Book info

• Title Hail to the Chief
• Author Ed McBain
• Year 1973
• Genres Mystery, Thriller

It's January. The weather is cold—and it’s about to feel even colder. Detectives Carella and Kling of the 87th Precinct stand at the edge of their jurisdiction staring down into a ditch filled with six naked, murdered bodies. But who put them there and why? As Carella and Kling dive deeper into the mystery of the six, they find themselves walking into a deadly battle among three teenage gangs: the Hispanic Death’s Heads, the African American Scarlet Avengers, and a white gang known as the clique. Racing to put together the clues before a criminal mastermind and a full-blown gang war tear the city apart, Carella and Kling need to use every trick in their arsenal.

Thoughts

Another 87th Precinct novel and it follows the familiar patterns of our favourite group of cops investigating crime in the city that never sleeps. There were some interesting structure changes in this one, with direct paragraphs from the gang members. I didn’t care for that so much, they felt quite long and drawn out without giving too much information away. I prefer the dialogues between the cops, or between cops and suspects, as they try and whittle their way towards an answer.

I bought a lot of these 87th Precinct books when they were on sale, but to be honest, I think I’m going to give it a break for now.

Rating: 3 / 5