Fat Ollies Book: A Novel of the 87th Precinct: Amazon.ca: Ed McBain: Books

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The disreputable, bigoted, dirty-mouthed but oddly likable Ollie Weeks, a walk-on in Ed McBain's popular 87th Precinct series, gets a book of his own here: not just the mystery of who killed a popular mayoral candidate a few days before the election, but the one Ollie, improbably, is writing. Pity the schmuck who lifts Ollie's only copy of his manuscript from his car--not only is its author in desperate need of what he's sure will be his ticket to fame and fortune, but the befuddled miscreant somehow believes that the caper recounted in Ollie's book is a real one, and that he's in possession of a blueprint for the crime that will allow him to cash in on it. This is a fast, funny read from the master--like a valentine to his fans while they wait for his next big one. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From 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.CWA's highest award, the Diamond Dagger.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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RESPONSE TIME - from the moment someone at the Martin Luther King Memorial Hall dialed 911 to the moment Car 81, in the Eight-Eight's Boy sector rolled up-was exactly four minutes and twenty-six seconds. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

38 Reviews

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4.3 out of 5 stars (38 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Fat Ollie Steals 87th Precinct Spotlight, April 16 2004

By

Bill Slocum (Norwalk, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fat Ollie's Book: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (Hardcover)

This book contains the worst crime fiction Ed McBain has ever produced, and that's meant as a complement. After all, it takes a gifted writer to write prose as bad as McBain produces on behalf of one of his less noble fictional creations, Detective First Grade Oliver Wendell Weeks. Weeks figures if he solves the crimes, what's the trick in making one up on paper and getting it on the best seller's lists? Not only does he have a well-worn list of "how-tos" for creating crime fiction ("BE SURE TO AVOID AMBIGUITY"), he's been doing his homework surveying the marketplace by reading Amazon.com reviews.

Clearly this guy is in trouble...

Weeks has been floating around McBain's 87th Precinct novels for a while, and now he gets center stage. Though he's with the 88th Precinct, and much disliked by the 87th Precinct detectives (and many readers) because of his nasty manner and blunt racist approach to life, he's still a decent detective.

Weeks kind of works as a protagonist only if you are playing it for laughs, and McBain is here. "Fat Ollie's Book" is one of the more comic 87th Precinct offerings. People still die, and others mourn, but this time there's more emphasis on laughs, incongruity, and malaprops, particularly when it comes to Weeks' novel. He decides it should star someone like himself (maybe not quite as fat) but female, since he discovers women buy more mysteries than men.

It's not exactly like Weeks transforms himself into Phil Donohue. His opus, "Report To The Commissioner," includes references to the narrator's ample bust and what a hot dish she is in general. She's writing from a locked room, you see, waiting for someone to kill her, and the first thing she wants you to know is there's a run in her stockings...

Then someone steals his manuscript, and Weeks goes on the warpath to get it back.

As a crime drama, "Fat Ollie's Book" is problematic. There's a couple of cases being worked on in tandem with Ollie's crisis, neither which holds much interest. The other detectives, like Steve Carella and Bert Kling, go through their paces but don't manage anything particularly interesting this time around. A problem with this book is that Weeks is probably the most colorful character anyway, and pushing him up to the foreground, especially as entertainingly as this, makes the others pale by comparison.

But as a crime comedy, "Fat Ollie's Book" is a nice reminder of a key reason so many of us visit the 87th Precinct: McBain's one funny writer, and he can spin a yarn.

Pity poor Ollie can't. But at least he can dance, play "Night And Day" on the piano, and come up for a derogatory epithet for anyone else on the planet.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Report to the Commissioner, April 14 2004

By

yessca - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fat Ollie's Book: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (Mass Market Paperback)

This is my first Mcbain book I have read. I enjoyed the different twist in this book. Fat Ollie is the typical Columbo type cop. Ollie is portraded as a fat, bigot aspiring writer. The book is about the murder of a councilman. It seems more or less important to Ollie to find who stole his book. There are different story lines that are quite easy to follow. It was quite fun to read and guess what OLlie would do next as well as reading along Ollies' book. I read this book on my return flight from Iraq and I must say I am not much of a Crime Fiction guy but, but this was well worth the read.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Average McBain is still pretty good, Mar 7 2004

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newyork2dallas (Dallas, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fat Ollie's Book: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a typical McBain 87th precinct mystery -- two or three story threads, some day in the life information on the detectives and the sharp dialogues present in all of the nearly 60 books in this series. Instead of concentrating on Steve Carella, McBain's usual hero, this one centers on Oliver Weeks (Fat Ollie), a recurring bit-parter in other books who is an obese Archie Bunker with a detective's shield.

All told, this is far from McBain's best (see the books with the Deaf Man -- a recurring criminal mastermind). The central crime (assassination of a city councilman) is not particularly complex, twisted or ingenious. The second thread is an interesting sidebar, but not much else. Ultimately, this is a good break from reality and one for the fans, but NOT for people uninitiated to McBain.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars the master has not lost his touch
One of the greatest police procedural series is the 87th Precinct novels of the legendary Ed McBain. The first one was written in 1956. Read more

Published on Mar 2 2004 by Larry Gandle

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific again! Typical McBain!
I've read ALL of the 87th Precinct books to date and have loved and reread all of them. This one was unique and captivating, as is typical Ed McBain style. Keep them coming!!

Published on Feb 10 2004 by T. J. Robins