Alice in Jeopardy

by Ed McBain

Book Overview

"I have your children. Don't call the police, or they'll die." It's a nightmare no parent should ever endure. Especially Alice Glendenning, a South Florida real estate agent who hasn't managed to sell... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743493583
• ISBN13: 9780743493581
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Pocket Books
• Length: 372 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.1" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Let's Hear It For Ed McBain!

This book was to be the start of a new series of mysteries by Ed McBain - but, alas, he passed away in 2005 after only completing this volume. This book studies the crime from the perspective of the victim, Alice Glendenning, who must take charge of her life when her two children are kidnapped and held for ransom. Alice and her sister are well-drawn characters as is her sister's husband, Rafe, a truck driver and ex-convict. The plot is clever and the clues are difficult to spot and the mystery and the ending are very satisfying. I will miss Ed McBain/Evan Hunter very much.

A Great Visit to Cape October Florida

I saw this book on the shelve. It said Ed McBain, it was a new title. I got it. I packed it in my briefcase to take on the plane the next day. On the plane I leaned back, got out the book and was looking forward to see what the crowd at the 87th was up to now. Imagine my surpise when I didn't get immediately transported to New York (the plane didn't go there either). Instead I went to Cape October, Florida (no the plane didn't go there either). At Cape October I met Alice Glendenning who was not having a good time in her life. Let's see, there's her husband, fallen off of his sailboat and presumed dead; there's the insurance company, not paying her husband's life insurance; there's her ankle, broken; there are her two kids, kidnapped -- and that's just up to page 20. So what can Alice do but go visit her artist friend Charlie. Then the cops show up, they're the Cape October cops, but they were trained at the Keystone Cops School of Ineptness. Then the FBI (kidnapping is a Federal offense) shows up. They were trained in fighting turf wars. My disappointment at not having a visit with the guys down at the 87th turned into a very pleasant Florida visit. I suggest you take a 290 page visit there yourself.

Never disappoints

My father introduced me to Ed McBain's 87th precinct books before I was in junior high, and I have been a fan ever since. My bookselves are filled with more than fifty McBain and a dozen Evan Hunter books. He is one of the most prolific writers of the last half century, working in several genres and multiple series under his own name, Evan Hunter, and his more well known Ed McBain, so one might expect an occasional weak effort, but that is why he remains on the top of my list, he has never faltered, not once. His dialogue is deft, characters ring true and plotting is masterful. Can you ask for more in an entertaining read? Easily the equal of Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiaasen and George Pelecanos. Alice in Jeopardy is admittedly a little different, but that is why it is a five star, McBain doesn't wear a path through the same material, he always moves on to new and maybe better stuff. I hope he continues for another half century, and I will be looking forward to the next, McBain, or Hunter with equal anticipation,

A winner

Some of the reviews are negative. I'm just a somebody in a small town who really enjoyed this book. Many twists and turns that make it a page turner. A real delight.

A page-turner that will keep you up until the last page

Alice Glendenning's husband died tragically in a boating accident eight months ago. She struggles while the insurance company reviews the claim on Eddie's double indemnity policy in the event of an accident. She deals with her grief as she struggles to provide for her two children. Alice has taken on a job as a real estate agent but not seem to have the talent for it. One day her two children do not come home from school. She receives a phone call not to call the police. You can feel the panic and her anger rise as Alice deals with the police, the FBI, her neighbors, reporters, and others. Alice is frustrated by the local police efforts. Mrs. Garrity, her housekeeper seems to speak up at every opportunity to every police and FBI investigator. Her brother in-law Rafe, an ex-con unexpectedly appears on the scene. Jennifer Redding, the woman who ran into Alice with her car seems all too eager to be friends with Alice. Alice receives the shock of a life-time when she discovers who took her children. This is a fast paced, well-written crime novel that will keep your attention to the last page.