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DOWNTOWN
by Ed McBain
Avon, June 2993
340 pages
$out of print
ISBN: 0380707616


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Ed McBain can write rings around most authors in business today. This novel is a good example of his talent. Quite unlike his police procedurals, DOWNTOWN operates on two very realistic and very manic levels. The fast-paced story follows an out-of-town orange grower named Michael Barnes. He's in New York with a few hours on his hands while waiting for a plane to Boston. Out-of-towner maybe, but Mr. Barnes is not some unknowing, innocent. He's an experienced businessman, divorced, a veteran of Viet Nam. But almost immediately he gets into difficulties with a huge assortment of New York criminals. He's hit on, scammed, robbed, accosted, turned inside out and meets a very odd film director, and that's just in the first twenty-five pages. After that, it gets really interesting.

Soon, through no fault of his own, Michael Barnes is introduced to some detectives who will try to sort things out and help Barnes on his way. From there, the story escalates. Barnes is the catalyst who allows McBain to tell many more than one of the stories that abound in the naked city, to introduce the reader to all sorts of characters, some of whom may have been waiting in the wings for a long time for just the right set of circumstances. The pace is relentless and it's often difficult to sort out the bad guys from the good. The novel is blessed with a strong narrative, right-on-if-sometimes-insane dialogue and it keeps you laughing, even at the dark side of these very human conditions. This is one very good novel, a true reflection of New York in a cracked, cloudy, fun-house mirror.

Reviewed by Carl Brookins, May 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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