Killer's Wedge [Paperback]

Ed McBain (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 1981

Determined to kill Steve Carella, Virginia Dodge takes hostages at the 87th Precinct by threatening to explode a homemade bomb. Reissue.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Stephen King and Nelson DeMille on Ed McBain

I think Evan Hunter, known by that name or as Ed McBain, was one of the most influential writers of the postwar generation. He was the first writer to successfully merge realism with genre fiction, and by so doing I think he may actually have created the kind of popular fiction that drove the best-seller lists and lit up the American imagination in the years 1960 to 2000. Books as disparate as The New Centurions, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Godfather, Black Sunday, and The Shining all owe a debt to Evan Hunter, who taught a whole generation of baby boomers how to write stories that were not only entertaining but that truthfully reflected the times and the culture. He will be remembered for bringing the so-called "police procedural" into the modern age, but he did so much more than that. And he was one hell of a nice man. --Stephen King

Way back in the mid-1970s, when I was a new writer and police series were very big, my editor asked me to do a series called Joe Ryker, NYPD. I had no idea how to write a police detective novel, but the editor handed me a stack of books and said, “These are the 87th Precinct novels by Ed McBain. Read them and you’ll know everything you need to know about police novels.” After I read the first book--which I think was Let’s Hear It for the Deaf Man--I was hooked, and I read every Ed McBain I could get my hands on. Then I sat down and wrote my own detective novel, The Sniper, featuring Joe Ryker. My series never reached the heights of the 87th Precinct series, but by reading those classic masterpieces, I learned all I needed to know about urban crime and how detectives think and act. And I had a hell of a time learning from the master. Years later, when I actually got to meet Ed McBain/Evan Hunter, I told him this story, and he said, “I would have liked it better if my books inspired you to become a detective instead of becoming my competition.” Evan and I became friends, and I was privileged to know him and honored to be in his company. I remain indebted to him for his good advice over the years. But most of all, I thank him for hundreds of hours of great reading. --Nelson DeMille

To read about how Ed McBain influenced other mystery and thriller writers, visit our Perspectives on McBain page.

For a complete selection of 87th Precinct novels available for Kindle (paperbacks coming in February 2012), visit our Ed McBain's 87th Precinct Booklist.

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--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

'Delivers the goods: dialogue that breathes, characters with heart and characters who eat those hearts, and glints of unforgiving humour... McBain owns his turf' NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Signet (February 3, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451096142
• ISBN-13: 978-0451096142
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,225,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed McBain was one of the many pen names of the successful and prolific crime fiction author Evan Hunter (1926 - 2005). Born Salvatore Lambino in New York, McBain served aboard a destroyer in the US Navy during World War II and then earned a degree from Hunter College in English and Psychology. After a short stint teaching in a high school, McBain went to work for a literary agency in New York, working with authors such as Arthur C. Clarke and P.G. Wodehouse all the while working on his own writing on nights and weekends. He had his first breakthrough in 1954 with the novel The Blackboard Jungle, which was published under his newly legal name Evan Hunter and based on his time teaching in the Bronx.

Perhaps his most popular work, the 87th Precinct series (released mainly under the name Ed McBain) is one of the longest running crime series ever published, debuting in 1956 with Cop Hater and featuring over fifty novels. The series is set in a fictional locale called Isola and features a wide cast of detectives including the prevalent Detective Steve Carella.

McBain was also known as a screenwriter. Most famously he adapted a short story from Daphne Du Maurier into the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). In addition to writing for the silver screen, he wrote for many television series, including Columbo and the NBC series 87th Precinct (1961-1962), based on his popular novels.

McBain was awarded the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement in 1986 by the Mystery Writers of America and was the first American to receive the Cartier Diamond Dagger award from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. He passed away in 2005 in his home in Connecticut after a battle with larynx cancer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I was "wedged" into my seat for this thriller!, January 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Killer's Wedge (Hardcover)

I've always loved McBain novels and Killer's Wedge definately didn't make me change my mindset. This novel epitomizes what the word "thriller" is all about. McBain's subtle writing style flows wonderfully from page to page. Virginia Dodge is the perfect femme-fatale: sexy, sultry, and oh so dangerous! I read the LARGE PRINT edition simply because I had forgeotten my glasses and bought this in an airport before a flight to Europe and I needed the large print so I could read it. But I'm positive you'll enjoy this book in any edition, it's solid, thrilling writing!!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crisp entry in the 87th precinct series, June 6, 2005

By 

F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killer's Wedge (Signet) (Paperback)

Killer's Wedge opens on a bravura piece of writing ,one which establishes mood and atmosphere quite brilliantly as well as setting the period with deft economy .It details the sights ,sounds and atmosphere within the squadroom -aan ambience that is a compound of typewriter sounds, cursing and casual profanity and the ringing of a telephone clamouring for attention .The conversation is a mix of dirty stories and complaints --please note ,if you object to this sort of thing ,the stories are not related to the reader and neither is the profane language .The atmosphere is masculine and as this is a 1950's novel women police officers are not as prominant as they would be in a novel written now .
A woman does enter the squadroom -a woman clad wholly in black and resembling ,as one officer remarks ," death personified " .She demande to see Detective Steve Carella who sees blames for the death of her husband in prison ,where he was sent after Carella secured a conviction .She is Virginia Dodge and she has the means of backing up her demand -a container of nitro -glycerin that she threatens to detaonate if Carella is not brought before her .The problem is that he is out on a case -an alleged suicide at the home of the wealthy Scott family .The head of the family has allegedly killed himself by hanging but Carella is sceptical as there is no discernable motive and the man's children were not exactly noted for their displays of afection for their late father .
We cut back from his investigation to the scenes in the squadroom where Virginia holds the detectives under the gun and the nitro .Also present in the squadroom is a recently arrived Puerto Rican streetwalker accused of stabbing a gangleader .There are attempts to smuggle out a message to passers by of the situation in the squadroom and the author deftly builds up the suspense around these .Add the arrival of Carella's pregnant deaf-mute wife Teddy and the suspense intensifies .
This is a well characterised novel and the squadroom scenes are palm sweatingly tense .I was less taken by the scenes at the Scott mansion -that case is essentially a locked room mystery and McBain even invokes the classic writer of such tales John Dickson Carr .The strenght of this series is its sense of realism and the interaction of the various personalities in the squad .The intrusion of elements drawn from the classic cosy mysteries of an earlier age are intrusive

This is a minor quibble however and Killer's Wedge is a powerfrul and potent suspense tale that wears its age well

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WILL WEDGE YOU INTO A CHAIR UNTIL YOU FINISH IT!!!!, February 26, 2002

By 

Mac Blair "Mac Blair" (Huntingdon, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Killer's Wedge (Signet) (Paperback)

This is the 7th book I have read on the 87th Precinct. I think I have rated all of them a five. This one is great. Virginia Dodge holds the entire precinct as hostage waiting for Steve Carella to show up. She wants to kill him for arresting her husband, who then died in prison. She has a gun and a bottle of nitro or is it nitro???? She is mean, mad and means what she says. Meanwhile Carella is out investigating a suicide. Or is it a suicide? Was it murder??? He does not know anything is going on. Different officers try things to get the gun away from Dodge, and some pay for it. This is a quick read. It will hold you attention. You will not want to put it down. McBain has done another good one.