Hope to Die

By: Lawrence Block

Narrated by: George Guidall

The city caught its collective breath when upscale couple Byrne and Susan Hollander were slaughtered in a brutal home invasion. Now, a few days later, the killers themselves have turned up dead behind the locked door of a Brooklyn hellhole - one apparently slain by his partner in crime, who then took his own life.

There's something drawing Matthew Scudder to this case that the cops have quickly and eagerly closed: a nagging suspicion that a third man is involved, a cold, diabolical puppet master who manipulates his two accomplices then cuts their strings when he's done with them. No one but Scudder even suspects he exists. And his worst fear is that the guy is just getting started....

©2016 Lawrence Block (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Block's prose is as smooth as aged whiskey...

Few thrillers have main character that is as developed, engaging and credible as Matt Scudder. He is a man of few, but definite principles that pursues the truth without compromise and with a distinguished humanity. The characters that surround him, the dialogues and the New York atmosphere make the story so captivating that is difficult to put the book down. As the Publishers weekly says : "Block s] prose is as smooth as aged whiskey...and the story flows across its pages.".
A truly fine book

Matt Scudder = always a good read!

What can I say? Another great story by Lawrence block! The only negative is that Lawrence Block did not narrate it. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, I love it when he narrates the books himself because his voice feels right for Matthew Scutter and I feel like he's sitting right next to me telling me a story.

good narration for a change

I like the Matt Scudder series a lot and this one has a better ending than most despite the... Well I won't put a spoiler in. much better than usual narration which is pretty bad throughout the series. at least the author and Mark Hammer are hard to listen to. it looks like the author Lawrence block is going to read another one soon. he has done it before and he's terrible despite being a very good writer. I'll have to decide whether or not to buy that one.

Feel Free to skip this one

LB + Guidall should be good, but the sum somehow is less than its parts.

Block is my favorite author, and the Scudder series some of his best work, but this one is just... bad. There are no real surprises about Scudder and how he operates, the problem comes from the (very odd) decision to write some of the book from the killer's point of view. It's clunky and just does not work.

Guidall is a great narrator, but not for this series. The issue isn't his narration, exactly, it's that the rest of the series has been done by 2 other narrators and its hard to feel the same when someone else is doing it. It's especially apparent when he reads in TJ's or Mick's voice... they feel like impostors rather than the characters we love.

I guess if you were just listening to this as a 1-shot, the shortfalls wouldn't be so noticeable. But if you are working your way through the Scudder series, this book sticks out like a square peg in a round hole

Stick to what you're good at.

I have read most of the Scudder series, and have enjoyed them all, until now. The noir style typical of Scudder as narrator has become familiar and comfortable, like hearing stories from a favorite uncle. This departure to the 3rd person feels like a betrayal. It is much more enjoyable seeing Scudder figure things out for himself. Also, leaving the tale unfinished was unnecessary and feels like a cheap ploy to sell more books. This may be the last I hear from Matt Scudder.