It’s been some time now since three of the Matthew Scudder titles went out of print. I got the rights back, and am very happy to announce that A Stab in the Dark, A Walk Among the Tombstones, and A Long Line of Dead Men are now eVailable, expertly formatted for ePublication by my friends at Telemachus Press and tricked out with handsome new covers to match the one on The Night and the Music.
A Stab in the Dark is the fourth book in the series, and the first in which it begins to dawn on Matt that there might be soemthing the slightest bit problematic about his drinking. He’s hired when the police crack an old case of his, an Icepick Killer who murdered a batch of women years ago. But one of the victims can’t be tied to the man in police custody, and Scudder’s hired by her father to find out who really wielded the icepick. Scudder’s investigation takes him to a loft on Lispenard Street, where he meets and becomes involved with Jan Keane—who will play an important role in several future books, including #17, A Drop of the Hard Stuff.
A Walk Among the Tombstones, the tenth Matthew Scudder novel, finds him hired by Kenan Khoury, a Lebanese-American drug trafficker living in Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge. Two men snatched his wife off the street, collected a six-figure ransom, and gave her back—in pieces. Scudder, assisted by TJ and a pair of computer hackers known as the Kongs, stays with the case all the way to a high-tension finale in Green-Wood Cemetery.
A Long Line of Dead Men, #12 in the series, recounts the story of the Club of Thirty-one, an ongoing secret society that traces its origins clar back to ancient Babylon. Its members meet once a year until only one man is left to recruit thirty others and start it all anew. But the current crop of members is shrinking at an unlikely rate. Is someone killing these men? And can Matthew Scudder do anything about it?
Ah, I see some hands raised. All right, I’ll take a few questions.
Those are all Kindle links. What about Nook? What about Apple? What about Kobo and Sony Reader and…
The books went live first on Amazon, and those are the links you’ll find above. But they’ll be eVailable everywhere, for all platforms. Here, for Kobo and Sony users, are Smashwords links for Stab, Walk, and Long Line. Nook and Apple links will appear here in due course.
When you ePublished The Night and the Music, you also came out with a handsome trade paperback edition. I liked mine so much I bought copies for several of my friends. Are you going to do the same for these three books?
Absolutely, but it’ll take a little while. My guess is the trade paperback editions should be on sale sometime in April. As with The Night and the Music, they’ll be available from online retailers, and the price will be the same, too—$16.99.
Suppose I want a signed copy?
Again, same story as with The Night and the Music. We’ll have copies for sale at LB’s Bookstore, and you’ll also be able to obtain the book from a select group of mystery specialty booksellers.
Mr. Block,
I first listened to “A Walk Among the Tombstones” several years ago. An avid Bernie and Carolyn fan, it was my first time to enter the world of Matt Scudder. The book was magnificently narrated by Mark Hammer. The book consumed me like only the very best books can. I listened in giant hours long gulps. I devoured it like a glutton. I loved it. I had to have more. I began reading the series, straight from the beginning as Matt’s books shoul be read. I enjoyed every minute of it. Matt Scudder’s series is so well written that I enter those books and live them. I do not read them. I have always wanted you to know this, and what a wonderful gift you have of characters, atmosphere, and mood. I am eagerly awaiting the Nook release of these books. You can count me in.
Wow. Many many thanks, Deborah.
I’m the proud owner of these three Scudder books. Glad to see that they’re now back available to everyone. Really enjoy all your books, from Bernie Rhodenbarr to Matthew Scudder to Evan Tanner. Thanks for entertaining us all these years.
PS–Your book, Telling Lies For Fun And Profit, has pride of place on my shelf of writing books. The writer’s prayer at the end is worth the price of the book.
Richard, thanks so much!
Yeah!!!! Thanks Larry! Just in time for my birthday! Guess what I’ll be doing this weekend.
Having a happy birthday, I trust!
I was first introduced to your works when I read an interview with my favorite British ‘page turner thriller’ author Simon Kernick who rates you as one of his “personal favorites” and who also said,” ‘A Walk Among the Tombstones’, was so good, I bought up pretty much his whole back catalogue”
Thanks for re releasing ‘ A Walk among the Tombstones’.
Simon’s one of the good guys. And I’m glad the world of ePublishing makes it so easy to keep works available.
I’ve read them all, own many of them and now will be stacking them up as ebooks, having both Kindle and Pandigital android (B&N partner.) My two favorite all time detective type characters are Matt Scudder and Dave Robicheaux (James Lee Burke) I’ve followed Matt from the get-go, and you personally, Larry Block, since you wrote inspriting articles for young authors at Writer’s Digest. We were all young then. You don’t even know me, but I know you and can’t help but think of you as my friend. Literature works that way, I think.
I don’t know for sure, but I strongly suspect that Matt may be your favorite character or surely one of them. I love some of the characters in my novels and think you may love Matt, as well. A lot of us out here certainly do. Thank you for giving him to us – or better said, sharing him with us.
Karleene, thanks for the kind words. I’ve been cruising the Indian Ocean for the past three weeks, hence the delay in responding. And yes, Matt is a favorite characters. But I tend to be fond of most of them…
I have to say that your book ‘8 Million Ways to Die’ is not just a great detective story-it simply is the best written detective books of all time.
As someone who treats addicts, I found Matt Scudder’s struggles in the book give me even more insight into what these unfortunate people go through.Very well done with one of the most powerful final paragraph of any book I’ve read.
Ravi, thanks so much. Generous words, and greatly appreciated.