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Like Love
Like Love: An 87th Precinct Mystery | Ed McBain
10 posts | 3 read
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review
rabbitprincess
Mehso-so

One of the earlier volumes in the 87th Precinct series, and for book 16 to be considered “early”, that‘s a LOT of books. So it has brevity on its side. That said, not too much character development, more for the detectives. Women are objectified a great deal, and the solution to the main crime was unsatisfying (although I suppose unsatisfying solutions occur in real life as well). I finished this, so not a Pan.

quote
tokorowilliamwallace

Fear. A very helpful thing to a cop. Everybody's got a skeleton some place, and nobody wants it dragged into the middle of the living room during tea. Fear urges the innocent man to protect his own skeleton by telling the truth about someone else's bag of bones. Fear can lead the guilty man to panic, and panic is the great undoer among criminals.

quote
tokorowilliamwallace

Most people are sensible, don't you think? Any man will eventually come to the realization that there's no sense in shoveling manure against the tide. [I]t's sweeter-smelling and much less energetic to simply take a bench on the boardwalk, away from the breakers. It's been my experience, Colby, that there is absolutely nothing you can't find in the ocean which you can't find on land. Stop shoveling. Show a little optimism.

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tokorowilliamwallace

Crime detection is a line of work, the same as any other line of work. When a jeweler's been handling gems long enough, he doesn't have to put in his eyepiece to differentiate the real from the phony. He can tell from the feel of the gem, and the sheen and the glitter. Thieves glitter, too.

quote
tokorowilliamwallace
post image

There were muggings and knifings in the 23rd, yes. But there were also lovers walking hand in hand or stealing a kiss on a rooftop skylight. There police locks on almost every apartment door in the 23rd, yes. But there were *people* behind those doors...but it was part of the greatest city in the world, and it beat like the heart-pump of that city and there was rich, warm blood there and laughter in spite of the filth.

blurb
tokorowilliamwallace

They don't have the volume of his I started, but quasi-gaslighting authorities and body-snatching changeling themes isn't a very romantical Valentine's read....

“There was, too, if a town can give out such a feeling at one o'clock in the morning, a sense of unfriendliness...That's silly, I know. Any small town might look menacing in the early hours of the morning.

dabbling in #ithadtobeyou day 10 love lost
@alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@eggs

Eggs Happy Val♥️Day! 2y
Leftcoastzen I almost grabbed some McBain at the sale ! 2y
tokorowilliamwallace @Leftcoastzen Looks like somebody offloaded their entire collection of McBain, Mickey Spillane, Jack Higgins at my local most frequented resale charity shoppe; so I'm just testing a few of each out to see if I like them. I'm a dabbler at heart. I'd definitely like to hear your impressions, since you are more familiar and more well-read. 2y
See All 7 Comments
Leftcoastzen @tokorowilliamwallace I read a couple of McBains years ago , remember they were pretty good . The older mystery series I love the most is the Lawrence Block Matt Scudder series . New York gritty.I haven‘t read Higgins ,the Spillane I read was a bit over the top, but I kinda think that was supposed to be the point .😄 2y
tokorowilliamwallace @Leftcoastzen You mean Lawrence Block's early pulp noir stuff or when he got big? Characterize the themes of the grittiness some more. I have a few Robert B. Parker, one a continuation finishing job of unfinished Raymond Chandler. Those two are essentially comparable, right? I'll look for some Lawrence Block when I go thrifting next. They should be available in the tiny paperbacks, at 50 cents a piece. 2y
Leftcoastzen @tokorowilliamwallace Scudder is post pulp period , Scudder is an ex cop with a drinking problem, lives in Hell‘s Kitchen .First one was 1976 I think, Block hasn‘t really ever done a final book in the series. I went to NY often in late 90s , his descriptions of areas were vivid, though some had gentrified somewhat over the years .I liked his characters & his demons. 2y
tokorowilliamwallace OK, thank you. I currently am appreciate the demons of Greg Iles' odontologist crime scene consultant in Cat Ferry, with her drinking problems, panic attacks, and emotional reflections on her situations, and associating them both with the past and her hobby of free diving. I imagine you're a very interesting person to know, with stories, experiences, perspective from observation. 2y
13 likes7 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
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Pickpick

I really have been enjoying the 87th Precinct books. They are fast reads with relatable characters.

Yesterday I clocked in 2hrs and 2mins for the #SummersEndReadathon and this morning I have already added 40mins. So almost 11 hours altogether - still hoping to hit 24 by the end of the readathon!!

@Clwojick

blurb
DGRachel
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@rabbitprincess Here's my print cover...#alternativecovers

rabbitprincess I have Give the Boys a Great Big Hand and Sadie When She Died in that edition! Nice 😄 7y
58 likes1 comment
blurb
DGRachel
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One of the few #lovetitles I own - from my Kindle TBR #feistyfeb

Alfoster Love Ed McBain😍! 7y
rabbitprincess I like your cover better than my cover -- marginally less creepy 😉 7y
DGRachel @rabbitprincess This is the Kindle version, although I just pulled my print copy and it has a different cover, too. Definitely less creepy than yours! 😱 7y
53 likes3 comments
blurb
rabbitprincess
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A somewhat creepy-looking cover for a book with "love" in the title. #feistyfeb