Sunday 17 March 2013

McBain been and gone Kindled

Amazon's own publishing imprint, Thomas & Mercer, named for streets that flank Amazon headquarters in Seattle, are proving to be the dog's bollocks as far as I'm concerned. They've recently made Ed McBain's entire 87th Precinct series available for the Kindle, and at prices way cheaper than a standard mass market paperback.

Thomas & Mercer have an impressive list of authors singed to the imprint, both long established names as well as newcomers. Well done Amazon - say what you like about the company they certainly serve readers well.

I've just downloaded Cop Hater, the first of the 87th series, to my Kindle - I've never read it you see - and was blown away by the sheer descriptive beauty of the opening paragraph -  From the river bounding the city on the north, you saw only the magnificent skyline. You stare up at it in something like awe, and sometimes you caught  your breath because  the view was one of majestic splendor.The clear silhouettes of the buildings slashed at the sky, devouring the blue; flat planes and long planes, rough rectangles and needle shaped spires, minarets and peaks, pattern upon pattern laid in geometric unity against the wash of blue and white which was the sky - and the story that follows is pretty damn good too. I'm about half way through and will likely finish the book tonight.And you know, I'll be following the entire series so I know I've got a tried and trusted series, one with a huge reputation, to discover for the first time.

Ain't that a good feeling!

2 comments:

Davieboy said...

Another fave of mine that you're also exploring.Wow, enjoy.
McBain was just fantastic. I love the Precinct series, also the Jonathan Hope series. A really great dialogue writer, way ahead of his time.
There's a standalone "Downtown" that I can't remember too much about except it was really excellent.
Luckily I have most of his novels on audiobook - did I ever mention that I have a pretty good collection of 100s of audiobooks?
Currently listing to World War Z by Max Brooks - ever read that?

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

I've read one or two of the Ed McBain books over the years but am looking forward to reading the series in order via Kindle. I did read and enjoyed World War Z - I think they may be having problems with the currently filming movie, though.

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