Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Books read in 2021: No. 48 -- Hail to the Chief

by Ed McBain

Started: Dec. 18
Finished: Dec. 22

Notes: Been reading a bunch of detective novels of late, and I can't do so without reading from my favorite series, that of the 87th Precinct. Man, I love these books. This one is from the early1970s.

Mini review: McBain tried something differently stylistically this time, something I don't recall him using in any other 87th Precinct novels. A good third of this novel is told in the first person, something McBain usually doesn't try. I can't say it worked much here, which is probably why the author didn't use this technique often. It was wordy and slowed the story down, and slowness is definitely unusual for 87th Precinct novels. Still, this wasn't a bad tale. It mainly concerns a gang war between three gangs, and the body county is high.

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