Robert L. Pike (1912–1981)

Gang’s all here! Clancy, Stanton, Kaproski, Porky, Captain Wise, Doc Freeman, and good ol’ Mary Kelly. Clancy wants to know why Caper Connelly stepped in front of a NY subway train. Another case involves an old man who lies dead in a "horder" type apartment. And then there is the safety of a UN meeting to contend with. Life as usual in the 52nd!

I like how each chapter begins with a quick, short story of a crime in the city. I like how Clancy goes about his work and I like his team. Very quick read, but very enjoyable. I'm just sad that it's the last one. Three just isn't enough.

"And the wash of crime across the police blotter flows and ebbs, its clear effluent seeping quietly away in the silent sands of the past; the dregs are retained, recorded, studied, compared, and then buried with the other detritus of our current civilization. Cells are filled and emptied; pages of painfully penned names and addresses drift like idle seed-pods into numberless filing cabinets and disappear forever in shadowed archives."

God speed Lieutenant Clancy! And thank you Robert L. Pike!… (mere)

The sequel to the book that inspired the movie "Bullitt", and a good one at that!
Lieutenant Clancy is back, and this time he has to deal with a prison break! Four men are on the lamb, one of whom threatened to kill the lieutenant and a few other folks. So, Clancy and his men have to find that fella, and stop him.

A good read, with good characters, action, and dialogue. Most of the gang from the first book are back, which I really like! And I enjoyed everyone giving Clancy a hard time about “that nice Mary Kelly...”. A funny running gag throughout the book! That, and telephones!

Can't wait to read the next one!… (mere)

Lieutenant Clancy reminds be a bit of Dashiell Hammet’s Continental Op, in the way he distributes resources and gives orders. And I mean that in a good way! Also, he's kind of Sherlock Holmes-ish at the end, when telling his tale!

I liked this story quite a bit! Better than the movie! Funny, in the book, the story goes from CA to NY, and in the movie, it's the other way! And, no big car chase in the book. But, the plot is so much clearer and understandable in the book! SO much! And I liked the little bit of humor with the clothes line outside Clancy's office. Nice little dash to a dark toned tale. I think I'd like to read the next Clancy book now!… (mere)