In Out on the Cutting Edge (1989), characters besides the grimy, harddrinking ex-cop private eye Matt Scudder, include Mickey Ballou, who wears his father's bloody butcher's smock when he wants to intimidate his criminal associates, and Eddie Dunphy, an ex-convict who does odd jobs and sometimes attends the same Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as Matt. Willa Rossiter, who identifies herself as the superintendent of Eddie's building and a former member of the Progressive Communist Party, becomes Matt's lover. Paula Hoeldtke, a would-be actress and waitress who steals for thrills, and her boyfriend Neil, one of Mickey's bartenders, are less well developed. Other characters include Paula's father, who hires Matt to find her, and some of Matt's AA associates.

In this novel Block focuses on the problems of the urban real estate market in which rent-controlled apartments coexist with high-rent uncontrolled apartments. Unable to find shelter, homeless people beg...