All the Flowers Are Dying (Matthew Scudder Series Book 16)

The New York Times –bestselling author "ratchets up the suspense with breathtaking results as only a skilled, inventive and talented writer can do" ( Orlando Sentinel ). A man in a Virginia prison awaits execution for three horrific murders he must have committed but swears he didn't . . . An aging investigator in New York City has seen too much and lost too much—and is ready to leave the darkness behind . . . But a nightmare is coming home—because a brilliant, savage, patient monster has unfinished business in the big city . . . and a hunger that can be satisfied only by fear and the slow, agonizing death of Matthew Scudder and the woman he loves. "Block, who couldn't write a dull scene even if he tried to, is in fine form here." — Los Angeles Times "Block, as always, takes his readers on a wildly entertaining ride." — The Buffalo News "A thrilling, satisfying concoction brewed by a master storyteller in top form." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) "An unforgettable tale of violence, death and deceit." — Lansing State Journal "A page-turning work of art." — Toronto Sun In his sixteenth Matthew Scudder novel, All the Flowers Are Dying, New York Times bestselling author Lawrence Block takes the award-winning series to a new level of suspense and a new depth of characterization. Building on the critical and commercial success of Hope to Die, Block puts Scudder -- and the reader -- at the very edge of the abyss. Scudder, a complex character who has grown and aged in real time, confronts the implacable challenge of mortality. But he must also tackle a determined, relentless, and icily inhuman adversary, perhaps the most unforgettable villain Block has ever created. A man in a Virginia prison awaits execution for three hideous murders he swears, in the face of irrefutable evidence, he did not commit. A psychologist who claims to believe the convict spends hours with the man in his death row cell, and ultimately watches in the gallery as the lethal injection is administered. His work completed, the psychologist heads back to New York City to attend to unfinished business. Meanwhile, Scudder has just agreed to investigate the ostensibly suspicious online lover of an acquaintance. It seems simple enough. At first. But when people start dying and the victims are increasingly closer to home, it becomes clear that a vicious killer is at work. And the final targets may be Matt and Elaine Scudder. The suspense is breathtaking, the outcome never certain. A series that has garnered no end of awards -- the Edgar, the Shamus, the Philip Marlowe, the MalteseFalcon -- has ascended to a dizzying new height. With this novel, Lawrence Block, who recently received the Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement from the Crime Writers Association of the United Kingdom, is at the very top of his form. New York Times bestselling author Lawrence Block returns with another riveting thriller. Mystery Grandmaster Lawrence Block has enthralled readers for more than three decades with his novels featuring the lovable burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, Keller, and