rbriese7's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
dfs's review against another edition
1.0
I honestly did not like this book. There was a lot of back-and-forth dialogue which made it confusing at times to determine who was speaking. To top it off, this book has a lot of profanity and blaspheming in it. This book would have been more enjoyable if that was censored or eliminated.
timmens59's review against another edition
3.0
Book 1 of the 87th Precinct series. McBain wrote a cool introduction to this edition, explaining the genesis of the series and the idea of his to focus on the investigations of a station house, not a particular detective. I enjoyed the book and McBain's exposition on the fictional metropolis. His imagery is hard-boiled and fun. What I found interesting is McBain's detailing of early scientific police lab procedures. You can tell when he was researching all this stuff with the NYPD that he geeked up by it all. It comes through.
paulataua's review against another edition
3.0
Came across an audiobook version, so why not. Ed McBain has always been one of those writers I have always meant to get around to but have never actually done so. Of course, it suffers from all the things that were acceptable back in the 1950s, but just seem absurd now, like most descriptions of women either start with or at least include some reference to breast size. Having said that, I did get a feeling that McBain did play a major role in developing the police procedural, so it was worth visiting just for that. Nothing special , but mildly entertaining.
lastbloom's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
aaronmjnoy's review against another edition
2.0
Pulp police procedural. I quite liked the atmosphere of this one but the central story wasn't much of a story to me, none of their investigations led to the crime being solved.
aepryl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0