Kiss

Rating:
Summary: Ed McBain - Kiss
Review: A riveting addition in the 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain. This story is a great intertwining of two very strong and emotional storylines. The author does a fantastic job of moving between the two without disrupting the flow of the other. The stories are tied together by the main character Detective Steve Carella. One story is very personal, dealing with the brutal murder of his father and the highly visible trial of the accused murderer. During this same time, Carella is working on a police investigation of the attempted murder of a wealthy and beautiful woman. This story is filled with murder, hired killers, marital betrayel, and the dark side of the legal system. Keeps the attention of the listener. Only negative I felt was that the language could have been tempered without losing the momentum. All in all, a very enjoyable experience.

Rating:
Summary: Ed McBain - Kiss
Review: A riveting addition in the 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain. This story is a great intertwining of two very strong and emotional storylines. The author does a fantastic job of moving between the two without disrupting the flow of the other. The stories are tied together by the main character Detective Steve Carella. One story is very personal, dealing with the brutal murder of his father and the highly visible trial of the accused murderer. During this same time, Carella is working on a police investigation of the attempted murder of a wealthy and beautiful woman. This story is filled with murder, hired killers, marital betrayel, and the dark side of the legal system. Keeps the attention of the listener. Only negative I felt was that the language could have been tempered without losing the momentum. All in all, a very enjoyable experience.

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining police novel
Review: I am probably the only mystery fan who has not read any of Ed
McBain's 87th precinct novels, but that is a deficiency I plan to
remedy very quickly. I just finished Kiss and was fascinated with
his characters and with the details of police life that he so
carefully paints.

The story begins with a young woman who is suddenly attacked on a
subway platform and pushed onto the tracks. It is only a miracle
that she is able to pull herself onto the platform before the
train rushes by. Just your typical New York afternoon, right?
That's what she thinks until a week later when she is almost run
over by a car that was apparently aiming for her. This time,
however, she recognizes the driver, a man who used to work for
her husband.

When she goes to detective Steve Carella, he quickly suspects her
husband has somehow hired a hit man and cautions her to be
careful. That doesn't seem plausible, though, for her husband has
hired a private detective from Chicago to serve as her body guard
and to conduct his own investigation. Emma Bowles feels Detective
Carella must be mistaken.

As his inquiries continue, however, Steve becomes even more
convinced that her husband is involved. The private detective,
for example, seems to have rather questionable credentials; in
fact, he even goes under an assumed name. When the man who was
first trying to kill Emma winds up dead himself, the puzzle only
gets more confusing.

The story isn't as straight-forward as this summery might appear.
One of the joys of McBain's writing is the complexity of his
universe. Most fictional detectives seem to have no interests
other than the case they are on (and the mandatory woman they are
"visiting"). Steve Carella is tied up in his own trial while he
is investigating this case - his father had been murdered, and he
and his mother are attending the trial of the man who had been
caught. Even though his guilt was obvious, it looked more and
more as if the defense attorney was going to convince the jury to
acquit.

Nor does the investigation run smoothly. Carella runs into dead
end after dead end, but each time, he moves just a little closer
to the truth.

Finally comes the solution. As the reader has long known, Emma's
husband is a no-good scoundrel. But I think you will still be
surprised at what happens! McBain's ability to show and to hide
at the same time is amazing. This is truly good detective
fiction.

No great literature here, but I'm going for more of the 97th
precinct.

Rating:
Summary: Boring !
Review: I refer to a translation I've recently read of this book (I hope the audiocassette version is a bit less boring). And I know translations are usually not as good as the original. Still, I guess I didn't like the story anyway. Empty characters...unexciting plot. I'm not going to keep this book - I'm going to pass it on to somebody and warn them it's ...boring !!

Rating:
Summary: Boring !
Review: I refer to a translation I've recently read of this book (I hope the audiocassette version is a bit less boring). And I know translations are usually not as good as the original. Still, I guess I didn't like the story anyway. Empty characters...unexciting plot. I'm not going to keep this book - I'm going to pass it on to somebody and warn them it's ...boring !!

Rating:
Summary: exciting, with a hard edge
Review: This book is surprisingly underrated here, where McBain generally gets high marks. It is a thrilling book, even if it is slightly dark and sexy (which apparently bothers some of the readers). This is the first McBain I read--not the last--and I intend to read many more.

Rating:
Summary: exciting, with a hard edge
Review: This book is surprisingly underrated here, where McBain generally gets high marks. It is a thrilling book, even if it is slightly dark and sexy (which apparently bothers some of the readers). This is the first McBain I read--not the last--and I intend to read many more.