The second Ed McBain book Kathy's brought by was The McBain Brief, a collection of short stories. Two were okay. The rest? Absolutely wonderful—for a variety of reasons. The most amazing thing about this book, IMHO, was the number of different voices McBain uses. Whether a story was told in the first person or third person through a POV character, each voice was unique and perfectly suited to the particular story. And there were other things:
1) Speaking of writing, in a story where three bozos are making a porn flick, the narrator compliments the writer of the script. "Solly didn't do what a lot of scriptwriters do, he didn't clutter up the page with a whole lot of unnecessary directions. A sample of his writing from one of the early scenes will explain to you what I mean.
34. THE LOFT—INT—NIGHT
The Girl is becoming acquainted with the Leading Man.
They do sexual intercourse together." (page 31)
And there you have it: two distinctly different voices, each conveying, IMHO, information about each character.
2) In one story McBain is having a character tell another man about a crime and occasionally, with only a few words, indicates how the listener is reacting and, at the same time, reveals something about the speaker. "… I hope you understand that. John, you listening to me, or what? I can't tell if you're listening when you got your eyes closed like that. (page 111)
3) Occasionally, though, McCain makes a statement, in whatever voice, that I have to question. "There is not a bank in the entire United States that will ask you for identification when you are opening an account." (page 115) Book was published in 1982; magazine where the story appeared would have been earlier. Last bank account I opened was in the 1970s, and I had to show ID. Is AL the only state where ID is required to open an account? Even if that's true, McCain is still wrong.
4) Two policemen are staking out a church. One of them recalls, "We didn't talk much. There is something about a church of any denomination that makes a man think rather than talk." (page 159) Interesting. True?
5) On page 159 a narrator refers to San Francisco as Frisco. When I lived in Marin Country as a kid, "Frisco" was considered vulgar. Is it still? Whatever. I can just mark it up as another clue to character.
As with most McCain books I've read, The McCain Brief is well worth reading. IMHO.
