Due colpi in uno

87th Precinct #10

by Ed McBain

King è un industriale che tenta una spregiudicata manovra nella società per azioni della quale vuole impadronirsi e contemporaneamente tre banditi rapiscono un bambino che credono suo figlio commettendo invece un grossolano errore. Sono" Due colpi in uno" infatti la somma destinata all'ambiziosa manovra d'affari potrebbe salvare la vita all'ostaggio, figlio del suo autista e King si trova così di fronte a un atroce bivio. Un perfetto poliziesco pieno si suspense, ma anche un romanzo psicologico: agli agenti dell'87° Distretto il compito di risolvere il caso.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Procedural, Detective, Audiobook, Ebooks

219 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

"Ed McBain" is one of the pen names of American author and screenwriter Salvatore Albert Lombino (1926-2005), who legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952.

While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.

He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, Evan Hunter, and Richard Marsten.

Reviews

[James Thane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doug King, a wealthy industrialist, is putting together a secret deal that will effectively give him control of the company where he has been working for most of his life. To make the deal, he's had to scrape together every last dime he has and that he can borrow. Now he's got $750,000 and is ready to make his move.

Just as he's about to put his plan into motion, however, a kidnapper calls King and tells him that the kidnapper and his partner have King's young son, Bobby. If King wants his son back alive, he needs to pay $500,000. The kidnappers will phone with instructions later.

King and his wife are naturally panicked and call the cops. Steve Carella and other detectives from the 87th Precinct spring into action and are busy setting traps on King's phone lines and doing the other things that the police would normally do in such a case when Bobby walks through the door after playing outside.

It turns out that the kidnappers have made a critical mistake. Instead of grabbing Bobby, they have grabbed his playmate, the son of King's humble chauffer. The kidnappers don't care; they still want the five hundred grand. Doug King would have been willing to pony up the money for his own son, but he's not so sure about ransoming back the chauffer's kid, because if he does, he will not have the money he needs to complete his big business deal.

While Carella and the other detective try to track the kidnappers and rescue the boy, Doug King must wrestle with his conscience and decide what to do. It makes for an entertaining tale with a complex moral dilemma at its center. The result is one of the better early entries in this long-running series.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the last couple of slightly under par books McBain blasts back with one of the best so far. It's a really snappy read with plenty of the author's trademark forays into the philosophical but also with a strong theme running throughout examining the degrees of ruthlessness that men will employ to follow their dreams. Think Shakespeare à la McBeth in a shoe factory. The book opens during a long scene at a board meeting where several share holders begin plotting to gain control of the company so they can produce a cheaper shoe. Doug King ridicules their plans and storms out of the meeting, his own plans already in place. Plans that are immediately threatened by both treachery from within and the kidnapping of his son from without. But worse is to come when it's discovered the kidnapped boy was not his son but rather the Chauffeur's boy; the dilemma of whether to still pay the ransom and financially ruin himself or to save himself and let the boy die being one that would have social consequences just as final.
The entire precinct are called out to hunt the kidnappers, though the police angle on this one is secondary to the King family and the Kidnappers. Carella carries most of the police angle with a little support from Meyer and the boorish Parker, though even Lt. Byrnes comes out from behind his desk to lend a hand. It all gets very tense. The plot was used and expanded upon in the highly regarded Japanese film 'High & Low' by the brilliant Akira Kurosawa.

[Βρόσγος Άντυ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ο Ed McBain είναι ο πατριάρχης του police procedural δίχως αμφιβολία ενώ έχει επηρεάσει πολλούς μεγάλους και μικρότερους συγγραφείς ανά τον κόσμο. Είναι ο άνθρωπος που στη θέση του πρωταγωνιστή, έβαλε ένα ολόκληρο αστυνομικό τμήμα, το θρυλικο 87ο της φανταστικής πολης Ιζολα της Νέας Υόρκης.
Οφείλω να ομολογήσω ότι δεν είναι το αγαπημένο μου υπο-ειδος crime fiction (είπα να πω νουάρ να πεταχτούν οι τρίχες του Νίκος Γεωργιάδης, αλλά κρατηθηκα), ομως είμαι της εποχής που έλεγε η διαφημιση: στην ούγια να γράφει Πειραϊκή Πατραικη. Εδώ γράφει McBain.

📖Μία απαγωγή λάθος προσώπου, ενός 8χρονου παιδιού, είναι στο προσκήνιο της ιστορίας ενώ σε δεύτερο πλάνο μαίνεται ένας ανηλεης πόλεμος φιλοδοξων μνηστήρων μιας βιομηχανίας υποδημάτων. Ποιος θα υπερισχύσει; Θα είναι άραγε το παιδι μια παράπλευρη απώλεια;

💥Ο McBain μπαίνει σε εξαντλητικές λεπτομερειες αναφορικά με την διαδικασία που ακολουθείται από την αστυνομία αλλά και τους απαγωγεις, δίνοντας ρεαλισμό στο κείμενο του χωρις κενά, απιθανοτητες η ασαφειες. Όλα είναι τακτοποιημενα και δομημενα λογικά. Χρησιμοποιεί πολύ τον διάλογο που είναι κοφτος και τραχύς, όχι μόνο για την προώθηση της πλοκής αλλά και για να μας αποκαλύψει τους πρωταγωνιστές του και τις μυχιες σκέψεις τους, μέσα από έντονες συγκινησιακα καταστάσεις.
Το ψυχογραφημα των ηρώων, όπου δεν τίθεται το δίπολο καλών-κακών, και αυτό παρουσιάζει ένα ενδιαφέρον, είναι ένα από τα δυνατά σημεία του βιβλίου καθώς στην υπόθεση διακυβευονται πολλά και από πολλους, συγκρούονται διαφορετικές φιλοσοφίες και φιλοδοξίες για τη ζωή, πέφτουν προσωπεία και μπαίνουν εκβιαστικα διλήμματα για το παρόν και το μελλον.
Η ρεαλιστική καταγραφή, η αστυνομική καθημερινοτητα και μεθοδολογία, είναι το δεύτερο γερό χαρτί του βιβλίου.

💣💣💣Να σημειώσω ότι καταρριφθηκε ΕΝΑΣ παλιός και μεγάλος αστικός μύθος. Δεν καταναλώθηκε ούτε μισό ΝΤΌΝΑΤ.💣💣💣

Υ. Γ Είναι περισσότερο για τους λάτρεις του δύσκολου αυτού είδους παρότι και εγώ το απόλαυσα. Οι φίλοι του mystery η του whodunit μάλλον θα προσπερασουν.
3.8/5

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently read a review of Kurosawa's movie High and Low where the reviewer said that he hadn't read the 87th Precinct novel upon which the movie's based but had heard that the cops in it were less sympathetic than the ones portrayed in the movie. Steve Carella and the gallant boys of the old Eight-Seven unsympathetic? I thought. Can't be right. So, since it must have been decades since last I read King's Ransom, to the library I did make a request . . . and discovered that, in all the libraries of this big northern New Jersey county, there was exactly one copy of the book, and at that a Large Print edition. Shameful.

Douglas King needs to lay hands on his every last financial resource in order to buy the shoe company that he's worked for man and boy, starting in the stockroom and working his way up. At that very moment, kidnappers seize his young son Bobby and demand a $500,000 ransom. Except the kidnappers have goofed -- they've grabbed not Bobby but the kid who was playing in the yard with him, the chauffeur's son Jeff. Doug, who was planning to abandon his business plans to save Bobby, now faces a far more difficult dilemma . . .

Although the setup is as in the Kurosawa movie, the motivation for the kidnapping is completely different and thus the later stages of the tale play out quite differently. And I was right in my expectations of the behavior of Our Boys: although they -- along with everyone else -- make it plain that they think Doug's eventual decision not to pay the ransom sucks, they have no big confrontation with him about it, make plain that it's his decision and his alone, and in general retain that level of courtesy and restraint for which Carella at least is renowned.

McBain's 87th Precinct tales are always good value, and this is no exception. My only slight caveat is that, based on simple geography, it seems to have been somewhat shoehorned into the series: I couldn't see where the Kings' snooty-estate-filled neighborhood might fit into Isola, leave alone into the 87th. But that's no real objection. Recommended.

[Salem · Rating 3 out of 5]

النسخة التي قرأتها من هذه الرواية تابعة لسلسلة
(Oxford Bookworms Library)
ولمن لا يعرف هذه السلسلة
فهي سلسلة (تعدل) الروايات الكلاسيكية وبعض الروايات الحديثة
لكي تناسب متعلمي اللغة الانجليزية
وتتكون من 7 ليفلات أو مستويات

مستوى هذه الرواية: 5

القصة: تحكي عن رجل أعمال يتجهز لعمل صفقة ضخمة
وبسبب هذه الصفقة يضطر لرهن منزله
وقبل إتمام الصفقة بيوم واحد...يحدث شيء غريب
إذ يتم خطف ابن أحد العاملين في منزل صديقنا رجل الأعمال
ويطلب الخاطفين من رجل الأعمال أن يسدد الفدية !!!
فهل سيدفع صديقنا رجل الأعمال مبلغا ضخما
من أجل تحرير ابن ليس ابنه (بل ابن أحد العاملين في منزله) ؟؟
وإذا فرضنا أنه دفع الفدية للخاطفين فهذا يعني
أنه لن يستطيع إتمام الصفقة الكبيرة التي كان يخطط لها
ويعني أيضا أنه سيخسر منزله المرهون
موقف عصيب بالتأكيد

اقرؤوا الرواية واعرفوا بنفسكم بقية الأحداث :)

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

COUNTDOWN: Mid-Century North American Crime
BOOK 233 (of 250)
McBain has said there was no financial need to write these books, and that he could toss one off in a couple of days. Yea, it shows.
HOOK - 1 star: >>>"The long curve of the bay window faced the River Harb...The scene beyond the window was clear with the pristine snappishness of October growing into November, each orange-and-gold leaf...<<< opens the book.
No, not another weather report opener. And the rest of the first chapter deals with business-men talking deals, so is this a inside-corporate-embezzlement type crime. A vicious takeover resulting in murder? No, none of the above. 30 pages later we learn there is a kidnapping. So easy to close this one and set it aside.
PACE - 1 star: I've read 1930 pulp novellas (Frederick Nebel Frederick Davis-both reviewed) that contain a similar story in 1/3rd the length. Much talk here of marriage discord and business backstabbing that, yes, are subplots but rather unnecessary to the....
PLOT - 2: A young boy is kidnapped, supposedly the son of the almost-rich Douglas King, hence the title. But the young boy bears a resemblance to King's chauffer's son, Jeff. So it's Jeff who is kidnapped, and King refuses to pay the ransom: it's not his kid! King's wife smartly leaves Douglas for good after an extended (pages and pages) of "you're a terrible person"type dialogue in which one sentence ("you're a terrible person") would have sufficed. Standard plot, standard twist, standard end.
CAST - 2: Jeff, the boy inadvertently kidnapped, shows his mettle and is nicely portrayed. Jeff's father, King's chauffer, has a great scene in which he begs on his knees for King to pay (King refuses). Cotton Hawes has a slight role: a rich neighborhood wife goes for the handsome Hawes as if her life depends on it (it may, that's a good side story not explored). Detective Steve Carrella says what he thinks about everyone and as a new father is horrified by King's actions. On the downside, a big cast of businessmen is introduced in the first chapter, and I had to take notes as to who was who, for minus 1 star leading to a 2 star rating for this element.
ATMOSPHERE - 3: The 'police procedural' nuts and bolts are done great service here. We learn the basics of identifying a car by its tire-tracks, how to build a ham radio, and more. Gotta hand it to McBain, he's done his 'procedural' homework completely.
SUMMARY - 1.8. Smartly written atmospheric touches can't save this by-the-numbers plot. Not a bad novel, it's just okay, hence my 2-star rating. And, yes, there are better novels in this series.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

King’s Ransom is a morality tale, told by one of the best— Ed McBain. This fascinating story is rather different from the typical 87th Precinct fare. We really have but one crime on which the story hinges: the kidnapping of an eight year old boy and a ransom demanded from the wealthy industrialist presumed to be the child’s father. By a twist of fate, however, the boy is actually the son of the wealthy man’s chauffeur, a humble widower who is as meek as his employer is bold.

McBain lays out the cards pretty quickly: paying the $500,000 ransom is doable, but will cost the tycoon a deal that will consequently bankrupt him and lose him the company he has worked his entire life to acquire and run. What appears to be an easy decision becomes more complicated as the author questions where the moral obligation line is drawn. Saving your own child— easy, no-brainer. Saving the life of another person’s child— at the cost of one’s own financial ruin, however, less so.

On the criminal’s side of the story we are presented with much the same greed and willingness to do whatever is required to attain that which is believed to be the solution to all problems— a fortune. McBain artfully illuminates the parallels between the kidnappers and their wealthy victims. In fact, the detectives of the 87th play an almost ancillary role as they set up phone taps and try to catch the bad guys.

The pacing and prose are classic McBain. Oh sure, every so often he goes a bit overboard, describing his fictional city or the weather in some beautiful, artful fashion that seems to stretch far beyond what is needed, but it’s a very minor bother. On the whole, I enjoyed this one for its nuanced probing of a rather tricky ethical dilemma and the treachery vs goodness inherent in us all.

[Kev Ruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★½

KING'S RANSOM, the tenth book in the 87th Precinct series, is a bit different from the rest. It doesn't dive deep into the usual police procedural elements but instead offers a morality tale where Douglas King faces a tough choice between his ambition and moral responsibility during a kidnapping crisis.

The novel starts off slowly, with a focus on boardroom politics that drags a little before the real action begins. Once the kidnapping unfolds, the pace picks up, and the story becomes more engaging and suspenseful.

There’s a lot of character development for King, exploring his inner conflict in detail. However, the kidnappers don’t get the same depth, which leaves their motivations and characters somewhat underdeveloped. Fans of the series might also miss the usual focus on the 87th Precinct team, as they play a much smaller role here.

The ending ties things up well but feels a bit rushed. Overall, King’s Ransom is a compelling read with a strong central moral dilemma, even though it strays from the typical format of the series.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt like I should read this before watching the Kurosawa movie and the Spike Lee remake/rethinking. It's got some excellent moments, but wow, way too much back-and-forthing. King debates whether or not he's going to pay the ransom. The kidnappers argue about if the kid they got is the right kid, and whether they should just give up. Byplay among the female characters, and the two having an affair, a subplot that doesn't go anywhere. There's some painfully icky 50s thinking about women--there are three central female characters, one of whom I'm not clear why is in the novel--and just horrific descriptions of how these women look and how that makes them feel, which is of course key to their characters. The grasp of women's psychology here is, um, not compelling.

The good parts are the 87th-Precinct byplay (this being a fall book, we get good crisp nights and mornings), especially when crazies start phoning in sightings of the kid, and a droll interlude with a scammer who weasels his way into King's house before being unceremoniously shown the door. Also, the shoe stuff (King, as in the Kurosawa version, runs a shoe company) is weirdly compelling; McBain conveys the quality-control and essentially moral aspects of production nicely, in that 50s way where you could envision a major corporation as harboring a sense of responsibility to its customers without being laughed out of the room. Oh, and there's car phone that turns out to be crucial to the kidnappers' scheme as well as its downfall. But there's way less Precinct stuff than I wanted, which I guess can suggest the focus on, say, the Mifune character in the movie, or Denzel in the remake. I didn't find King all that compelling, so his moral quandaries don't resonate all that much.

Kind of odd that this was the one people decided to turn into a movie (did someone try that with Fuzz? That one would absolutely fit the gritty 70s-cop-movie vibe), though McBain kind of gestures at that wider world with a couple of Dragnet-narrative jokes, the followup of which lands nicely.

[Kara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I generally try to avoid books written by men. I had to read this one for a class and this is how the author described his female characters:

• “She had a figure unendowed with a movie star’s mammillary overabundance.”

• “She had acquired over the years a figure which oozed S-E-X in capital letters in neon.”

• “Sex dripped from her curvaceous frame in bucketfuls, tubfuls, vatfuls.”

• “She was a woman no older than twenty-four, nor was she a woman who could conceivably be called a ‘girl’ of twenty-four. Kathy Folsom was a woman of twenty-four and perhaps, perhaps she had even been a woman of twelve at one time.”

… case in point

[Deb Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ed McBain and his detectives of the 87th Precinct get rave reviews from me every time. McBain is a man of few words -- his books are not three-pound tomes -- but he uses his words well and delivers a stellar crime novel and character study with each entry into this series.

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Χρονολογικά είναι το δέκατο βιβλίο της σειράς του 87ου Αστυνομικού Τμήματος, ένατο που διαβάζω εγώ. Στο βιβλίο αυτό βασίζεται έως ένα βαθμό η κλασική ταινία "Tengoku to jigoku" (aka "High And Low") του 1963, σε σκηνοθεσία Akira Kurosawa και με πρωταγωνιστή τον Toshirô Mifune, την οποία είχα την τύχη να βρω και έτσι κάποια στιγμή στο άμεσο μέλλον θα την δω για να κάνω και την σχετική σύγκριση με το βιβλίο. Τώρα, όσον αφορά το βιβλίο, δηλώνω για άλλη μια φορά ικανοποιημένος από την γραφή του Μακμπέιν, από την όλη ιστορία, από την ατμόσφαιρα, γενικά από τα πάντα.

Ο Ντάγκλας Κινγκ είναι ένας αδίστακτος επιχειρηματίας, γεμάτος φιλοδοξίες, που ξεκίνησε από απλός υπάλληλος αποθηκών στην μεγάλη εταιρεία παπουτσιών Γκράνγκερ και σιγά-σιγά ανέβηκε τα σκαλοπάτια της ιεραρχίας και σήμερα είναι έτοιμος να κλείσει μια μεγάλη συμφωνία για να εξασφαλίσει τον έλεγχο της εταιρείας. Όμως, ο γιος του οδηγού του, ο οκτάχρονος Τζεφ, θα πέσει θύμα απαγωγής, με τους κακοποιούς να πιστεύουν αρχικά ότι απήγαγαν τον δικό του γιο. Όπως και να'χει, αυτοί θα ζητήσουν πεντακόσιες χιλιάδες δολάρια ως λύτρα, για να μην σκοτώσουν το παιδί. Το θέμα είναι ότι ο Κινγκ χρειάζεται αυτά τα λεφτά για να αγοράσει τις μετοχές που θα του εξασφαλίσουν τον έλεγχο της εταιρείας. Εξάλλου δεν είναι δικό του το παιδί. Στο μεταξύ, ο ντετέκτιβ Καρέλα και οι υπόλοιποι αστυνομικοί του 87ου Αστυνομικού Τμήματος, προσπαθούν με κάθε τρόπο να βρουν τα ίχνη που θα τους οδηγήσουν στους απαγωγείς...

Η όλη πλοκή δεν κρύβει ιδιαίτερες εκπλήξεις ή ανατροπές, αν και ως ένα σημείο πίστευα ότι κάτι άλλο μπορεί να παίζει πίσω από την απαγωγή. Όπως και να'χει όμως, η ιστορία είναι -κλασικά- εξαιρετικά καλογραμμένη, ρεαλιστικά δοσμένη και ενδιαφέρουσα από την αρχή μέχρι το τέλος, με την αναγνωστική απόλαυση να είναι εγγυημένη. Τα βιβλία της συγκεκριμένης αστυνομικής σειράς (και, θα έλεγα, γενικά τα βιβλία του Μακμπέιν) αποτελούν σίγουρο στοίχημα για κάποιον που θέλει να περάσει ευχάριστα και ψυχαγωγικά την ώρα του. Η γραφή είναι εξαιρετική, οι διάλογοι ρεαλιστικοί, οι χαρακτήρες ανθρώπινοι, η όλη ατμόσφαιρα απίθανη. Όμως από ΄δω και πέρα πρέπει να είμαι λιγάκι πιο συγκρατημένος, γιατί δεν είναι και πολλά τα βιβλία της σειράς στα ελληνικά που παραμένουν αδιάβαστα.

[JMarryott23 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars…I read this because it was the inspiration for Kurosawa’s High and Low. The film is highly regarded but still underrated and one of my favorites from Kurosawa (that is saying something). It was also likely an inspiration for Joon-Ho’s Parasite (also excellent). So what did I think of the book? It was good but Kurosawa improves on the story in numerous ways. The setup is surprisingly similar between adaptions, but the film eventually veers off and expresses it’s separate themes in a stronger way.

The book is much more of a police procedural through and through with a theme of individual greed. The book shows the perspective of the kidnappers (which is interesting) and the kidnapping is not resolved until the very end. The movie ponders much larger questions of social status, the morality of man, and corporate greed, among others. Crucially, the kidnapping part of the story is concluded much earlier in the movie, and while it turns into a detective story to find the kidnappers, it still explores the main character and the decisions he faced and made.

Spoilers: I thought the detectives tracking the kidnappers down was much more interesting in the movie. In the book they don’t really follow any leads and basically stumble upon the kid. Also, the main character is adamant that he won’t pay the ransom. He loses his family over it and never changes his mind. But they still catch the kidnapper and his family crawls back to him anyway. If someone ever asks you to name just one movie adaption that is better than the book, this could be Exhibit A in your rebuttal. The book is worth reading but won’t blow you away.

[Ken Lindholm · Rating 3 out of 5]

A trip in the “way back” machine to revisit Ed McBain’s King’s Ransom. This 87th Precinct crime novel was the basis for Kurosawa’s well regarded film High and Low which recently was redone by Spike Lee as Highest 2 Lowest. This spurred my interest in reading the book that inspired these movies. Many years ago, I was an avid reader of McBain’s once popular books, but now he’s largely forgotten, as indicated by the 99 cent price of this Kindle edition.

The 87th Precinct series was foundational material to the “police procedural” sub genre, and has been praised by many other writers. As I read, I remembered a number of the police regulars, such as Steve Carella and Meyer Meyer. In King’s Ransom, there is a bungled kidnapping when businessman Doug King’s son is targeted, but instead the kidnappers grab Jeff, the son of King’s chauffeur Reynolds. Although I enjoyed this short trip to the past, I see why these books lost their popularity. Written in 1959, the characters are clearly dated and modern police procedurals are nothing new, filling many media venues.

Time to return to the 21st century.

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wealthy business tycoon is setting some financial wheels in motion that will earn him a significant payday when he receives a phone call from a kidnapper who says he has his son. Detective Steve Carella at the 87th Precinct tries to find who the kidnappers are and where they are holding the kid while navigating the victim's family through the crisis, but the main stars of this story are the Mom, Dad, child, and kidnappers, not Carella.

As with the other early 87th Precinct novels, "King's Ransom" (1959) is short enough to read in a couple hours. It also bears a few familiar threads that movies since have mimicked, most notably Mel Gibson's "Ransom."

Verdict: "King's Ransom" is a departure from the standard 87th tale in that most of the work, action, morality conflicts, character beats, dialogue, and mystery is from the victims' and criminals' perspectives rather than the detectives'. As such, it isn't as much a police procedural as it is a start-to-finish focused morality thriller. It works both as a change of pace within the series overall and as an interesting standalone thriller.

Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG-13

[Colin Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another great tale from the 87th Precinct. A boy is kidnapped by the inept villains have the wrong boy. Lt Byrnes and Steve Carella lead the cavalry. A man driven by his own success, a crude radio transmitter, a shootout and a boy that will not tell all add up to a classic read.

[Shrewbie Spitzmaus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best McBain novel I've read so far...

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our buddies in the 87th have something different on their hands - the kidnapping of a rich guy's son. But wait - the criminals are so inept, they've snatched the guy's chauffer's kid instead. The bad guys have a decent plan despite the bungling, with a good samaritan gal thrown in.

[maddie kizer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this for class and I thought I'd hate it because this is NOT my genre... but I lowkey kind of vibed with it. Who knew?

[Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great McBain. The regulars have real humanity, the scenes are deep and psychological, and it’s funny, sometimes.

[Emilie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good if slightly dated crime thriller. I think the Kurosawa film version HIGH AND LOW is superior though-- a case where changing details results in a stronger, more memorable experience.

[Jim Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This entry in the series didn't rely as much on the usual police procedural theme as before. While it concerns a kidnapping that inadvertently interferes with someone's attempt at taking over his company, it deals more with the moral outlook of each person involved. It ranges from the complete ruthlessness of one of the kidnappers to much more compassionate views of others. In the middle is Doug King, the man putting up his fortune to take over a company, who is torn apart between spending the money to possibly free his chauffeur's son, who was mistakenly kidnapped instead of Doug King's, or follow through on his company takeover. The three kidnapper's have there own morel views weighing in. One kidnapper's wife is horrified that the more ruthless member of the group may be planning to kill the child when he gets the money and wants to prevent that. Her husband is between a rock and hard place because he so desperately wants the money but is unsure if he can go as far as killing the child. There are a lot of people wrestling with their consciences in this one. I almost forgot to mention that I enjoyed it very much.

[Fred Svoboda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just gorgeous in themes, characters and how they echo each other, even descriptive writing. Confrontational arguments among characters are gripping. This is definitely a period piece in terms of male/female relationships, but that actually makes it more interesting, as it seems a true reflection of attitudes of the time. Descriptions of the treatment of physical evidence in the police lab are equally of the time, but authentic seeming and revealing the great technique and organization of the lab.

Carella and the squad are there but not at all the main focus, which may be why some people are not rating it so highly.

I think this is McBain's best novel, literature filtered through a hard-boiled procedural lens.

[Derek Rutherford · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read a few 87 precinct novels and have never really got into them the way many people do. Not sure why. Maybe McBain's style just doesn't resonate with me - there's a lot of author intrusion and a fair bit of philosophising, and very little of us getting to know the 87th characters - in fact they were little more than cardboard cut-outs here. Anyway, I have a few more on my shelf to read, but this one simply didn't do it for me.

[Milo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given that I recently purchased Akira Kurosawa's High and Low as part of Barnes and Noble's July Criterion sale, I figured that as I haven't watched that movie yet it might be a good idea to read its inspiration, Ed McBain's King's Ransom.. It helped that I took my first dive into the 87th Precinct books with Hail to the Chief a few days earlier, and I can borrow these books for free for my Kindle as an Amazon Prime member. Unfortunately that means I'll have to wait until November 1 to read my next McBain novel, but given that they're only £2.99 I may find myself pulling the plug sooner than that...

I really liked this one. You can tell McBain has put a lot of research into developing this novel, and it really pays off. It's a great read and is gripping from start to finish, making use of some interesting characters even if it follows a fairly formulaic approach. But then again, given how prolific McBain has been as a writer (there are over fifty of these novels out there - that's a lot of catchup), it's understandable that not every book in his series is going to break new ground. The book itself can be read out of order like the other McBain novel that I've read, and the pace moves along really quickly helped by some snappy back and forth dialogue. The mystery is compelling enough and the short length of the book makes for an easy read.

I plan on watching High and Low next month as part of my Noirvember Challenge so I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into it and seeing how well Kurosawa adapts this book. Given what I've seen from Kurosawa so far (Seven Samurai & Yojimbo, both masterpieces), I'm going to be going in with high expectations for sure.

[Joe Nicholl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I typically reserve the summer months for reading non-fiction, but after completing my latest book I needed to spice things up with a quickie crime-fiction fix. I've been reading the 87th Precinct novels now & then over the years...maybe 15 out of the 55 that author Ed McBain cranked out from '56 to '05. I recently found a list of the top fifteen rated 87th novels and found most of them at my local used book store. The book I wanted to read first was not on the list, but was given an Honorable Mention, and that was King's Ransom (1959). The reason I wanted to read it is because I watched the excellent Japanese noir film High & Low (1963), directed by Akira Kurosawa about five years ago and it is loosely based on Kings Ransom. I found the novel King's Ransom to be a really good, enjoyable read. The plot is very strong (I can see why a film was made of this book), the usual police-procedure is in place, all the characters are believable and plenty of suspense (including part of the ending). The only take-away for me is in the second half of King's Ransom there is long passages of overly dramatic dialog and descriptive montage scenes. An example of one long montage scene is in Chapter 10 (p. 122) beginning with the first word "Morning." While reading this section I thought to myself "Got some fancy writing going on here.....reminds me of Hemingway...", and, sure enough, immediately following this passage, on p. 126, Hemingway gets a mention..."It sounds a bit like imitation Hemingway." I thought that was pretty funny! -Sooooo, I recommend King's Ransom, it's a good, quick read and well written...after reading I highly recommend watching High & Low, a great, great, film...I give King's Ransom 3.5 stars, but I'll go on the high side with 4.0 stars due to this book led to a great film.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm surprised to see this one have a bit of a lower rating than other in the series... it was definitely my favorite so far.

The title, of course, is word play, as McBain seems to love. He must be a champ at bad dad jokes.

I'll grant that you have to be immersed in the series to think so... the men of the 87th take back stage to the players in the crime here.. they're barely in the story. That's OK though, because we get two great stories in one with the victim of the crime and the criminals.

I felt like it was a real change of pace, and was all the better for it. Not every book in the series could be like this... the cops of the 87th need time too, or they might as well not exist, but for the 10th book, it works.. great insight into both the victim's family and the criminals.

[Gav451 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fast paced, well realised and interesting story. This has characters who feel 3d and a plot that is a taut as a new spring.

The ending was quick and interesting. None of the characters did what you expected them to. Once again like a short story this was opened, told and then closed. No messing.

I like the fact these police procedurals are set in the 50s. It means there is less exposition, fewer techno solutions and more detective work.

These are good books.

[Robert Lalonde · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Enjoyable Read

Kidnappers target Doug King, a rich executive at the Granger shoe company. McBain examines the strain the situation puts on both the gang of kidnappers and the household affected by the kidnapping. The story has a 1950’s ring to the dialogue - an enjoyable read and gets a solid 4 star from this reader.

[James Shrimpton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another lovely one from McBain but apparently my books got out of order and I missed one...

This is excellent. He has a gift for satisfying resolutions to the stories of even the most unlikeable characters.