| In Lawrence Block's 16th Matthew Scudder mystery, Matt is semi-retired. He agrees to follow his client's mysterious boyfriend to find out if he is what he says he is (i.e. not married, living alone, reasonably prosperous, etc.). This assignment alternates with a description in third person of a psychologist interested in whether a convicted killer can really believe he is innocent despite overwhelming evidence.
We soon discover that the psychologist is not all that he claims to be, and that he himself is a serial killer. His description appears to match that of Matt's client's mysterious boyfriend. When the killer strikes close to home, Matt and his wife, Elaine, take precautions to ensure that they are not the next victims. While the ending is something of a surprise, you can't fault Lawrence Block for not giving you fair clues along the way, and indeed once the "mystery" is unravelled, the story becomes more of a suspense thriller than a whodunit - or who will be doing it next. Over the course of the 16 novels, Matt has changed from a drunken cop, a divorced ex-cop, an alcoholic who regularly attends AA meetings, and finally the husband of his second wife, a former call girl. His growth is evident in all these novels, and he emerges with new lessons learned and an appreciation for the dwindling number of his friends who have survived into their 60s, as he has. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain? - Moderately Challenging Time/era of story: What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 50% Special suspect? - chronically deranged person Misc. Murder Plotlets - character killed during/after sexing - killer purposefully leaves puzzle clues - Killer purposely leaves clues Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 20 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Crime plotlets: Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes General Crime (including known murderer) Yes If story PRIMARILY about main chr. being hunted... - hunted by killer/stalker Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Unusual characteristics: Main Adversary Profession/status: Eccentric: Yes Motive of antagonist - power How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting United States Yes The US: - Mid-Atlantic states Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - very gorey descriptions deaths/dead bodies Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - touching of anatomy - actual description of sex - rape (yeech!) Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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