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I've been on a bit of a television-viewing jag recently, watching marathon showings of police ensemble series such as NYPD Blue, Homicide and Hill Street Blues. While these programs have their high points --- many high points, actually ---- they are at once a tribute to, and beholden to, Ed McBain. All of them, unconsciously or otherwise, use his 87th Precinct series as a template. The different personalities of the detectives bouncing off each other, the multiple subplots that carry over for several episodes and the snappy dialogue all started with COP KILLER. COP KILLER was published in 1956, about the time I was learning to hold a pencil properly and before my wife was even born. 48 years later, McBain, as demonstrated in THE FRUMIOUS BANDERSNATCH, is still demonstrating how to get the job done.
I have in the twilight of my middle age grown jaded and cynical, so my initial impression of this new 87th Precinct installment was that it was a short story on steroids, an idea that couldn't carry a novel so was accordingly pumped a bit with filler. The beginning seemed to go on for just a bit too long at first, regarding the hows and whys and wherefores of the music business, as McBain puts his readers on the deck of a yacht in the middle of a party celebrating the release of a new CD entitled "Bandersnatch" by a new pop star named Tamar Valparaiso.
However, it turns out that McBain was just taking his time, setting up his blocks. My complaint is somewhat akin to the snot-nosed brat on the roller coaster who, as his car rises slowly and inexorably high above the rest of the amusement park, whines that nothing is happening. Matters in THE FRUMIOUS BANDERSNATCH kick into high gear soon enough; Valparaiso, in the middle of lip-synching and dancing her way through a reenactment of her controversial new video, is kidnapped in full view of the horrified partygoers.
Enter Steve Carella of the 87th, who catches the squeal. His first act is to interview Barney Loomis, President of Bison Records, Valparaiso's label. Carella promptly has jurisdiction yanked out from under him by a joint Federal-Local Task Force called "The Squad," but he soon finds himself actively involved in the investigation at the insistence of Loomis, who reiterates his confidence in Carella and resists any attempt to relegate Carella to errand-boy status. When Valparaiso's kidnappers demand a ransom, Carella finds himself caught between The Squad, which wants the kidnappers, and Loomis, who just wants Valparaiso back.
In the meantime, "Bandersnatch" is flying off the shelves, courtesy of the attendant publicity. The three kidnappers, as unlikely a team as you'll ever find, get their money. When they discover that their captive is an instant star, however, they hold out for more. McBain's narrative burns up the pages. It's not just the suspense he infuses into the storyline, though that would be more than enough. It's that he continues to write so well. In what would otherwise be the twilight of a brilliant career, McBain once again tests his own considerable boundaries and conquers them.
May I give you one example? There is an interlude involving Detective Cotton Hawes, who is out on a first date with an extremely lovely lady. The dialogue between them as they verbally dip and dance as a prelude to what they both know and hope is coming later in the evening is so riveting that one has to stop and read the sequence over a few times just to revel in the reality of it all. It's a simple scene but so hard to do correctly. McBain's execution is perfect, a prelude to a conclusion that contains not just one, but two, surprise endings.
THE FRUMIOUS BANDERSNATCH is a masterwork by a grand master. Does it get any better than this? No --- at least not until McBain's next work. Very highly recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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