Downtown
by Ed McBain
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Ed McBain, author of the bestselling 87th Precinct series, takes us "Downtown" in a bold departure of a novel that will have listeners cheering for a lone out-of-towner running for his life in New York City.Meet Michael Barnes, a Florida orange grower who finds himself in a Manhattan bar with a couple of hours to kill. It's a couple of hours that almost kill him, as he's swindled, robbed, framed for murder, and hunted down by an assassin in one of the wildest, scariest, funniest, fastest show more twenty-four hours ever packed into one novel. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
“He did not know this goddamn city where everyone seemed to be either a cop or a crook and all of them seemed to be crazy.”
Michael Barnes is in NYC on business, and in the first few chapters, he is accused of stealing a ring, had his wallet emptied, has his rental car stolen, is held up at gun point, and is a suspect in a murder! AND, everyone he runs into seems to be named Charlie!
It's a crazy, almost slap-sticky romp as Michael tries to prove his innocence and find out who is behind the set up. LOTS of funny dialogue! Intermixed with lots of flashbacks to his time in Vietnam, which aren't funny at all. But, like all McBain books I've read, the mix works, and the book is very enjoyable!
"Mom? he would say. I'm alive, Mom."
"I'm show more alive again." show less
Michael Barnes is in NYC on business, and in the first few chapters, he is accused of stealing a ring, had his wallet emptied, has his rental car stolen, is held up at gun point, and is a suspect in a murder! AND, everyone he runs into seems to be named Charlie!
It's a crazy, almost slap-sticky romp as Michael tries to prove his innocence and find out who is behind the set up. LOTS of funny dialogue! Intermixed with lots of flashbacks to his time in Vietnam, which aren't funny at all. But, like all McBain books I've read, the mix works, and the book is very enjoyable!
"Mom? he would say. I'm alive, Mom."
"I'm show more alive again." show less
I read this about 25 years ago and really liked it, so was looking forward to a reread when it turned up in an omnibus I bought for a couple of 87th Precinct novels I needed. Sadly it wasn’t as good as I remembered, it’s fun, and the denouement is great, but I found it a bit confused in the middle and somewhat unbelievable throughout.
One of the few McBain noverls I've read that doesn't feature Matthew Hope or the detectives of the 87th Precinct. Not all that good from a McBain perspective, but it was still well worth reading.
Ganska rörig historia om en apelsinodlare från Florida som blir indragen i mordhistoria. Knappast någon av McBains bättre.
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Author Information
364+ Works 32,453 Members
Ed McBain is a pen name for Evan Hunter who was born in 1926 in East Harlem, New York on October 15, 1926. Hunter was born with the name Salvatore Albert Lombino, and he legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952. During World War II, Hunter joined the Navy and served aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. He graduated from Hunter College, were he show more majored in English and psychology, with minors in dramatics and education. He was a prolific writer who also wrote under the names of Ed McBain, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, and Richard Marsten. His first major success came in 1954 with the publication of The Blackboard Jungle, which was later adapted as a film. He published the first three books in the 87th Precinct series in 1956 under the name of Ed McBain. He also wrote juvenile books, plays, television scripts, and stories and articles for magazines. He won the Mystery Writers of America Award in 1957 and the Grand Master Award in 1986 for lifetime achievement. He died of laryngeal cancer on July 6, 2005 at the age of 78. (Bowker Author Biography) Ed McBain is the only American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers Association's highest award. He also holds the Mystery Writers of America's coveted Grand Master Award. His books have sold over one hundred million copies, ranging from his most recent, "The Last Dance", to the bestselling "The Blackboard Jungle", the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" & the bestselling "Privileged Conversation", written under his own name, Evan Hunter. He lives in Connecticut. (Publisher Provided) Ed McBain, aka Evan Hunter, wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and has written many novels. He is the only American to be awarded Britain's coveted Diamond Dagger Award, the highest honor a suspense writer can achieve. He lives in Connecticut. (Publisher Provided) show less
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Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Downtown
- Original title
- Downtown
- Original publication date
- 1989
- People/Characters
- Michael Barnes; Connie Kee; Detective Tony Orso; Arthur Crandall
- Important places
- New York, New York, USA
- Dedication
- This is for
Jan and Roy Dean - First words
- Michael was telling the blonde he'd never been in this part of the city.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)I'm alive again.
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Statistics
- Members
- 342
- Popularity
- 91,851
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.18)
- Languages
- 8 — Danish, English, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 36
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 10
