Customer Reviews

The Big Bad City (An 87th Precinct Novel)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was the first book I read by Mr. McBain. And after Icompleted this novel, it was not my last. This book was fabulous,decriptive, well written prose, engaging, humane protagonists, fast moving and gripping plots--a myriad of plots! I could not put this book down. This is one of my favorite books ever. I really came to know and like many of McBain's characters... so much so, after I completed the novel--in record breaking time--I immediately went out and purchased McBain's other novels of the 87th precinct. Read this and then rush out to read his others--you will not be disappointed.

One can't pick up an 87th Precinct novel without reflecting that it's been written by the man who is generally considered the master of the police procedural. Yes, there's the nun murder and the "cookie boy" burglar, but the heart of this novel is a small time hood's stalking of Steve Carella. The only reason the punk gives is that Carella may some day come looking for him and Carella's death will take care of that. In the meanwhile, we get Carella reflecting on aging and recalling great moments in 87th Precinct history (at one point, the reverie goes back to 'Cop Hater', the 1st 87th novel). While reliving these moments, I realized that I was again at the feet of the Master. Loved this book and I hope to see a bangup 50th novel for the boys at the 87th.

All of Ed McBain/Evan Hunter's production is on my shelves. Not only is he a master in the development of plots and in the description of police operational methods, he also keeps me updated in modern English. I think the town of the 87th Precinct is a New York rotated clockwise of 90°. Mr McBain/Evan Hunter is one of the most entertaining writers I ever found and I always look for new production of his whenever I enter a bookstore.

McBain is the undisputed master of the procedural; in my own reading experience only John Creasey's "Gideon of Scotland Yard" and Sjowall and Wahloo's "Martin Beck" novels come near.

Even poor McBain is better than most other authors' best, and this book is by no means poor or bad; just average -- but being "average" in as high-quality a series as this puts it above many other books that would rank tops for thier writers/in their own series...

By this point, McBain is writing psychological studies as much he is mysteries; whodunnit and even howdunnit is generally less the point than *why*dunnit.

McBain characterises through dialog better than almost any other writer of popular fiction i can think of, and his work exudes a solid sense of *place* -- of location -- that adds weight and dimension to it. Isola may be fictitious, but by now, fifty books along, i could walk its streets with less chance of getting lost than i would if in Chicago, where i was born fifty years ago.

The plot this issue is, indeed, razor thin, more an excuse to string together a series of events and encounters and to show us our old friends Carella, Kling, Fat Ollie Weeks and the rest doing what cops do.

There are some Important Events -- one long-running character finally comes to the end of his run, and there is at least one unresolved thread that may well be central to the next volume in the series.

And i am sure there *will* be another -- though he has wound up his other series (the "fairytale" books about Matthew Hope, Florida lawyer), i do not believe that Ed McBain will be able to stop writing until they pry his cold dead fingers off his keyboard...

A "must-read" if you're already a fan; if not, go back to "Lady Lady I Did It" or "Fuzz" or "Sadie When She Died" or "King's Ransom" or almost any mid-period 87th novel, and begin.

((By the way -- "King's Ransome" was brilliantly adapted into a film set in contemporary Japan by Akira Kurosawa, under the title "High & Low". The plot translated perfectly.))

If you're a mystery fan who has so far managed to miss the 87th books, you won't regret discovering them.

McBain has come down from a higher league of writers and has deigned to give us another book. Flawless as usual. The familiar cast of characters including comic-relief in the character of Ollie. He even manages to include Matthew Hope. Mulitplotted but enough dimension in each plot to allow easy distinction. When Carella and Brown discover who murdered the nightclub owner it is the classic McBain stop-on-a-dime writing.

I really enjoyed this book. Ed McBain has once again proven himself to be a master storyteller, with a taled of a murdered nun that makes the detectives research another murder from long ago. Combining mulitple tales as is Ed McBain's tradition results in a great mystery about revenge that will leave you speculating about how the past can catch up to anyone. Fans of Ed McBain will love this tale of greed, deceit, murder, and revenge.

I've arrived late to Ed McBain. The first work of his I read was his last (unless, like the late Ludlum, his estate decides to keep him alive through badly written and truly "ghost" novels).

McBain wrote, I think, 55 87th Precinct police procedurals. "The Big Bad City" was published in 1999. Structurally, McBain seems to have found a forumula and stuck with it - and that's a good thing, because his forumula works.

In a city that stands in as a thinly veiled New York city, the 87th Precinct bustles with activity. The precinct's detectives juggle many cases at a time, some propelled by political pressure, others by the personal involvement of the detectives, some because of happenstance and lucky tips or breaks.

In "The Big Bad City," a burglar dubbed The Cookie Boy by the press because he leaves chocolate cookies behind is on the loose; the man who killed Detective Cardella's father decides to wrap up loose ends by killing the Detective is on the prowl and a woman is found strangled in the park. The latter case rises from the routine when the woman is discovered to be a young nun - with breast implants.

McBain is in flawless. His characters have enough depth to be believable; just enough depth. His police officers run the range from the competent to slovenly and not quite-as-competent. Some are fair-minded, some are bigots. They solve their crimes through good, tedious police work. They don't get miraculous breaks: just those that they develop through their own persistence , diligence, experience and hard-work, aided by the occasional walk-in or phone-in tip. McBain is terrific at describing this often boring, often discouraging work without himself becoming tedious.

The unravelling of the murder of the nun is great storytelling as is the story of the guy plotting to kill the cop. The burglar story is a delight that could easily stand alone as a short story.

I regret having discovred McBain after his death, but he left one hell of a legacy.

Jerry

If you have read McBain before, you will find more of the same in this novel. As usual in his 87th precinct works that I have read, McBain (pen name of the author) sets out what are basically three short stories that interlink and form into a short novel. All three of these stories are slick no nonsense to the point Dragnet style pieces. They are very readable and enjoyable. If you are a fan as I am and are looking for more of the same from McBain this book will not let you down. If you have not read McBain before, I would suggest that you start towards the beginning of his series even though you could jump in here and it would not effect the enjoyment this work offers in any way. That aside, I am only rating this work as a three star read because it is so formulaic. I can't bring myself to rate it any higher because I feel that the author is just churning this out without much thought (even though he does this quite well). This book is not high literature. It is just something, as are all of the books in this series, to pick up and enjoy for what it is, a mass produced work by a master in familiar surroundings.

The only reason I am being a little hard on McBain here is that one of his numerous Isola city crime novels melds into another with little to make any particular work stand out from the rest. As usual, this book is taught with fine prose and a couple different plots that weave past each other and develop without pain to the reader. As usual the plots are distinct and well scripted while being laced with tidbits of philosophical rumblings by the protagonists. McBain is in my opinion one of the more gifted writers of the last five decades, churning out enough material to encompass several careers. Only I don't think McBain is taking any risks here, he plays it safe and we get more of the same. So that is why I am knocking this book down a couple of notches. Its totally worth reading and I would say that you will not be disapointed by purcasing this book. Its just not ground breaking and I am being hard on the old guy because I think he has it in him to churn out a magnificent read if he desired.

Lastly I would reccomend early Dick Francis novels or Johng MacDonald if you are looking for authors on par with McBain. They are different but similar in approach to their craft.

The Big Bad City is the 49th Novel of the 87th Precinct, and those that are familiar with Ed McBain's previous works won't dispute the fact that he's a great mystery writer, but the thing that I enjoy most is his sense of humor. While it's never over-the-top and won't get you laughing out loud, you are guaranteed to have a grin on your face as you read this book.

In this particular novel, Detectives Brown and Carella are investigating a homicide in which the victim is a young nun with breast implants. There are also several subplots, one involving a burglar called the Cookie Boy who leaves home made chocolate chip cookies at the homes that he burglarizes. Also, Detective Carella is being stalked by the man who killed is father.

While the details of the story's plot may slip from the reader's memory soon after the book is completed, the nonsensically comical banter between the two detectives is quite memorable. I especially liked the nun jokes that they crack throughout the story.

The only pitfall that I can find in this story is in Ed McBain's writing style. He uses small words and short sentences, and while the story is easy to follow, it's also very dry at times. Though the book was written just a few years ago, it reads like a detective novel written in the 1950s. However, if you like detective novels, and if you like movies like "L.A. Confidential", you're going to like this book.