Fun fact: my recent grim-dark glom through this series started when I caught the not-very-good Liam Neeson movie version of this book on cable one evening. Two things have stuck with me 1) I actually think Neeson was good casting for Scudder and 2) my lasting impression of the not very good movie was that "I'd probably like to read that." And here we are.

It was fun to note the similarities and differences between book and movie, and the story itself was pretty good although, holy cow, dark AF (I know I keep saying that with each new review I write for a Scudder book but it's like Block had a bet with his editor to outdo the grim of the previous books with each successive entry). I loved the inclusion of what is now dated technology but was gee-whiz-cool back in the early 1990s. The addition of the Kongs added some levity and Block, the old softie, gives readers a final scene with Elaine and Matt at the end that made my romance reader heart sing.