The Pusher

Even in 1956, when Ed McBain wrote this book, drug addiction was a problem in the United States. Like so many of the books in the 87th precinct series (this is the third), this story touches on a whole range of subjects that remain relevant even today in the US — like the problems facing migrant communities, or violence against women. As part of the author’s attempt to create a new kind of crime fiction in which there is no single hero but instead a collective, McBain has one of his characters shot in the chest and battling for his life at the end of the book. What happens next — and the Afterword that explains it all — was both moving and fascinating.

i haven't read an 87th precinct novel in a while, and this is a nice reminder of why i like them so much. his writing is tight, the plot moves steadily along, his characters develop nicely in each book and over the series as a whole, there's humor amidst the grittiness, and we see a pretty realistic depiction of street life and violence without it being gratuitous. this is one of his early ones and it was fun to see a very young kling, the incident with carella that is referenced in many subsequent books (although probably it's not the only time he's close to death), and a time before his tried and true animal face-descriptors that he goes back to again and again later.

i think this is my favorite of his books that i've read. it's punchy show more and well done and i really enjoyed it. it'd been too long since i read one of these and i will look forward to going back to him and the bulls of the 87th again, he really is a master of the police procedural. show less

The Pusher is the third book in Ed McBain’s series about the 87th Precinct of a large and unnamed city that delves into the day-to-day workings of the police. While this was not my favourite of the series it was interesting and a good read. The setting and the characters are developed around the murder of young drug pusher in a clever plot meant to dicredit a policeman’s son. The author not only tells an intense story but delights in teaching his readers how illegal drugs were becoming available in the neighourhood.

The key to solving this case is to track down the new pusher who has taken over from the murdered boy. Steve Carella is on the case and even though Christmas is just days away, he has a lot of questions that he wants show more answers to. The 87th Precinct is a varied neighbourhood and the author was generous in his descriptions.

After three books I feel that this series has finally hit the mark and I am looking forward to continuing on. show less

Great description of Steve Carella in this one, “A constant man in a city of inconsistencies.”

A young man is dead in the 87th. Is it a heroin overdose, or is it suicide? Or, is it murder? Steve Carella takes the lead in this one, and the path to the truth leads him to death's door! A very good story with quite a bit of detail on the heroin business, which surprised me, as this book came out in 1954!

The 'Afterword' in this book was very amusing! Apparently, when the finished version of this story was submitted, Detective Steve Carella died at the end! But McBain's agent and editor didn't like that, and despite the author's protests, Carella lives! Close call, Stevie, close call...

The third book in the 87th Precinct series is a more standard entry into the police procedural genre. But at the same time, it manages to reach an emotional depth somewhat unusual for the time period.

The plot is pretty straight forward. A pair of patrolmen stumble upon a apparent junkie suicide. But sometimes things aren't as easy as they seem, and the suicide squeal quickly turns into a multiple homicide investigation that threatens to become blackmail when Lt. Byrnes son becomes linked to the drug scene. The bulls at the 87th are relegated mainly to the footwork, as most of the behind the scenes action involves Byrnes as he struggles with his son's involvement. Byrnes goes as far as to fill Carella in on the situation, a decision that show more almost proves to be fatal.

Apart from some of the dated aspects one would expect from a well-reserched police drama from the fifties, the bulk of the novel is your typical expose on the brutal world of the street level drug trade. But as usual, McBain delves into the emotional causes and ramifications of the Heroin users and dealers. The most revealing of these is the personal and professional turmoil faced by Lt. Byrnes with the revelation that his son is a Heroin addict. Adding to the emotional doubt of where he has gone wrong with his son, and the constant battle between anger and compassion, is the dilemma of whether or not to cover up his son's possible involvement in a crime, especially when a mysterious third party with knowledge of his son's connection attempts to blackmail him for police protection.

McBain doesn't just focus on the 87th detectives. Glimpses into the lives of low key players in the drug scene shows the many facets of human frailty and desperation and prevents the broad generalizations that many crime dramas easily fall into. Even the closer look at Carella's relationship with stoolie Danny the Gimp is both touching and revealing. But to McBain's credit, none of this detailed attention to the human element detracts from the gritty realism that is typical of this series. show less

Review from Badelynge.
An early 87th Precinct story. This one promises rather more noir than it actually delivers. Its opening pages are the hook that tries its darndest to stop you putting the book back onto the spindle and choosing some other more tempting paperback. And even though it's many decades since this one saw anything other than thrift sale piles or charity shop boxes, I can appreciate why McBain lays it on so thick at the start. The city sounded like such a dark and shadow infested place on those pages... and cold, man it's cold.
'The citizens grinned into the wind, but the wind was not in a smiling mood.'
After that it gets down to business, the shadows are swept aside and the cold only nips at the narrative infrequently as show more McBain gets down to populating his police procedural with interesting characters. That is the real strength of these books - just well thought out and realised characters, which doesn't stint with even the minor cast.
I've heard all the comparisons to Dragnet but I'd be pulling the wool over your eyes if I agreed with them as I've barely seen more than an episode of that old series. So I'll stick with what I do know, throw my cards down on the table and say it most put me in mind of 'On Dangerous Ground' a classic noir film from the 50s starring Robert Ryan, which in turn was an adaptation of an old noir pulp by Gerald Butler. The early scenes set in the city do sing 87th Precinct at me. And I could draw a little parallel with Carella's romance with his deaf-mute wife Teddy to Robert Ryan's character falling for Ida Lupino's blind girl. I think it's true that screen writers and novelists were feeding on each other voraciously in the 40s and 50s, several of the 87th Precinct novels made it to the big screen itself, as well as a short half-life tv series which is largely forgotten.
This one is a strong entry in the series. It's strongest in the heat of the character dialogue, which is very naturalist. If you saw them acted out you would assume the actors were improvising or in some reality show sequence. It's weakest when McBain starts constructing his torturous ironic word-plays.
There's also a historic element for modern readers to enjoy, because even though though the stories take place in an imaginary city it can't hide being a city made up of amalgams of New York in the 50s. It's probably a more faithful representative of police procedures than a lot of today's detective fiction can claim, and McBain isn't shy of relating the technical minutiae of 50s forensics.
I'd recommend this series to anybody who liked the first 20 minutes of 'On Dangerous Ground' and fans of Dragnet or Hill Street Blues, though it's a nightmare trying to dig these things up cheaply over half a century since they first gave us a twirl on those paperback spindles. show less

The third instalment in the Precinct 87 series and a continuation of the characters we have already met, although as always, the book can easily be read as a stand alone novel.

This time we come across a dead junky, not an unusual occurrence in the neighbourhood, but this time it seems like there was foul play and a murder has been committed. As the investigation gets underway a tale of death and bribery unravels.

This book did seem a little more dated than the two before it, but was still a brilliant read. You can really see that McBain has started building his own little world and you want to become a part of that community , I particularly like that there is no real stand out character like many other crime series. A realistic and show more gritty view of police life in a big city. Can't wait to read the next. show less