| Title | : | The Mugger (87th Precinct, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0752857924 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780752857923 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 160 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1956 |
The Mugger (87th Precinct, #2) Reviews
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“Here, bludgeoned by poverty, exploited by pushers and thieves and policeman alike, forced into cramped and dirty dwellings, rescued occasionally by the busiest fire department in the entire city, treated like guinea pigs by the social workers, like aliens by the rest of the city, like potential criminals by the police, here were the Puerto Ricans.”
Ed McBain would often begin writing with only a title in mind, then wing it. But here, he had written a story for Manhunt Magazine called Now Die in It. He culled from the plot and situation of that story, adapting it to fit this fine second outing for the boys of the 87th Precinct. It is clear from the opening moments that McBain has decided to make the city of Isola a living thing, an additional character which speaks to the reader non-verbally. To this end, the first seven paragraphs contain beautifully descriptive prose likening the city to a woman. McBain also, by design, has made the entire squad room the hero of the series. To that end, he places Carella off-screen in this entry, on vacation. Carella doesn’t return until the very end, just in time to listen to the story about the cats.
A violent mugger calling himself Clifford is running loose in the 87th Precinct. Hal Willis’ efforts to catch him will eventually encompass female officer, Eileen Burke. She will be the bait in an effort to trap Clifford before anyone else takes a sock on the jaw. This is the main story-line, but there is another. This was a device often used by McBain, and it was very rare that there weren’t at least two or three investigations ongoing, keeping it interesting — and realistic — for readers.
Kling, a name readers of the 87th Precinct novels know well, is still a beat cop here. He has no sooner been released from the hospital where he’s recovering from a bullet wound in his shoulder, than an old acquaintance wants him to talk to his young and sexy sister-in-law. When Kling tries to talk with her, she blows him off. Then the teenage knockout gets knocked off. Something clutched in her hand will tie the two cases together.
Bert Kling dates Claire Townsend in this one, but I can’t say more in case you’ve not read any further than The Mugger. Written after Cop Hater, this fills in some of the backstory of characters, as well as being a fine - if early - 87th Precinct novel. Robert B. Parker, Tony Hillerman and Elmore Leonard were all admirers of Ed McBain and his 87th Precinct novels. Yes, these early ones are dated as per police techniques, but they’re terrific reads, and once you’ve read a couple, you’ll be hooked. -
The Mugger by Ed McBain is a 1956 publication. The version I read is a 1996 release. I also added audio which is part of my KU subscription.
This is the second installment in the 87th Street Precinct series.
There is a violent mugger on the loose, whose main targets are women. After hitting them, taking their valuables, he bows, and introduces himself as ‘Clifford”. But, when one of the victims dies, the case takes on a new urgency.
For those unfamiliar with the format, McBain uses a rotating cast of characters in this long running series. In this chapter, a rookie patrolman, Bert Kling, is recovering from a minor injury when an old acquaintance asks him to speak with his teenage sister-in-law, an attractive young lady he and his wife fear has gotten mixed up with the wrong crowd, which is how he finds himself involved in a homicide investigation.
As I explained in my review of the first book in this series, it is of utmost importance, if you have never read these novels, to keep in mind the era of time in which they were written.
This story was inundated with sexism, and had one or two rough spots where offensive racial slurs were batted around. Even though I expected this to some extent, it was very uncomfortable, and I must confess it did stymie my enjoyment of the story.
These older installments are also dated in terms of police procedure, but that didn’t turn me off. I think that is part of what makes these older books interesting. It just goes to show how far we have come and the amazing strides we have taken since these books were written. Sadly, in other areas, nothing at all has changed.
Other than that, the plot, once again, is very thin and compared to the type of complexity we are accustomed to now. I knew early on what was going on, but I was still interested in seeing how the cops would finally nail the murderer.
Although, the story has some problems, I still think these books are worth reading. These early procedurals were influential to other writers and it serves as a reminder of times past, for better or worse.
Not great, not terrible-
3 stars
Note: For those who are enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited program many of the 87th Precinct books are available along with the audio. The audio narration was quite good -
Cop Hater had used a classic smoke-screen plot as an introduction to the series, with cops the victims of a killer who seemed out to get cops - a way of bringing my full (at the time) complement of cops onstage as both investigators and potential victims. Having set up the characters who would be around, more or less, in every book, I now wanted to experiment with my theory that the squadroom itself could function as a "hero", with different cops taking the spotlight in each book.
--Ed McBain, on writing 'The Mugger'.
THE MUGGER [1956] - Book Two
The Mugger is the second of the 87th Precinct novels, originally published early in 1956 and made into a movie in 1958.
The Mugger begins directly after the events of
Cop Hater (although it’s in no way necessary to read Cop Hater first). Detective Steve Carella is away on his honeymoon, so McBain takes the opportunity to give us some quality time with some of the precinct’s other employees, notably rookie cop Bert Kling, who gets talked into an unauthorized murder investigation, and detectives Hal Willis and Roger Havilland, who are on the trail of the title villain, sometimes with Detective Eileen Burke (making her series debut).
A mugger is brutalizing the women of the 87th Precinct, stealing their purse, punching them up, and taking his leave with a dandyesque bow and the immortal words: Clifford thanks you, madam! The detectives of the 87th have no sense of humor where this sort of thing is concerned, especially when one apparent victim is found lying dead on a riverside embankment.
The Mugger is in nearly every way an improvement on its predecessor. The mystery is better, and the characters are developing quite nicely. It’s also a bit darker, featuring a murdered teenager and vicious police brutality (which seems shockingly cavalierly treated).
The mystery moves along at McBain's signature pace, with the detectives setting up dragnets and working around the clock. There is plenty of action and nice detours. As with so many of his books, McBain makes you feel less like a bookreader and more of an eavesdropper on a world every bit as vibrant and lived-in, if not more so, than your own.
The Mugger does have one major flaw; the reader never learns what drives the mugger to indulge in his distinctive and entertaining but foolhardy and self-destructive trademark flourish Clifford thanks you, madam!. This is likely attributable to McBain cranking them out (there were two other 87th Precinct books in 1956, plus an Evan Hunter novel and a science fiction novel as Hunt Collins), but it’s still not excusable and prevents the book, barely, from being fully satisfactory.
RATING: 3.75/5.0
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SERIES REVIEW
For those readers who love the mystery/crime genre but have never read a McBain novel, you don't know what you're missing! McBain invented the police procedural.
The accolades for the late McBain are endless: Not only was he named Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America in 1986, he was the first American to ever win the Cartier Diamond Dagger -- the highest award of the British Crime Writers Association. From his very first novel,
The Blackboard Jungle (1954), to his 55 bestselling 87th Precinct novels (spanning almost 50 years; the longest-running series in crime fiction), McBain wasn't just a master of crime fiction; he was the master.
For me, every American crime novel since - and many more besides - owes McBain a debt. McBain redrew the territory, the feel and the soul of the crime novel.
In paying homage to the master I have set myself a challenge to read and review the entire 87th precinct series in the next few months.
I usually start with a corpse. I then ask myself how the corpse got to be that way and I try to find out - just as the cops would. I plot, loosely, usually a chapter or two ahead, going back to make sure that everything fits - all the clues are in the right places, all the bodies are accounted for...(I) believe strongly in the long arm of coincidence because I know cops well, I know how much it contributes to the solving of real police cases.
--Ed McBain, on writing an 87th Precinct novel.
The
87th Precinct is a police procedural series purposefully designed to be about a squadroom full of cops, each with different traits, who - when put together - would form a conglomerate hero. Throughout the series one cop steps forward in one novel, another in the next novel; cops get killed and disappear from the series, other cops come in; all of them are visible to varying extents in each of the books.
Over the years, many thousands of fans have come to know and love each of the characters (refer The Detectives of the 87th below). The good thing about this series is that none of the books need to be read in order, though the first book, Cop Hater is a brilliantly conceived beginning that sets everything up nicely for the books that follow.
The setting of the novels is primarily in Isola, a district of a large fictional city based on the New York City borough of Manhattan. Other districts in McBain's fictionalized version of New York correspond to NYC's other four boroughs, Calm's Point standing in for Brooklyn, Majesta representing Queens, Riverhead substituting for the Bronx, and Bethtown for Staten Island.
The 87th Precinct novels - all of which begin with the epigram:The city in these pages is imaginary. The people, the places are all fictitious. Only the police routine is based on established investigatory techniques.
– are the books to which so much detective fiction is indebted.
In interviews and articles, McBain has freely admitted that his series was heavily influenced by the radio and TV series Dragnet. This introduction (above), simultaneously evoking and contradicting Dragnet's introductory phrase,The story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent
was apparently McBain's way of acknowledging the debt, yet announcing his intention to go his own way in every book.
AUTHOR
Like a character from one of his novels, McBain had many disguises. He was born Salvatore A Lombino in New York City, but when he started writing, he was advised that a more Anglo-Saxon name would serve him better. So he adopted a pseudonym, or rather, many pseudonyms. They concealed not only his Italian origins, but also his prolificacy.
He went on to write under an impressive tally of six noms de plume - Evan Hunter, Richard Marsten, Hunt Collins, Curt Cannon, Ezra Hannon and Ed McBain. It was under Hunter and McBain that he was most recognised.
At first, Hunter was the "serious" novelist, while the others wrote the money-spinners, the pseudonyms required because in the US, he said, "mystery fiction was considered a stepchild of literature". Hunter never quite managed to achieve the kind of acclaim (or sales) he desired, while McBain won over many critics who might otherwise find crime fiction tainted, and it is certainly the 87th Precinct novels that will ensure the writer a place in literary history.
From 1956 until his death, McBain's 87th Precinct novels appeared at a rate of approximately one or two novels a year.
From 1978 to 1998, McBain also published a series about lawyer
Matthew Hope; books in this series appeared every year or two, and usually had titles derived from well-known children's stories.
Ed McBain sadly died from laryngeal cancer in 2005, aged 78.
87th Precinct books (and my reading progress)
Cop Hater - read Nov 2013
The Mugger (1956) - read Dec 2013
The Pusher (1956)
The Con Man (1957)
Killer’s Choice (1957)
Killer’s Payoff (1958)
Lady Killer (1958)
Killer’s Wedge (1959)
’til Death (1959)
King’s Ransom (1959)
Give the Boys a Great Big Hand (1960)
The Heckler (1960)
See Them Die (1960)
Lady, Lady I Did It (1961)
The Empty Hours (1962) [comprising three novellas]
Like Love (1962)
Ten Plus One (1963)
Axe (1964)
He Who Hesitates (1965)
Doll (1965)
80 Million Eyes (1966)
Fuzz (1968)
Shotgun (1969)
Jigsaw (1970)
Hail, Hail the Gang’s All Here (1971)
Let’s Hear It for the Deaf Man (1972)
Sadie When She Died (1972)
Hail to the Chief (1973)
Bread (1974)
Blood Relatives (1975)
So Long as You Both Shall Live (1976)
Long Time No See (1977)
Calypso (1979)
Ghosts (1980)
Heat (1981)
Ice (1983)
Lightning (1984)
Eight Black Horses (1985)
Poison (1987)
Tricks (1987)
The Last Best Hope (1988) [cross-over novel featuring Hunter's Matthew Hope character]
Lullaby (1989)
Vespers (1990)
Widows (1991)
Kiss (1992)
Mischief (1993)
Romance (1995)
Nocturne (1997)
The Big Bad City (1999)
The Last Dance (2000)
Money, Money, Money (2001)
Fat Ollie’s Book (2002)
The Frumious Bandersnatch (2003)
Hark! (2004)
Fiddlers (2005)
Detectives of the 87th
Steve Carella - Dogged and persistent; no genius, but usually able to piece together a case. Over the course of the series, Carella marries and raises a family. During investigations Carella is most often partnered with Meyer, Hawes, or Kling.
Meyer Meyer - Bald, friendly-but-cynical Jewish cop. His unusual name was given to him by his father as a joke; as a consequence of all the childhood teasing he endured, Meyer now has almost endless patience.
Bert Kling - Young and impulsive, though a generally solid detective. Goes through numerous romantic entanglements.
Cotton Hawes - A slightly later addition to the cast. Hawes is tall, good-looking and extremely competent at his job.
Arthur Brown - The squad's only black detective.
Hal Willis - The 87th's shortest detective, he became a police officer just before an official height requirement was instituted.
Eileen Burke - Burke is originally introduced as an undercover detective who works with the precinct on special assignments. In the final novels she joins the squad proper, becoming their only female detective.
Roger Havilland - Self-centered, corrupt, and generally a nasty, brutal piece of work.
Andy Parker - Lazy, boorish, and almost certainly corrupt. Parker succeeds Havilland as the most disliked member of the squad.
Bob O'Brien - A nice guy and a good cop. Unfortunately, O'Brien is notoriously unlucky, and is regarded as a jinx by most of the squad.
Richard Genero - Not especially bright, Genero has been over-promoted and is clearly in over his head. He's generally disliked by the other detectives.
Lt. Peter Byrnes - The sometimes curt detective squad commander.
Captain Frick - The vain, self-promoting captain.
Alf Miscolo - The clerk in charge of records and coffee.
Dave Murchison - The desk sergeant.
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This is the second book in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series. McBain was still obviously feeling his way into the series at this point and was still very strongly committed to the idea of creating an ensemble cast of detectives and other police officers who would rotate in and out of the books, sometimes dying and otherwise disappearing just as real policemen would.
The central character in the first of the novels,
Cop Hater, was a detective named Steve Carella, and in this book, McBain sends Carella off on his honeymoon and turns the focus to other members of the precinct. McBain would later change his mind about the whole ensemble cast business, at least to some extent, and Carella would ultimately become the principal character in the series with other characters rotating in and out around him.
The Mugger, though a good read is one of the less successful books in the series, in part because of Carella's absence. Perhaps inadvertently, McBain had created such a compelling character in Carella, that he couldn't leave him out of the equation without the result being a less interesting book. None of the characters in this book really measures up to Carella and as a result, the book doesn't measure up to most of the others in the series. The case involved is not all that intriguing either and the book suffers a bit for that as well.
The story centers on a mugger who goes by the name of Clifford. (One wonders why he would announce his name to his victims, but the fact that he does is crucial to the solution of the case.) Clifford selects a woman walking alone, steals her money and then, for whatever reason, smacks her in the face. But the violence begins to escalate and then a woman is killed, apparently by Clifford. The book focuses on the efforts by the detectives of the 87th Precinct to corral Clifford and solve the murder. Also involved is a patrolman, Bert Kling, who appeared briefly in Cop Hater, and who is anxious to become a detective. He would ultimately become one of the central figures in the series, and this is his principal introduction.
This book will be of interest principally to those who, once addicted to a series, insist on reading every single volume in the series, irrespective of its merit. That's not to say that this is a bad book; in fact, it's a good quick read. But those who only want to dabble in this series rather than reading the whole thing would probably be better served by selecting some of the later entries when McBain had the formula and the characters more firmly established. -
A mugger, who bows and thanks his victims after committing his crimes, plies his trade in the 87th Precinct. But then things change direction as a murder is reported…
A relief to finally read a good novel after a run of very average fair.
This is the second book in McBain’s long running 87th Precinct series. It’s a very likable book that races along. You’re with cop, Bert Kling, all the way as he investigates the crimes, and with him also as he dates an unhappy woman. The prose is smooth and a pleasure to read, and there aren’t too many characters, cliches, and side issues to bog things down.
Very enjoyable. Shall definitely be reading some more of these. -
I picked up the yellowed, thin paperback and figured it to be a cheap thrill. Wrong!
The Mugger is the second of the fifty-five 87th Precinct police procedurals by Ed McBain. It’s a tight story that starts a few months after Cop Hater. To say it’s a continuation of the first book would be a disservice to the late and prolific McBain because it is so much better.
Before I slap too many honorifics on this book, I must question the many instances early in the story where the narrator and characters objectify women and treat them callously. Sad as well that prostitutes were portrayed as asking for trouble and that rape was dismissed.
How much of the denigration is a true reflection of societal attitudes toward women then (and now)? How much of it was a construct McBain used to plot the story? The latter half of the book toned down its scorn of women and a detective roughs up a man because he may have killed a prostitute, so I cautiously give the benefit of the doubt to the author.
The plot unfolds in several rotating vignettes and we are given the police investigation of a vicious mugger terrorizing the city. These are third person views that allow us to get behind the eyes of the protags and antags as well as stand in front of them and see their actions. The reader feels the inescapable anxiety that motivates them.
Lots of feelings come to light in the story. Pain, longing, contentment, joy, and sorrow. There's hardness and humor. Sick humor. But the story ends well, and considering the title, it was more than worth my time. I’m happy that I figured out whodunit even though I had to wade through a delicious story for that fact to be confirmed.
I find it impossible not to say that McBain in The Mugger has written some of the best dialog of the period I’ve read. Not just cute. It bites. It’s chauvinistic, sexual, and trivializing at times but it always feels contextual and informative.
A teenage boy describes a girl who might be a victim:
“This kid, like you got to understand her. She never danced with nobody down here. A real zombie. Pretty as sin, but an iceberg. Ten below, I’m not kidding.”
Another teenage boy adds:
“That’s right. Dead and all, I got to say it. A regular icicle. A real spook…She was just a Martian, that’s all…Such a piece too.”
A detective talks to a sleazeball trying to get information about a known mugger:
“Clifford. This his square handle?”
“I don’t know.”
“I mean, dad, I grip with a few muggers, but none with a Clifford tag. If this is just a party stunt to gas the chicks, that’s another thing again. Still, Clifford. This he picked from hunger.”
“He’s knocked over fourteen women. He’s not so hungry anymore.”
The juxtaposition of light and dark is as strong and real as film noir and like the movie genre the city is a leading actor. Here’s an example where the mugger waits for his quarry:
He stood in the shadows of the alley, wearing the night like a cloak. He could hear his own shallow breathing and beyond that the vast murmur of the city…There were some lights in some of the apartments, solitary sentinels piercing the blackness with unblinking yellow. It was dark where he stood, though, and the darkness was a friend to him, and they stood shoulder to shoulder. Only his eyes glowed in the darkness, watching, waiting. -
When Patrolman Kling, still recovering from the gunshot wound he received in the last book, is asked by an old pal to sniff out what's up with the buddy's teenage sister-in-law, he suspects something's wrong, but can't put his finger on the problem.
Meanwhile, the 87th looks for a bizarre mugger, a man who punches his female victims in the kisser before bowing and introducing himself.
One of these storylines was W-A-Y too predictable for me - - BUT, the writing makes this book worth the read. McBain, once again, details all the legwork and hours spent pouring over documents required to catch a criminal, without making it sound like the most boring job on earth.
In
Cop Hater, the first book in this series, detectives from the 87 were being picked off by a sniper. It was much nicer meeting the guys this time around, knowing they stood a pretty good chance of still being alive at the end of the book. -
This second book in Ed McBain's police procedural series shines more light on some of the other cops of the 87th Precinct while Steve Carella enjoys his Honeymoon with Teddy. A mugger with a curious MO and a penchant for violence is terrorising the women of Isola. Although Hal Willis is running the case, with help from Roger Havilland and Eileen Burke, the story tends to focus more on Bert Kling, a beat cop recovering from getting shot in the first book. An old friend asks him to talk some sense into a young girl who is acting strangely.
This one isn't quite as hooked on detailing the minutia of policing methods as in some of the other books but rather works on characterisation. And if McBain is still a little too thorough in murdering his metaphors sometimes there's still plenty of good dialogue to entertain. -
McBain's 87th Precinct series of books are character-driven police procedurals. Unlike others in the genre at the time, there isn't one hero/protagonist for the entire series. Instead, McBain hones in on a few characters in the precinct and highlights a specific one or two. These books are great reads; well-plotted, easy-to-read, and believable.
Although it is a series, the books could be read as stand-alones, but the reader might miss some references to earlier instances in the series. -
The second in this series is better than the first: down to earth, sometimes funny, and more fully developed characters. A lot of times, the first few books develop just this way. Writing styles and techniques grow.
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The Mugger is the 2nd book in the 87th Precinct series by American writer,
Ed McBain. I've now read the first two of the series in pretty quick succession and I'm kind of hooked. The premise is simple; the cops of the 87th Precinct try to solve cases in their area.
The scenario for the 2nd book is a series of muggings in the precinct, with the latest involving the death of the female victim. At the same time, uniformed officer Bert Kling is asked by a childhood friend to try and get his sister-in-law to tell what she is up to and to advise her to be careful. She is the latest victim of the mugger.
The book is a police procedural in its truest form. So far, different cops have been involved in working the case. The main cop from book 1 is, in fact, on his honeymoon. You have Kling trying to solve the murder, working mostly during his off-time, and also trying to develop a relationship with a witness he has questioned. You also have Havilland and Willis from the first book following their own channels of investigation and also woman constable, Eileen Burke, walking the streets at night trying to lure out the mugger.
The book moves nicely between the various police investigators, even touching neatly with the forensic investigation. It's an enjoyable read and a very entertaining story.
The Pusher is the 3rd book. I'll have to get a copy. -
The second book in the 87th Precinct sequence had a tough act to follow but McBain did the wise thing and gave his world depth rather than sending the exact same character on another vendetta. This time it was even more of an ensemble effort which gave me great hope for the rest of the series.
As with the last book the ending was obvious from the beginning but the journey was the enjoyable part. The set up for the joke told by Meyer Meyer, (yes, that is a characters name) for example, is excellently done, another of the small touches that make these books feel so natural and human.
A small gripe about the story, having the criminals get involved with the cops private lives (attacking a fiance, a family friend murdered etc) is already a little trying and I hope that it doesn't repeat itself too often or I will have to give up reading something so preposterous. -
Ed McBain's 87th precinct novels are enjoyable, so far, but in a weird and predictable way.
Over the first two books, the formula is lean and mean: narrating the lives of police officers while they're investigating a crime. It work well enough, but these are glorified, borderline padded social dramas and not really mysteries. Loved the case of the mugger because it was complex and genuinely frightening, but it was solved in less than twenty pages like Cop Hater.
The jury's still out on whether these are as great as advertised. -
I found "The Mugger" by Ed McBain on a 99 cent sale on kindle and it sure was a great find! I figured out whodunit early in the book, but it was still a fast and fun ride which is why I gave it 5 stars!
It is about a teenager found dead and mysterious mugger "clifford" is suspected. This is a quick read of a police mystery read and is mucho reccomended!! -
The 87th precinct is filled with wacky detectives -- and they're brave too. The female detective was mighty, but her part was handled with some 50s male stereotypes. The other views of the 50s rang true and are interesting -- especially salaries and prices. A good series.
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Pretty Good!
I'm enjoying Ed McBain's novels, but I'm 2 for 2 in figuring out the killer before the end.. I think it's more of a byproduct of my cynicism and suspicious mind than anything else. TRUST NO ONE!!!
Buy it, read it and enjoy!!👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥 -
Second book syndrome...
The detectives of the 87th Precinct are trying to catch a man who is mugging women in the streets of Isola, a district of the city that is clearly a fictionalised version of New York in which the series is set. The man is becoming more violent, often hitting the women even after he has stolen their valuables, and has the strange habit of finishing his assault by bowing and saying “Clifford thanks you, madam.” So far the detectives have little to go on, and the pressure ramps up when one girl, assumed to be Clifford’s latest victim, is found dead.
Having loved the first book in the series, Cop Hater, when I read it a couple of years ago, my expectations of this one were high. It is very readable, but suffers a bit from second book syndrome – McBain seems to be working out what to do with the characters he introduced us to in book 1, and there are so many detectives flitting in and out that it’s quite hard to keep track of who’s who. McBain’s plan was to have the series work as a kind of ensemble, with different detectives coming in and out of the spotlight in each story, and from my memory of reading several of the books long ago, he does succeed in this to a degree. But eventually he succumbed and made Steve Carella the recurring lead – the detective who was the main character in Cop Hater. Carella isn’t in this one, being off on his honeymoon, and his lack is felt.
As the story progresses, Patrolman Bert Kling comes to the fore. He was friends long ago with the brother-in-law of the dead girl, and the girl’s sister asks him to look into her murder. Although this is not the job of a patrolman, Bert feels obliged by friendship to try at least, and he also hopes that it might help him in his ambition to be promoted to detective.
The major problem with the story is that the solution is screamingly obvious. Maybe it wouldn’t have been back then – it’s always a problem to know with older books whether this was perhaps the first time a writer took a plot in this direction, but I fear it’s a plot we’ve all read too often now. My secondary problem was with the amount of violence in the book and its lack of credibility. My dad, who was a boxer, always used to scoff at Hollywood cowboy films where a man would be punched repeatedly in the face, hit over the head with a chair, be thrown over a bar and crash head-first into a wall lined with glasses and then get up, jump on his horse and gallop off after the bad guys, stopping only to kiss the heroine on his way out. While there are no horses nor indeed chairs in this book, the effect of the excessive violence and the characters’ reaction to it had the same effect on me. McBain seems to be using violence and police corruption to give the book its noir tone, whereas in Cop Hater he relied much more on creating an edgy atmosphere through great descriptions of the city.
So one for fans, but not one I would suggest as an introduction to the series for newcomers. The series ran for approximately ten thousand books – well, OK, over fifty – so there are plenty of others to choose from.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com -
"One of the people in the streets was a man named Clifford.
Somewhere among people who rushed along grinning, there was a man with a scowl on his face.
Somewhere among the thousands who sat in movie houses, there might be a murderer watching the screen.
Somewhere where lovers walked and talked, he might be sitting alone on a bench, brooding.
Somewhere where open, smiling faces dispelled plumed, bitter vapour on to the snappish air, a man walked with his mouth closed and his teeth clenched.
Clifford."
Is Clifford in fact the mugger in question? And if so, has his mugging of defenceless young women become insufficiently exciting for him, and now murder the next 'logical' step in his criminal development?
A young patrol-man, Kling, risks dismissal from the force by investigating the case, at the behest of a victim's distraught sister.
The author may be channelling B.R. Burnett's Asphalt Jungle here, to some extent, mainly in his description of his character's environment, but if so, it's a polite nod and rather than a slavish imitation.
I must admit i had some reservations about reading this series. There are so many books, but after reading the first two books, i realised the characters are different in each book, only the 87th Precinct ties all the characters together, although some characters do, i believe reappear from time to time in subsequent books.
Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys well written crime fiction. -
Book #2 in the 87th Precinct series, The Mugger, begins to fulfill McBain’s premise of creating an ensemble cast of detectives rather than focusing on a single character. For fans of the series, it’s here that young patrolman Bert Kling becomes a regular part of the squad, earning his detective badge for solving a murder that occupies a good portion of the book.
For some, the absence of Det. Steve Carella (on his honeymoon) is a detriment to the story. The principal detectives in this entry, Willis and Havilland, are perhaps less charismatic, but we also meet Det. Meyer Meyer, a regular of the cast from here on out, who is a fun and interesting character. In general, I didn’t feel that Carella’s absence was really a detriment to this book at all. After all, this unique approach was exactly what the author had sought.
Along the way we are treated to McBain’s talented prose and a pretty decent, albeit not his best, plot. His ability to create a sense of place and to draw the reader into that environment is, however, top notch.
I am in no position to criticize anyone for reading a series out of order, as I’m guilty of this most of the time. Having read many 87th Precinct novels, I can say that going back to the first few, in order, is rather rewarding. I just might have to try it more often! -
9/10
"Ποιός σκότωσε την Τζίνι Πέιτζ" είναι ο Ελληνικός τίτλος και είχε κυκλοφορήσει από εκδόσεις Bell.
Δεύτερο βιβλίο του 87ου τμήματος που διαβάζω και ήταν κι αυτό άκρως ψυχαγωγικό. Μου αρέσει πολύ η γραφή του McBain και θα διαβάσω σίγουρα κι άλλα που έχω στην βιβλιοθήκη μου. -
Amazon has recently started reprinting the 87th Precinct series in both paperback and Kindle editions. In their promotional material I was intrigued by the statements from authors I admire, Stephen King foremost among them. You may or may night like Mr. King's novels, but he is a master of prose and understands good writing. When King says that McBain "taught a whole generation of baby boomers how to write stories that were not only entertaining, but that truthfully reflected the times and the culture" you should take notice.
There are many who say that, with the 87th Precinct Series, McBain brought the police procedure story into it's full potential. Shows like Law and Order, NCIS, and many others would not exist without McBain's influence.
In Mugger, the city is in fear of a strange mugger who attacks women, takes their purses, hits them and then thanks them before running away. The detectives of the 87th Precinct are trying to find any lead that will lead them to this man.
In the meantime Patrolman Bert Kling is recovering from a gunshot wound. An friend from his old neighborhood with a teenage sister-in-law asks Kling to talk to to the young woman who seems to be in some trouble. When the young lady is killed the mugger is suspected and Kling begins to investigate on his own.
The story is enjoyable and well written. The characters seem real as they populate the story. Of course the police methods used in the early sixties would be rather frowned upon today, they do reflect the times in which the book was written This is my first McBain novel, so I am not sure how the entire series unfolds. I don't know if the series is character driven or simply driven by the Precinct. I intend to find out. -
I didn’t like this book as much as the two others I’ve read, for two reasons. One: there is nothing funny about hurting animals. Nothing. There is some hateful anti-cat propaganda in here that I hate. Hate, hate, hate.
Two: a guy tells the withdrawn girl he’s interested in that he doesn’t mind if she’s carrying a torch for some other guy. She tells him that she’s still grieving for her boyfriend who died in Korea. Does he comfort her? No. He gets mad, yells at her, tells her that people die all the time and she has to get over it already. She bursts into tears, then stops, then apologizes for burdening him with her problems. He doesn’t apologize. Then the next minute she’s happy and smiling, and they’re together. It disgusts me.
This is why I hate second-love stories. All previous loves have to be completely forgotten.
If you love somebody, I think the person who loves you should also love that person, no matter who.
Love shouldn’t be forgotten. And people who are grieving shouldn’t be yelled at. -
A mezzanotte va la ronda...
Romanzo dal ritmo veloce, con una invidiabile scorrevolezza e in grado di assorbire gli umori attorno ai poliziotti dell'87° Distretto, qui alle prese con un borseggiatore gentiluomo, l'omicidio di una giovane e un ladro di gatti.
Prese singolarmente, le tre storie hanno poco di eccezionale, i finali sono sottotono, quasi improvvisati, ma nonostante ciò il grado di coinvolgimento resta alto. Non poca cosa. -
For the second book of the 87th Precinct series you get a case...wait for it, of a serial mugger. This book makes up for the issue I had with the last book, the crime and criminal make sense, not a huge Dwight Gooden curveball, an off speed pitch nonetheless. Great insight into what's going on in the lives of the cops behind the badge.
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Excellent sequel to first book as characters from the Precinct introduced in the first book track a vicious mugger escalating to murder and a patrolman tries to crack a case on his own time to get promoted to detective. Really entertaining.
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This book was of interest to me mostly for its historical perspective. It was published in 1956, the second in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series of police procedurals. It seemed very dated to me, even more so than the first in the series, Cop Hater, but, as I kept reminding myself, it was of its historical period and this is, I think, the way that male writers of thrillers or crime fiction wrote in the mid-20th century - with gender and racial stereotypes intact and unchallenged.
Even acknowledging all that though, I still found myself irritated by the expression of those attitudes. I was especially offended by the descriptions of the women characters in the book - all breasts and bottoms and legs. Especially legs. Apparently McBain was a leg man. Not that such attitudes aren't still apparent among certain writers today, but, on the whole, they do a better job of disguising it.
The story here is as the title says, The Mugger. This particular mugger preys on women who are out walking alone at night. As the tale begins, there have already been several incidents and the city is on edge because of them.
No one has been seriously hurt in the muggings. The mugger comes at his victims from behind in the darkness. He attacks them, hits them and warns them to be quiet. He grabs their purses and then, while they are on the ground, he bows from the waist and says, "Clifford thanks you, madam," and makes his escape. But then he hits one victim too hard and puts her in the hospital. Then a young woman, only seventeen years old, is killed in what appears to be a similar incident and the police search turns deadly earnest as they search for a murderer.
Before the young woman was murdered, a young police patrolman named Bert Kling was asked by a friend to talk to his sister-in-law. The man's wife is worried about her sister and thinks she may be in trouble. She hopes that the teenager might open up to Bert. The plan doesn't work, however. The girl will not talk to him even though he can see that she is very troubled. He goes on his way and the next thing he hears is that the girl, Jeannie, has been killed - perhaps by the mugger.
Bert feels a responsibility and determines to investigate, even though it's not his case and, since he's only a uniformed patrolman, he doesn't really have any right to be involved. But he is very ambition to become a detective and he wants to bring the girl's killer to justice. And - spoiler alert - he manages to do just that in what is clearly meant to be a surprising twist. In fact, the solution seemed pretty clear to me fairly early in the book.
With this series, Ed McBain set the pattern for many police procedurals to come and he's still inspiring writers of the genre today. He continued writing the series right up until his death in 2005 and I think it will be very interesting to see how his writing evolved over those many years. As I stated earlier, these first books seem hopelessly dated in attitude and outlook and yet I suspect they are true reflections of their time. I would assume that, throughout the years, the books continued to hold up a mirror to their times, and that will be a worthwhile theme for the reader to pursue. -
COUNTDOWN: Mid-20th Century American Crime
BOOK 228 (of 250)
This 2nd 87th Precinct was a surprise, but not in a good way.
HOOK= 2 stars: A woman is mugged, just a standard opener. Easy enough to close the book, but McBain's 87th Precinct novels go down easy, like a glass of cold water on a hot day.
PACE=2: Surprising slow-going compared to the 1st book in this series and this is a very short book.
PLOT=2: The search for a mugger begins and this particular plot is good. And there is a sublplot that has been done and done again, if you read this novel you'll see it a mile away. And there is another subplot involving the kidnapping of cats all for a punchline about 'instant pussy'. Juvenile at best, but it's just bad writing. There is a saying that goes something like, "If you think a passage/joke/paragraph, etc., is particularly fine, strike it out." Both McBain and any editor should have known better to use this bad joke.
CHARACTERS=2: After closing the book, I couldn't think of a single character's name nor of any action they took that had been memorable.
PLACE/ATMOSPHERE=2: This story could take place in any large city. There is a description of a club, but it seemed so lazy I could only think that the person writing about it had never been clubbing.
SUMMARY: My overall rating is 2.0. My understanding is that the author and editor didn't agree on the disappearance of a character, and there was a reboot of some kind in the 3rd book. We'll get to a couple of very good novels by this author shortly. -
The second in the 87th Precinct series still carries a punch. Armed with his original idea of a composite detective squad, McBain packs Steve Carella on honeymoon and focuses on introducing more new faces.
There is plenty to do; a "gentleman" mugger seems to begetting more violent and when a young woman is found dead the fit seems to be there.
However Patrolman Bert Kling had already become involved in an unofficial capacity and uses the case to press his credentials for a promotion.
I particularly liked the Homocide cops double act and one wonders how the author is going to allow the 87th to continue to step on toes as there seems to be a rivalry brewing. I also loved the undercover cop's fiestiness, Eileen Burke has a role to play in future books.
Good cop, bad cop seems to exist with everyone else or Roger Havilland.
But we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves, let the author tell his story in such magestic prose and focused one-liners.
But is the insights given into a crime scene, the different jobs piecing together any clues and the time walking the beat that makes this such an engaging series.
