Fat Ollie's Book : A Novel of the 87th Precinct

Rating:
Summary: The Creative Side of Oliver Weeks
Review: When Oliver Wendell Weeks is called to the murder scene of mayoral candidate Lester Henderson, he was on top of the world. He had just finished writing his first book and had it safely stored on the back seat of his car. After attending the crime scene, he returns to his car to find that the unthinkable has happened, his car has been broken into and his manuscript has been stolen.

I think at this point a bit of an introduction may be in order here. Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series, set in the fictional city of Isola, is now over 50 books strong with the detectives from the precinct that bears the series title all making regular appearances. Ollie Weeks, on the other hand, is only a fairly recent addition to the series and works out of the neighbouring 88th Precinct. Ollie is an ignorant bigot (is there any other kind?) who complements this with a complete lack of sympathy when dealing with victims families. He prefers the rude abrasive approach when requesting help from colleagues, usually softening them up with an insulting joke and then becoming astounded when they don't appreciate his humour. In short, Ollie Weeks is a thoroughly dislikeable guy.

But back in MONEY, MONEY, MONEY (the previous 87th Precinct book) Weeks saved Steve Carella's life not once, but twice and now he's cashing in on the favours he believes Carella owes him. If you had to pick a leading character out of the ensemble cast that makes up the 87th Precinct, Detective Steve Carella would be that man.

Ollie's proposed favour is for the detectives from the 87th Precinct to help him work the Lester Henderson murder case. It seems that although Lester was murdered inside the 88th Precinct boundaries, his house lies within the 87th Precinct, so Ollie would like Carella to interview Lester's widow. In return Ollie magnanimously offers to share the credit for the bust. The real reason for Ollie's appeal for help can be put down to the fact that his attention has been captured by his desire to find the person who stole his manuscript. After all, he's convinced it's bestseller material and why not when the story is based on his own experiences as a cop.

And this brings us directly to the storyline that runs in parallel to the murder investigation involving the junkie who is now in possession of Ollie's book. Oh yes, not only do we know who stole the treasured manuscript but we also get to read it, while the thief thinks he has stumbled upon inside police information that will lead him to a fortune. The plight of the missing manuscript and its drug dependent new owner is cleverly worked into yet another case being pursued by the police, making its recovery oh so tantalisingly close.

One of the constants of the 87th Precinct series is the sharp and snappy dialogue that prevails. Whether it's in the form of questions and answers rattled off during interviews or as a rapid fire exchange between two cops, the style is distinctive Ed McBain. I've always enjoyed this aspect of his books because you get the real impression that pressure is being put on the suspects and the pace of the investigation is instantly accelerating while clues and information are rapidly collected. The result is a fast-paced police investigation and that's exactly what we get in FAT OLLIE'S BOOK.

One area in which the 87th Precinct stories have changed over the years and I thought it was particularly noticeable in this book was in the area of character development. McBain has never gone in much for giving his detectives terribly much personality, preferring to concentrate on police procedure and the case under investigation to carry the story. These days we are actually learning about the lives of the detectives outside of the precinct environs, giving them even greater appeal. Now, I admit, in the case of Oliver Wendell Weeks, the more you learn about him, the less you like him, but then that seems to be the appeal that McBain is trying to equip him with. Apart from learning all about Ollie's skewed philosophies of life, the two featured detectives, Steve Carella and Bert Kling were actually depicted at home with their families. We are now getting the impression that they're real men.

Fans of the police procedural to end all police procedurals can rest assured that the fast-paced investigative style is still alive and well in the mean streets of Isola. I would caution anyone planning to read this book that it would be best to have read MONEY, MONEY, MONEY first, this book second and then THE FRUMIOUS BANDERSNATCH third because these 3 books read like a mini-series within the larger series.

Rating:
Summary: Go Get 'em Ollie.....
Review: Who shot city councilman, Lester Henderson, as he practiced crossing the stage to the podium, waving and smiling, follow spot glowing, during a rehearsal at Martin Luther King Memorial Hall, for his mayoral candidacy announcement that evening? As first on the scene, all around offensive, foul mouthed and bigoted Detective Oliver Wendell Weeks catches the case and begins to run with it, interviewing witnesses, barking obnoxious orders, and getting a sense of the scene and what had just happened there. Ollie's feeling pretty pumped, grabbing a high profile, headline making murder case. That is, until he returns to his vehicle and finds the only copy of his just completed first novel, Report To The Commissioner, missing. It seems that while he was inside the hall working one crime scene, someone outside was creating another. Some low-life broke into his car and stole all thirty-six pages of his soon to be bestseller masterpiece. And to complicate matters, the not-too-bright thief doesn't even realize he's holding a novel. He thinks he's just found his ticket to the good life; a police report detailing a soon to be bust involving 2.7 million worth of diamonds..... Award winning, master storyteller, Ed McBain, finally gives one of his most colorful and entertaining characters a book, actually two books, of his own. This is a police procedural that has it all... seemingly unrelated, complex, and intriguing story lines that are deftly woven together, creating a stunning climax and satisfying ending; clever, vivid, often laugh-out-loud scenes, and brilliant, meaty characterizations including the ever quirky and engaging cast from the 87th precinct. But it's Mr McBain's smart, crisp, humorous writing, and witty and irreverent dialogue and asides that make this, as well as all his novels, stand out and sparkle, and once you begin reading, be prepared to finish Fat Ollie's Book in one sitting. This is Ed McBain at his very best and no one in the genre does it better. Make sure you put Fat Ollie at the top of your "must read" list and enjoy!