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    King’s Ransom
    Unavailable
    King’s Ransom
    Unavailable
    King’s Ransom
    Audiobook6 hours

    King’s Ransom

    Written by Ed McBain

    Narrated by Dick Hill

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    When a wealthy businessman is faced with a kidnapping, the ransom could ruin his biggest deal ever-unless Detective Steve Carella can find the culprits before the kidnapping turns to murder.

    "McBain has the ability to make every character believable-which few writers these days can do." -Associated Press

    "McBain forces us to think twice about every character we meet…even those we thought we already knew." -New York Times Book Review

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateAug 10, 2016
    ISBN9781536614459
    Unavailable
    King’s Ransom
    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 King’s Ransom

    4/5

    11 ratings6 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A successful businessman on the verge of making the deal of a lifetime gets a phone call from a man claiming to have kidnapped his son and demanding a ransom of $500,000. Unfortunately, it turns out the kidnappers snatched the chauffeur's son by mistake, and Douglas King won't pay the ransom because then he won't be able to buy the stock that will give him control of the company he is hoping to take over. In the end everything works out and the little boy is found safe and sound. Good thing he wrote this one early in his career: later on and the kid would have died. I really liked this one.
    • 4/5
      Steve Carella and the boys of the 87th Precinct are called in to solve a kidnapping case with a twist in this 10th entry in McBain's long-running classic crime series. A couple of two-bit crooks have snatched a little boy who they think is the son of a shoe-factory magnate, but it turns out they grabbed the chauffeur's son instead. Will the rich man still pay the ransom, even if it means scuttling his plans for a hostile takeover of the company he works for? What do you think? As always, McBain's style of directly addressing the reader with his deeply philosophical meditations is appealing and renders the series a cut above the usual police procedural. And it's surprisingly techy for a book written in the pre-cellphone, pre-Internet 1960s. I could have done without the sign-of-the-times mildly hostile sexism, but that's what you get when you read books written in less-enlightened times. I still love this series.
    • 4/5
      Wealthy businessman closing in on a stock deal gets a call that his 8 yr old son has been kidnapped; however, the kidnappers have taken the wrong boy. King's son is safe but the chauffeur's son was taken by mistake. Will Mr. King pay the ransom for this child? What part will the wife of one of the kidnappers play when she finds out what they've done? What about Mrs. King's feelings. Very good early 1960s story before cellphones and DNA and all the modern technology that solves crimes today.
    • 3/5
      Calling all cars, calling all cars. Here's the story on the Smoke Rise kidnapping. The missing boy is 8 years old, fair hair, wearing a red sweater. His name is Jeffry Reynolds, son of Charles Reynolds, chauffeur to Douglas King. The police at the 87th Precint hate kidnappers. And these kidnappers are stupid, too. They took the wrong boy, the chauffeur's son instead of the son of the rich tycoon, Douglas King. And they want a ransom of $500.000. A lot of money. But it's not too much to pay for a little boy's life...is it?
    • 3/5
      Well, it begins, of all places, in an anger-filled meeting at a shoe factory!?!?! I wasn't expecting that.Nor was I expecting Mr. Douglas King, one of the most disgusting people in the 87th Precinct, basically the poster boy for the selfish, uncaring Republicans in the world. Money being more important than a life. Very Trump-like. Yech.This is another good tale by McBain. A kidnapping gone awry. I love the way he describes the city, and especially the weather in it. This book had less of the stories of the men of the 87th, but it still kept me interested. And I liked the sweet little twist at the end!Good last line: "Outside the squadroom, the city crouched."
    • 5/5
      A perfect example of what sets McBain's books apart from the other police procedurals, King's Ransom is a story about a kidnapping that has little to do with the child or the crime, but a lot to do with the men involved and the decisions they make.Douglas King is a successful and cut-throat businessman, and he's about to pull a corporate takeover that will either make or break him. But when his chauffeur's son is accidentally snatched instead of his own, and the kidnappers still demand the ransom, King finds himself having to choose between his future or the life of an employee's son.The focus on this story rests heavily on two men, the choices they make in life, and the women who stand beside them. Douglas King's wife barely recognizes the cold and calculating man as the one she married, while the wife of kidnapper Eddie Folsom is dealing with her own doubts and fears as what she thought was to be a bank robbery turns into a kidnapping. The motivation of both men can be traced to a need to provide for their families, but this desire puts them in direct conflict with the women they strive to work for, and poses questions regarding loyalty, determination, mercy, and the ultimate price of success. The characters, the story, and even the atypical resolution all set this tale apart from the rest. Unlike most crime fiction, the desperation here runs deeper than money.The two female leads draw a stark contrast to the heartless molls in the last couple of novels, showing a level of complexity and depth that one must never forget McBain is capable of. The regular 87th bulls, Carella, Hawes, Meyer, and Kling find themselves spending most of their time at the King Estate, with less legwork then your typical precinct caper. They're also joined by Byrnes, who handles the high-profile case personally, and newcomer Andy Parker, an obnoxious and loudmouthed instigator whose main role seems to be to fill the gap left by the death of Havilland back in Killer's Choice. Every batch has a bad apple, and Parker seems to be the one with the worm. Willis and Brown also make an appearance, but mostly while catching back at the precinct.On a minor note, Hawes' steady Christina from Till Death and Lady Killer, is conspicuously absent. Considering that he makes a date with a stripper this episode, it might be safe to assume that she will not be returning.Cliff Savage, the arrogant reporter that endangered Teddy through his column in The Con Man, phones in a quick guest appearance when he calls the station and attempts to shake down Brown for information regarding the King kidnapping. McBain's one weakness so far, if you can call it that, is his somewhat unflattering portrayal of the news media up to this point.