Downtown

The story opens on Christmas Eve, when Michael Barnes, a citrus farmer from Florida, arrives in New York City for business. Within hours he is caught up with counterfeit policemen, professional thieves, gangsters, and a repulsive film producer. Ed McBain, the pen name of Evan Hunter, known for the 87th Precinct series, moves the plot forward at a breakneck speed while the mess around Barnes keeps growing, dragging him through the city's seediest corners.

McBain's comedy is so absurd that it can distract readers from the danger underneath. Barnes is tossed from one predicament to the next, yet the novel shifts to grim seriousness without warning. Under pressure, Barnes reveals a hard streak of his own and becomes as ruthless as the people chasing him, much like the tough private eyes of Raymond Chandler's fiction.

Written with a spare, punchy style, the book balances its farce with real menace. It suits readers who enjoy crime novels with dark humor and a hero who is pushed past his limits.