One Man's Opinion: ALICE IN JEOPARDY by ED McBAIN

 'There is nothing like early retirement to make a person feel dead.'

After 35 years of teaching, I finally stepped away from the profession at the end of October. It's an odd feeling and I'm still coming to terms with new routines and all of the empty space, but I suspect all will be well.

Which means I'm now full-time writer. How amazing. I have a couple of novellas, written in collaboration that I've very excited about, on the back burner, and I'm about to crack on with a caper that should be fun to put together. 

As for the teaching, it was a lifetime and trying to distill anything worthwhile in terms of reflection is nigh on impossible. Though I won't miss the stress, I miss the children and my colleagues. What I can say is that I may not have been the best at what I did, but I did my best with the skills I had and always put the families first. I've never exploited anyone or tried to profit from others and that feels good.

But it's going to take some time, which explains the quote from the book at the head of this review. 

Alice In Jeopardy is a whole lot of fun. As it was published in 2005, it's among McBain's last books and if it was his final effort, it's a hell of a way for him to sign out. 

In terms of my 87th Precinct reads, I've only just reached the 1980s, so this has a much more contemporary feel to it. It reminded me a little of Linwood Barclay, extreme events happening to unassuming people, the jeopardy constantly being ramped up.

Alice has two children. Together, they're putting the pieces of their life back together following the death of their husband/father. 

While working hard trying to sell property in order to pay the bills, Alice gets a call from an unknown lady telling her that her children have been kidnapped and that the only way she'll see them again is if she pays up the $250K ransom. 

Under instruction not to call the police, Alice contacts a loyal friend, but things are complicated when the childminder does her job and informs the law. 

What follows is an action-packed web of intrigue. 

The cops set up a wire tap. The feds are sniffing close. Alice's brother-in-law considers muscling in and finding an angle that will allow him to cut a wedge from the ransom cake. There's a car accident and a broken ankle to deal with, the invasion of the press and the unwelcome attention of a widower who seems to want to help. 

All in all, the pot is so full that stirring it any more would end in disaster for all involved.

I loved it. Even though I nailed some of the key points a while before revelation, it didn't matter one bit. The compexity of it all meant I never stopped striving to get to the next chapter and the denouement.

In the circumstances, the dedication feels touching:

I'm sorry, but she's the love of my life, you know. So this, too, is dedicated to my wife, Dragica.

The full 10 out of 10. 

 

One Man's Opinion: KINDS OF LOVE, KINDS OF DEATH by TUCKER COE

 

There's a foreword to this one by Donald E Westlake explaining his choice of author name for this series and a little about how he wanted Mich Tobin to be an original investigator. It sounded promising. 

And the first chapter is excellent. With little to do since being kicked off the force, Tobin is building a wall. As he digs the foundations, he sees how much his work resembles a grave and digs faster to change its size. There's something about building a wall for no clear reason that is fascinating (think Paul Auster's The Music Of Chance). His efforts are interrupted by a visit from a representative of a local gangster who would like to offer Tobin a job. Tobin isn't interested. I was hooked. 

Then came chapter two. It's all back story and, as is often the case, was totally unecessary to me. The hook slipped from my mouth and I wriggled free. 

I didn't really get caught again. It's only 200 pages long and I rattled through it at a fair rate, yet it was never very satisfying. The set up is overly complicated and Tobin's justification for working for the mob isn't strong enough for me. It's also difficult to see why such a powerful criminal organisation  would turn to a washed up cop who's taken to digging walls. 

There are plenty of characters to meet during a series of interviews and Tobin's faith in his abilities to judge a person from the merest glance is almost a super power. Some of these are engaging. Few of them lead us toward the killer Tobin is searching for. 

A few exciting and unexpected incidents are thrown in to thicken the plot and help to shore things up, but it never really increases the temperature. 

It's not terrible, but lacks the quips and darkness of lots of PI novels and never really grips. Perhaps the addition of some seriously compromising situations for Tobin might have helped. More than anything, this highlights the fact that detective fiction isn't easy to write. 

So, Kinds Of Love, Kinds Of Death is the first in the series. Unless I stumble across a copy of a later addition in a charity shop or library, it'll be my last. It's biggest use to me, a reminder that it's about time I reread some early Paul Auster. The New York Trilogy would be perfectly apt. 

One Man's Opinion: CALYPSO by ED McBAIN

 

On his way home from a successful Calypso gig, George Chadderton is shot. His fine clothes offer no protection and he dies on the spot. His manager, dressed far less impressively, is more fortunate and escapes with some serious wounds. 

Shortly afterwards Clara Hawkins, a local sex worker, is also gunned down and the weapon is the same. Of course, there's a link between the murders, but it takes a while to find out what it is. 

It's pissing down with rain and the cops aren't in good spirits. They take the misery of the weather out on each other and on those whom they're interviewing. 

As Carella and Meyer dig into the investigation, they become intrigued by a night that happened seven years earlier when George's brother disappeared from the face of the earth. As they dig deeper, the ever-decreasing circles lead them to a very dark truth. 

I was travelling when I read this and got through it in a day. It was an excellent companion on the journey and kept me gripped most of the way through. What is noticeable about this one is that it's ramped up the score on the sexometer in relation to the 87th books, which often flirt with the erotic, exotic and perverse. This time, the sex is on another level, in part due to the nature of those involved in the case. Our killer is particulalrly unbalanced and George's wife offers Carella more than just a helping hand. 

There's a big shift in the book at about half way through. It comes as something of a jolt and took me a while to regain my footing. I've been trying to work out if there might have been another way (a better one) to add the change of direction, but haven't come up with anything yet (and who am I to question the master in his thinking?). 

Overall, very satisfying and has more of a standalone feel to it than the books in the series up to this point. 

 

One Man's Opinion: WILD TOWN by JIM THOMPSON

 

Bugs McKenna finds himself in the Wild Town in question, getting himself into trouble from the off. Again. He's fresh out of prison and can't seem to fathom why all of his decisions are terrible. He's clearly very handsome and has a certain alure. His mind is dull and his temper quick. 

With the help of the man who arrested him, he ends up with a job working nights as hotel security in a place owned by the richest man in town, a wheelchair-bound oil tycoon. The hotel is populated by an array of odd characters who each have a part to play a part in the tale that unfolds. 

Bugs gets himself into trouble when he's involved in the death of the house accountant who falls out of the window. Thing is, blackmail letters suggest that there was someone in the room who witnessed what happened and is now turning the screw. Bugs's guilt and obesssion overwhelms him, though Crime and Punishment this really isn't, and he's on an accelerating spiral of decline from that point on. 

Along the way he has several enounters with attractive women and manages to sleep with (and satisfy) them all. His love for the fiancee of the local law is all-encapsulating, and is all the more unrealistic for its intensity. 

The plot is engaging and there's plenty to like. I had no more idea of what was really going on than poor old Bugs, whose thought processes we get snarled up in and whose mistakes are underlined when the author jumps in with pointers to swirl up the tension. 

Something about the characters and the narration style don't quite work for me. It's populated by caracatures and out-of-place comments, feeling like a pastiche of B-movies that was put together in a rush. 

That's not to say there's nothing to like. Bugs is easy to get along with and there are some cracking set pieces and quips. 

This one's good, if a little dated and scattergun. Close, but no cigar.