The Taking of Pelham One Two Three [Paperback]

John Godey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1982

Four men seize a New York City subway train and hold its passengers hostage. Their escape would seem inconceivable. Only one thing is certain: they aren't stopping for anything.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hurtles along like a runaway express train. Harrowing, terrifying, and so, so good."
-BUSINESS WEEK

"This one rates all the adjectives... grippingly suspenseful, chillingly real."
-NEWSWEEK

"A cliff-hanger...fast-moving and believable."
-NEW YORKER

"Enthralling."
-LIBRARY JOURNAL

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

John Godey is the pen name of Morton Freedgood, who achieved commercial success with the books A Thrill a Minute With Jack Albany, Never Put Off Till Tomorrow What You Can Kill Today, and The Three Worlds of Johnny Handsome. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, his novel about the hijacking of a New York City subway train, was a bestseller in 1973 and was made into a hit movie starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw in 1974. A remake starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta is scheduled to be released in summer 2009. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Dell Pub Co (April 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440184959
• ISBN-13: 978-0440184959
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,460,188 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and Suspenseful A great book, June 19, 2000

By 

jojo mahoney (Santiago, Chile (at the Salinto Caliente, uh, towers)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three (Hardcover)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, although it has a confusing and long title is one of the best books I've ever read. The plot is simple: Four desperate men hijack a subway train and hold sixteen people hostage for $1 million. If they do not have their money by the designated time they will beging to kill hostages. This book reads fast with short sections that describe the thoughts and actions of individual characters. The highly detailed novel points out the flaws of the individuals hijacking the train, and how this is a very desperate but well planned attempt to get money. Tension builds as the hijackers have quarrels amongst themselves, and with the passengers. One may ask, How do they expect to get off of a subway train and get away? Well they do, at least some of them. The ending is kind of a letdown since I found myself cheering the hijackers on in a way, but it still fits the book and the character very nicely. If you are looking for a good hostage/terrorist story, this is the best of the bunch

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A train can be a scary place for a hijacking, September 28, 2009

By 

Renfield "Up the Irons" (Edmonton, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (Mass Market Paperback)

IMAGINE: You are on a train to work one day, you know, just your usual, typical day. All of a sudden, three men who would not look like terrorsts take over, stop the train, and hold everyone on the train Hostage. If a ridiculous amount of money is not delivered to them in 90 minutes, every minute after that they kill someone. That would suck being on that train, would it?

I didn't even know this was a book until back in May, when the movie was to be released next month. I saw the trailer and it looked quite cool, something worth watching in the theater on A Saturday afternoon. I eventually did see the movie, but before I did I decided I would read the book after seeing it on a shelf in the bookstore.

This is not a bad book. It has an interesting concept behind it, though nothing original- it has been done before. It's your typical terrorist suspense novel, and has a lot of suspense in it. It also provides some good insight into the characters, especially Ryder. He's a cool character, and there seems to be quite a lot going on surrounding him.

Unfortunately this book suffers from being boring in a lot of places. While I like the flashbacks, there seems to be a bit too many of them- and half of them are too long. And the dialogue was ridiculous in places too ("I hope my c--- smells pretty for you"?????). Also, Godey seems to go on and on forever about one thing too. What was with the whole thing about Ryder's past? That was... in a word... unnecessary.

In short, It's not a bad book, and it's worth it for a rainy day crime read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Check it out!, August 26, 2009

By 

S. Crozzoli "major reader" (Bronx, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (Mass Market Paperback)

See how both movie versions compare to the original story-a few surprises here-would have to say that 1974 version is a bit closer.