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jon288's review against another edition
4.0
A decent police thriller. It's one of a series (I found out after reading), so you jump straight into a fairly well developed setting, but it works well as a standalone. A would-be killer sends a note to a police station, and they've got 12ish hours to find and stop him. It moves briskly, but it's pulpy and probably would have benefited from being a bit more fleshed out. It's got a sense of humour, and that carries it a long way.
ring01's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
bundy23's review against another edition
3.0
They paid Ed McBain for 180 pages so he took a holiday with his family and wrote 20 pages a day for 9 days with no re-writes and, despite being a quick and entertaining read, it probably could've done with a bit of a tidy up.
tarana's review against another edition
5.0
Another good book. They have 12 hours to prevent a murder. Who? Where? to Whom?
dgrachel's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
McBain wrote this in 9 hours. It’s an interesting premise - someone sends a letter to the precinct claiming that he’s going to kill The Lady at 8 PM. The detectives have to race the clock to figure out who the lady is and who plans to kill her. This is another solid procedural from McBain, but again, not the most PC novel out there. 🤦🏻♀️
whatmeworry's review against another edition
4.0
Another great procedural mystery from McBain. This one I'd read before, but even then it was a joy to watch the plot unfold.
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