Eighty Million Eyes

Ed McBain has always been one of those crime fiction writers that I said I’d get around to reading “one of these days.” Well, the day finally came, and now I know what everyone’s been talking about. Eighty Million Eyes (forty million viewers times two eyes each…) is a lean, mean fighting machine. No fluff. No lengthy descriptive passages. No character contemplating his or her navel. Two major plots. No subplots. This could be the recipe for something excruciatingly boring for a reader like me who likes character-driven plots and strong settings, but it most certainly isn’t because Ed McBain was a master of his craft.

Written in 1966, there are no gun-toting CSI folks spraying everything down in luminol or running DNA tests, but you’d be amazed at the amount of evidence that can be found by good, dedicated detectives with sharp eyes– detectives who have to track down a payphone in order to call the precinct. I do enjoy the science in modern crime fiction, but reading something like this from back in “the Stone Age” can be quite refreshing.

This is around the twentieth book in this series, and although it’s the first I’ve read, I didn’t feel as though I’d been dropped on my head in the middle of the story. McBain’s lean prose style brought this big city to life, I got to know some first-rate detectives, and I read a couple of scenes where my blood ran cold. This author pulls you right into the story. I want to thank the person who finally nudged me through the door of the 87th Precinct. As Arnie would say, “I’ll be back!”

80M eyes
OK what does the title mean, “80M eyes”? Plot: A TV comedy star dies live on-air in front of his usual weekly audience of 40 million. Plot#2: a young hood walks into a small business office demanding to see his “girlfriend”, then beats up a cop who responds to the owner’s call for help. Yes, two plots, no sub-plot. That’s not the only thing that’s unusual about the structure of this series’ 55 or so books – there is no protagonist, at least no one, single person. If you must have a protagonist, I suppose it is the precinct of cops. The reader meets a number of them, some continue into future books, some don’t, others pop up six books later…

80M was written in 1966 and it gives a very interesting picture of big city life in those days with cops calling into the station from payphones wherever they can find them. Have to arrange an interview with a suspect? – one of your fellow officers down at the station can make calls every thirty minutes until the call is eventually answered. Remember? – no 1966 answering machines ! You might be thinking no CSI either. And no SOCO. Wrong, wrong. I’ve only read two books in this series so far, both very good, and I’m amazed at the bits of evidence discovered at the crime scene, not by glow lamps, but by two eyeballs. And there were crime labs to an extent back in that stone age.

The “87th” books ar a lot of fun. This one is 189 pages and can be zipped through in a little more than 2 hours. Great for a short flight …The prose, and observations, are very good. As is the pace, and level of tension. The endings might be a bit predictable but they are still done well. Ed McBain is really Evan Hunter, very good writer.

Book number 21, and I’m coming up on the half way point of this series. When I started this read I thought it would be a monumental task, but it’s turning out to be relatively easy. Most of that is due to characterizations of the principal detectives of the 87th Precinct. Not all of them are featured in each book and that seems to keep them fresh and more interesting.
This book goes back to the format of having two cases being investigated at the same time. There is little cross over and different detectives handle each one. The main case involves a TV personality who drops dead during his live show. An estimated forty million viewers nationwide witness his death, hence the title. The secondary case gives a bit more insight into Bert Kling’s personal life and has a ‘to be continued’ feel to it. Another solid read in the series.

This is the first novel I’ve ever read by Ed McBain, the pen name of author and screenwriter Evan Hunter. There are over 50 novels in the 87th Precinct Series and if this book is any indication of the quality of the others then I will be returning to this fictitious but realistic world. Detectives Carella and Kling are characters that I really enjoyed and even though this book was written in 1966 it has a fast paced, modern feel. I like the era of the 60’s that this book is set in and while I’m not a huge fan of crime stories this one kept my attention. It’s a quick read that I was able to finish in just a few hours. Give it a try.

Even the worst of the 87tth Precinct novels are worth your time, and this one has some great bantering moments amongst the cops in a very quick, light plot. Fair warning that there are very draggy moments, some of them not McBains fault (technical details around the main plot date VERY poorly), some less so (Bert Kling, easily the least interesting cop in the 87th for my money, is featured in a subplot). But this one is a very quick read, and there are definitely worse ways to spend a pleasant Sunday afternoon.

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