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King’s Ransom (87th Precinct) Paperback – March 27, 2012

by Ed McBain (Author)

1,592

Book 10 of 52: 87th Precinct Mysteries

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For a wealthy businessman, a kidnapping puts him in a predicament as troubling as any he has ever experienced. For Detective Steve Carella and the men at the 87th Precinct, their troubles are even worse. Their only hope is that he will play ball―at least long enough for them to catch the perps before the kidnapping turns into a homicide.

Ed McBain delivers another rapid-fire nail-biter in his 87th Precinct series with King’s Ransom, a morally complex weaving of friendship, personal responsibility, and the nature of man hailed by the Daily Mirror: “McBain spins the tightest tale in town…there’s nobody who does it better.” King’s Ransom was made into the major motion picture High and Low by acclaimed director Akira Kurasawa.

Book 10 of 52

87th Precinct Mysteries
Print length

224 pages
Language

English
Publication date

March 27, 2012
Dimensions

5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

1612181716
ISBN-13

978-1612181714
Lexile measure

450L
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Editorial Reviews

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Stephen King and Nelson DeMille on Ed McBain

I think Evan Hunter, known by that name or as Ed McBain, was one of the most influential writers of the postwar generation. He was the first writer to successfully merge realism with genre fiction, and by so doing I think he may actually have created the kind of popular fiction that drove the best-seller lists and lit up the American imagination in the years 1960 to 2000. Books as disparate as The New Centurions, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Godfather, Black Sunday, and The Shining all owe a debt to Evan Hunter, who taught a whole generation of baby boomers how to write stories that were not only entertaining but that truthfully reflected the times and the culture. He will be remembered for bringing the so-called "police procedural" into the modern age, but he did so much more than that. And he was one hell of a nice man. --Stephen King

Way back in the mid-1970s, when I was a new writer and police series were very big, my editor asked me to do a series called Joe Ryker, NYPD. I had no idea how to write a police detective novel, but the editor handed me a stack of books and said, “These are the 87th Precinct novels by Ed McBain. Read them and you’ll know everything you need to know about police novels.” After I read the first book--which I think was Let’s Hear It for the Deaf Man--I was hooked, and I read every Ed McBain I could get my hands on. Then I sat down and wrote my own detective novel, The Sniper, featuring Joe Ryker. My series never reached the heights of the 87th Precinct series, but by reading those classic masterpieces, I learned all I needed to know about urban crime and how detectives think and act. And I had a hell of a time learning from the master. Years later, when I actually got to meet Ed McBain/Evan Hunter, I told him this story, and he said, “I would have liked it better if my books inspired you to become a detective instead of becoming my competition.” Evan and I became friends, and I was privileged to know him and honored to be in his company. I remain indebted to him for his good advice over the years. But most of all, I thank him for hundreds of hours of great reading. --Nelson DeMille

To read about how Ed McBain influenced other mystery and thriller writers, visit our Perspectives on McBain page.

For a complete selection of 87th Precinct novels available from Thomas & Mercer, visit our Ed McBain's 87th Precinct Booklist.

About the Author

Ed McBain was one of the pen names of successful and prolific crime fiction author Evan Hunter (1926 – 2005). Debuting in 1956, the popular 87th Precinct is one of the longest running crime series ever published, featuring over fifty novels, and is hailed as “one of the great literary accomplishments of the last half-century.” McBain was awarded the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement in 1986 by the Mystery Writers of America and was the first American to receive the Cartier Diamond Dagger award from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomas & Mercer (March 27, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1612181716
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1612181714
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 450L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #811,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13,163 in Police Procedurals (Books)
- #43,759 in American Literature (Books)

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4.2 out of 5

1,592 global ratings

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Kay

Human nature

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2023

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Kidnapping of the wrong kids shows the character flaws of many people. We are not entirely good or bad whomever we are. The men of the 87 have another win

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S. M. Wells

*Everybody* knows Ed McBain

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2013

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Now so do I, thanks to a 2008 article in the Daily Telegraph called "50 Crime Writers to Read Before You Die" and to Amazon, of course. Late to the party maybe, but I sure know a good book when I read it.

King's Ransom (1959) is the 10th book in the 87th Precinct series. It tells a tight tale of a kidnapping gone wrong and keeps the readers interest with vivid characters and a fine cracking pace.

No loose ends here, no sloppy writing either-- the 87th Precinct house banter is said to have strongly flavored the cops' dialogue in Hill Street Blues.

And an extra bonus: like reading Chandler for the 30s and Poe for mid-19th century McBain's crime fiction gives us a peek into the 50's (and forward I assume) as his series spans the decades to the 21st century.

This could become a glorious addiction.

2 people found this helpful

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Robert W Case

Kurosawa's Alchemy of McBain's Material

Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2015

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A crisp, well-written police procedural pulp novel of the late 1950's, transmuted by Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa into the pure gold of "High and Low", a magnificent and underrated film.
Where McBain stays with the macho stubbornness of industrialist Douglas King NOT to pay the ransom for his chauffeur's kidnapped son who was mistakenly taken instead of his own son, Kurosawa's protagonist (Toshiro MIfune, in a really unusual role for him) decides to go with his conscience and forfeit his business by paying the ransom. His struggle climaxes as he throws the ransom case from the washroom window of a moving train and then rushes to the sink, throwing water over his face in an effort to drown out the consciousness of what he has just done. While McBain does hold up a mirror to American society, Kurosawa penetrates postwar Japan more deeply, and also plumbs the twisted psyche of the kidnapper as a principal theme.
Taken together, the American novel and the Japanese film form a powerful example of book-film evolution, in this case where the content of the film surpasses that of the book.

One person found this helpful

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James L. Thane

A Complex Moral Dilemma in the 87th Precinct

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2013

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Doug King, a wealthy industrialist, is putting together a secret deal that will effectively give him control of the company where he has been working for most of his life. To make the deal, he's had to scrape together every last dime he has and that he can borrow. Now he's got $750,000 and is ready to make his move.

Just as he's about to put his plan into motion, however, a kidnapper calls King and tells him that the kidnapper and his partner have King's young son, Bobby. If King wants his son back alive, he needs to pay $500,000. The kidnappers will phone with instructions later.

King and his wife are naturally panicked and call the cops. Steve Carella and other detectives from the 87th Precinct spring into action and are busy setting traps on King's phone lines and doing the other things that the police would normally do in such a case when Bobby walks through the door after playing outside.

It turns out that the kidnappers have made a critical mistake. Instead of grabbing Bobby, they have grabbed his playmate, the son of King's humble chauffer. The kidnappers don't care; they still want the five hundred grand. Doug King would have been willing to pony up the money for his own son, but he's not so sure about ransoming back the chauffer's kid, because if he does, he will not have the money he needs to complete his big business deal.

While Carella and the other detective try to track the kidnappers and rescue the boy, Doug King must wrestle with his conscience and decide what to do. It makes for an entertaining tale with a complex moral dilemma at its center. The result is one of the better early entries in this long-running series.

2 people found this helpful

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D. Marsh

A somewhat different 87th Precinct story

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2018

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I’ve read a lot of books from this series and have liked some more than others. This story was definitely different. There was much more of a philosophical slant to it which applied to all the main characters. There was some good in the bad guys; some bad in the good guys.

I really enjoyed the book. I think there’s only been one book of this series I just didn’t like at all, so that’s not surprising to me. If you’re an Ed McBain fan, I definitely recommend this read. It may be different, but it’s well written and makes one think more than usual.

2 people found this helpful

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David A. Freas

Love it is a bit too strong...

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2013

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...but I have yet to read an 87th Precinct novel that I didn't think was great.

Ed McBain set the standard for police procedurals with Cop Hater in 1956. Very few other writers have juggled so many main characters so well and kept them fresh over almost 60 books. Each book is unique, never a ‘fill in the blanks’ clone of an earlier book.

King’s Ransom, about a kidnapping that goes awry, is less action oriented and has less police procedure than some other books in the series. Both are there but they take a back seat to the personalities and motivations of several primary characters.

As in all his 87th Precinct books, the city is as much a character as Steve Carella, his star detective. Only McBain could devote a page to sunrise in the city and not have it slow the novel down.

I’ve now read 38 of the 57 novels in this series and have yet to encounter a bad or even mediocre one. And one of my goals before I die is to read the other 19.

3 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

One of Ed's best.

Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2022

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I've read all the 87th precinct
books, years ago. Re-reading them now. Parts of the books are showing their age but they are still a good read. I really enjoyed this one. Too much tv could ruin these as we all think we know how detectives work but when these were written we were still a little naive.

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RL

Solid, Slightly Dated But Still High Quality

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2015

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With the earlier, 50's to early 60's Ed McBain books, it's unavoidable that some of the material suffers a little from age. In Kings Ransom, some of the dialogue has a thin crust of staleness to it and a key plot point about radios and phones in cars might make the average Iphone fan stumble. But as is also almost always the case, you just have to scratch the service a little to find a lively, intelligent, fast moving police procedural that should be essential reading for any fan of the genre.

One person found this helpful

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Brieuc Martin-Onraet

King's ransom

Reviewed in Mexico on March 9, 2021

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The printing is atrocious. Between page 103 and 104, a dozen pages of another book were included. Another print of the same publisher was badly glued. Pages coming apart. Watch your quality control please.

Julimar Ferreira

Non va bene per chi deve leggere e ascoltare perché manca il libro

Reviewed in Italy on February 9, 2018

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Non corrispondi a quello che cercavo.
non si può vendere un prodotto senza dire che non é accompagnato dal libre, che è essenziale.
la casa editrice vende anche senza CD o Libro ma specifica per ogni libro cosa contiene!
Non consiglierei a nessuno!!!

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Mike R.

mr5512

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 20, 2014

Verified Purchase

Another interesting study in human behaviour, a feature of the 87th Precinct Series, played out against a backdrop of a kidnapping and a corporate power struggle. Good read.

astuce

Whatever you do get my name right...

Reviewed in Australia on March 31, 2014

Verified Purchase

After reading this I have to ask myself what I would do if I had to sacrifice everything I worked very hard for to save the life of someone who means nothing to me. Good read.

S. J. J.

Typical of the later 87th Precinct mysteries; psychologically realistic ...

Reviewed in Canada on August 21, 2017

Verified Purchase

Typical of the later 87th Precinct mysteries; psychologically realistic, well plotted, and full of information on police procedure.
S.J.J. F.

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