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Bezig met laden... De losprijs (King's ransom) (1959)door Ed McBain
Bezig met laden...
Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Although I've been a fan of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series of police procedural novels for a long time, I've been highly anticipating this one for another reason. Akira Kurosawa's wonderful film "High and Low" is based on this novel. Kurosawa's film focuses on a business tycoon named Kingo Gondo (in homage to this book's title). McBain's novel focuses both on the businessman (here called Douglas King) and on the police officers who populate this successful book series. Both versions hinge on a delicious twist: a rich man is prepared to do anything to get his son safely back from kidnappers. But will he be as self-sacrificing when he learns the kidnap victim is not his son, but the son of the man's chauffeur? Both a wonderful example of police procedural, with breathless activity that keeps the pages turning rapidly, and an examination of where greed and ambition end and human decency picks up, "King's Ransom" is a splendid little book. ( ) I have read all of Ed McBain's "87th Precinct" books in the past, but I was recently watching Akira Kurosawa's excellent film "High and Low" and was surprised to see that McBain's "King's Ransom" was the basis of the movie. I thought that I would re-read the book since it has been a very long time since I read one of the "87th Precinct" books (and I didn't remember the plot) and wanted to compare it to the film. King's Ransom is quite good, an early one in the "87th Precinct" series, with an interesting and different story-line about kidnappers and a very wealthy businessman. The basic plot is the same as the Kurosawa film, but the kidnappers and their reasons for the kidnapping are different from the film (greed vs envy), and the ending of the book is very different from "High and Low". The book's ending is much more realistic and likely to happen, a commentary on our world. Ed McBain wrote the book in 1959, but it could easily have been put out today, with a overbearing wealthy business executive and his decisions. Ed McBain always is a good read, with his great characters and crisp dialogue he is not an author to miss out on. Douglas King is trying to wrest control of his company from others by negotiating the purchase of a block of common stock when kidnappers grab a boy they think is his son, but is actually the son of his widowed chauffeur. The 87th Precinct and King's wife (and son) try to get him to pay the ransom, but the greedy capitalist is only willing to pretend; however, some rift among the kidnappers helps avert disaster. Well, it begins, of all places, in an anger-filled meeting at a shoe factory!?!?! I wasn't expecting that. Nor was I expecting Mr. Douglas King, one of the most disgusting people in the 87th Precinct, basically the poster boy for the selfish, uncaring Republicans in the world. Money being more important than a life. Very Trump-like. Yech. This is another good tale by McBain. A kidnapping gone awry. I love the way he describes the city, and especially the weather in it. This book had less of the stories of the men of the 87th, but it still kept me interested. And I liked the sweet little twist at the end! Good last line: "Outside the squadroom, the city crouched." geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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When a wealthy businessman is faced with a kidnapping, the ransom could ruin his biggest deal ever--unless Detective Steve Carella can find the culprits before the kidnapping turns to murder."McBain has the ability to make every character believable--which few writers these days can do." --Associated Press"McBain forces us to think twice about every character we meet...even those we thought we already knew." --New York Times Book Review Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)813Literature English (North America) American fictionLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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