Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "A Drop of the Hard Stuff"

The Grand Master recognition for mystery writing is a major achievement in the profession. Lawrence Block has been so recognized - and has about every other award a mystery writer could accumulate.

He has been laying down the hard tracks of the wounded souls who weave in and out of light to the dark underworld of crime and troubled human beings.

"A Drop of the Hard Stuff" is recognized as one of Block's best.

It is the tale of a former cop with a drinking problem gone sober who takes on a murder investigation involving the loss of a friend.

Matthew Scudder is the man on the prowl and this is part of a lengthy series involving Scudder and his struggles with himself and the world.

Can AA's 12 steps to sobriety be the theme of a murder investigation? Yes, it can. Making amends has a steep price in this case.

New York City is the site and anyone familiar with those city streets can feel the presence of its people and pressures as Scudder works the case, encountering characters who fit the noir mold.

Our Enoch Pratt Free Library recommendation comes from Shelly Terranova, deputy director of institutional advancement, who suggests "The Devil in the White City."

"This book really brings Chicago in the late 19th Century to life," she says. "Telling the tragically interconnected stories of the 1893 World's Fair and America's first serial killer, 'The Devil in the White City' is as awe-inspiring as it is horrific. With Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese teaming to bring this amazing book to the big screen, it's the perfect time to either revisit this 2003 classic, or read it for the first time."

This is a book we wrote about last year in this blog and Shelly is correct - a revisit is worthwhile as a reminder to those who have yet to pick this one up. Thanks, Shelly.

Gary Thorne is the play-by-play voice of the Orioles on MASN, and the 2016 season is his 10th with the club and 31st covering Major League Baseball. His blog will appear regularly throughout the season. Learn about creating professional documents in the most popular word processing program at "Introduction to Miscosoft Word 2010, Part I" at the Public Computer Center of the Central Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library on Saturday, Aug. 6 at 10 a.m.

* Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne. © Copyright 2016 Gary F. Thorne. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Gary F. Thorne and MASNsports.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.