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daezarkian's review against another edition
4.0
Many years ago, retired Detective turned (sort of) private investigator Matt Scudder put a dangerous man behind bars. Now he's back...and he's going to make every woman in Matt's life pay...
While light on the mystery elements, "A Ticket to the Boneyard" is one of Block's finer character studies of his ex-alcoholic protaganist. Nearly every scenes radiates Matt's scars and regrets, compounded by his belief that a past attempt to do some good might have created a true monster.
This was at times a difficult book to get through. While Block doesn't linger on the details, some of the violence against women even implied in "A Ticket to the Boneyard" is gut-wrenching, and the book has a somehow even more somber tone than "A Dance At the Slaughterhouse" and "A Walk Among the Tombstones". This is the darkest Scudder-mystery I've read yet.
So while not necessarily for the faint of heart, Block's amazing character-building skills make this a terrific read. I've come to know Matt Scudder well over the adventures of his I've read, and I look forward to meeting him again (even if I'll be wary of the darkness that inevitably comes in his wake).
While light on the mystery elements, "A Ticket to the Boneyard" is one of Block's finer character studies of his ex-alcoholic protaganist. Nearly every scenes radiates Matt's scars and regrets, compounded by his belief that a past attempt to do some good might have created a true monster.
This was at times a difficult book to get through. While Block doesn't linger on the details, some of the violence against women even implied in "A Ticket to the Boneyard" is gut-wrenching, and the book has a somehow even more somber tone than "A Dance At the Slaughterhouse" and "A Walk Among the Tombstones". This is the darkest Scudder-mystery I've read yet.
So while not necessarily for the faint of heart, Block's amazing character-building skills make this a terrific read. I've come to know Matt Scudder well over the adventures of his I've read, and I look forward to meeting him again (even if I'll be wary of the darkness that inevitably comes in his wake).
skinnypenguin's review
3.0
Quite intense. It shows that some of the actions you take can come back to bite you later on. When Scudder frames a bad guy to get him jailed he never thinks the guy will come back to get him. The villain is really a sick person and he tortures and kills people in a horrible manner and enjoys it. He is after Scudder and the women he knows. The hunt for him is on all over the city and he is quite good at hiding and killing without people seeing him.
It is terrifying how he can get to people and knowing that he is coming after you and the police can't help. It is good to see that Scudder does reconnect with Elaine. He cares about a lot of people and goes out of his way to help them. Also shows how he his AAA meetings give him support, as does his sponsor and some of his sketchy friends.
It is terrifying how he can get to people and knowing that he is coming after you and the police can't help. It is good to see that Scudder does reconnect with Elaine. He cares about a lot of people and goes out of his way to help them. Also shows how he his AAA meetings give him support, as does his sponsor and some of his sketchy friends.
carol26388's review
3.0
I am not the target audience for this book.
1) I'm a chicken when it comes to horror/thriller.
2) In Ticket, Block experiments with a thriller plot of a sadistic freak stalking Scudder and Elaine for revenge. Yes, they set him up, but they were totally justified, because he was stalking prostitutes, assaulting and raping them and trying to use mind Jedi tricks to convince them to let him be their pimp for good. No cop thought the charges would stick because, you know, this is a New York jury: they would have thought the pros totally deserved it, right?
3) Did I mention I am a chicken when it comes to horror? I am.
4) While the stalker-rapist was in jail, he killed at least two people and possibly three more, but the prison authorities couldn't prove anything (cuz he was already in a prison, natch)
5) I made it to about page 50 before I read ahead so I could know who survives.
6) Yes, I know there are like 10 other Scudder books. See #3.
7) Now that I know the ending (roughly; I didn't totally cheat--what do you think I am?? I skimmed it) I'll go back and finish the book.
*********
Alright, plowed through it today. Not out of any great love, mind you, but out of sense of responsibility and completion. The fact that there were some very nicely written sections and several great scenes with Scudder and his retinue (Elaine, Danny Boy, Mick Ballou, a random Ohio detective) were sheer bonus, much like discovering bacon bits on a spinach salad. One of the pleasures remains Scudder's struggles with personal growth. Jim Faber, AA sponsor, recommended he take up The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius and Scudder's been meditating on it (and finding it useless, but that's part of the fun). There's a nice bit where dry Scudder feels slightly frustrated by the ghosts of hangovers past: "I like to think I'd given up mornings like this along with the booze. Instead my head ached and my mouth and throat were dry and every minute took three or four minutes to pass." He ends up discussing the experience at an AA meeting, and it's refreshing to see him taking the time to puzzle out his feelings instead of drowning them in Kentucky coffee.
He still makes a stupid mistake or three because he is so very desperate to take down the stalker. Scudder seriously abuses some shoe leather as he knocks on doors (so to speak) and hits just about every flophouse in town. Those parts are believable enough, but I'm surprised his cop friends give him so much grief later in the book about pressing charges for assault. That is less explicable in context of prior books and the old-boys' club, and it feels more like a device to create a feeling of entrapment and futility. I feel like some of the plotting in building the stalker-tension was more forced, less consistent with Scudder and his NYC world. The psychological intimidation on the part of the stalker was enough to put me off, but I'm not sure it squared as well with the addition of the sadistic murdering qualities as well; it was a little too "this is the ultimate bad guy so everything that happens to him is justified." I'm not sure it was psychologically consistent within the criminal personality either--he killed in a multitude of ways, a multitude of people (some not even connected), sodomized, had sex with dead bodies, targeted women, etc. He did everything but abuse puppies and kittens. What Block really does well are nuanced characters--witness Ballou--and this villain didn't play to his strengths. Still, decent enough. Onward!
1) I'm a chicken when it comes to horror/thriller.
2) In Ticket, Block experiments with a thriller plot of a sadistic freak stalking Scudder and Elaine for revenge. Yes, they set him up, but they were totally justified, because he was stalking prostitutes, assaulting and raping them and trying to use mind Jedi tricks to convince them to let him be their pimp for good. No cop thought the charges would stick because, you know, this is a New York jury: they would have thought the pros totally deserved it, right?
3) Did I mention I am a chicken when it comes to horror? I am.
4) While the stalker-rapist was in jail, he killed at least two people and possibly three more, but the prison authorities couldn't prove anything (cuz he was already in a prison, natch)
5) I made it to about page 50 before I read ahead so I could know who survives.
6) Yes, I know there are like 10 other Scudder books. See #3.
7) Now that I know the ending (roughly; I didn't totally cheat--what do you think I am?? I skimmed it) I'll go back and finish the book.
*********
Alright, plowed through it today. Not out of any great love, mind you, but out of sense of responsibility and completion. The fact that there were some very nicely written sections and several great scenes with Scudder and his retinue (Elaine, Danny Boy, Mick Ballou, a random Ohio detective) were sheer bonus, much like discovering bacon bits on a spinach salad. One of the pleasures remains Scudder's struggles with personal growth. Jim Faber, AA sponsor, recommended he take up The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius and Scudder's been meditating on it (and finding it useless, but that's part of the fun). There's a nice bit where dry Scudder feels slightly frustrated by the ghosts of hangovers past: "I like to think I'd given up mornings like this along with the booze. Instead my head ached and my mouth and throat were dry and every minute took three or four minutes to pass." He ends up discussing the experience at an AA meeting, and it's refreshing to see him taking the time to puzzle out his feelings instead of drowning them in Kentucky coffee.
He still makes a stupid mistake or three because he is so very desperate to take down the stalker. Scudder seriously abuses some shoe leather as he knocks on doors (so to speak) and hits just about every flophouse in town. Those parts are believable enough, but I'm surprised his cop friends give him so much grief later in the book about pressing charges for assault. That is less explicable in context of prior books and the old-boys' club, and it feels more like a device to create a feeling of entrapment and futility. I feel like some of the plotting in building the stalker-tension was more forced, less consistent with Scudder and his NYC world. The psychological intimidation on the part of the stalker was enough to put me off, but I'm not sure it squared as well with the addition of the sadistic murdering qualities as well; it was a little too "this is the ultimate bad guy so everything that happens to him is justified." I'm not sure it was psychologically consistent within the criminal personality either--he killed in a multitude of ways, a multitude of people (some not even connected), sodomized, had sex with dead bodies, targeted women, etc. He did everything but abuse puppies and kittens. What Block really does well are nuanced characters--witness Ballou--and this villain didn't play to his strengths. Still, decent enough. Onward!
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