most.” New York Times 

“Outstanding…A smoothly paced, deftly plotted, brightly phrased study of perversity and coincidence with many twists and no straight arrows.” Chicago Tribune

“Block and Scudder never set a foot wrong on New York’s cracked, grimy sidewalks.” Detroit News

“[A] pitch-perfect crime story…[Scudder’s] evolution in Block’s series, fraught with ambiguity, is as convincing as a real life.” Publishers Weekly

“This strong cast of supporting characters, along with a riveting plot and forceful prose, place this on the high priority list.” Library Journal

“Strong stuff from a real pro.” Booklist

“A wrenching and lurid Matt Scudder outing that pits the unlicensed PI against child-killing slime and climaxes in vigilante violence…Written with great heart and care.” Kirkus Reviews

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