Monday, December 24, 2018

A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES by Lawrence Block

Finished Su 12/23/18

This is an old paperback that I bought at the west branch of the library back on Sa 10/25/08. It was one of the first Mathew Scudder series that I had read and there was a notation that I get some of the other Scudder books.

Plot Summary:

Scudder is contacted by the Khoury brothers when Francine Khoury, Kenan's wife, fails to return from a shopping trip. They pay a $400,000 ransome, yet she's returned in pieces in the trunk of an abandoned car.

Kenan spreads the word among his dealer friends that they also might be the targets of kidnapping. A Russian criminal near Coney Island has his fourteen year old daughter taken from her private school. They get her back alive but she has been raped and two of her fingers had been cut off.

They trace the killers to Albert's house in Brooklyn. Ray has garroted Albert in the basement. Scudder leaves and Kenan takes off  Ray's feet, hands, ears, and penis. Kenan uses tourniquets and Ray survives but later dies in the hospital. He cannot communicate to authorities.

Matthew Scudder

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn

Elaine- Art Historian; call girl. A Final Twist- in the end Matthew admits that he loves Elaine and he doesn't want her to continue to be a call girl. She has actually stopped taking clients for many months.

Francine Khoury

Kenan Khoury

Peter Khoury- recovering heroin/ alcohol addict. He jumps off of the Brooklyn bridge at the end of the novel. He feels responsible for Francine's death. At an AA meeting he let slip that his brother, Kenan, was a mid-level drug dealer. This is how Ray and Albert targeted Kenan.

The Kongs- two teenagers who are hackers. One from Hong Kong and one is Jewish; last names 'King' and 'Kong'.

T.J.

Raymond Callandar

Albert

Brighton Beach

Yuri

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