King's Ransom

by Ed McBain

Ebook, 1959

Library's rating

Library's review

Steve Carella and the boys of the 87th Precinct are called in to solve a kidnapping case with a twist in this 10th entry in McBain's long-running classic crime series. A couple of two-bit crooks have snatched a little boy who they think is the son of a shoe-factory magnate, but it turns out they
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grabbed the chauffeur's son instead. Will the rich man still pay the ransom, even if it means scuttling his plans for a hostile takeover of the company he works for? What do you think? As always, McBain's style of directly addressing the reader with his deeply philosophical meditations is appealing and renders the series a cut above the usual police procedural. And it's surprisingly techy for a book written in the pre-cellphone, pre-Internet 1960s. I could have done without the sign-of-the-times mildly hostile sexism, but that's what you get when you read books written in less-enlightened times. I still love this series.
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Description

When a wealthy businessman is faced with a kidnapping, the ransom could ruin his biggest deal ever--unless Detective Steve Carella can find the culprits before the kidnapping turns to murder."McBain has the ability to make every character believable--which few writers these days can do." --Associated Press"McBain forces us to think twice about every character we meet...even those we thought we already knew." --New York Times Book Review

Language

Original publication date

1959
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