The Frumious Bandersnatch

Before you buy the book, you have to find the book. Asking for it yields its own little joys. "Frumious Bandersnatch please," a gentle query to a clerk who responds with a sparkle in the eye born either of interest or befuddlement. A kind of secret, privileged conversation ensues between buyer and seller, an academic treatise on the etymology of the title, Lewis Carrol and Monty Python. So you buy the book and the story flies by as is usual with McBain and the 87th Precinct, wholly satisfying except for it being over too soon. The wait for the next one begins immediately. A brilliant man once said, "After a time you may find that 'having' is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as 'wanting.' It is not logical, but it is often true." Brilliant, but never read McBain.

The major plot elements have been discussed elsewhere, as have the wonderful characters. The seamless continuity with earlier (and expected) 87th-series novels has been mentioned too, although that doesn't matter so much, as this novel is very capable of standing on its own two feet. I shan't re-hash these points here. Everything is in place, as expected, as usual. This review, then, could legitimately be just an additional 931 adjectives, (there's a maximum 1,000 words in a review, darn it), describing how good this book is. It's that good. It's so beyond 'up to snuff' it's 'Class-A drug' level. So pure you could sit down and snort it. Beyond all the usual asides, funny references, 'in-jokes' and flat-out vicious ironies - the McBain-isms - it reflects the Lewis Carroll theme in ways which can't fail to make you hoot, including at one point some wonderful playful new 'Carrolls' all of its own. It's rare. Patricia Cornwell would chew off one of her own arms if it meant writing this well. Ever. No disrespect to her - who wouldn't?Enjoy!

The story, the plot, the surprises, the style, the FUN, the easy readings, the fine structure....were even better than ever.(It's a pity the audio- cd and cassettes - is abridged, but I'm lucky to have the book to compare).But the finest reason why You have to buy the book/audio is:"That touch of GENIUS": The way Carella admits in the end, how he's being used as.....A splended opening for the next 87th-precinct to come: "HARK". So save Your money, once more....

Bison Records' Barney Loomis sets up a special event on a yacht to launch his latest find Tamar Valparaiso to stardom. Tamar lip-synchs her debut CD Bandersnatch aboard the rented River Princess with the media along. All seems well as the vessel sails along the river until Hussein and Arafat abduct the star. The media and the police wonder if perhaps Barney set up the ploy as a publicity stunt, but he insists that he did not and displays much anger.87th Precinct Detective Steve Carella begins investigating, but almost immediately has to deal with an FBI led joint task force consisting of every bigwig wanting publicity in the nearby universe. The kidnappers demand a ransom to return the future superstar while the Feds try to keep Steve off their Squad. However, Barney demands Steve and the locals remain active as he believes they have a better chance of rescuing his diva because unlike the Squad they are not concerned about looking good in the media.It has been five decades with over fifty novels, yet the 87th Precinct books are always among the best police procedurals on the market. The latest tale is superb with a delightful and cleverly conceived investigation at its center. However, that is lightened by Fat Ollie's dating and homage to Lewis Carroll. Alice and her Looking Glass company provide a wonderful foundation to the relationships within the task force and within the three kidnappers (one more in a Bush mask) and their victim as well as between the two groups. Even the Queen of Hearts knows that Ed McBain is the best and he proves that once more with the fabulous FRUMIOUS BANDERSNATCH.Harriet Klausner

I have always been more impressed by the humor in the 87th Precinct mysteries than the police procedural. For instance, in FRUMIOUS BANDERSNATCH, McBain uses Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" to create a single used in a video as a sendoff for a new singing sensation, Tamar Valparaiso. This gives McBain a chance to lampoon music critics, TV entertainment news, and civil rights advocates who carry political correctness too far. The plot revolves around the kidnapping of Tamar off a river yacht. Steve Carella soon finds himself playing second fiddle to the FBI and their advanced technology. But, surprise of all surprises, Tamar's record producer insists on Carella accompanying him when he pays the ransom. Something else you usually get when you read the Grand Master is a brutal twist when you least expect it. He will stop at nothing. I'm kind of surprised he hasn't killed off Carella by now, especially since he's been working at the 87th for something like fifty years. All of the above would not make a great mystery. This is also a character vehicle. Ollie Weeks furnishes the sub plot, still romancing his fellow police officer, Patricia Gomez. A while back McBain made up his mind he was going to transform the mysogynistic, racist Weeks into an almost likable human being, but rather than do it all at once he's been chipping away at the big fellow for two, three books now. First off, Ollie decides to take music lessons, then he writes a book, a police procedural of course, and now he's dating a Hispanic police officer and learning how to play "Spanish Eyes" for her. He even takes her to see a movie about the making of Richard III. McBain pretty much telegraphs the resolution of this mystery when Tamar's record goes through the roof, but the interplay between the characters, as they say in those credit card commercials, is priceless.