Customer Reviews

The Last Dance

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The premise on which this crime novel is based is stated by one of the investigating officers. "When a stage musical is likely to make millions, there's always somebody who makes a claim of plagiarism." So Carella and his 87th Precinct fellow officers investigate several crimes here, and work their way through a large list of suspects whose motivation might be linked to the forthcoming production of a stage musical.

You'll find the usual McBain mix here: vivid description, tight dialogue, frequent changes of location. You'll never find a dull sentence, or a lifeless piece of dialogue. It was published in the year 2000. If the drama sags slightly and the imaginative force is not as strong as the punch that hits you in some of the earlier McBain crime novels, bear in mind that this is the fiftieth time McBain has worked with this highly successful formula.

THE LAST DANCE does a nice job of combining solid detective work with the occasional bit of chance to form a nicely constructed 87th precinct novel. All the players are here, including the man we love to hate Ollie Weeks, and the murder here is complicated by a series of events that are indirectly related, yet all lead to the eventual solution. A suicide that transforms into a homicide which ties into a play revival; only McBain can make something seemingly so far fetched work so well. For the 50th book in a series, this one definitely is spry for its age and McBain does his usual fine job making it all work.

This Ed McBain 87th Precinct book is proof that these stories
just get better and better.
The characters are complex and very, very human, and all the
more believeable for it.
An old man is found dead in mysterious circumstances, but there
is no motive for his death, and the case stagnates until a very
nice motive suddenly appears. The man was sitting on literary
rights to a play about to be staged, and he was refusing to
sell the rights. And a lot of people wanted that play to go
and be staged; there was a lot of money at stake.
Then one of Steve's favorite informers is shot to death in a
pizza place, when the informer is talking to Steve and about to
help him on a case. The audacity of that killing upsets the police, and the hunt begins in earnest.
Plus, Fat Ollie gets involved and is determined to help the
detectives of the 87th, whether they want it or not.
There is a lot of action here, and the pace is fast and strong.
A solid and good police-procedural entry.

...desperately bored, I unhappily picked this novel out of my landlord's bookshelf, seeing nothing else even remotely palatable to read. Nevertheless, I plunged in, only to find myself laughing and having a terrific time in Ed McBain's world. Later, I read a few more of his 87th precinct novels. However, none of the others got to me quite the way this one did.

This was my first Ed McBain book - and it will not be my last. This story moved like lightning! On every page a new twist to the plot occurred. McBain's prose and dialogue is both entertaining and exciting - his characters real and life-like. Read this book!

This book was good to read right after BIG BAD CITY as, it made lots of references to some of the same characters (without a redo) I think that the writing style was a bit more relaxed. It was as if reading about an old friend instead of tight and formal...like when you read about a character the first time. There was a big twist as usual and an unlikely killer. I love the way they get to the killer without boring me, simply because all of the characters are so well written. If it was my first McBain I would have given it 4 stars as it was not a very deep or strongly written novel...but since I'm an 87th precinct fan and know the characters it was as if I turned on the TV and watched another good episode of my favorite series.

The Last Dance, Ed McBain's 50th novel in the 87th precinct was actually the first one I have read. The whole crime-mystery genre thing is something I have never really explored. After reading The Last Dance, I don't know why. I really enjoyed the novel--it is a quick, engaging, almost addictive read. I found it to be the literary equivalent of Law and Order or CSI. There is a collection of crusty detectives in fictional city that reminded me much of NYC; there is an ever-growing collection of dead bodies, and an ever-growing collection of suspects. The story is well told, the dialogue is real, the characters are both amusing and believable. This series is definitely one I will return to when I am looking for a quick, engaging read. I also intend to share this series with the people in my life who don't read, but who enjoy Law and Order. Maybe this will make them readers.

As a mystery writer with my first book in its initial release, I have been amazed by the works of Evan Hunter/Ed McBain for decades. He is undeniably prolific, and his works are always of top quality. THE LAST DANCE proves my points perfectly. It is McBain's 50th 87th Precinct novel, and all the usual cops are on the scene doing their things. McBain shows them living their lives and performing their jobs. THE LAST DANCE is the police procedural at its best. It's a great novel in a great series. Ed McBain's work is unbelievable.

Oh, I wish there were a way to contact the people who write these reviews. More on that in a second. First, though, the book.

This is a solid entry in the 87th Precinct series. Solid, but not brilliant - on the other hand, come on: there are 50 books in the series and not all of them can be masterpieces. McBain's writing style is, as always, very slick, particularly the dialogue. He shows us that you don't need paragraphs of adjectives to get your scenes across (the authors featured in Oprah's Book Club could learn a thing or three in this regard) and his dialogue is terrific - simple, realistic, sometimes humorous. So yes: as far as writing style goes, he gets his usual 9/5 out of 10.

The characterisation is top-notch and aside from the suspects, wtinesses, victims etc. all your old faves are here: Carella, Kling, even Fat Ollie Weeks.

Now for plotting. The plot in The Last Dance is acceptable, but not particularly inspired and in parts there are a few questionable leaps of logic. This by no means makes the novel terrible, but it does take the lustre off just a little, in so far as there are better-plotted 87th Precinct novels than this one. McBain has said he rarely knows what will happen in his novels, and plans ahead by only a chapter or two. When you use that technique, there will be hits and misses. I wouldn't say this is a miss, but there are a few mis-steps. McBain has done better and it's mildly disappointing he didn't do something huge for his 50th 87th Precinct novel.

If you're new to the series, I'd start with a different novel - Poison, maybe. If you're an 87th veteran, however... well, you're probably going to buy this no matter what I say. And so you should. Just don't expect McBain to split the atom or re-invent the wheel with this one.

Finally, my main gripe - and it's to do with one of the reader reviews of this book, rather than the book itself. lvkleydorff (I assume that's not a real name), in his/her 4.5-line review, says "On page 203 Lorraine Riddock is 19 years old and has red hair. On page 212 she is in her mid-thirties and has black hair. There is absolutely no excuse for such sloppiness." There's no excuse for harping on an error that doesn't exist, either. If you're going to go on about sloppiness, let's examine your own literacy. On page 203 McBain does describe Riddock as a 19-year-old red-head. On page 212, however, the 'black hair, mid-thirties' description actually refers to a police officer who is questioning Riddock. This part of the novel isn't written in a confusing way, so I have no idea how lvkleydorff reached his/her conclusion. Furthermore, lvkleydorff gave the book two stars based solely on this incorrect nitpick (his review mentioned nothing else about the book). I ask you. So lvkleydorff, if you happen to read this review, I suggest you stick to your day job, and God I hope it has nothing to do with words.

And with that in mind, dear readers, I'd advise you to base your will-I-buy-it-or-won't-I decision on the general concensus, rather than just one or two reviews - I pity anyone who avoided The Last Dance simply because of lvkleydorff's insulting ineptitude.

I usually snatch a new book by Ed McBain as soon as I find it in my bookstore, but this one... I guess that even in the seemingly limitless field of the capability of human nature to commit a crime, and in the field of police investigative procedure, there are limits to what one can see, hear and observe. Even "the Master's" books are getting to be repetitious. Two stars for the past record, one for this one. Sorry, Ed. But do keep writing - I'll always buy them, in the hope you just came out with a new, brilliant twist.