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Cut Me In
When a Man’s Partner is Killed,
He’s Supposed to Do Something About It.
Maybe no one liked Del Gilbert a whole lot, not the men he ruthlessly did business with, not the women who discovered his other lovers, not even his partner in the Gilbert and Blake literary agency – me. But when I found him shot to death on the floor of his office, I had no choice. I had to track down the person responsible. And not just to lay Del to rest, either. Next to his body, the office safe was wide open, and a contract worth millions was missing...
He’s Supposed to Do Something About It.
Maybe no one liked Del Gilbert a whole lot, not the men he ruthlessly did business with, not the women who discovered his other lovers, not even his partner in the Gilbert and Blake literary agency – me. But when I found him shot to death on the floor of his office, I had no choice. I had to track down the person responsible. And not just to lay Del to rest, either. Next to his body, the office safe was wide open, and a contract worth millions was missing...
237 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
73 people are currently reading
305 people want to read
About the author
Hunt Collins
10 books3 followersBorn and raised as Salvatore Lombino in New York City.
Legally changed name to his pseudonym Evan Hunter.
Best known by his pseudonym Ed McBain.
Legally changed name to his pseudonym Evan Hunter.
Best known by his pseudonym Ed McBain.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
September 6, 2018
Literary agent Josh Blake is having a bad day at the office. He’s hungover, one of his secretaries is late, and a very pushy aspiring writer won’t take no for an answer. Oh, and he also finds his partner murdered in his office and their most valuable contract that’s about to be worth a fortune in movie rights is missing.
Sounds like somebody has a case of the Mondays!
This is a hard boiled mystery novel that has everything you’d expect from this kind of thing written in the ‘50s. Ed McBain created a solid noir character in the jerkish Blake who is more concerned with the missing contract than the dead partner. There’s a suspicious cop, some surprisingly polite thugs, and several gorgeous dames thrown into the mix, and it works well enough as an entertaining story. Good, but not inspired would be my usual judgement on it.
Yet there’s a surprising little bit right at the end that puts a whole new light on everything, and lifts it up a notch. I won’t quite go 4 stars on it, but it’d be an easy 3.5 if Goodreads would let us do that.
Sounds like somebody has a case of the Mondays!
This is a hard boiled mystery novel that has everything you’d expect from this kind of thing written in the ‘50s. Ed McBain created a solid noir character in the jerkish Blake who is more concerned with the missing contract than the dead partner. There’s a suspicious cop, some surprisingly polite thugs, and several gorgeous dames thrown into the mix, and it works well enough as an entertaining story. Good, but not inspired would be my usual judgement on it.
Yet there’s a surprising little bit right at the end that puts a whole new light on everything, and lifts it up a notch. I won’t quite go 4 stars on it, but it’d be an easy 3.5 if Goodreads would let us do that.
October 20, 2017
Like Raymond Chandler, but on a sexier, seedier level. After having read and adored Lawrence Block, I realised I had to read a book by the very guy who's name pretty much established the 'hard boiled' genre. Here we have Josh Blake, a literary agent trying to work out why the people closest to him are winding up dead, and drinking copious amounts of scotch at the same time. There is such a sleazy style to these pulp fiction books which I adore and will continue to devour them.
October 1, 2018
Ed McBain is best known for his long running 87th Precinct series, however, some of his best work includes So Nude So Dead (writing as Evan Hunter) and The Gutter and The Grave (writing as Curt Cannon), both pulp era crime reads re-printed as part of the Hard Case Crime stable.
Originally published in 1954 under the pen-name Hunt Collins, Cut Me In is pure pulp; the protagonist is a masochist, the dames are wanton, and the murders plentiful. Throw in healthy doses of sexual innuendo more akin to pulp pushers like Carter Brown than McBain, and you've got a sleazy murder mystery full of buttery popcorn pulp.
Josh Blake, a partner in a literary agency arrives in the office expecting to bleed for his clients and make some nice commission for the agency finds his partner, Del, murdered and the safe containing important and contentious contracts wide open. With a deal in the balance and the cops fingering him as a suspect, Blake turns into a semi-sleuth to help catch the killer.
Cut Me In is a hell of a fun book to read. The plot is simple yet the characters not without their complexities while the pace is pulse pounding. I didn't pick the perp until the last few pages.
The 2016 Hard Case Crime reprint also includes a novelette by McBain, featuring his under appreciated, PI Matt Cordell titled Now Die In It. Cordell also appears in the aforementioned The Gutter and The Grave. This novelette is a nice taster and teaser which has me wanting more Matt Cordell stories.
Originally published in 1954 under the pen-name Hunt Collins, Cut Me In is pure pulp; the protagonist is a masochist, the dames are wanton, and the murders plentiful. Throw in healthy doses of sexual innuendo more akin to pulp pushers like Carter Brown than McBain, and you've got a sleazy murder mystery full of buttery popcorn pulp.
Josh Blake, a partner in a literary agency arrives in the office expecting to bleed for his clients and make some nice commission for the agency finds his partner, Del, murdered and the safe containing important and contentious contracts wide open. With a deal in the balance and the cops fingering him as a suspect, Blake turns into a semi-sleuth to help catch the killer.
Cut Me In is a hell of a fun book to read. The plot is simple yet the characters not without their complexities while the pace is pulse pounding. I didn't pick the perp until the last few pages.
The 2016 Hard Case Crime reprint also includes a novelette by McBain, featuring his under appreciated, PI Matt Cordell titled Now Die In It. Cordell also appears in the aforementioned The Gutter and The Grave. This novelette is a nice taster and teaser which has me wanting more Matt Cordell stories.
March 20, 2023
Another top-quality piece of pulp crime fiction.
'"There are usually some pretty simple motives for murder, Mr. Blake. Money is one of them. There’s jealousy, love, injured pride, rage, to mention a few of them."'
Firstly I need to state that I love pulp crime novels, they may not adhere to modern-day levels of political correctness concerning sexism and gender roles, but quite frankly I do not care. I like what I like.
'Sometimes you can’t go back. Not with the memory fresh on your mind and body. The memory is so keen, so poignant, that everything following it is dull and commonplace in comparison. It might be that way with Cam, and I hoped it wouldn’t.'
This story follows Blake, a partner in a literary agency. The story begins with Blake entering his partner's office to discover his partner murdered beside an open safe. From here the story follows Blake while he tries to investigate what had happened to his partner. The rest is for you to find out for yourself.
Typically for a book of this genre, there are plenty of beautiful women throughout and the occasional steamy encounter, not to mention a murder or three and some larger-than-life characters to boot.
In all, this was a well-written and briskly paced novel, which had all the ingredients that you would expect from the Hard Case Crime imprint. McBain's writing drew me in from the very beginning and help me to picture the locations and events with great clarity. Ultimately this all adds up to an extremely enjoyable reading experience.
'How do you distinguish the significant things from those that are unimportant, especially when the unimportant ones look significant? Life has no rules. Neither does murder.'
ts hard to believe this was written in the 1950s but it sure did an amazing job of transporting me there.
'"There are usually some pretty simple motives for murder, Mr. Blake. Money is one of them. There’s jealousy, love, injured pride, rage, to mention a few of them."'
Firstly I need to state that I love pulp crime novels, they may not adhere to modern-day levels of political correctness concerning sexism and gender roles, but quite frankly I do not care. I like what I like.
'Sometimes you can’t go back. Not with the memory fresh on your mind and body. The memory is so keen, so poignant, that everything following it is dull and commonplace in comparison. It might be that way with Cam, and I hoped it wouldn’t.'
This story follows Blake, a partner in a literary agency. The story begins with Blake entering his partner's office to discover his partner murdered beside an open safe. From here the story follows Blake while he tries to investigate what had happened to his partner. The rest is for you to find out for yourself.
Typically for a book of this genre, there are plenty of beautiful women throughout and the occasional steamy encounter, not to mention a murder or three and some larger-than-life characters to boot.
In all, this was a well-written and briskly paced novel, which had all the ingredients that you would expect from the Hard Case Crime imprint. McBain's writing drew me in from the very beginning and help me to picture the locations and events with great clarity. Ultimately this all adds up to an extremely enjoyable reading experience.
'How do you distinguish the significant things from those that are unimportant, especially when the unimportant ones look significant? Life has no rules. Neither does murder.'
ts hard to believe this was written in the 1950s but it sure did an amazing job of transporting me there.
January 5, 2020
The publisher’s blurb for Cut Me In talks about having to find a killer because that’s what you do when your partner, Del Gilbert, is murdered. For many of us, that brings back memories of Spade and Archer, particularly when you find out that the partners didn’t particularly like each other and the surviving one had scandalous thoughts about the dead one’s wife. And, to top it off, the police detective is suspicious.
But, McBain did not give us a remake of any Maltese Falcon novel. Indeed, Josh Blake and Del Gilbert are not detectives at all, but literary agents. Kind of a different twist for a hardboiled pulpy crime novel. This novel works really well, starting with Robert McGinnis’s excellent understated cover art. What really makes it though more than anything else is the top-notch pulpy writing. I never realized how good McBain really was.
There is something about the way he writes in this novel that makes you see, feel, and hear the descriptions, beginning with the girl sitting at the kitchen table with the steam rising from the coffee cup, her legs crossed, the ankle straps, the nylon stockings stretched taut against the curve of her leg, the pale orange lipstick that accentuated her blondness and added just a touch of color to her full lips.
Then there’s the description of how Blake feels with the buzz saw inside his skull and the decaying caterpillar in his mouth. Then, Blake talks about the top of his skull blowing off when he sees the safe open in his office. And, all throughout the novel McBain throws in these terrific pulpy phrases so, as the reader, we can feel the tension in the room, the distraction, the eyes roaming, the sounds coming through the windows. You can feel the shock when someone hears news and it is almost as if she were hit in the stomach and she holds onto her glass as if she were holding a life preserver. There’s other sounds too – like the shrill clamor of the telephone slicing into the air, shredding the silence, leaving nothing but the heat.
What’s amazing though is that the novel written and first published over sixty years ago feels fresh and new today. It’s not stuck in a time warp as so many old-time novels feel. There’s nothing necessarily that places this in the fifties except when you realize no one has cell phones. It is an easy book to read and the pages just fly off your hands as you thumb through it. This is precisely the kind of book I look to find in Hard Case Crime’s catalog.
There might at times be a bit more dialogue and a bit less action than one would want, but not enough to detract from the read. Plot-wise, it gives you some themes that you will find in other crime novels from that era, the partner murdered, the widow, the mistress, the cynical homicide detective, the innocent man who unfortunately finds the body and has a motive for murder, but the writing and the feel are what puts this novel on the top shelf for me.
As an added bonus, at the end of the novel, Hard Case Crime also gives us a short novella) featuring Matt Cordell (The Gutter and The Grave). This is a classic 1950s hardboiled detective story with teenagers hanging out at the ice cream parlor. It's definitely worth reading.
But, McBain did not give us a remake of any Maltese Falcon novel. Indeed, Josh Blake and Del Gilbert are not detectives at all, but literary agents. Kind of a different twist for a hardboiled pulpy crime novel. This novel works really well, starting with Robert McGinnis’s excellent understated cover art. What really makes it though more than anything else is the top-notch pulpy writing. I never realized how good McBain really was.
There is something about the way he writes in this novel that makes you see, feel, and hear the descriptions, beginning with the girl sitting at the kitchen table with the steam rising from the coffee cup, her legs crossed, the ankle straps, the nylon stockings stretched taut against the curve of her leg, the pale orange lipstick that accentuated her blondness and added just a touch of color to her full lips.
Then there’s the description of how Blake feels with the buzz saw inside his skull and the decaying caterpillar in his mouth. Then, Blake talks about the top of his skull blowing off when he sees the safe open in his office. And, all throughout the novel McBain throws in these terrific pulpy phrases so, as the reader, we can feel the tension in the room, the distraction, the eyes roaming, the sounds coming through the windows. You can feel the shock when someone hears news and it is almost as if she were hit in the stomach and she holds onto her glass as if she were holding a life preserver. There’s other sounds too – like the shrill clamor of the telephone slicing into the air, shredding the silence, leaving nothing but the heat.
What’s amazing though is that the novel written and first published over sixty years ago feels fresh and new today. It’s not stuck in a time warp as so many old-time novels feel. There’s nothing necessarily that places this in the fifties except when you realize no one has cell phones. It is an easy book to read and the pages just fly off your hands as you thumb through it. This is precisely the kind of book I look to find in Hard Case Crime’s catalog.
There might at times be a bit more dialogue and a bit less action than one would want, but not enough to detract from the read. Plot-wise, it gives you some themes that you will find in other crime novels from that era, the partner murdered, the widow, the mistress, the cynical homicide detective, the innocent man who unfortunately finds the body and has a motive for murder, but the writing and the feel are what puts this novel on the top shelf for me.
As an added bonus, at the end of the novel, Hard Case Crime also gives us a short novella) featuring Matt Cordell (The Gutter and The Grave). This is a classic 1950s hardboiled detective story with teenagers hanging out at the ice cream parlor. It's definitely worth reading.
Want to read
November 24, 2015The novel was originally published in 1955 by Pyramid #151 as "The Proposition" by Hunt Collins selling today for $45 - $50 dollars.
The book also contains an extra story "Now Die In It".
Cover by Robert McGinnis.
The book also contains an extra story "Now Die In It".
Cover by Robert McGinnis.
August 28, 2021
Cut Me In is a likable, briskly paced pulp crime novel first published in 1954 by Ed McBain writing under the pseudonym Hunt Collins. I enjoy reading McBain's stylish, muscular prose style here and in his better-known 87th Precinct cop novel series. The literary agent protagonist finds himself involved in a series of murders that rock his world as he tries to close a big business deal. The serviceable mystery plot is okay, but the 1950s "pulp" atmosphere is what draws my largest interest.
July 26, 2020
The late Ed McBain was extremely prolific, and wrote under a variety of pseudonyms. I believe Cut Me In was written under the pen name Hunt Collins, and though it is nice that the Hard Case Crime line rescued this title from obscurity there is a reason it has not seen print in five decades. Sure it is dated but the real problem is that the identity of the big bad is so obvious. I can only conclude that this was one of the authors earlier efforts. Wow the publishing business was hardcore. I enjoyed this novel (and the bonus story included in this edition) for what they were: historical footnotes in a fabulous career.
July 1, 2017
A decent enough murder thriller, but really not as good as his 87th Precinct books
October 20, 2019
Ed McBain has became one of my favorites. Classic detective story. A literary agent whose partner is dead with a lucrative contract missing. It's a premise that makes your heart beat faster.
October 2, 2018
This is the first thing I've read by McBain (or Evan Hunter for that matter). I'm very familiar with his reputation, but police procedurals are not my bag and I've not yet gotten around to reading anything he wrote under the Hunter name. And Holy Crap...I wasn't expecting this. This book made me lose sleep. It hit me in the way the best of Stark's Parker books and the best of Fair's Cool & Lam books did...I just had to keep reading. Which is not to say that it's as good as Parker or as fun as Cool & Lam at their best. But it's damn compelling. And it was a chore to put it down. That's significant praise.
Josh Blake's partner has been murdered. Blake is convinced it is because of television rights acquired by his office that could queer a huge movie deal. The police detective in charge of the investigation disagrees and is looking for a less arcane motive. Blake get's pulled into his own investigation while trying to save the deal that will make the firm a lot of money. Along the way there are a number of beautiful femme's fatale, tough-guy goons, a few more murders and a number of twists and turns.
The book straddles the line between hard-boiled detective (Blake isn't a detective and isn't actively investigating the death, but gets pulled in) and the literary noir of the Gold Medal stripe that was prevalent in the early 50s. It also teeters on the edge of the more exploitative paperback originals of the time. Blake isn't particularly likeable. But then none of the characters are terribly likeable. That doesn't really matter because the book moves along at a compelling pace and is just a fun read. It's definitely helped by the setting...the world of book and story publishing that is certainly unusual in a book of this type. And the ending while a bit silly is saved by the fact that the identity and motive of the killer are pitch perfect.
A really solid read that makes it a pretty sound bet I'll be reading McBain's other Hard Case books sooner rather than later.
Josh Blake's partner has been murdered. Blake is convinced it is because of television rights acquired by his office that could queer a huge movie deal. The police detective in charge of the investigation disagrees and is looking for a less arcane motive. Blake get's pulled into his own investigation while trying to save the deal that will make the firm a lot of money. Along the way there are a number of beautiful femme's fatale, tough-guy goons, a few more murders and a number of twists and turns.
The book straddles the line between hard-boiled detective (Blake isn't a detective and isn't actively investigating the death, but gets pulled in) and the literary noir of the Gold Medal stripe that was prevalent in the early 50s. It also teeters on the edge of the more exploitative paperback originals of the time. Blake isn't particularly likeable. But then none of the characters are terribly likeable. That doesn't really matter because the book moves along at a compelling pace and is just a fun read. It's definitely helped by the setting...the world of book and story publishing that is certainly unusual in a book of this type. And the ending while a bit silly is saved by the fact that the identity and motive of the killer are pitch perfect.
A really solid read that makes it a pretty sound bet I'll be reading McBain's other Hard Case books sooner rather than later.
July 4, 2019
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century North American Crime
BOOK 123 (of 250)
Hook=3 Stars: A double hook on page one gets this one moving fast: Josh Blake awakes with a semi-naked beauty he doesn't recognize. But unfortunately, he has a [Publishing] deal that day which had forced a vacation cancelation, so he can't stay in bed with his beautiful stranger. A 2-star done-and-done opener but with a double hook for a third star.
Pace=2: In general, a nice build to a good climax, but an extended poker game about halfway through the story is much too long and rather confusing. Add that to a meticulous description of Blake getting dressed in formal wear and other issues and you get the feeling you're reading filler material. 3 stars, actually, with 2 elongated sequences that seem to stretch for word count resulting in an overall rating of 2 stars for this element.
Plot=4: I like books about books and the publishing world. Here, we have a missing contract worth millions for film rights, plus a some great red herrings and the twists keeps coming.
Characters=3: Josh Blake may be a one-off for McBain, his actions are interesting as he pursues a lost contract. A western novel author, Cam Stewart, is fascinating on several different levels. I can't remember a single other character once I closed the book, though, but the Josh/Cam clash for film rights is a good test of the strength of both characters..
Place=4: We know exactly how steamy hot summer in NY must have felt when men wore suits all day without air-conditioned cars, etc. And Cam Stewart's "Gunsmoke Acres" allows for several visits, and it is a writer's paradise: isolated with lots of privacy but not too far from downtown NY. There is a pool with shrubbery for nude swimming, and so much more. The kind of place most of us would love to live.
SUMMARY: I particularly enjoyed all the talk about book publications, TV and Film rights, the struggles writers face, the demands editors place upon them. It's true: there is an almost naked woman on the cover of this reproduction of the original edition in which Ed McBain used a pseudonym, Hunt Collins. You might suspect misogyny, but no, Josh certainly loves the ladies but he treats them with respect, unlike some other books in this genre. Interesting to note the word count is 78,208, a little low for what's normally required of a mystery(80K minimum). My rating average out to 3.2.
BOOK 123 (of 250)
Hook=3 Stars: A double hook on page one gets this one moving fast: Josh Blake awakes with a semi-naked beauty he doesn't recognize. But unfortunately, he has a [Publishing] deal that day which had forced a vacation cancelation, so he can't stay in bed with his beautiful stranger. A 2-star done-and-done opener but with a double hook for a third star.
Pace=2: In general, a nice build to a good climax, but an extended poker game about halfway through the story is much too long and rather confusing. Add that to a meticulous description of Blake getting dressed in formal wear and other issues and you get the feeling you're reading filler material. 3 stars, actually, with 2 elongated sequences that seem to stretch for word count resulting in an overall rating of 2 stars for this element.
Plot=4: I like books about books and the publishing world. Here, we have a missing contract worth millions for film rights, plus a some great red herrings and the twists keeps coming.
Characters=3: Josh Blake may be a one-off for McBain, his actions are interesting as he pursues a lost contract. A western novel author, Cam Stewart, is fascinating on several different levels. I can't remember a single other character once I closed the book, though, but the Josh/Cam clash for film rights is a good test of the strength of both characters..
Place=4: We know exactly how steamy hot summer in NY must have felt when men wore suits all day without air-conditioned cars, etc. And Cam Stewart's "Gunsmoke Acres" allows for several visits, and it is a writer's paradise: isolated with lots of privacy but not too far from downtown NY. There is a pool with shrubbery for nude swimming, and so much more. The kind of place most of us would love to live.
SUMMARY: I particularly enjoyed all the talk about book publications, TV and Film rights, the struggles writers face, the demands editors place upon them. It's true: there is an almost naked woman on the cover of this reproduction of the original edition in which Ed McBain used a pseudonym, Hunt Collins. You might suspect misogyny, but no, Josh certainly loves the ladies but he treats them with respect, unlike some other books in this genre. Interesting to note the word count is 78,208, a little low for what's normally required of a mystery(80K minimum). My rating average out to 3.2.
March 29, 2017
I am attempting to bring my Goodreads account current. I read this over a year ago (!) & simply let it sit in my "Currently Reading" queue. I apologize.
I have been a long-time Ed McBain fan & I read the entire 87th Precinct series back in 1986/'87, so I am VERY familiar with his work & his writing. This felt like an early attempt on his part, lacking the polish that would come over years of exemplary writing. Still, it was a nice period piece with many allusions to mid-20th century U.S. that seem outdated in today's world.
What I truly enjoyed was the bonus novella, featuring the alcoholic detective from "The Gutter to the Grave". He is a fascinating character & I wish that McBain had explored him in greater volume.
I have been a long-time Ed McBain fan & I read the entire 87th Precinct series back in 1986/'87, so I am VERY familiar with his work & his writing. This felt like an early attempt on his part, lacking the polish that would come over years of exemplary writing. Still, it was a nice period piece with many allusions to mid-20th century U.S. that seem outdated in today's world.
What I truly enjoyed was the bonus novella, featuring the alcoholic detective from "The Gutter to the Grave". He is a fascinating character & I wish that McBain had explored him in greater volume.
July 1, 2019
This isn't as strong and as unique as McBain's "So Nude, So Dead," but the story is entertaining.
One major hackneyed trope may make one's eyes roll - protagonist Del Gilbert is desired by all the ladies - the story is interesting. That's because, once again, Ed McBain doesn't rely on a private sleuth to solve the crime, but a regular citizen.
If the book doesn't grab you, Chandler's Philip Marlowe is probably waiting in the shadows for you to read about his latest case...
One major hackneyed trope may make one's eyes roll - protagonist Del Gilbert is desired by all the ladies - the story is interesting. That's because, once again, Ed McBain doesn't rely on a private sleuth to solve the crime, but a regular citizen.
If the book doesn't grab you, Chandler's Philip Marlowe is probably waiting in the shadows for you to read about his latest case...
July 9, 2020
Really 3 1/2 stars. I figured out the murderer in both stories at the very start. The stories did keep me reading though, the characters were interesting enough. The pacing was good and it kept me entertained. Adequate mysteries but not the best I've ever read.
I stopped reading McBain for a long time after Vespers and the sex scenes with the children,way back when that first came out in the 1990s. Picked this up because it's Hard Case Crime and I have enjoyed most of their books. It was a good return, I guess. Won't run out to order more McBain books, but if I see one in a used book store, I will probably pick it up.
I stopped reading McBain for a long time after Vespers and the sex scenes with the children,way back when that first came out in the 1990s. Picked this up because it's Hard Case Crime and I have enjoyed most of their books. It was a good return, I guess. Won't run out to order more McBain books, but if I see one in a used book store, I will probably pick it up.
July 1, 2017
Literary agent Josh Blake finds his partner murdered in his office and a million dollar contract missing. As a suspect he tries to find the contract and discovers more bodies as the police make him a suspect. Also in the book is a short story Now Die In It in which a Private investigator who lost his license before diving into a bottle is hired to locate the man that got his client's seventeen year old niece pregnant. Both stories are without the author's usual political agenda that he displays in his 87th Precinct novels.
April 6, 2017
You actually get two books in this volume, short novel 'Cut Me In' and novella 'Now Die In It'. Both are of their time, hard boiled and lots of fun. 'Cut Me In' has an interesting backdrop (publishing), a likeable somewhat hapless hero, lots of murders and almost as many dames. 'Now Die In It' has hard drinking down on his luck PI and a suitably depressing denouement. Two winners from the master, McBain and an enjoyable alternative to the 87th Precinct books.
April 19, 2023
Short, taut, well told. The characters are likeable, the mystery simple but well done, all round very enjoyable.
December 31, 2015
Originally published in 1954 under the name Hunt Collins and later reissued as The Proposition, the book is slightly cheesy, of course, but since it's Ed McBain, it's still an incredibly well written, interesting page turner--all the best aspects of McBain's style to come are here in this early novel. I would recommend it to any McBain fan and to any fan of light, slightly sordid, 1950s-style hardboiled mysteries.
The main character is not a detective but he nevertheless solves a mystery, with(out) the help of the police. Josh Blake is a literary agent bent on solving the murder of his partner, Del Gilbert. Not surprisingly, Blake is forced to deal with a few gorgeous femme fatales in the process. This is the book that spurred the editor-in-chief of Pocket Books to ask McBain to write a series of police detective novels and thus, the 87th Precinct series was born.
If you enjoy this one, you'll also like The Spiked Heel, a Richard Marsten (Evan Hunter/Ed McBain) novel about a manufacturing executive who has to deal with some similarly unpleasant characters. In both, the tension of the protagonist attempting to maintain some morality in the face of underhanded business practices makes for a great mid-century internal struggle. For more on this book or Ed McBain in general, see Ed McBain/Evan Hunter: A Literary Companion.
The main character is not a detective but he nevertheless solves a mystery, with(out) the help of the police. Josh Blake is a literary agent bent on solving the murder of his partner, Del Gilbert. Not surprisingly, Blake is forced to deal with a few gorgeous femme fatales in the process. This is the book that spurred the editor-in-chief of Pocket Books to ask McBain to write a series of police detective novels and thus, the 87th Precinct series was born.
If you enjoy this one, you'll also like The Spiked Heel, a Richard Marsten (Evan Hunter/Ed McBain) novel about a manufacturing executive who has to deal with some similarly unpleasant characters. In both, the tension of the protagonist attempting to maintain some morality in the face of underhanded business practices makes for a great mid-century internal struggle. For more on this book or Ed McBain in general, see Ed McBain/Evan Hunter: A Literary Companion.
August 17, 2016
A mid-century noir thriller - a bit dated, a little corny, a lot sexist, but still fun to read.
January 31, 2021
3.5 stars. Thoroughly engaging and atmospheric.
September 4, 2019
Originally published online at BORG.com.
Some writers know how to suck you right in from the first page. Take the late author Evan Hunter aka Ed McBain. In his 1953 novel The Proposition (published under another pseudonym, Hunt Collins) McBain gave his lead character Josh Blake a timeless voice that conjures a confident, put-upon literary agent melting in the sweltering summer city heat, trying to cut himself in on a big deal that will land him the good life–like a million dollar home and a big swimming pool. Blake is like a mash-up between Jack Nicholson’s J.J. Gittes in Chinatown and Nicholson’s Will Randall in the film Wolf–written decades before either character was created. Think Gittes because of the pulp noir mystery, and Randall because we’re maneuvering the politics of the literary world.
Why single out a 1950s crime mystery by Ed McBain? Because the folks at Titan Books’ Hard Case Crime found this gem, and have released it this year for the first time in more than 60 years. Originally published as The Proposition by Hunt Collins, it was later published as Hunt Collins’ Cut Me In–a great title that fits the story much better. The new edition, labeled as a McBain novel, features a classic style pulp cover by Robert McGinnis with a dead ringer for Suzanne Somers. She sits by the pool, the pool that is the target of Josh Blake’s affection. So if you’re like this reader, you’re seeing Nicholson and Somers play out this great movie that never was.
First, just the facts.
Del Gilbert was dead to begin with. That’s Blake’s partner. Del held the original document: The famous Western writer Cam Stewart signed a contract giving exclusive rights to Blake and Gilbert. Now Stewart has selective memory when a big movie deal arises. But the safe is empty and somebody sucker punched Blake and stole the only copy of the contract. Enter the cop: Detective Di Luca. He’s pegged Blake for the murder. After all, Blake has the most to gain. But as the bodies start dropping, Blake doesn’t have much time to confront Stewart, leverage what he has to claim his deal, and prove he’s not the only one to gain from Gilbert’s death. Will he succeed before he ends up dead in the water like William Holden’s Joe Gillis in Sunset Blvd.?
Some writers know how to suck you right in from the first page. Take the late author Evan Hunter aka Ed McBain. In his 1953 novel The Proposition (published under another pseudonym, Hunt Collins) McBain gave his lead character Josh Blake a timeless voice that conjures a confident, put-upon literary agent melting in the sweltering summer city heat, trying to cut himself in on a big deal that will land him the good life–like a million dollar home and a big swimming pool. Blake is like a mash-up between Jack Nicholson’s J.J. Gittes in Chinatown and Nicholson’s Will Randall in the film Wolf–written decades before either character was created. Think Gittes because of the pulp noir mystery, and Randall because we’re maneuvering the politics of the literary world.
Why single out a 1950s crime mystery by Ed McBain? Because the folks at Titan Books’ Hard Case Crime found this gem, and have released it this year for the first time in more than 60 years. Originally published as The Proposition by Hunt Collins, it was later published as Hunt Collins’ Cut Me In–a great title that fits the story much better. The new edition, labeled as a McBain novel, features a classic style pulp cover by Robert McGinnis with a dead ringer for Suzanne Somers. She sits by the pool, the pool that is the target of Josh Blake’s affection. So if you’re like this reader, you’re seeing Nicholson and Somers play out this great movie that never was.
First, just the facts.
Del Gilbert was dead to begin with. That’s Blake’s partner. Del held the original document: The famous Western writer Cam Stewart signed a contract giving exclusive rights to Blake and Gilbert. Now Stewart has selective memory when a big movie deal arises. But the safe is empty and somebody sucker punched Blake and stole the only copy of the contract. Enter the cop: Detective Di Luca. He’s pegged Blake for the murder. After all, Blake has the most to gain. But as the bodies start dropping, Blake doesn’t have much time to confront Stewart, leverage what he has to claim his deal, and prove he’s not the only one to gain from Gilbert’s death. Will he succeed before he ends up dead in the water like William Holden’s Joe Gillis in Sunset Blvd.?
April 4, 2021
After reading three Hard Case Crime novels (all by Stephen King, mind you), and enjoying them for the most part, I found myself interested in reading another. Now, I’m not naive - I realized that one of the reasons the three Hard Case Crime novels I’d read were so good was because they were penned by an amazing author and the King of Horror, at that. Still, I also liked the length of the Hard Case books - not too long and not too short. I liked the convenience of them, the covers, and of course, the good stories. So, what did I do? I went on Hard Case Crime’s website in search of another novel that I might be interested in reading.
After searching through the lists of the published books Hard Case Crime had to offer, I discovered ‘Cut Me In’ by Ed McBain. After reading a small portion of the book online and a little about the author (I’ll admit, reading a book from an author I’ve never read has not gone well for me in the past), I decided to take a chance and buy ‘Cut Me In’. Let me tell you, I’m glad I took the chance.
While different from most books I read, in that it’s an old-fashioned crime novel, I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Cut Me In’. The book was fast-paced, had great characters, and kept me on the edge of the seat. While the main character was anything but perfect and had many qualities that I felt less than admirable, I still found myself liking him most of the time.
Another thing I really enjoyed was Ed McBain’s writing style and ability to craft a good crime novel. While a few things struck me as typical and slightly annoying, I for the most part really liked the book. From the first day I started reading it (which was the first day I bought it, within five minutes of buying it), I was hooked.
I definitely recommend ‘Cut Me In’ for lovers of crime fiction or for those who just want to read a good book. I also recommend Hard Case Crime novels. I look forward to possibly reading more from Ed Mc Bain and definitely look forward to reading more Hard Case Crime novels!
After searching through the lists of the published books Hard Case Crime had to offer, I discovered ‘Cut Me In’ by Ed McBain. After reading a small portion of the book online and a little about the author (I’ll admit, reading a book from an author I’ve never read has not gone well for me in the past), I decided to take a chance and buy ‘Cut Me In’. Let me tell you, I’m glad I took the chance.
While different from most books I read, in that it’s an old-fashioned crime novel, I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Cut Me In’. The book was fast-paced, had great characters, and kept me on the edge of the seat. While the main character was anything but perfect and had many qualities that I felt less than admirable, I still found myself liking him most of the time.
Another thing I really enjoyed was Ed McBain’s writing style and ability to craft a good crime novel. While a few things struck me as typical and slightly annoying, I for the most part really liked the book. From the first day I started reading it (which was the first day I bought it, within five minutes of buying it), I was hooked.
I definitely recommend ‘Cut Me In’ for lovers of crime fiction or for those who just want to read a good book. I also recommend Hard Case Crime novels. I look forward to possibly reading more from Ed Mc Bain and definitely look forward to reading more Hard Case Crime novels!
December 23, 2018
Literary agent Josh Blake finds his partner Del dead in his office one morning, three bullet holes in his head. Josh never much liked Del, but an important contract worth thousands of dollars is also missing from the office safe, and Josh must solve the murder if he wants to get it back.
This book suffers from uninteresting characters, unbelievable situations, and lack of consistent tone. It cannot decide if it wants to be a hardboiled noir murder mystery or a social satire.
Nobody seems to really care much about the murder… not even when more bodies begin to pile up. Instead, there is a lot of farce about the publishing industry. For example, there is a desperate young writer character who keeps coming to blows with Josh in every groan-inducing scene in which they meet because the agency will not publish his bloated first novel.
Even the missing contract is a sort of slap in the face to agents. Josh is trying to use the contract to essentially blackmail a Hollywood producer. He is threatening to cheapen a valuable literary property by turning it into a low-budget tv series if he does not get a 25% cut of a movie deal. In other words, Josh is willing to scuttle a lucrative deal for his client—the writer—for his own financial gain.
Women keep throwing themselves at Josh in the most preposterous come-on sequences, but he ignores most of them because he is so intent on finding his missing contract. Yet, apparently no one thought to make multiple copies of it when it was first written. (I could go more into this glaring plot hole, but to do so would actually spoil one of few good twists, so I will leave it at that).
The final resolution of the mystery is transparent and flimsy.
Included at the end of this book is the short story “Now Die In It”, featuring Matt Cordell from The Gutter and the Grave. It is much better than this novel, and it made me wish Hard Case Crime had brought out all the Cordell stories in a single volume rather than republish this dud.
This book suffers from uninteresting characters, unbelievable situations, and lack of consistent tone. It cannot decide if it wants to be a hardboiled noir murder mystery or a social satire.
Nobody seems to really care much about the murder… not even when more bodies begin to pile up. Instead, there is a lot of farce about the publishing industry. For example, there is a desperate young writer character who keeps coming to blows with Josh in every groan-inducing scene in which they meet because the agency will not publish his bloated first novel.
Even the missing contract is a sort of slap in the face to agents. Josh is trying to use the contract to essentially blackmail a Hollywood producer. He is threatening to cheapen a valuable literary property by turning it into a low-budget tv series if he does not get a 25% cut of a movie deal. In other words, Josh is willing to scuttle a lucrative deal for his client—the writer—for his own financial gain.
Women keep throwing themselves at Josh in the most preposterous come-on sequences, but he ignores most of them because he is so intent on finding his missing contract. Yet, apparently no one thought to make multiple copies of it when it was first written. (I could go more into this glaring plot hole, but to do so would actually spoil one of few good twists, so I will leave it at that).
The final resolution of the mystery is transparent and flimsy.
Included at the end of this book is the short story “Now Die In It”, featuring Matt Cordell from The Gutter and the Grave. It is much better than this novel, and it made me wish Hard Case Crime had brought out all the Cordell stories in a single volume rather than republish this dud.
August 29, 2019
Cut Me In is an early Ed McBain novel put out by Hard Case Crime, and as such, it doesn’t have the polish of his renowned 87th Precinct novels. What it does have is a short pulp story that hits all of the checks for a novel of its time.
The story is told in the first person by our protagonist, a man who works in publishing and si on the verge of a million dollar deal. There are only two problems. Someone murdered his partner, and the contract that will net them that million is milling. As this is a 50’s men’s novel, our protagonist is ard drinking, irresistible to every woman who he comes in contact with, and sarcastic with everyone he meets. It moves along rapidly, plays fair with the reader, and has a simple solution that I figured out long before the protagonist.
That leaves the actual writing. This is not as good as McBain would get, but it is well written, with a sense of scene and flavor of the settings without bogging down in description. The protagonist tends to run around from place to place a lot without a lot of thought put into it which gets a bit silly at times. However, long sequences with snappy dialogue make up for it, and the middle third of the book has a drunken poker game that was well written and funny with just the dialogue carrying the entire sequence.
This book was written to be quick, cheap entertainment, and it succeeds in that regard. The misogyny hasn’t aged well, and if you don’t figure out the twist and then the murderer halfway through, you just aren’t paying attention.
The story is told in the first person by our protagonist, a man who works in publishing and si on the verge of a million dollar deal. There are only two problems. Someone murdered his partner, and the contract that will net them that million is milling. As this is a 50’s men’s novel, our protagonist is ard drinking, irresistible to every woman who he comes in contact with, and sarcastic with everyone he meets. It moves along rapidly, plays fair with the reader, and has a simple solution that I figured out long before the protagonist.
That leaves the actual writing. This is not as good as McBain would get, but it is well written, with a sense of scene and flavor of the settings without bogging down in description. The protagonist tends to run around from place to place a lot without a lot of thought put into it which gets a bit silly at times. However, long sequences with snappy dialogue make up for it, and the middle third of the book has a drunken poker game that was well written and funny with just the dialogue carrying the entire sequence.
This book was written to be quick, cheap entertainment, and it succeeds in that regard. The misogyny hasn’t aged well, and if you don’t figure out the twist and then the murderer halfway through, you just aren’t paying attention.
June 4, 2025
"You can take one murder in your stride, without losing much sleep over it, and you can laugh about a comparatively minor slugging. When the thing begins spreading, though, it's time to worry. It's time to start chewing things over...."
This reads like a fast-paced (and definitely dated) play, with some of the scenes--especially the opening office scene--feeling almost slapstick. First-person narrator Josh Blake is an unlikely literary agent and bonified horndog, and each seductress or femme fatale he encounters is seemingly more voluptuous than the last. The pages verily drip with whiskey (and vodka), sweat, and sex. The ending is predictable, and I think McBain flubbed both scenes in which Blake is tailed while driving because otherwise he seems more on top of things to be as dumb as he is in those.
First line:
"The girl was sitting at the kitchen table in a bra and half-slip, casually puffing on a cigarette."
July 9, 2017
Ed McBain's take on murder in the publishing world is a quick and fun read. New York City literary agent, Joshua Blake, finds himself in the middle of a search for his business partner's killer while juggling publishing deals and annoying clients. There where times when I thought Blake was a bit slow on the uptake and missed a few glaringly obvious clues. However, the plot moved along fast, the supporting characters were colorful, and I was never bored from one page to the next. The novel itself only clocks in at 200 pigs, so Hard Case Crime includes a lost McBain short story at the end as a bonus. Something they do with shorter reissues, and that's always a treat. The short story included here "Now Die In It", features McBain's Bowery private eye Matt Cordell and is a hard-boiled as they come. I totally recommend this book if you like pulpy crime fiction.
April 16, 2020
Rating between 3 & 3.5
An entertaining pulpy thriller from the pen of EM/EH.
The story line and plotting is fairly basic (as is usually the case in pulp novels so this isn't a criticism) but still makes for a good read. The reader follows the action through the dead man's partner (no spoiler as this is said on the back cover blurb) and there are a couple of red herrings that because he believes them, and because the pace of the novel is so brisk, the reader doesn't stop to fully consider them either.
This book is one of several re-issued by HCC and clearly shows that the author had more stories to tell outside the 87th Precinct series for which he is better known.
Overall I thought this was a very enjoyable way to pass a few hours and hope that HCC can reissue more lost, or simply forgotten stories by this author.
An entertaining pulpy thriller from the pen of EM/EH.
The story line and plotting is fairly basic (as is usually the case in pulp novels so this isn't a criticism) but still makes for a good read. The reader follows the action through the dead man's partner (no spoiler as this is said on the back cover blurb) and there are a couple of red herrings that because he believes them, and because the pace of the novel is so brisk, the reader doesn't stop to fully consider them either.
This book is one of several re-issued by HCC and clearly shows that the author had more stories to tell outside the 87th Precinct series for which he is better known.
Overall I thought this was a very enjoyable way to pass a few hours and hope that HCC can reissue more lost, or simply forgotten stories by this author.
August 31, 2022
I mean some of it was ridiculous, but it's "hard boiled" noir! I didn't read the short story (yet) and will check out more by Ed McBain aka Hunt Collins. This book might get me into another noir phase.
She stopped it efficiently with a kiss that was as calculated as the glint in her eyes. I returned the kiss because I've never been one to look at a gift mouth. (74)
Something to mull over in the quiet of a room at dusk, when the shadows begin to lengthen and the city night noises begin outside your window. Yesterday's gardenia, you know. That sort of thing. A perfect memory you want to keep. (163)
Maybe it had been dirty, but I was in a dirty mood, and murder is as dirty as you can get. (185)
She stopped it efficiently with a kiss that was as calculated as the glint in her eyes. I returned the kiss because I've never been one to look at a gift mouth. (74)
Something to mull over in the quiet of a room at dusk, when the shadows begin to lengthen and the city night noises begin outside your window. Yesterday's gardenia, you know. That sort of thing. A perfect memory you want to keep. (163)
Maybe it had been dirty, but I was in a dirty mood, and murder is as dirty as you can get. (185)
June 19, 2025
Set in NYC. 237 pp. Del Gilbert and Joshua Blake have a literary agency. One morning Blake find Gilbert dead on the floor with "three holes had very carelessly ... left in his face." Not bad; a very typical pulp novel, this one based around the literary field.
Hunt Collins is a pseudonym of Ed McBain
Cut Me In by Hunt Collins AKA Ed McBain
Hunt Collins is a pseudonym of Ed McBain
Cut Me In by Hunt Collins AKA Ed McBain
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