Customer Reviews

Mischief: 87th Precent

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mischief has the Deaf Man as its main character and what a main character he is. Is there a smarter character, hero or villain, in crime fiction than the Deaf Man? No way. (Is he McBain's DARK alter ego, as Hope and Carella are his "good" alter ego?) As per usual, bad things are happening in the big bad city. But the Deaf Man creates special problems for the 87th. He provides (and harrasses) Carella and his mates with clues etc. to his upcoming nefarious action, which will take place on a grand scale. But the best part of this story concerns a black rap band and its leader--no p.c. condescension in his treatment of the band, the rock concert of which they are to be a major act and their plot action, just honest, good and accurate writing about our "in trouble" society and about the individuals whose stories actually make this society come to life. A killing near the end of the story takes your breath away and gives much "haunting" food for thought. Much mischief in the city. Cops really are having trouble capturing and containing the bad guys. No plot spoilers here. Read the book. It is great.

The men of the 87th precinct are being sent strange, cryptic messages from "The Deaf Man" who issues guarded warnings about a disruptive event which is about to take place, but couches these warnings in the form of pages from a sci-fi novel. The event is actually a huge rock/rap fest where thousands will be present at an outdoor venue. Much of this story centres on a rap group and the author offers a few of his examples of this genre, none of which does anything for me personally but...to each his own! The other main story surrounds the murders of graffiti writers who deface public and private buildings with their ugly scrawl and who are now being shot by a person unknown. It ewas an ok story but lacked the zip and sizzle of some earlier ones.

This book is almost like reading three books in one. One of the stories is about people with Alheimer's Disease who are being abandoned at hospitals all over the city.

Another story is about a serial killer who enjoys killing people who like to spray paint on walls.

Third--and best of all--is about a man who calls himself the Deaf Man. He is a criminal mastermind. I think McBain would have done better by leaving out the serial killings, which were just being done to cover up another crime, and he should have also left out the Alheimers cases and made the Deaf Man the only story in the book. It was the only story that held my attention. The Deaf Man was intriguing and charismatic, a very clever crimal genious.

The Deaf Man and a killer of graffiti writers are the sources of MISCHIEF in this McBain installment. Kling and Parker are pursuing a possible serial killer who is targeting "writers" with one victim not quite fitting in, and the Deaf Man makes his return with one of his far-fetched schemes to sew chaos in order to make a big score. The one big mistake in this otherwise solid addition to the series is the McBain's sorry attempt to create a rap band, in this case one called Spit Shine; a band that is important to the plot but is one more example how many writers are "tone deaf" to rap. Reading McBain's attempts at rap lyrics are painful to say the least and embarrassing to say the most. Docked a star for the weak lyrics, this is still a good addition to the series.

In the 87th precinct of an imaginary city named Nowhere, the evildoers were at it again. The one based in New York was blamed with being the instigator, while that one in Denver and one of the two principals in L.A. were co-conspirators in this game of defeating the underdog. The Deaf Man was busy and, thank goodness, he could not hear that awful music -- if you can call it that. It wasn't on Valentine's Day, but a couple of weeks later, that the onslaught on one's ears started and kept on and on for months. It was meant as just a bit of 'mischief' in the beginning but blossomed into a bombshell of hatred.

He'd planned it initially as a taunt because he was jealous of the admiration she had for the sensitive one who had been her 'friend' when her world was coming apart which seemed like forever. He gave her a reason to live when he came to her aid concerning Better Luck Tomorrow, worst than the awful music, if one could call it that. Thank God he cared enough to intervene. But that was then and this time the insensitive one entered the fray with his pleasure of a little torture from afar to build his ego. We don't always get what we want. She thanked God that he was there for her; thank you more than you know.

They did not expect her defiance and she proved to be a force to be reckoned with as the one she cared for took the path of least resistance. After all, he is getting old now and had too many bad memories to deal with adequately. That one with evil on his mind had made the situation somewhat compromised. It hurt too mcuh to lose a love; you have to grieve for what you loved and lost and remember the love without feeling the loss. Grief is part of healing.

Looks were deceiving and she was hurting more than she showed outwardly. So, now they were back to square one and she had to strive to pick up the pieces and get on with her life, such as it was without him. It was just a case of general principles. Once I was asked, "What's the matter here?" and my response was "It's a matter of principle." It's too bad that he failed her this time as he did not stand behind his principles as he had regaled her about his wonderful pastor. No, that's the other one in L.A. Hallelujah!

The 87th Precinct novels are many and still coming. Some titles include 'Framious Bandersnatch,' 'Fiddlers,' 'Vespers,' 'Heckler,' 'Hark,' 'Shotgun,' and 'Ax.' I enjoyed Evan Hunter's novels when he started many years ago. This one is another in the graffiti-hater series.