See Them Die

Though starting with an interesting change of pace for a premise- no mystery, focused entirely around one small block on one day-the truth is this is one of the extraordinarily rare McBain clunkers. Most of it, however, is not on the author, it’s just a novel that comes across very dated in it’s early 60’s earnestness about the evils of racism whilst frequently coming across to the modern eye as pretty flatly racist. The phonetic spellings of accents alone is pretty painful.
It’s not a total lost cause- there are some nice character notes here and there. I just hope someone picking it up as their first 87th Precinct novel doesn’t get discouraged.

Unlike many of the 87th Precinct series this book is pretty straight forward. It revolves around some teenagers trying to become their own street gang all the while there is a stand off with a gun man in an apartment on the same street. The book written in the 60’s is set in a neighborhood filled with many just arrived in the U.S. from Peurto Rico and you see and feel some of the desperation that they are faced with. A darker book than usual with some tragic results for the 87th Precinct.

I have never read a bad 87th Precinct novel. Some are better than others, but this isnt one of them.

Instead of the detectives of the precinct being the stars of the story, its mainly about people and events on one block in a Hispanic area of the city on a blistering hot summer day.

McBain is the only author who can make a city or the weather a real character in a novel. He does it here as well as in any of his other books, but he does it too many times. That gives this book a padded feel.

Authors, I believe, are sometimes pressured to put out a book to meet the publishers and the publics demand for another entry in a series. Thats the feeling I got from this book that McBain cranked it out under pressure and, as a result, its not up to his usual standard.

That won’t stop me from reading the 12 books in the series I haven’t read yet.

McBain nearly outdoes himself with this dramatic story with interwoven plot lines and recognizable people. Some heroes emerge from unexpected places. Two heroes are squad members. And one member learns something, at least we hope.

Excellent story. Believable plot with really good character development.
I’m ready to start on the rest of the series immediately.

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