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Dragnet:The Case Of The Crime King
Vintage paperback
Paperback
Published January 1, 1959
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 5, 2023
A tie-in novel with the TV series that faithfully captures the ambiance of that series.
Friday and Smith are working the Robbery Detail when they discover that a gang--headed by an arrogant but intelligent crook who considers himself a master criminal--is robbing supermarkets across the state. The book, like the series its based on, has the cops using established police methods and a lot of legwork to gradually identify the gang members and eventually track them down.
The story is well-told, narrated by Friday in the same style as the series. The dialogue is sharp, with Friday dropping in a number of his signature dramatic/ironic one-liners at the end of conversations.
There are a number of gunfights, which may be the most atypical part of the novel when compared to the TV series (which acknowledged that cops rarely get into gun battles in real life). But those gunfights were a natural part of the story being told. The bad guys were a violent bunch and unlikely to go down quietly. Their leader--the self-described Crime King--is just annoying enough as well as evil that you really enjoy seeing him go down at the end.
Friday and Smith are working the Robbery Detail when they discover that a gang--headed by an arrogant but intelligent crook who considers himself a master criminal--is robbing supermarkets across the state. The book, like the series its based on, has the cops using established police methods and a lot of legwork to gradually identify the gang members and eventually track them down.
The story is well-told, narrated by Friday in the same style as the series. The dialogue is sharp, with Friday dropping in a number of his signature dramatic/ironic one-liners at the end of conversations.
There are a number of gunfights, which may be the most atypical part of the novel when compared to the TV series (which acknowledged that cops rarely get into gun battles in real life). But those gunfights were a natural part of the story being told. The bad guys were a violent bunch and unlikely to go down quietly. Their leader--the self-described Crime King--is just annoying enough as well as evil that you really enjoy seeing him go down at the end.
January 3, 2024
Lt. Joe Friday and his partner, Sgt. Frank Smith have a very tough new case. They're pretty certain that they know who the robbers they are after are - a gang that strikes at supermarkets - but proving their suspicions is almost impossible. Witnesses have been threatened, and the gang leader is convinced that he's so much smarter than the police that he enjoys taunting them. But, as always with "Dragnet", it's disciplined and detailed police work that will solve the case.
Deming handles the characters absolutely perfectly, and his writing is compelling and thoroughly enjoyable.
Deming handles the characters absolutely perfectly, and his writing is compelling and thoroughly enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews