Ed McBain: King's Ransom

Ed McBain: King's Ransom (USA 2012)

From the Publisher:
For a wealthy businessman, a kidnapping puts him in a predicament as troubling as any he has ever experienced. For Detective Steve Carella and the men at the 87th Precinct, their troubles are even worse. Their only hope is that he will play ball -- at least long enough for them to catch the perps before the kidnapping turns into a homicide.

Ed McBain delivers another rapid-fire nail-biter in his 87th Precinct series with King's Ransom, a morally complex weaving of friendship, personal responsibility, and the nature of man hailed by the Daily Mirror: "McBain spins the tightest tale in town... there's nobody who does it better." King's Ransom was made into the major motion picture High and Low by acclaimed director Akira Kurasawa.

Ed McBain: King's Ransom. An 87th Precinct Novel. Thomas & Mercer, ISBN: 9781612181714 (March, 2012), 224 p., $13.95.

Ed McBain: King's Ransom (UK 2003)

From the Publisher:
Wealthy Douglas King has received a ransom demand. But it isn't his own son who has been kidnapped, it's his chauffeur's. If he pays up, it could ruin the biggest deal he ever made in his life, and throw away his future. But is the alternative to sacrifice a child's life?

Detective Steve Carella and the rest of the 87th Precinct can only keep trying to nab the kidnappers and hope that Doug King decides to give them the payoff.

But if King doesn't play ball, they'll have a cold-blooded murder on their hands...

Ed McBain: King's Ransom. An 87th Precinct Novel. Orion, ISBN: 0752863797 (December, 2003), 230 p., £6.99.

Ed McBain: King's Ransom (USA 1995)

From the Publisher:
A HALF-MILLION BUCKS OR A BOY'S LIFE?
But what if that boy isn't even your son? And what if paying the ransom will ruin the biggest deal you ever made in your life? What do you do then? Throw away your future or sacrifice your chauffeur's kid? That was something that no one but wealthy Douglas King could decide.

And if you're Detective Steve Carella, or Cotton Hawes, or Meyer Meyer, or any of the boys at the 87th Precinct, you can only keep trying to nab the kidnappers and hope that Doug King will decide to give them the payoff. Because if he doesn't play ball, you know that within a day you'll probably have a case of cold-blooded murder on your hands....

Ed McBain: King's Ransom. An 87th Precinct Mystery. New York: Signet, 1995, ISBN: 0451159330, 176 p., $4.50.

Ed McBain: King's Ransom (USA 1981)

Ed McBain: King's Ransom. An 87th Precinct Mystery. Signet, ISBN: 0451138988 (June, 1981), 172 p., $2.95.

Ed McBain: King's Ransom (UK 1978)

From the Publisher:
The men at 87th Precinct considered kidnappers to be the lowest form of animal life. Whoever kidnapped Jeff Reynolds wasa very dumb animal. His father didn't have a bean. But someone had to come up with $500,000. Or else.

Ed McBain: King's Ransom. An 87th Precinct Mystery. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1978, ISBN: 0140022198, 172 p., 65p.

Ed McBain: King's Ransom (UK 1965)

From the Publisher:
King, as tycoons go, was tough. He'd just about cornered enough shares to grab control of Granger Shoe, when some tougher operators cornered his son and called up for 500,000 dollars in ransom. It looked like "Goodbye, Granger' for King: and then his son burst suddenly into the room. The kidnappers had grabbed the wrong boy, but they demanded the money just the same... with threats. But, like we said, King was tough. Would he pay?

Grim humour and the facts of crime feature in all Ed McBain's stories of the 87th Precinct in a big American city. And in King's Ransom, as Steve Carella fights against time to get a lock on men who have planned both grab and drop with scientific precision, the plot moves forward to a count-down of extraordinary tension.

Ed McBain: King's Ransom. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1965, Penguin Books #2219, 171 p., 3'6.

Ed McBain: King's Ransom (USA 1960)

From the Publisher:
THEY MEANT TO KIDNAP BOBBY KING.
Now they were at their hideout, listening to the police radio.
"Attention all cars. Here's the story on the Smoke Rise kidnaping. The boy's name is Jeffry Reynolds...."
"That man said my name," the boy said.
"They're lying. They're trying to put one over on us. How could we have grabbed the wrong kid?" Sy said quickly.
"But suppose he is?" Kathy asked. "It means you've done all this for nothing."
"When you stop to figure it." Sy said softly, "what difference does it make? Because if King don't pay, this little boy here is going to be in a big heap of trouble. And I don't think Mr. King would want blood on his hands!"

Ed McBain: King's Ransom. Was it a perfect crime, even though the kidnapers had snatched the wrong child? An 87th Precinct Mystery. Permabooks #M4181 (November, 1960), 172 p., ¢35.