Marianne,
Re your comment below:
> Pursuing my current mad project of investigating
all
> my personal 20th
> century crime writing gaps, I recently bought a
2nd
> hand paperback of an
> old 87th Precinct novel called - wait a minute
while
> I look in the waste
> paper basket - Cop Hater (1956). A long time
ago,
> admittedly. I believe
> that the author went on to write a number of
others,
> and that a lot of
> people liked them??
>
> Is or was Ed McBain a real person, or a
syndicate?
> As the series
> continued, did the books become more
> interesting/less adolescent? Could
> some enthusiast here suggest a
probably-more-recent
> title which I could
> try without being assured of groaning repeatedly
and
> falling asleep in
> Chapter 6, right in the middle of the
unconvincing
> sex scene?
If you don't like COP HATER (the first book in the series), I
don't think you'll like any of the others. I've enjoyed every
single one immensely, but I find that there's a freshness in
the first few books in the series that waned as the series
progressed.
My personal favorite is THE HECKLER, which introduced the
recurring "Deaf Man" character. Perhaps the only real
successful merging of two of my favorite mystery themes, the
realistic cop novel (which, it could reasonably be argued,
McBain invented), the the
"super-criminal" Professor Moriarty/Fu Manchu
character.
There's very little I can find to criticize about McBain. I
think he's a great stylist. His portrayal of the city has
been called the best sustained literary depiction of NYC ever
written
(notwithstanding his insistence that he's not writing about
NYC at all). He plots well. He's a great storyteller (not the
same thing). His characters are compelling and believable.
And his dialog is great.
If your reaction was as negative as you indicate, then
nothing I say here will convince you. I also think
Catholicism is the True Faith, but I don't make a point of
proselytizing.
Let's just agree to disagree.
JIM DOHERTY
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