Synopses & Reviews
The kidnapping was audacious, and there were plenty of witnesses...
But no one attending the dazzling launch party for up-and-coming pop idol Tamar Valparaiso knew what they were seeing when, halfway through her performance, masked men whisked the sexy young singer off a luxury yacht and into a waiting speedboat. Now, the evening that was supposed to send Tamar's debut album, Bandersnatch, skyrocketing with a million-dollar promotional campaign has instead kicked off a terrifying countdown for Steve Carella and the detectives of the 87th Precinct. Time is their enemy in the race to find Tamar's abductors before the rising star is extinguished forever.
Review
"[T]his newest installment might be one of his most delectably cynical, out-and-out corrosive tales since he started writing the series in 1956....This is McBain as savagely satisfying as a very rare filet mignon." USA Today
Review
"[T]op-dollar McBain, as funny and adroit as his last couple, but old-school edgier....Imagine your favorite Law & Order cast solving fresh mysteries into infinity, with no reruns, and you have some sense of McBain's grand, ongoing accomplishment. (Grade: A-)" Entertainment Weekly
Review
"McBain remains as fresh and sharp-edged as ever....Although it's soon obvious who's behind Tamar's kidnapping, we don't read McBain for surprising denouements but for his true-to-life dialogue, skill at defining characters and effortless transitions." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Does anybody need a reason to start reading this venerable series now? If you do, try this: It's the freshest 48-year-old in town." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"O frabjous day!...Armed with lots of informative dope on the cutthroat marketing practices of this $12 billion industry, McBain spins a riotous, if ultimately sobering, tale about a record release that goes awry." Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"It's difficult to praise a single 87th Precinct novel as demonstrably better than the preceding 52, so let's just say the current case is always the best, but only until the next one." Booklist
Review
"The Frumious Bandersnatch entertains with its characters and their world, and McBain's satire and clever wordplay." Boston Globe
Review
"McBain displays his usual mastery of the police procedural along with an astute grasp of the music industry, the news media, and publicity....Taut plotting, crisp and believable dialog, and memorable characters make this another McBain success." Library Journal
Review
"This is not McBain at his grim, gritty best, but McBain in an antic mood, having fun with a crime caper that keeps us smiling until the very end, when he delivers a kick in the teeth that reminds us that at heart he is a writer with an extremely dark view of our species." The Washington Post
Review
"Bandersnatch is a smart, fast tale that is loaded with goodies. Reading it should make for 'a frabjous day' for McBain fans, old and new, who, no doubt, will chortle in their joy at having a new tale of the 87th Precinct to savor." Hartford Courant
Review
"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." BookReporter.com
Synopsis
The 53rd novel of McBain's series featuring the battle-hardened cops of the 87th Precinct finds Carella and the detectives investigating the kidnapping of a glamorous hip-hop singer.
About the Author
The pen name of author Evan Hunter (19262005), Ed McBain held the Mystery Writers of America's prestigious Grand Master Award and was the first American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers' Association's highest award. The author of more than one hundred books, he passed away on July 6, 2005.