Rating: 
Summary: Everybody Dies
Review: This book dragged on for too long. It was hard to get into and even harder to finish. There really wasn't much plot or emotion involved, just a lot of killing. He could have done better.
Rating: 
Summary: The P.I. & the Burgler could both retire with the author
Review: I've read all and every of Block's "Mathew Scudder" series, but it was a slowly burnt-out, downhill slides one by one, a deterioration from good, bad, worse to worst. The "Burglar" series actually is an unrealistic joke or farce, similar to the once-so-great Lawrence Sanders' alcholic, drunken "McNally's" series, cashed in by both authors with their old fames. Detour from these authors and save some money for those who still could write with enthusiasm and a heart.
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of his best, but a good read
Review: I have read all of the Scudder novels, and enjoyed them all. When Block is at his best, there's no one better. Unfortunately, this is not Block at his best. Still, it's a solid effort, and worth a look. The characters are well written and defined, and I appreciate that Block is willing to kill off one of one of his longest running supporting characters in order to keep the reader in suspense (that and the title kept me hooked until the end, wondering if anyone else would buy it).
Rating: 
Summary: A thoughtful mystery writer
Review: This is my first Laurence Block mystery and I am quite impressed. Block writes exceptionally well. He does not use many more words than necessary to convey the story. His characters are very believable. Matthew Scudder (the private detective and main character) is both likeable and vulnerable. The book not only made me think about who did the awful deed but also made me think about life.
Rating:
Summary: Block/Scudder Always Worth It!
Review: I am not the biggest Lawrence Block fan in the world, I have not read every novel that Block has written. I do pick up one on occasion and always find one thing true. The books are quick noir like enjoyable reads. Matt Scudder is one of the more likeable characters in any mystery series out there today."Everybody Dies" starts when Scudder and his gangster friend Mick Ballou doing their usual gangster/private investigator act. However Scudder gets involved in revengeful war between Ballou and an unknown group. Soon the body count quickly rises and Scudder and Ballou must use each other wits of the city to survive. This is a great gangster novel with Ballou a character you now is not very nice the most riveting . Block tends to mix in a lot of characters from other books, like Lisa Holtzman from "Devil Knows Your Dead". With all the Scudder novels out there and if you have not read them all, like myself, it may seem that characters are popping up all over. Block does do a nice job in trying to describe who is who. Overall it is fast paced and exciting.
Rating:
Summary: What Is the Right Thing To Do?
Review: I am a devoted fan of the Matt Scudder series, and found myself riveted to this book. Cruel fate intervenes in many ways in this story to push the characters to the edge. How they deal with those challenges is intensely personal, and makes you think about what you, the reader, would have done. As a result, you learn a lot about yourself and the characters. This book is not for the squeemish, for it contains some of the most graphic violence imaginable. Yet the violence is essential to the story, as a civilized man (Scudder) is drawn into a law of the jungle type situation. When civilization offers no direct solution to your problems, what should you do? That's the moral dilemma that is repeated throughout the book. Like the best of the Ross MacDonald novels, this mystery clearly transcends the genre into being primarily a novel about good and evil. Heart of Darkness is evoked in several ways. The plot also shakes up many of the base line themes in the Scudder series so that subsequent books will undoubtedly take Scudder into new directions -- something all Scudder fans should welcome. In many ways, this book is as pivotal to the series as the first book, When the Sacred Ginmill Closes. This book is a must read for all Scudder fans. I felt drawn in not only by the moral dilemmas, but by the detail of the writing. How would I carry a concealed gun? Would I keep a bulletproof vest on during hot weather? If you like Lawrence Block and have not read Scudder, you should start now. I do suggest that you read the books in chronological order of their publication. The characters build nicely from one book to the next, and you will find this book much more satisfying if you know what preceded it. Otherwise, this will simply seem somewhat like a book filled with gratuitous violence. If you do not know Block, I think this is his finest series. You should start now with When the Sacred Ginmill Closes. You have a major treat ahead of you as you read the 14 books in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Fun; Some Small Flaws But A Grand Read.
Review: Scudder is the most fresh and original detective in ongoing fiction. He out-grits Spenser; he has a place in New York that provides an endlessly interesting landscape. In this episode, Spenser is facing the violence associated with his good friend Mick Ballou, which has bled into his life. A friend is killed; a gang war breaks out, he is dragged into the mess, and to save himself is forced to move one step closer to the blurry line between criminal and detective. This is a grand story. There are a few problems -- Scudder acts a bit un-Scudderian. For example, he suddenly wears a bulletproof vest. Some convenient little plot devices move him around into one too many coincidences (wearing the same clothes as his friend!) But these small rough spots do not marr the final product. This episode is a bit more of a shoot-out and a rollicking adventure than it is a mystery or a whodunit. That is OK, it is good to alternate within a series. Scudder is growing closer to the edge, becoming more criminal and less clearly on the side of the law. The dynamic tension this creates should yield several more good books. Will Scudder's view of justice lead him over the line into law breaking? Will he be seduced into thinking that convenience for himself is a form of justice? What does a tired ex-alcoholic criminally inclined detective do next? Buy the book, read it, enjoy the story.
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Summary: My intro to Scudder...
Review: This was my first Matthew Scudder book and it won't be my last. This book read like a gritty, back alley story filled with tough guys. The story was good and the book moved along at a nice little clip, leaving you no time to get bored. Besides that, the various things going on left no room for boredom. The charcters were well developed and likeable. Even when they were doing things that should make you not like them. Rather than bore you with chunks of narrative, the author has the characters talk a lot, providing you with the details you need about the characters and what's happening at that moment. The use of the dialogue in this manner was great because not only did it move the scenes forward quickly, but it also makes you feel as if you're in the room, the car, or whatever with the guys as they talk. In addition, the action scenes are very well described, and pretty darned good. In sum, I found this to be a pretty good book. One that intrigued me enough to have me looking for other Matthew Scudder novels.
Rating:
Summary: a worthy entry in a great series
Review: I read "Everybody Dies" in a single sitting, and was as involved in the story as I have been in any of Block's previous Scudder novels. I certainly think that this book is an improvement over the last couple of stories, which lacked intensity and the edgy, fascinating Scudder we have grown used to. While "Everybody Dies" may ultimately lack the haunting power of the best entries in the series--for my money, "Eight Million Ways to Die," "A Walk Among the Tombstones," and "A Dance at the Slaughterhouse," it has some of the same grim intensity as those books. At their best, Block's Scudder novels almost enter the horror genre--he walks a fine line between mystery, suspense, and outright terror. No one does this as well as he does. Block seems to be consciously trying to go back to what made his series work so well in this volume--adding much more violence, raising the personal stakes for Scudder tremendously over the last couple of books, and having him explicitly reject the professional "respectablility" that somewhat alienated many of his longtime fans, I think, in the last couple of books. A minor criticism might be that we never get to encounter the main villain directly, but the action in the final sequence is so explosive and riveting that I didn't even realize that until later. Keep up the good work, Mr. Block.
Rating:
Summary: First time read of author
Review: I just finished Michael Connelly's fabulous Harry Bosch series and purchased Lawrence Block's Everbody Dies. This book is not a winner. It ambles through the plot becoming very difficult to follow. Hopefully Mr. Block's Matt Scudder character fairs better in earlier outings; this one is plain bad!
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