The IBIC Guide to Books By Ed McBain

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Remarks from the IBIC Editor's Journal

Fans may want to check out THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH PRECINCT COMPANION, due out in June 1996 from Mysterious Press.

February 5, 1995

THERE WAS A LITTLE GIRL by Grandmaster Ed McBain (Warner) offers one interesting formal feature: the series protagonist, Florida lawyer Matthew Hope, is in a coma throughout the novel, and his associates run around investigating who shot him. I went back and read a couple of the earlier Matthew Hope books (GOLDILOCKS and RUMPELSTILTSKIN) so I would know what everyone was so concerned about. They were terrific; but this book didn't persuade me that I cared whether Matthew Hope comes out of his coma. In fact, I have a feeling that Ed McBain isn't sure whether he cares either. This book represents an odd blip in the McBain oeuvre. Only for devoted fans of the Hope series.

October 9, 1994

I went on an Ed McBain extravaganza last month, reading KISS, ICE, EIGHT BLACK HORSES, and LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE DEAF MAN. Great stuff. I'm really pleased that I have almost the entire ouevre of this terrific and highly prolific author left to explore.

One interesting observation is that he is a rather sequence-independent author. I didn't feel that I had lost much context by reading the novels out of chronological order.

Another gratifying observation is that he hasn't yet fallen victim to the dreaded Alistair Maclean syndrome. Like Dick Francis, he is a Lensman-quality author who is still at full stride.

August 2, 1994

MISCHIEF by Ed McBain (William Morrow) is the first novel that I have read by this highly prolific and highly talented author. It won't be the last. It's back to the Ann Arbor Public Library to read his backlist from start to finish.


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Editor's Recommendations, Summer 1996

In this inaugural edition of IBIC's Featured Books, I'd like to draw your attention to several titles which have helped to shape my life and thinking.

  • When I was around fifteen, I came across Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's science fiction novel, INFERNO. This '70s remake of Dante's classic describes science fiction writer Allen Carpentier's descent into Hell. It's still a very fresh, accessible take on the classic. What a great movie it would make!
  • The Niven/Pournelle INFERNO immediately inspired me to read the original Divine Comedy. I've read a number of translations over the years, but my favorite is the one by Dorothy Sayers (INFERNO; PURGATORY; PARADISE). The notes are excellent, and Sayers had such a knowledgeable and witty mind that reading her prose is a pleasure in itself. (For those interested in a more contemporary translation, I should mention that Robert Pinsky received excellent notices for his 1995 THE INFERNO OF DANTE : A NEW VERSE TRANSLATION; it's a very handsome book.)
  • I also want to tell you about the late Henry Fairlie's THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS TODAY, which probably did more than any other single book to galvanize me into a lifetime interest in Christianity that led me, eventually, to faith. Ironic, because Fairlie was a self-proclaimed agnostic socialist! But reading between the lines of this insightful and deeply feeling book, one realizes that the love of God cannot have been far from Fairlie's heart.
  • Finally, I should draw to your attention a more recent acquisition, the very handsome NIV STUDY BIBLE (10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) from Zondervan, indexed and bonded in leather in IBIC's theme color, burgundy (black and brown are also available). The notes to this Bible are amazing. They appear to provide you with a very substantial portion of what you need to know to have an intelligent layman's appreciation of the linguistic and historical issues involved in understanding Scripture.

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