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    Killer's Wedge
    Killer's Wedge
    Killer's Wedge
    Audiobook5 hours

    Killer's Wedge

    Written by Ed McBain

    Narrated by Dick Hill

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Her name is Virginia Dodge. And she’s here to kill Detective Steve Carella.

    An ordinary day at the 87th Precinct is about to take a turn for the worse when Dodge shows up to put a bullet in Carella’s head. And she doesn’t care if she has to take all the men in the 87th with her to do it.

    Armed with a homemade bomb, handgun, and a bottle of nitroglycerine hidden in her purse, Virginia holds the entire squadroom hostage as she waits for Carella. And no one is leaving until he shows up to meet his maker. With all the men of the 87th save one held prisoner, they engage in a battle of wits to save their colleague from their deadly captor.

    A classic in Ed McBain’s groundbreaking 87th Precinct series, Killer’s Wedge is a mesmerizing, profoundly relevant thriller where terrorism strikes deep into the heart of the house, putting everyone’s life on the line in a tense standoff with an enemy who cannot be reasoned with.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateApr 17, 2012
    ISBN9781455873784
    Killer's Wedge
    Author

    Ed McBain

    Ed McBain, a recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's coveted Grand Master Award, was also the first American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers Association's highest award. His books have sold more than one hundred million copies, ranging from the more than fifty titles in the 87th Precinct series (including the Edgar Award–nominated Money, Money, Money) to the bestselling novels written under his own name, Evan Hunter—including The Blackboard Jungle (now in a fiftieth anniversary edition from Pocket Books) and Criminal Conversation. Fiddlers, his final 87th Precinct novel, was recently published in hardcover. Writing as both Ed McBain and Evan Hunter, he broke new ground with Candyland, a novel in two parts. He also wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. He died in 2005. Visit EdMcBain.com.

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    Reviews for Killer's Wedge

    4/5

    67 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      The tension that was lacking from McBains last installment (Lady Killer) is evident in full force with Killer's Wedge. The widow of a recently deceased convict enters the detective's division of the 87th with a gun and a bottle allegedly filled with nitroglycerin, and proceeds to take the station hostage as she awaits the return of Steve Carella, the man she blames for her husbands death. Killer's Wedge takes place in early October.Lieutenant Byrnes, Meyer, Hawes, Kling, Brown, and Willis find themselves at the mercy of a vengeance lusting woman with a homemade bomb, unable to communicate with one another on how to gain control of the situation. Much of their story involves internal monologue as the bulls debate thrier options while second-guessing the others. Several attempts to get help or subdue the widow of various levels of ingenuity are undertaken as emotions run high. Interestingly enough, the main focus of the story, Carella, spends the length of the book investigating the supposed suicide of a rich industrialist while the usual cast of background characters spend the majority of their time in the spotlight as the try to diffuse the situation before Carella walks into his own execution. This gives the reader a welcome chance to spend more time with the other vivid and often neglected characters populating the 87th The only real personal story involved is the revelation at the beginning of the book that Teddy is pregnant. Her appearance at the station to meet Carrella for a night of celebration manages to increase the tension. The title of the book has the same dual meaning as earlier novels like Con Man, as the titular "wedge" refers not only to the the distance created between Byrnes and his command by the vengeful woman in black, but also a piece of wood the weighs heavily in the solution of Carella's locked room mystery. This is not the only parallel between the two stories, as Carella's obsessive investigation into the "locked room mystery" of how a man found hanging in a room locked from the inside could have been murdered mirrors the reality of his fellow bulls finding themselves locked in a room with a murderer. On a side note, McBain tips his hat to a fellow mystery writer when he has Carella, pondering the impossibility of his locked room suicide/murder dillemma, wonder if he should simply John Dickson Carr for an answer.
    • 5/5
      The 7th book in McBain’s groundbreaking series of police procedurals — a genre he basically invented — seems to be having a bit of fun. In previous books, McBain’s introductions and afterwords, written many decades later, explain how his publishers did not want Detective Steve Carella to be killed off, nor did they want him to be the main attraction in the series. Carella was seen as too much the good guy — happily married to a wife he adored, the now-pregnant Teddy. So in this book, under instructions from the publishers to focus on the other members of the 87th precinct detective squad, Carella hardly appears. And yet, in the opening scene, a woman enters the detectives’ room with a pistol and a bottle of nitroglycerin (or is it?) saying that she has come to kill Carella. Except that he’s not there, and barely appears in the book at all until near the end. All the other cops — an ethnically very diverse group, reflecting the reality of the fictional city based on New York — get their moment in the sun, as does a Puerto Rican woman. There are bits of Yiddish and Spanish thrown in, references to Ireland and Italy, and even one cop who self identifies as a WASP. Though written more than sixty years ago, the book still reads well and the tension — punctuated by violence — is palpable.
    • 4/5
      “I’m going to kill Steve Carella,” the woman said. And she walked right into the 87th to do it! “In effect, Virginia Dodge now commands the 87th Squad.”! With a .38 and a bottle of nitroglycerin!Meanwhile… Carella is investigating the death of a man, whose body was found in a windowless, locked room, the door having been bolted from the inside. An apparent suicide. Or…Really good story, very tense and intriguing! Great ending too! Can’t wait to read the next one!
    • 3/5
      This one was just ok for me. I never really bought into either of the main storylimes. Saved for me because McBain can write himself some dialog.
    • 4/5
      The tension that was lacking from McBain's last installment (Lady Killer) is evident in full force with Killer's Wedge. The widow of a recently deceased convict enters the detective's division of the 87th with a gun and a bottle allegedly filled with nitroglycerin, and proceeds to take the station hostage as she awaits the return of Steve Carella, the man she blames for her husbands death. Killer's Wedge takes place in early October.Lieutenant Byrnes, Meyer, Hawes, Kling, Brown, and Willis find themselves at the mercy of a vengeance lusting woman with a homemade bomb, unable to communicate with one another on how to gain control of the situation. Much of their story involves internal monologue as the bulls debate their options while second-guessing the others. Several attempts to get help or subdue the widow of various levels of ingenuity are undertaken as emotions run high. Interestingly enough, the main focus of the story, Carella, spends the length of the book investigating the supposed suicide of a rich industrialist while the usual cast of background characters spend the majority of their time in the spotlight as the try to diffuse the situation before Carella walks into his own execution. This gives the reader a welcome chance to spend more time with the other vivid and often neglected characters populating the 87th The only real personal story involved is the revelation at the beginning of the book that Teddy is pregnant. Her appearance at the station to meet Carrella for a night of celebration manages to increase the tension. The title of the book has the same dual meaning as earlier novels like Con Man, as the titular "wedge" refers not only to the the distance created between Byrnes and his command by the vengeful woman in black, but also a piece of wood the weighs heavily in the solution of Carella's locked room mystery. This is not the only parallel between the two stories, as Carella's obsessive investigation into the "locked room mystery" of how a man found hanging in a room locked from the inside could have been murdered mirrors the reality of his fellow bulls finding themselves locked in a room with a murderer. On a side note, McBain tips his hat to a fellow mystery writer when he has Carella, pondering the impossibility of his locked room suicide/murder dilemma, wonder if he should simply John Dickson Carr for an answer.
    • 4/5
      I'd read all but one of McBain's 87th Precinct novels over the years and this was the one I'd missed... so I was glad to pick it up at a discounts store for £1.99. Its an early entry in the series and very concise. McBain's easy-going style is in evidence - notably his excellent use of dialogue. The series would broaden out and improve to become a classic as it got older. In the meantime this is an entertaining read.