Introduction: A Long Line of Dead Men (Matthew Scudder #12) In Manhattan, thirty men have been meeting once a year for years; they form a tontine, a secret, private club, the only purpose of which is to record the passage of time and to give a toast to the joys of life. But when these men start to die at alarming rates, murder rears its ugly head. It's clear someone is determined to kill them all. Hired by one of the members, Matt Scudder, ex-cop and recovering alcoholic, enters the world of privilege, which may as well be on another planet from the world of street hustlers and career criminals he's so familiar with. As the case draws Matt deeper and deeper, he's forced to look at his own life--his work, his loves, his friendships and his destiny....