Tricks

An interesting variation on McBain’s usual format. In retrospect, it struck me as a compendium of three short stories whose pages were shuffled together then bound in book form. Three separate story lines interwoven, but unlike many of McBain’ s novels, there is no convergence into an appropriate conclusion. Instead, the individual plots continue independently, except for intermixed dialogues and events that, at times, can be temporarily confusing until you get to the Ah Ha moment and you pick up the flow again. All in all, a good read, particularly if you have read more than a few of the preceding 87th Precinct novels because you get to encounter pretty much the whole squad spread across the three story lines.

I make no secret that I love this series of books…they were my initial introduction to this genre and McBain was the pioneer in it…action drama and a look at policing AT THAT TIME…remember these are reissues of novels initially written in the mid to late fifties so many of the procedures and available resources are dated…but the stories characters etc remain revelant….BUY THESE BOOK ALREADY

Of the 55 books in the 87th Precinct series, which were published between 1956 and 2005, there is a bunch with single word titles. All of them have plots and subplots which are multiple spins on those words. In this case, the detectives find themselves swamped at Halloween. Kids are going trick or treating, magicians are performing tricks, hookers are turning tricks, and there are some other tricky things going on. It’s a riveting read, partly because of the collisions that the reader can see coming, though the characters cannot. Will everyone survive the night?

This novel was written in a strange manner that made it a bit confusing to follow. There were several conversations happening on top of each other, but in most cases the various speakers weren’t identified. I think he tried to mimic the chaotic sound of an open “bull pen” area at the precinct. I applaud any author willing to take such risks and try something new – especially an author well established who could just continue the same successful formula. For that reason I’m glad I read it. 3 stars may be overly generous, but I’m in a generous frame of mind because of the risk he was willing to take.

This is one of this author’s best books. Taut drama in every case. Excellent development of many of his characters. Loved it!

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