Product Description
A model is slashed to death and irascible investigator Bert Kling disappears while on the case, leaving only a toy doll behind, in another case in the popular series of police procedurals. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Another solid entry in the 87th series
'Doll' is one of the earlier entries in the 87th precinct series, and as such is shorter and more straightforward than some of McBain's later mutli-layered epics. Still, it's a good book; yet another solid entry in the long-running series. When model Tinka Sachs is found stabbed to death, the investigation quickly throws up a defensive employer, a one-eyed doorman, an ex-husband who still seems to love Tinka, mysterious contacts from the past, and obscure references to a personal "nightmare". The case is set against the backdrop of a brooding, on-edge Detective Kling still unable to get over Claire Townshend.

McBain employs an interesting twist in narrative here; the case is actually "solved" relatively early in the piece, and it is what happens after this that occupies large sections of the book. This is quite a clever ploy, with various other detectives in the 87th needing to follow Detective Carella's footsteps to work out who the killer is, and what has happened to Carella. The particular plot point involving the titular Doll is perhaps a bit clever and coincidental for its own good, although the remainder of the investigatory technique is well done.

For 87th fans, note that apart from Carella, the primary protagonists here are Detectives Meyer and Kling. Brown and Willis have smaller roles, and little is seen of Hawes and Parker. Obviously, in such a long-running series it is inevitable that spoilers from early books will be given away, so be aware that 'Doll' gives away a key development from the early books regarding Kling and Claire. Some 87th books can be read without knowing the backstory, but 'Doll' is not one of them.

In summary, another good crime novel from one of the best in the business.

Model Crime
The best thing you can say for "Doll" is that it is no less than you expect in opening an 87th Precinct novel: A ripping crime involving a scantily-clad woman, a title that comes to suggest several different meanings as the plot twists along, and a page-turner that never lets go.

Several books and years after 1961's "Lady, Lady, I Did It!" Det. Bert Kling is still mourning the loss of his girlfriend while getting on the nerves of his fellow detectives at the station house. His pal Steve Carella decides on some occupational therapy by bringing him along on his latest case, the murder of a high-priced fashion model, a "mannequin" as she is called by the strange agency she works for. Kling becomes the station goat when he leaves Carella after an argument and Carella subsequently disappears. Is he a burnt corpse or someone's prisoner?

Any 87th Precinct fan will know that "Doll," since it takes place in 1965, doesn't actually kill off Carella, the series's main character. But author Ed McBain (really Evan Hunter, who kept producing 87th Precinct thrillers for the next 40 years until his death in 2005) keeps you on tenterhooks anyway with a storyline stretched tauter than usual and suspension of the comfortable rules governing past 87th Precinct novels. Lt. Byrnes, the detective commander, tells Kling he blames him for Carella's loss, and will see him off the force for it. Carella may not be dead, but he is in serious danger of losing his mind and self-respect.

One nice aspect of Carella's disappearance is it gives the other detectives a chance to work on solving a case. Kling will have his shot at redemption, of course, but there's also some real work for Meyer Meyer for a change, while Art Brown and Hal Willis dig up a clue or two as well. Even Andy Parker, the department's rotten apple at this point in the series, has a nice moment where he philosophizes about Carella's loss. Being Parker, he shares the moment with a prostitute he is threatening with arrest if she doesn't come across with a freebie, but it's still somewhat out of character for him.

The main weakness in "Doll" is the problem of the victim. The motive behind her death, when revealed, doesn't really wash, and the central clue feels somewhat contrived. The book lacks the depth and humor of other entries, particularly later ones.

But that's something you think about after, when you have time to pause and reflect. The only thing you worry about when reading a solid McBain thriller like this for the first time is getting to the next page, especially with its array of sudden story shifts and clever red herrings flying at you. This is one "Doll" that plays with you. A fun read.

An 87th precinct novel
A beautiful model, Tinka Sachs, is murdered, slashed repeatedly in a frenzy of killing, while her tiny daughter hides in the next room, talking to her doll. Detectives Steve Carella and Bert Kling of the 87th precinct, are in charge of the investigation and get a good description of the man who visited Tinka on the night of her murder, from a one eyed doorman, nicknamed Cyclops. Carella and Kling get into an argument about Kling's brusque interrogating technique, which results in Kling going off in a huff, leaving Carella to continue with the investigation alone for that night. Because of being on his own, Carella is captured, handcuffed to a radiator in the suspect's apartment and when an incinerated body, carrying Carella's police warrant card is discovered in a burned out car, his family and workmates are convinced that the body is his. It's a fast, good read, full of meticulous police work, without frills or fuss...a typical McBain book.

Fast, accurate and page turning
It would be nice if some cared enough to quote prof reviewers who actually cared to read the work unlike Ingram's stupid mistake of saying it was Bert Kling who disappears.It was Steve Carella.After 50 some books one would think they could get it right finally.

The work is classic McBain.It gives you the feel for police work.Slow where it should be and fast where it should be.He takes us into being part of the team not just a entertained reader.Perhaps that is why he has so many books published.We become a member of the 87th.It is spare writing designed for maxium impact.Never boring except when police work is indeed boring and that only briefly when emotions arise like "TELL US. Quit hedging around and tell us" rises in interviews with witnesses and perps.

Steve's disappears and is presumed dead but... well you read the book.I won't snitch.

Shame the original Ingram they quoted didn't bother to read it.It is worth it. Ah well their loss not mine or yours if you pick it up.

Reliable and professional entry in long running series
This case for the detectives of the eighty-seventh precinct is more "concentrated "than usual as it centres on one case ,rather than having the multi-focus plot that is a feature of many series books.
It is a case of murder,the slaying by multiple stab wounds of the model "Tinka Sachs"in her luxury apartment while her terrified five year old daughter "Anna"is playing with "Charlotte" her favourite doll.Steve Carella the lead detective request the help of Bert Kiling still deeply traumatised over the death of his girl friend some five years earlier.
Carella discovers the identity of the killer but before he can divulge this and make an arrest he is attacked ,knocked unconscious and chained naked to a radiator kept alive by his abductor only so he can reveal how he came by the knowledge of the guilty party .
The key lies in the doll and before Kling can bring the case to a conclusion we are taken into the motives behind the killing (drug related)and are witness to the way the resolution of the case helps Kling in thre healing process.
Its tautly told and totally professional .Good police and forensic analysis scenes -as ever in the series;and McBain is always good on the strsses and strains that police work imposes on its practitioners.
As an example of detection its a bit thin-I found the plot device around the doll a little implausible-buta solid workmanlike book that maintains the high standards of this reliable series ... Read more

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Follows the story of Colley Donato who holds up a liquor store and kills a policeman in the process. Being on the run he is helped by a few dubious friends but it is all down to him in order to survive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

"Guns" stuns
A small-time armed robber is compelled to flee for his life when he kills a cop in a botched liquor store robbery.Over the subsequent 24 hours we learn a great deal about the psychology and life of Colley Donato and encounter, along with him, a bizarre gallery of characters, such as a buxom ex-stripper who nurses a murderous rage and a Jersey hillbilly family with a vicious dog.This is graphic, unsentimental stuff.There are no good guys and no one to root for, just a desperate criminal who deserves all the misfortune that comes his way.Evan Hunter's (AKA Ed McBain) spare but knowing prose is compulsively readable and he tells a savagely fascinating story.

Brilliant crime fiction--mean, lean, tough, and violent
Ed McBain made a very welcome departure from his 87th Precinct novels--police procedurals, almost all of which begin with a murder to be solved--and wrote one of the toughest American crime novels up to that time (1976).In fact this reads like it could have been written two weeks ago, not over 25 years ago: a contemporary crime novel from the criminal's perspective with enough emphasis on psychology to keep the reader hooked straight through to the end.

The key phrase here is, "He who lives by the gun, dies by the gun."Prophetic words for the protagonist, Nicholas "Colley" Donato, a criminal whose expertise is the heist.McBain puts Colley through a whole set of stuff including successful jobs, a violent partner, and an equally violent woman who lusts and murders more intensely than any man in the story--and of course the knockout ending at a small town gun shop.

This is hardboiled crime writing at its finest, and very highly recommended.

70's McBain-Hard-Boiled andFrom The Criminal's POV
Another winning recommendation from a member of the Rara-Avis hardboiled book mailing list. Up to this point I've avoided Mystery Writers of America Grand Master McBain (too popular and too many other books waiting to be read) but this little 1976, non-87th Precinct, gem was time well spent. The story is about the aftermath, told from the perspective of a small time New York City armed-robber, of a Bronx liquor store robbery gone bad. The writing is fairly fast-paced, the story unsentimental and the attitude hard-boiled. McBain, best known for his police procedural 87th Precinct series (54 books since 1956 and still counting) is worth a look if your literary tastes tend towards this genre. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

A must for die hard Ed McBain fans
Anybody who is a diehard 87th precinct fan will surely find this book useful. Mr. Dove has gone through all of Ed McBain's books from Cop Hater through Ice and discusses everything from the characters, the city, the criminals and crimes, McBain's writing style, and more, all in a well written book of analysis and info.I would have liked to have seen more maps of the city and more questions answered but other than that, I enjoyed reading this.I hope Mr. Dove will write an updated version. ... Read more

Product Description
America's greatest writer of police novels tells a shocking story of innocence and guilt, of lives shattered. As sixteen-year-old Rebecca Patton takes an apparently ordinary driving lesson, tragedy strikes when she runs down and kills a woman who has just stepped off a curb. When detective Katie Logan appears on the scene, she discovers that the driving instructor, Andrew Newell, is behaving incoherently and appears to be drunk. The apparent negligent homicide certainly warrants an arrest. But when the victim's handbag is retrieved, and the woman is identified as Newell's wife, Logan fears that something far more sinister may have occurred. Praise for Ed McBain: "He is, by far, the best at what he does. Case closed." - People; "A master." - Time; "The author delivers the goods: wired action scenes, dialogue that breathes, characters with heart and characters who eat those hearts, and glints of unforgiving humor.... McBain owns his turf." - New York Times Book Review; "The best crime writer in the business." - Houston Post.Amazon.com Review
Ed McBain--author of the immensely popular 87th Precinct crimeseries--packs his plots with the kick of a .44. DrivingLessons--his entry in the Sounds Like Murder collection oforiginal crime stories--is no exception. Written exclusively for audioproduction, it's a twisting tale of murder, deceit, and love gone badthat opens with an accident. One crisp autumn day, a woman steps offthe curb in front of a student driver. It's the last mistake she evermakes. "She lay in the gutter some twenty feet from where a highwaypatrol car was just pulling in behind the Ford. Red coat open over ablue skirt and jacket. White blouse with a stock tie. Eyesclosed. Hands at her sides, palms upward, fingers twitching." Youmight chalk it up to inexperience, just one more tragic blunder. Butwhen a local detective starts digging she uncovers some troublingclues.

Tony Award-winning Broadway actress Barbara Rosenblat givesan impressive performance, switching between character voices andstraight narration convincingly, while moving the action forwardwithout striving. "Driving Lessons" is a short and not-so-sweet treatby one of the master craftsmen working the crime story beat. (Runningtime: two hours, one cassette) --George Laney ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Short but substantial.
Driving Lessons by Ed McBain is a short, 72 page novella which can easily be read in a single sitting.It revolves around a bizzare case of vehicular homicide and is told largely from the viewpoint of Katie Logan, one of the detectives assigned to the investigation.
This is storytelling at its best; straightforward, smooth flowing and thoroughly engaging.A cogent glimpse into the darker side of what it means to be human, well worth reading.

Flunking your 'Driving Lesson'
The idea for this story is intriguing, but the result is as shallow and unconvincing as a 30-minute written-for-TV plot rather than what might have been an interesting story.

The plot hinges on the victim stepping into the path of a car at the precise moment necessary to be struck and killed.Half-a-second early, or half-a-second late, and the opportunity is lost by a car length.Yet, McBain suggests the car driver knows the precise instant the victim will step without a glance for oncoming traffic or other hazards into the path of a car moving at 44 feet per second.

Sorry, that just doesn't cut it.

Granted, life is sometimes inexplicably strange.But, the plot in this story--homicide by car-pedestrian accident--asks too much.It could have been a great story, the delusion of two people who fear their dreams may be impossible and desperately grasp each other in the vain hope of making something come true, but McBain asks too much of the reader by using an basically implausible plot.

McBain is an obviously talented writer, his 87th Precinct saga is the most celebrated police stories in the history of crime fiction.But, it sometimes takes more talent and ability to write a good 72-page short story than a competent full-length work.

It would be grossly unfair to judge his work on the basis of this book.And, unless you are addicted to the "reality" of tv-plots, it would be a waste of time to read this book.

Missed the Mark
I believe that it takes great skill to write a novella or a short story, and think that Ed McBain should stick to his conventional format. I can only compare this to Steve Martin's novella, "Shopgirl", which contained fully developed characters and a complete storyline within about the same number of pages.

Anyone expecting a full-scale Ed McBain story will be disappointed in this little novella. I was initially interested in the story but found it to be deficient in character development. The reader never really knew much about the characters....I felt that the man who found the purse , a very minor character, was described more fully than any of the main characters.

Not every author can write this kind of book, but I do know that it is possible to have fully fleshed-out characters in even a short story---it just did not happen here. That makes it very difficult to really care about what happens to anyone in "Driving Lessons".

Three And One Half Stars
Ed McBain has been described by one jacket endorsement as being so good he should be arrested. "Driving Lessons" is a novella and the first of his work that I have read. It is very well done, and demonstrates the man's ability to entertain with a mystery in a very brief period of time. It also is a guaranteed catalyst to continuing with the massive body of work that he has produced.

The description on the jacket will lead many to divine the outcome of the story and the guilty party. I would wager that many of those that would hazard a guess would be disappointed when they find they are wrong. This was the intriguing bit the writer created, he offers 72 brief pages, a description that seemingly tells the entire story, but in fact does not. It is akin to a novella of misdirection, he knows that most will look to what they believe to be the obvious, only to believe that which he wanted them to place their faith in.

Mr. McBain also does a great job of bringing the personalities of the main players into very sharp relief not only for a novella length book, but also for a novel that most Authors would require hundreds of pages to create legitimate characters that you feel familiar with. This is the reading equivalent of speed chess, when not given the normal length of time brilliant moves often arise.

Driving Lessons
Driving Lessons was a great book! I can't believe that Ed Mc'Bain has pulled off another thrilling book. Although it could have been much longer, and provided more detail. I guess people will just have to read the rest of the books (past and present) in the series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Same old Same old Same old
OK, just like most of the 87th Precinct stories, this one has three stories to be followed.

First: parts of a body start showing up around town at the same time that a magician is reported missing by his wife. She is able to identify the parts based on some body scars. How come everything but the head and hands don't show-up?

Second: it's halloween and some kids in costume are robbing liquor stores. They are being driven around by a big blond in a blue station wagon. They shoot as soon as they walk into the store.In four robberies they kill four people and end up shooting Meyer and Carella.

Third: Eileen Burke goes out a decoy/stake-out to try and catch a man who has already murdered three hookers.Eileen is scared but she agrees to do it because Annie is going with her and there is other back-up.All Eileen wants to do is shoot the guy to get back at her rapist.

I've been reading this series in order and that this now is thirty years since the first book in '56.How come Steve and Meyer are still Det/2s and how come the LT Burns has never been promoted.With all the cases they've solved and even saved the Mayor's life you would think they would be running their own precincts by now.This is the second time that Meyer has been shot in the last few years (he was shot in the leg when he went out with O'Brien) and the second time that Carella has almost been killed.What do these guys need to do to get a break.

Meyer fought in WW2, which means he's at least in his late 50s, though his kids seem to still live at home.On the other hand Steve fought in Korea and joined the 87th in the early fifties, which would make him in his late forties or early fifties.Steve's twins who were born in the sixties, haven't gotten to High School yet... and the series runs for another twenty years!Time for a reality or time travel check.

Zeb Kantrowitz

"Genero?" "Midgets?" "Four pieces?"
The first 2/3rds of this book is devoted to a series of set-pieces typical of McBain that force these consecutive responses from Detective Hall Willis when receiving a midnight update on the happenings of a Halloween night in Isola's 87th precinct.
In true McBain style, the reminder of the book neatly resolves issues, arrests the guilty and makes the reader feel a little smarter for getting to the solution first;

This episode of the long running novel series features most of the familiar faces, with a lot of time being given to Detective Andy Parker for a change. There's a cathartic coming of age for one of our heroes, jeopardy for another two and a major decision made by a fourth.

I read the majority of the series a long time back and only recently discovered that this book represented a hole in my reading. I found the story to be a little more graphic than others I recall, with less of the "police procedural" feel with which McBain made his name.

Apart from that it's more of the same: the dialog and characterizations are still there and my patented "McBain drinking game" - one shot every time he mentions high heels would have had me paralytic if I'd read this in a single sitting.

If you like the 87th precict novels - this will be fine for you. If you don't or are neutral: this won't change your mind.

2.5 stars (3)

Tricks Is Treat
Ed McBain was on something of a roll while writing his 87th Precinct novels in the 1980s. For years they had been very good, but in his fourth decade of defining and detailing the seedy underworld of the mythical Northeastern U.S. city of Isola, something was clicking like never before.

There were great classic crime dramas, like "Ice" and "Poison," taut psychological thrillers like "Lullaby," and then this, 1987's "Tricks," which is hard to classify but perhaps the most entertaining of all 87th Precinct novels. While other 87th Precinct novels have major and minor storylines, "Tricks" presents us with three very different central plots. All are cleverly connected to the deceptively simple title, a McBain trademark: There's a magician who disappeared as part of his big finale during a show and seems to be turning up in pieces around the city. There's a group of trick-or-treaters shooting up liquor stores and then vanishing into the night in their innocent-looking children's disguises. Then there's undercover detective Eileen Burke, looking for "tricks" of another kind, namely those slashing prostitutes to death in Isola's dangerous Canal Zone.

Each story works in a different way. The one with the undercover cop is a suspense story focused on Burke, a recovering rape victim who is probably McBain's best female creation. The one with the missing magician is a nicely-crafted mystery that caught me in the end by complete surprise. The trick-or-treater story, bloody as it is, is funny as well in a brutal Quentin Tarantino sort of way.

It's nice to have this book not as three good short stories, though they are that, but as a glimpse of detectives in action during a particularly bloody and strange Halloween. The sequences work off of each other in tandem, forming a kind of rhythm that gels into something bigger than any one of the stories. There's long sections of dialogue set in the precinct house where conversations about two different cases are alternately quoted and blended one into the other without identifying the speakers. Writer's vanity? Perhaps, but it works at establishing both tension and dramatic pace.

There's also McBain's trademark humor. At one crime scene where part of a human torso is found in a garbage can, a homicide detective regales a visibly sickened colleague. "You won't need an ambulance for this one...All you need is a shopping bag."

The medical examiner arrives. "What have we got here?" he asks.

"Just this chest here," the homicide detective replies.

"Very nice. Do you want me to pronounce it dead, or what?"

And then there's Andy Parker's eventful Halloween night out, at a party with a onetime murder witness he has the hots for which turns out to be less of a break from duty than he expects. Parker's a funny and rich character here, not the 87th's finest but not someone you can pigeonhole as a miserable failure, either. You actually root for him here despite yourself.

Even the minor characters breathe in "Tricks." At one point, two detectives visit two old guys at a school at night, a custodian and his checker-playing buddy. It's an inconsequential scene in the narrative, but McBain still fills out some five pages with tiny details that add color, interest, and life. The custodian thinks the cops are on to him stealing school supplies. He mops his brow. The cops wonder what he is hiding. The checkers buddy explains he is a widower who has nothing better to do. The vignette ends, and so it goes.

It's hard enough to end one good story in a satisfactory way. How McBain manages to do it so brilliantly in triplicate boggles the mind. With the lack of a clear central focus, this may not be the most representative of 87th Precinct novels, but it is very enjoyable and even a non-crime fiction fan will likely savor and marvel at its many twists and turns.

The Usual High Standard 87th Precinct Book
If you've read any Ed McBain, you know what to expect--he established his style long ago and doesn't deviate, at least in the 87th Precinct series. These are all well written police procedurals, with a large cast of interesting characters, although character development isn't really the name of the game for McBain. Instead, these are plot driven books, about unusual (but usually believable) crime--Tricks features a troup of murdering circus midgets posing as kids at Halloween! And McBain is careful not to keep his characters in "series limbo"; although they don't age quite the same as you and I, things do happen to them--this book features an event that occurs to undercover decoy Eileen Burke that resonates through many of the subsequent books. It's a shame so many of the books in this series are out-of-print; they are good, quick reads. Bring 'em back! ... Read more

Product Description
Another installment in the enormously popular series of police procedurals set in the 87th Precinct finds detectives Meyer and Carella on the case of the televised death of a beloved television comedian. Reprint. NYT. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

80 Million Is Not Enough
Ed McBain produced a fantastic variety of adrenaline-pumping, psychologically-probing fiction in his lifetime, colorfully varied in character, structure, and plotline. But not everything he wrote was a masterpiece. Take "80 Million Eyes."

That's the best part of the book, the title. Sitting on my shelf, I imagined another inspired McBain foray into the Big Bad City, 80 million eyes peaking out from tenement windows or penthouse gardens witnessing assorted skullduggery in Isola. Then I read the jacket copy and saw it was about the star of a television show suddenly expiring before a national audience. Even better.

With expectations set so high, no wonder I was disappointed. Yes, the main plot is about funnyman Stan Gifford. His weekly show is being shot live in an abandoned furniture loft on Culver Avenue in the 87th Precinct territory when he suddenly keels over in the middle of a skit. While Dets. Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer work this case, Bert Kling handles another where a woman is being stalked by a brutal, cagey psychopath.

Written in 1966, ten years and 21 novels into the 87th Precinct series, "80 Million Eyes" seems unusually tired and labored for McBain. First, the Gifford plotline never develops into anything interesting. Yes, there's an amusing moment in a producer's office where we hear the fellow on the phone butchering a script, probably one by McBain's other self, author Evan Hunter. But Gifford himself never is fleshed out enough to make us interested about the "why" of his killing. The cast of characters around him in the studio look promising from a distance but barely register in the narrative before being dropped altogether.

"Our facts are right, and the facts lead up to suicide," Meyer says at one point. "But I don't like the feel...The feel is murder."

But there is no "feel" this time for the reader, as McBain leads you around by the nose in a rote case, reducing an already rudimentary whodunit to who cares.

The second case, of the brute with the thing for the single woman, accounts for the spark of this book. It's not a complex plot strand, apart from the one complication of Kling having had a past unhappy history with the stalker's target. Though not the Deaf Man, the psycho isn't entirely stupid, either. He presents some unnerving suspense before the case is wrapped up, suddenly and all-too-neatly.

The problem with McBain in the 1960s was that he was writing more complex novels while still adhering to the page limits from his 1950s heyday, when the books had but single plots that could be unreeled satisfactorily over just 160 pages. Later on, given more pages to play with, McBain's multiple story arcs would pay off for him in a big way, but "80 Million Eyes" is about as cramped as he ever got. I know, it's like that Woody Allen joke, about the food being bad, and "such small portions." But I think if McBain had more space to fill, "80 Million Eyes" could have been a lot more than it is.

NUMBER 21 AND STILL VERY GOOD!
Another good one by Ed McBain. This is really two stories in one book as there are two different investigations going on at the same time. One is about Stan Gifford, a TV comedian, who dies while on the screen. Was he murdered or did he kill himself? He was thought to be loved by all but it turns out many, many people connected with the show wanted him dead. Through good police work Steve Carella and Myer Myers close in on the killer. Who did the dirty deed? The other story is about Cindy Forrest and a man who shows up at her office, he won't leave and beats up the policeman who is called. She does not know who he is. Bert Kling is assigned to this case. He has had contact with Cindy in a previous book and she does not like him at all. He tries to get of the case but his LT. says no. Bert spends much time with Cindy but after he leaves her one night the man breaks into her apartment and beats her up. Bert then take off on his on investigtation to find the man. Again through very good lab work and Klings police work the man is finally found. A very good police book that explains how things work and how they are but together to come up with the right answers. In most cases you can't go wrong with McBain.

80 million eyes
I found the book interesting and breath taking, it's a thriller that never stops surprising .the english is not hard and not too plain and that combination creats a fluently written book which is fun to read . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Hunter's shorts.
I was especially interested in the Evan Hunter/Ed McBain and D.Westlake stories.
At least these are wonderful. And I found a lot of other good short story-writers.
Book was cheap, costs ( a.o. transport to Belgium) were high.
J.P. ... Read more

Product Description
In the wake of the double homicide of a blind couple, the Eighty-Seventh Precinct detectives find their only clue in a nightmare that one of the victims, a Vietnam veteran, had experienced some ten years earlier. Reprint. AB. " ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

What the Seeing-Eye Dog Witnessed
This 1977 book is the 32nd in the "87th Precinct" series. This story is imaginary, the people and places are fictitious. [But you know it is New York city with disguised names.] Jimmy Harris was 20 when he was blinded in the war. He met and married a blind woman. One November evening his seeing-eye dog was chloroformed and he was murdered on the street. Detectives Carella and Myers caught this case. The Homicide detectives got there first; they were supervisors and advisors because they specialized. They could differentiate between a stabbing and an incised wound. Who would kill a blind man on a public street? Carella and Myers begin their investigation. The widow tells them nothing; later she can't. When they return the next morning they find another body and the apartment a mess from a search for something. What will happen to the seeing-eye dog?

"Ed McBain" shows his writing skills in his descriptions of people and places. The police detectives follow their long established techniques. Interview all witnesses; they don't know what they are looking for until they find it. Since the body of Jimmy was discovered right after the murder and rigor mortis had not set in they knew the hour of his death. Can a dream or a nightmare be a clue to a murder (Chapter 8)? Chapter 10 describes an institution found in big cities. Most murders are committed by amateurs, not professional criminals. Can you believe the dramas about mental patients (Chapter 11)? People join gangs for protection in the city (p.188). Carella continues to follow leads. There is a break (Chapter 13). Carella finds a key clue (Chapter 14). There is a solution in the final chapter.

This was a very interesting story, except for the ending. The outburst from the suspect seems out of character. The story of a nightmare seems too psychological for a murder mystery. It reminds me of a TV show where the solution occurs just in time for the last commercial.

NOT the deaf man, and not satisfying, either ...
This was NOT a return of the deaf man. (What book was he reading??)

I won't give any plot away, as that would spoil the fun. I've read a dozen or more of the 87th precinct books, and this one was rather weak. I get frustrated with books that rely on a gimmick that gets revealed in the last 5 pages. I think that a novel should be rewarding throughout, giving out nuggets of the solution along the way, instead of making it impossible for the reader to figure out until the author pulls back the curtain at the very end.

The Return of the Deaf Man
The true greatness of a hero can only be matched by the cleverest of villians. Here the boys of the 87th are facing their archnemesis, the Deaf Man.I was with them every step of the way as they tried to out-think thedelightfully fiendish mastermind. ... Read more

Product Description
Brings together two 87th Precinct novels and McBain's popular "Downtown", in which Michael Barnes' visit to New York turns into a nightmare. In "Doll", Steve Carella struggles to find the murderer of a beautiful model, while in "Fuzz", he has to deal with kids setting light to the city's vagrants. ... Read more

Product Description
When a mother and her two little girls are brutally murdered on Florida's steamy west coast, soft-hearted attorney Matthew Hope decides to defend the only person confessing to the crime, the only person without a motive. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The other woman
This book started out the Matthew Hope series. My mom recommended this series to me because we tend to like the same style writing and she raves about Ed Mcbain. This book was ok. It was about two different situations tied together in which both men were cheating on their spouses. It had a couple surprises here and there. It was a pretty quick read and I am hoping the second book is a little more interesting. I still liked the story it just didn't have that "thing" about it.

Early Hope
If you are lucky enough to find a copy of this read it.Much better than the usual Matthew Hope stuff.The characters feel tremendous pain, including Hope, and McBain is good enough to transmit it without ever being "novelistic" about it.Up to the best of the 87th precinct stuff.

Lies, Lies, Lies
Goldilocks is a tale of adultery and murder. And everbody in the book seems to be lying.When Maureen Purchase and her daughters are found savagely murdered, her husband's alibi doesn't check out. Playing cards?At A bar?Telling his lover he was going to leave his wife?His 1st wife is glad the 2nd is dead, his son is claiming credit for the murders and his lover claims to not know him.When his lawyer, Matthew Hope tries to get to the bottom of things, he can't tell the lies from the alibis and indeed Matthew Hope is lying to himself, as he promises HIS lover that he will leave HIS wife. All of this makes a compelling mystery and as delivered by Ed McBain, it is a great start to another series from the master of the police procedural. ... Read more

Product Description
Kill me if you can - that was Pepe Miranda's challenge. Murderer, two-bit hero of the street gangs, he was holed up somewhere in the 87th Precinct, making the cops look like fools and cheered on by every neighbourhood punk. It was not a challenge Lieutenant Pete Byrnes and the detectives in the squad room could leave alone. Not in the sticky, July heat of the city with the gangs just waiting to explode into violence ... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Book is in poor condition
This book was listed in good condition, but it is not - the book is yellow with age, writing all over the front cover, dirty all over both front and back cover, and the covers are in dire need of repair - they look ready to fall off.

Standoff As Street Theater
"See Them Die" is pretty much why people read Ed McBain, a gripping, taut suspense yarn leavened by the odd moment of wit or insight to the human condition, and an array of characters, some recurring in other McBain novels, others here for only the one time.

Forget mystery; as the title says we are to witness to a couple of killings. We don't know who, only that we are getting a God's-eye view of a city neighborhood one Sunday in July, as police surround a tenement building where a killer named Pepe Miranda is holed up. The usual gang of detectives from the 87th Precinct is here, less in evidence than usual except for the most bull-headed bull, bad apple Andy Parker.

A big reason for McBain setting up the story so is to give us a close-up view of Isola's Hispanic community, who harbor mixed feelings about Miranda. Most see him as a killer, but many can't deny a certain sympathy for a fellow Latino up against the system. Given the novel was written in 1960, McBain demonstrates forward-thinking in addressing the problem of racism beyond the more obvious issue of blacks and whites. At times he comes off a little shrill as various Hispanic characters have assorted epiphanies about the wrongness of crime, but he individualizes the conflicts to each character and examines the difficulty of upholding community standards when you are perceived by some as part of the problem based on the color of your skin.

McBain draws you long before the shootout itself, with an extended scene in a coffee shop with a group of disparate characters, including the bigoted Parker, a Hispanic detective named Frankie Hernandez, the shop's law-abiding owner, a sailor looking for a good time, a girl who might offer him considerably more, and a gang of aspiring street hoods, some of whom are more foul than others. Words always fly more excitingly than bullets in a McBain novel, and they do here:

"This neighborhood ain't for clean-cut kids."

"Who's clean-cut?"

"You're liable to be, if you don't take my advice. From ear to ear."

People take turns offending each other, offering opinions, and moving the novel's focus into many odd alleys that hardly help the central focus but give you that feeling, familiar to 87th Precinct readers, of being in a real city rather than turning the pages of a book.

Like many early McBains, "See Them Die" has a simplistic plot, and there are odd bum notes here and there. The Hispanic characters all talk to each other in badly-accented English for some reason, and we learn that the police have come for Miranda with hand grenades and flamethrowers (!), an odd lapse for the world's leading police proceduralist to make. But like so many other of his books, you keep reading, and getting something unique on every page, an world-weary observation about society or nature or a bell-ringing insight into what makes a character tick. "See Them Die" makes for a solid addition to a terrific series.

Now we're getting somewhere...
The writing's still a bit purple, but finally we see a glimpse of the McBain to come--the McBain that knows what a mystery is and knows how to show it to us rather than tell it to us. The set-up on this book is simple--in the first chapter, McBain tells us that two people are going die this day. From then on, character after character, and situation after situation, is introduced, and everytime you think, "ah-ha! here's the one that's going to die," McBain pulls the rug out and disaster is averted. Or, when someone gets shot and you think, "no, this isn't the person to die, can't be," well, you're wrong. There really isn't a mystery per se here, but there is a quite a bit of tension and surprise. Also, McBain kills off a repeating character in such an unexpected manner, showing you the difference between his series and those of other mystery writers. For other writers, the characters are king. Pick up any Nero Wolfe novel, and you know that Nero, Archie, Fritz, Saul and Inspector Cramer will be there. Not so with McBain. His character is the 87th Precinct, and no matter who the cops and villains are, it is the city and the precinct that will be there.

MAKES YOU WONDER WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the thirtenth book I have read by EdMcBain and I think I have given all of them a five. He is a very good writer. This book is about so much. It is about Pepe Miranda, a hoodlum, who is holed up in a apartment and the police are trying to get him out. It is about Zip, a young man who so wants to be the leader of a gang but in the end finds that at least part of his gang is not more. It is about a very good policeman that is no longer with them. It is about a salior on leave and China, the girl he thinks is so pretty. It is about the people of that section and the hard life they live. The whole book takes place in part of one day in the lives of these people. The family of policeman of the 87th Preinct are involved, some good, some not so good. The book will hold your attention. You will feel like you are there and can related to some of these people. A good, short read. ... Read more

Product Description
'Calling all cars, calling all cars. Here's the story on the Smoke Rise kidnapping. The missing boy is eight years old, fair hair, wearing a red sweater. His name is Jeffry Reynolds, son of Charles Reynolds, chauffeur to Douglas King.' The police at the 87th Precinct hate kidnappers. And these kidnappers are stupid, too. They took the wrong boy - the chauffeur's son instead of the son of the rich tycoon, Douglas King. And they want a ransom of $500,000. A lot of money. But it's not too much to pay for a little boy's life ...is it? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A king's Ransom Indeed.
A vintage McBain, if there is such thing for McBain's 87th Precinct stories are timeless.The detective crew of the 87th are always fresh, the characters are so well drawn that if I'd meet Steve Carella, Artie Brown and unfortunate Bert Cling on the street I would not only instantly recognize them but would greet them as old friends.
I could not bestow a higher praise on this work than to call it, what I did in the first sentence, "A vintage McBain."

interesting delimma
This isn't normally the kind of book I read (it being a mystery), but I'm glad I did, because it really wasn't a mystery.More of a suspense or cop story.I like the interesting moral dilemma this book poses..would you pay a half million dollars in ransom for a child that is not your own?And what if paying this ransom ruins you?What would you do?I think McBain could have spent more time on this aspect of the novel.Also, this book contains some of the best dialogues I've seen.I could picture a couple of good actors acting this out on the big screen.The biggest problem i found with the book was McBain wrote it 'soft.'I would've expected more swearing and adult content from kidnappers, but all in all this book is a must. ... Read more

Product Description

An 87th Precinct novel - Certain that someone is trying to kill her, Emma Bowles turns to another killer for protection, and only a dedicated cop trapped in a defective legal system can save her. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Another great book
This is another great book by Ed McBain. You dont need to start the series with book one. Each book gives a little recap about each detective. Worth your money.

McBain At His Post-'80s Best
Ed McBain's 1992 installment in his 87th Precinct mystery series is a solid suspense story that plays even better in terms of social commentary and character study, an immersively engaging story for casual fans that only rises in interest for those who follow the police procedural series.

In it, we meet Emma Bowles, a mature but still well polished trophy wife of rich businessman Martin, who finds herself the target of two murder attempts. At the 87th, Dets. Carella and Meyer have a feeling, even after the apparent attacker turns up dead, that Emma is in need of their protection. But Martin has hired a bodyguard for his beloved, and she thinks herself safe enough. Is she?

When "Kiss" came out, McBain had just come off a six-novel run that may well have been his longest sustained streak of excellence, beginning with 1983's "Ice" and ending with 1989's "Lullaby". Then his narrative voice, always hard and ironic, began choking with jaded bile, as if the whole notion of fighting for justice had become a sick joke (see 1990's "Vespers").

"Kiss" is very much in the same cynical vein of "Vespers", yet makes its points with subtlety and dexterity. At the same time, it keeps the reader's juices going with a central storyline that's both crafty and visceral. McBain is rueful but never disinterested, and so neither are you.

Great vignettes, too; sketches of random characters in the precinct area rendered vivid by just a few well-chosen words, like narrative haiku: "Forget the veined and bulbous nose, forget the razor nicks on his chin and cheeks, forget even the ill-fitting and somewhat rumpled suit. There was something more than his disheveled appearance that told you Frank Unger had long ago lost touch with anything more meaningful than alcohol."

It's not that the central mystery comes with a bit of a twist; many will sense it coming long before it arrives. It's the masterful way McBain anticipates the reader anticipating him, and plays off that with the kind of poker-faced finale McBain did so well.

But what really makes you enjoy "Kiss" is the company of the 87th regulars, more vividly etched than usual, and not just because of a compelling side story involving the trial of the killer of Carella's father. Ollie Weeks is at his despicable best, and homicide detectives Monoghan and Monroe are their usual models of lax ineptitude. Even precinct commander Frick has a rare moment in the spotlight.

McBain still had the touch. There is plenty to sink your teeth into here, especially if you are old enough to remember New York City mayor David Dinkins and the Crown Heights Riot of 1991, which "Kiss" alludes to in fictional Isola form. Racial tension, marital distrust, and judicial blindness are among the disparate topics brought together in "Kiss". Somehow McBain finds a way of making it all pay off.

With Carella and Meyer in charge it's usually a good one.
In KISS, McBain takes a look at the wonderful world of cheating husbands who decide murder is better than divorce. The situation gets confused when one of the husband's chosen assassins is murdered and when another is brought in, things don't turn out the way anyone (Ok, one person) planned. The ending, while not entirely realistic, (I think there is a case for the prosecution here.) has a nice twist, not really surprising but satisfying. In asubplot, the trial of one of the killers of Carella's father takes place; a situation that is written unevenly, played more for melodrama than realism and with an ending that is as predictable as it is disappointing.Despite these flaws, KISS is a solid outing for McBain with my favorite team in the lead, Carella and Meyer, where the byplay between these two characters more than makes up for any problems I had with the plot.

exciting, with a hard edge
This book is surprisingly underrated here, where McBain generally gets high marks.It is a thrilling book, even if it is slightly dark and sexy (which apparently bothers some of the readers).This is the first McBain I read--not the last--and I intend to read many more.

An entertaining police novel
I am probably the only mystery fan who has not read any of Ed
McBain's 87th precinct novels, but that is a deficiency I plan to
remedy very quickly. I just finished Kiss and was fascinated with
his characters and with the details of police life that he so
carefully paints.

The story begins with a young woman who is suddenly attacked on a
subway platform and pushed onto the tracks. It is only a miracle
that she is able to pull herself onto the platform before the
train rushes by. Just your typical New York afternoon, right?
That's what she thinks until a week later when she is almost run
over by a car that was apparently aiming for her. This time,
however, she recognizes the driver, a man who used to work for
her husband.

When she goes to detective Steve Carella, he quickly suspects her
husband has somehow hired a hit man and cautions her to be
careful. That doesn't seem plausible, though, for her husband has
hired a private detective from Chicago to serve as her body guard
and to conduct his own investigation. Emma Bowles feels Detective
Carella must be mistaken.

As his inquiries continue, however, Steve becomes even more
convinced that her husband is involved. The private detective,
for example, seems to have rather questionable credentials; in
fact, he even goes under an assumed name. When the man who was
first trying to kill Emma winds up dead himself, the puzzle only
gets more confusing.

The story isn't as straight-forward as this summery might appear.
One of the joys of McBain's writing is the complexity of his
universe. Most fictional detectives seem to have no interests
other than the case they are on (and the mandatory woman they are
"visiting"). Steve Carella is tied up in his own trial while he
is investigating this case - his father had been murdered, and he
and his mother are attending the trial of the man who had been
caught. Even though his guilt was obvious, it looked more and
more as if the defense attorney was going to convince the jury to
acquit.

Nor does the investigation run smoothly. Carella runs into dead
end after dead end, but each time, he moves just a little closer
to the truth.

Finally comes the solution. As the reader has long known, Emma's
husband is a no-good scoundrel. But I think you will still be
surprised at what happens! McBain's ability to show and to hide
at the same time is amazing. This is truly good detective
fiction.

No great literature here, but I'm going for more of the 97th
precinct. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A good mystery with engaging characters
Jonathan Parrish is celebrating his 40th birthday, and joining his party attended mainly by Florida queens is his older brother Ralph Parrish, a wealthy Indianan farmer, who while not sharing his kid brothers lifestyle and preferences, loved him enough to buy him a beach house in the exclusive Whisper Keys, Calusa. But the brothers have a heated argument, and the following morning Jonathan is found dead, Ralph standing over the body covered in his brother's blood and with a knife in his hands.

Ralph finds himself in gaol accused of murder; pleading his innocence he calls on the services of lawyer Matthew Hope to clear him. Matthew believes him, but how to prove it? There are no witnesses, all he has to go on is Ralph's claim that he saw a figure dressed in black escaping the scene. What follows is an intricate puzzle with the seemingly unlikely interweaving of the lives of individuals ranging from ex-convicts to the family owning of one of America's largest brewers.

Well written and with convincing dialogue, what really makes this mystery, along with its sub-plot involving Matthew's business partner, is the characters. We are drawn to Matthew; to Warren the private detective he employs; Toots who aids Warren; even the bad guys we might feel at times, if only briefly, have some justification. With enough clues to keep us abreast of the investigations or guessing ahead, but not too many so that the conclusion is still a surprise, it all adds up to a most entertaining mystery.

Another great Matthew Hope Thriller
Ed McBain has a wonderful way of weaving a thriller around a nursery ryme.Each chapter moving along the poem and introducing the characters.It doesn't matter that the cow with the crumpled horn is an elderly woman' this adaptation of the ryme is brilliant. The story begins with Matthew Hope being hired to represented a farmer (who grew the corn) accused of murdering his brother.As always Matthew is convinced his client is innocent and sets out (with the help of PI Warren Chambers) to prove it.As is often the case there are a number of little side plots which mostly come together to solve the crime. ... Read more