Click review title to read full review

"As good as it gets"
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted December 31, 2003

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 Read more...

"The next 87th Precinct novel!"
Reviewed by Kathy Boswell
Posted January 8, 2004

Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels just seem to get better and better with each and every one that I read. Even better, this latest novel highlights my favorite character, Detective Steve Carella. This tale involves an up and coming rock star named Tamar Valparaiso. She's young, beautiful and can sing Read more...

Summary

It should have been the night that launched a new pop idol. Tamar Valparaiso is young and beautiful, with the body and voice of an angel, and the stage is set for her to launch her debut album, Bandersnatch, on a luxury yacht in the heart of the city. But halfway through her performance, while the partygoers look on helplessly, masked men drag Tamar off the stage and into a waiting speedboat. Detective Steve Carella is just showing up for the graveyard shift when news of the kidnapping comes in. Working disjointedly with a Joint Task Force that calls itself "The Squad," Carella and the men and women of the Eight-Seven must find Tamar before time -- or indeed her very life -- runs out. In this brilliant look at the music industry, Ed McBain once again combines his mastery of the form with the fast- paced dialogue and intricate plotting that have become his signature.