Out On The Cutting Edge
Summary: Matthew Scudder understands the futility of his search for a longtime missing Midwestern innocent who wanted to be an actress in the vast meat-grinder called New York City. But her frantic father heard that Scudder is the best—and now the ex-cop-turned-p.i. is scouring the hell called Hell’s Kitchen looking for anything that might resemble a lead. And in this neighborhood of the lost, he’s finding love—and death—in the worst possible places. from www.lawrenceblock.com
Group Reviews/Comments:
3 thumbs up
4 thumbs down
There were many negative comments about this book, and the “thumbs up” readers were somewhat hesitant as they liked the author but felt that this book wasn’t the best representation of how great the Matthew Scudder series can be.
We discussed the book being a reflection of it’s time–NYC in the 1980s was dark and gritty. Some readers felt the novel dated, others felt that it was realistic and accurate.
Some felt Scudder was unlikeable and the other characters one dimensional and hard to care about. Others felt Scudder showed an interesting combination of good and bad—known to cut ethical corners but with a moral code of his own that he sticks with.
There were readers who felt the plot meandered and the mystery formulaic. Others agreed, but felt that within the PI “procedural” it felt true.
Most of the group believed that the presence of AA in the book was heavy handed; those who were more familiar with the series explained that this book marked a bridge between the old Matthew Scudder and the new, sober one.
Pretty much everyone liked the character The Butcher!
NOTE: a huge apology to those who read The Cutting Edge rather than Out On The Cutting Edge. Sorry I didn’t make the correction to the reading list before you read the wrong book. On the plus side, the group benefited from one of the most visually enjoyable descriptions of a book ever and henceforth we will be using the term “origami reindeer” to describe books that are supremely complicated, you can’t believe that it will ever pull together at the end–and then just at the last minute–it all makes sense!
