The Big Heat
by William P. McGivern
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Description
Murder was in the air. A cop had killed himself, and every crook in town knew that would be sure to bring on the big heat.It all started innocently enough, when a cop committed suicide. It was worry over ill health, said his wife. Detective Dave Bannion wasn't so sure, but when he started digging, he was told to lay off—fast! Instead, he turned in his badge and started stalking the city streets and bars in search of the truth. There he uncovered a red-hot story of murder and corruption show more that would blow Philadelphia's underworld sky high. Bannion was big, strong, and angry enough to kill, but he was only one honest man in a city full of mobsters and crooked cops. The big heat was on.
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Member Reviews
The author uses one of the oldest pulp plots and he gives it no new wrinkles. He makes it fresh and memorable by his superb characterization of the cop and his enemies, and his description of the harsh world that they live in. The result is something rare: a story that is at once hardboiled and optimistic.
This is classic noir fiction. A big city policeman searchs for reasons behind the suicide of another officer. But is it suicide? His sometime lover says no. Gangsters, secrets, and a surprise ending. I really enjoyed this one.
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Books mentioned in Julian Symons’ Bloody Murder
438 works; 6 members
Author Information
91+ Works 815 Members
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Big Heat
- Original title
- The Big Heat
- Alternate titles*
- La città che scotta
- Original publication date
- 1953
- Related movies
- The Big Heat (1953 | IMDb)
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 102
- Popularity
- 315,865
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.17)
- Languages
- 7 — Catalan, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook
- ISBNs
- 24
- ASINs
- 6
