The Glady the Cross-Eyed Bear

Still recovering from a near-fatal shooting in his previous outing ("There Was A Little Girl"), Calusa, Florida, lawyer Matthew Hope finds a trademark case escalating into murder. The eponymous bear is the creation of his toy-designer client, Lainie Commins, whose former employers, Etta and Brett Toland, have produced a similar cuddly toy and are about to destroy her big chance with their greater market clout. Naturally, when Brett is found murdered aboard his boat, with plenty of witnesses attesting to Lainie's presence, and her scarf found near the nude body, she is the prime suspect. Matthew's investigation proves increasingly damaging to Lainie, whose story changes with every telling. Meanwhile, Matthew's cohorts, Warren Chambers and Toots Kiley, in an entirely seperate subplot, are engaged in a drug battle on a drifting boat. McBain's laconic, mannered prose lends a familiar rythm to this well-paced story laced with moral ambiguities, some of which are Matthew's own.

I enjoyed reading this book. I am pretty sure that McBain takes more time writing his Hope series. There's liitle of the flippant dialogue and other narrative devices that often mar the putative reality of the 87th books. McBain's novel (not McBain necessarily) wants you to examine the complexities of human beings--in this novel: Hope, Laine--both in some depth. But all characters invite consideration and really seem to blend seamlessly into the narrative (e.g. Guthrie, Diaz, and Tootsie). The casual connection between pornography and a unique children's teddy bear merits a second (third) look. Characters in this book are generally not nice, but are a mix of good and bad, right and wrong. Many readers will pooh-pooh the secondary plot with Warren and Tootsie, but it is in this world (the boat out on the open sea is a microcosm of our world) that seems so surreal, but really is "life-lived" and the "thing itself" that we glimpse a human being staring intently at evil (crack and/or cocaine) and saying "you aren't going to beat us this time" He stands strong, helps his addicted friend and gave me some hope that good still may triumph, at least aspirationally, in this world, where my 50 plus years on earth has seen a lot of nastiness, betrayal and other unalloyed forms of evil. But a little good along the way. I read Money, Money, Money just before this one. I enjoyed it, but Gladly has legitimate edginess (not too overdone for a novel) and a kind of crunchy soulfulness that makes you applaud what Etta did to her husband. Again right over wrong; good over evil. Money also had its virtues but was too jauntily frivilous about certain things (lion) and maudlin about human relations: Carrella, mother and wife. My first Hope book; hope others are as good. Oh, I almost forgot. McBain's handling of Hope's coma was excellent and was wrapped up beautifully (understated and clever)at the end of the book. I have read 9 McBain books; Gladly (and just a little of Vespers) is the only one where when I finished the book, I said a little prayer and reached for Yeats's poems. WEll Done.

Ed McBain is the best and this is one of his best. Matthew Hope has two cases, but only one client. The first case is Lainie Commins' battle with a big toy company over trademark rights to a cross-eyed teddy bear. The second is defending her aginst charges that she has murdered the owner of the toy company. He is also battling the after-effects of his own recent near-death experience. Matthew has to work through all these difficulties without the help of his favorite PI's Warren Chambers and Toots Kiley who are embroiled in a life-threatening subplot of their own. This complcated story is played out against the backdrop of McBain's beautifully rendered city of Colussa, Florida.

I loved reading this book. I forced myself not to skip to the end of this book because I wanted to enjoy the ride as long as possible. McBain always teaches you something i.e. strabismusly challenged, INS in Big Bad City (which I already knew) and the subtle variations of the definition of Nocturne (I give Nocturne ***** also). I even went back and read The Black Board Jungle and enjoyed it. Criminal Conversation and Privileged Conversation are also excellent books. McBain/Hunter is an absolute gem. I always feel I've gained an experience from his books.

The story is constructed more on the pattern of the 87th Precinct novels so I found it more absorbing than the usual Mattew Hope novel. Definitely worth getting.