Fat Ollie's Book
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- € 3,99
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Another 87th precinct novel from 'the undisputed master - and there's nobody who does it better' DAILY MIRROR
Irritating though he was, Lester Henderson had it all when he strode up to rehearse his keynote address in the darkness of a downtown theatre. Widely tipped to be the next mayor and possessing a nice line in catalogue-casual daywear, Henderson stood four-square facing his glorious future. But five shots later and his lifeblood was seeping away - gunned down by person or persons unknown from stage-right...
At that point he became Ollie Weeks' problem. But this savage crime is suddenly overshadowed by a deed even more repugnant. Ollie's life's work is his novel. Honed by countless rejection letters, it is finally ready to be released to the general populace. But then the one and only manuscript disappears, leaving Ollie to head off in pursuit of the thief. A thief who is convinced that Ollie's work contains the secret location of a hoard of hidden diamonds...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Even when MWA Grand Master McBain (aka Evan Hunter) isn't in top form, he is very good and such is the case with this 87th Precinct novel, which really belongs to Det. Oliver Wendell Weeks of the 88th Precinct. Fat Ollie, of the gross appetite and the even grosser ignorance of political correctness, played a surprisingly heroic role in the last 87th Precinct novel, Money, Money, Money (2001). Now he claims star billing and repayment of a debt owed by Det. Steve Carella. Two major crimes occur at almost the same time: the shooting of Councilman (and possible mayoral candidate) Lester Henderson as he is getting ready for a rally and the theft of the just completed manuscript of Ollie's first novel, Report to the Commissioner. Ollie enlists Carella's help (Henderson lived in the 87th) and pursues both the murderer and the thief. McBain's broad humor is much in evidence as he pokes fun at detective novels and their readership through excerpts from Fat Ollie's ponderous book. On the other hand, Ollie's outrageous bigotry, like that of TV's Archie Bunker, never seems to hurt or offend anyone and palls over an entire novel. Still, McBain creates wonderfully strange characters, like the transvestite hooker who latches on to Ollie's book, and crimes that are somehow ingenious, stupid and utterly convincing. FYI:McBain is the only American to have received the British CWA's highest award, the Diamond Dagger.
