Rating: 
Summary: Short and Sweet
Review: Sixteen year old Rebecca Patton strikes and kills a female pedestrian, during her driving lesson. When the police arrive, they find her instructor, Andrew Newell, stumbling and totally disoriented. At first the police believe he's drunk. But he passes the breathalyzer test. Then they figure he must have taken drugs, but Rebecca insists that he didn't take or drink anything, during her lesson. The police become even more suspicious, when the identity of the dead woman is discovered. It's Mary Beth Newell, Andrew's wife. Ed McBain is always a master of mystery and suspense and never disappoints. This well written, short novella is very tense, with smart, crisp dialogue, interesting characters, that subtle feeling that everything isn't as it seems and an unexpected twist at the end. Driving Lessons is a fast read and pure enjoyment. What else could you ask for?
Rating: 
Summary: Flunking your 'Driving Lesson'
Review: The idea for this story is intriguing, but the result is as shallow and unconvincing as a 30-minute written-for-TV plot rather than what might have been an interesting story. The plot hinges on the victim stepping into the path of a car at the precise moment necessary to be struck and killed. Half-a-second early, or half-a-second late, and the opportunity is lost by a car length. Yet, McBain suggests the car driver knows the precise instant the victim will step without a glance for oncoming traffic or other hazards into the path of a car moving at 44 feet per second. Sorry, that just doesn't cut it. Granted, life is sometimes inexplicably strange. But, the plot in this story -- homicide by car-pedestrian accident -- asks too much. It could have been a great story, the delusion of two people who fear their dreams may be impossible and desperately grasp each other in the vain hope of making something come true, but McBain asks too much of the reader by using an basically implausible plot. McBain is an obviously talented writer, his 87th Precinct saga is the most celebrated police stories in the history of crime fiction. But, it sometimes takes more talent and ability to write a good 72-page short story than a competent full-length work. It would be grossly unfair to judge his work on the basis of this book. And, unless you are addicted to the "reality" of tv-plots, it would be a waste of time to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Flunking your 'Driving Lesson'
Review: The idea for this story is intriguing, but the result is as shallow and unconvincing as a 30-minute written-for-TV plot rather than what might have been an interesting story. The plot hinges on the victim stepping into the path of a car at the precise moment necessary to be struck and killed. Half-a-second early, or half-a-second late, and the opportunity is lost by a car length. Yet, McBain suggests the car driver knows the precise instant the victim will step without a glance for oncoming traffic or other hazards into the path of a car moving at 44 feet per second. Sorry, that just doesn't cut it. Granted, life is sometimes inexplicably strange. But, the plot in this story -- homicide by car-pedestrian accident -- asks too much. It could have been a great story, the delusion of two people who fear their dreams may be impossible and desperately grasp each other in the vain hope of making something come true, but McBain asks too much of the reader by using an basically implausible plot. McBain is an obviously talented writer, his 87th Precinct saga is the most celebrated police stories in the history of crime fiction. But, it sometimes takes more talent and ability to write a good 72-page short story than a competent full-length work. It would be grossly unfair to judge his work on the basis of this book. And, unless you are addicted to the "reality" of tv-plots, it would be a waste of time to read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Driving in Neutral
Review: This, the first of a proposed series of novellas published in hardcover by Otto Penzler, is a noble experiment, but this was a poor choice with which to kick off the series. The story originally appeared as a book-on-tape and maybe it is better heard than read. This is Ed McBain coasting. There is little to recommend about this effort. McBain's writing appears to be strained and neither the story or he pacing is compelling. If you want to have a taste of this author, you'd be better off reading almost any of his 87th Precinct series, or some of his non-mystery works under his other pen name, Evan Hunter.
| 
