The Sins of the Fathers (Matthew Scudder Mysteries Book 1)

When I was in the uni, perhaps a couple of decades ago, I first encountered Lawrence Block because of my fascination over the Hitman game. So, while searching for lore, I found that Block wrote about a Hitman named Keller and he had two books then on him —Hit Man and Hit List. I read and liked both! And that time, since I've already finished the 2 novels and there's nothing else to read on Keller, I jumped over to Block's Scudder series.The first Scudder book I read was 'All the Flowers are Dying,' and when I finished it, I knew I was hooked. Mind you, the book was number 16 in the Scudder series. Back then, I still didn't have a kindle so I would scour second hand bookstores for copies and I think I was able to buy at least half of the series. And I think, I was able to read some of them. However, when I moved from my parents, I left my books and stopped reading Block for some reason. I think it was because I transitioned to sci-fi. The last Block I read was 'A Walk Among the Tombstones', which I hurriedly finished in time for the movie premiere in 2014.So, what I'm trying to say is that I've been reading Block since I was a young man. I like how he write and I am fascinated with his characters and the stories he paint for them.Going now to my reciew, reading and enjoying every chapter of this book is like a rekindling of the love I had for Block's work and towards the detective and mystery genre.The Sins of the Fathers is a fitting first story for Scudder and this should not be missed by anyone who would like to venture into the series. Although each book could stand on its own, the characters of Block mature and grow with every book, so I suggest you read it in chronology.I'm rating this as 5 as I enjoyed it and I see it as a potential reread.

Although I absolutely loved Lawrence Block’s “Sins of the Father”, I can’t wrap my head around the fact that it was first published in 1976. I reached for Sins of the Father because I wanted a “Detective” novel, something that wasn’t a cookie cutter of a million other books. This book was immediately different from all the others in the pack.We are introduced to Matthew Scudder. He is not someone you’d look up to, maybe not even someone you’d like, but he lives within his own code of ethics which is something you can relate to. The fact that he is a broken shell of a man makes you appreciate that he is no longer a Detective… but to quote Liam Neeson (from Taken), he has “a certain set of skills” that are incredibly useful.The novel starts with the vicious murder of a prostitute, but her killer has already been caught. He confessed and then he hung himself. So no mystery to solve, right? Except that Matthew Scudder has been requested to find out more about the murdered prostitute. What makes this prostitute different is that she comes from wealth and her step-father wants to know who she was as an individual, since the family had lost touch with their prodigal daughter. Seems simple enough, right? Except this is Matthew Scudder and he doesn’t do simple.You see, you can’t hire him. You can give him a gift and he can do you a favor, but he cannot be paid or hired. Within the first few pages of the novel we see that Matthew Scudder is an unscrupulous man who doesn’t think twice about committing tax evasion or breaking any number of laws… and yet it was once his responsibility to uphold the law. He’s a little greasy. He is on the dark side of icky police politics, however Matthew Scudder uses his knowledge of circumventing the law for the side of what he believes is moral.Since you can’t hire him, he isn’t working for you. He decides how much of a favor he actually owes you - which means that he doesn’t stop once he gets his questions answered. He stops when he’s ready, and he wasn’t ready in Sins of the Father until he had obtained his brand of justice (which is of course stands outside of the law).I loved this novel. It was incredibly refreshing. Although it is almost forty years old, nothing in Mr. Block’s writing dates it (except for Matthew Scudder having to use a pay phone to contact someone, or everyone having land lines in their homes). I liked Matthew Scudder. He isn’t someone I’d like to meet, but if I ever needed the kind of help that local authorities wouldn’t be able to provide I’d ask for one of those favors.Definitely, read this novel. You’ll see parts of this book briefly highlighted in the movie “A Walk Among The Tombstones” (which is book 10 of the Matthew Scudder series). It’s a shame that you have to read a book that is 40 years old to find something refreshing and feels new, but that’s what you’ll get with Sins of the Father. I got so drawn into Matthew Scudder’s world that all that mattered was the ride I was on. I didn’t care when it was written. All I cared about was revealing the mystery not just of the dead prostitute, but also of who Matthew Scudder is as a man.My favorite quotes from Sins of the Father:“Nowadays we speak of neuroses, of psychological complications, of compulsion. Previously we spoke of witchcraft, of demonic possession. I wonder sometimes if we’re as enlightened now as we prefer to think of, or if our enlightenment does us much good.”“It is not necessary to know what a person is afraid of. It is enough to know the person is afraid.”“Earlier you made her sound like a victim. Now she sounds like a villain.” “Everybody’s both.”

Classic may be an overused term but it certainly applies to this tale. Great character - alcoholic ex-cop working as unlicensed private eye in exchange for "gifts" for turning a favor. (He doesn't want the hassle with reports, documentation, etc. that licensing would require.)The "favor" in this case is to explore the death of a prostitute for her stepfather to determine how she ended up "in the life" and dead, supposedly at the hands of her roommate who later hangs himself in his jail cell.Interesting twists and turns, good characterization if stereotypical now and then but a good story. Fun dancing around the anachronisms from nearly fifty years ago - she was paying (gasp) $400 a month for a Manhattan apartment so must be pulling in good money from somewhere, phone calls are a dime and a booth is never far away, etc.All in all, an engaging read, and a great start to the long running Matthew Scudder series.

I have been wanting to read these books for a long time glad I finally did a really good writer!

Block is an excellent writer whose prose just flows. Here he has created a sympathetic character who is a pretty ordinary guy. He has the usual background for a PI - ex-police, divorced, drink problem originating in the event that precipitated his departure. However, the psychology is more complex than that - he would have left anyway, he understands himself to some degree, and the case he is engaged on is not to solve a crime but to help a parent get closer to a dead child. Scudder's method is patiently following every possible lead and questioning what he finds. Yes - there are twists and crimes, but even at the end we are left with a moral question.

Not great but not bad. The writing was OK, as was the story, but I'm not so sure about the protagonist. Essentially he was weak and selfish. He killed an innocent kid and crawled into a bottle. Fair enough. But he didn't have to stay there. He didn't want to be a cop anymore...fine. He didn't want to be married anymore...OK. He didn't want to be a father anymore so he walked out on his sons...what? What's that about? How can you relate to a man who abandons his kids?

A slow book but entertaining, written in the first person point of view. A young woman is murdered in her home, the young man she shared the home with it seems killed her without a doubt before committing suicide in prison, the woman's father asks Scudder, an unlicensed private eye to look into his daughters life, in doing so Scudder learns the secrets of the victim and her alleged killers lives and comes to the conclusion of who really did kill her.Matt Scudder is a semi honest unlicensed private eye who sees a case through to the end and makes sure justice is served one way or another. He's a man who left the police force after an eight year old girl is killed when he's chasing killers and one of his bullets ricocheted into her eye. Matt Scudder is a man with a drink problem and no private eye licence. As he puts it, he does favours for people and they give him gifts.Book ten of the Matt Scudder series - A Walk Among The Tombstones, starring Liam Neeson - was made into a pretty good film and I'm looking forward to reading it, but first I'm going to read books two through eight, I believe there are sixteen in all up to now and I'm looking forward to reading them all.

I really enjoyed this book, and am definately going to read the next few Matthew Scudder mysteries on the back of it.It is taut amospheric and economical, managing to fit into a relatively short number of pages a whole lot of story and charactor.The writing is engaging from the very beginning and we get a feel of the world with low level police corruption and looking for the easy option, into which comes Matthew Scudder, an ex cop with a jaded world view a muddied moral compass and the urge to see a job done to completion.I highly recommend this book to crime thriller readers or fans of noir american fiction.

Really good writing; a page-turner par excellence.