Alice in Jeopardy: A Novel
Since her husband Eddie’s tragic death in a boating accident eight months ago, thirty-four-year-old Alice Glendenning has struggled to maintain a normal life for her two children, Ashley and Jamie. To help make ends meet while she waits for the insurance company to pay up, Alice takes a job as a real estate agent. The commissions have been nonexistent, but she does make a new friend, Charlie Hobbs, when she is sent in to try to buy his waterfront land for a developer.
Things have been tough for Alice, but they quickly become a nightmare when Ashley and Jamie don’t come home on the school bus one day, and Alice gets a phone call from a woman claiming to have her children. When the kidnapper calls again and asks for a ransom identical to the amount Alice is due from the insurance agency for Eddie’s accident, Alice forgoes contacting the police and instead calls Charlie for help. But as all sorts of people scheme to get their hands on her money, Alice wonders whether anyone can be trusted in her fight for everything she holds dear.
From the master of the suspense novel comes another gripping tale of mystery, money, and mayhem. Ed McBain skillfully weaves together his elegant plot and compelling characters, once again.A deft, sharply drawn, and thoroughly enjoyable stand-alone from a master writer, this fast-paced suspense novel features an appealing heroine, a well realized plot, and enough wit to dial down the tension, let the reader take a deep breath, and enjoy Ed McBains latest.
Alice is a recent widow, still struggling to get over the drowning death of her husband and raise their two young children. A novice realtor, she hasn’t made any sales yet, and is counting the days until her husband’s insurance policy pays off. Then her kids are abducted and held for ransom–not so coincidentally, for the exact amount of the insurance policy.
Warned not to contact the police, Alice tries to head off the well-meaning assistance of her housekeeper, but so unsuccessfully that before she can stop her, the kidnapping sets off a turf war between the local authorities and the FBI. Meanwhile, two seemingly unrelated occurrences–a near-miss by a passing motorist who almost runs her down and the unexpected appearance of her brother-in-law, an ex-con–lead the reader just far enough astray to keep the suspense building. Eventually Alice takes matters into her own hands, which is clearly the only way to get her children safely home. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read from the author of the two successful series (the 87th Precinct and Matthew Hope novels) written as Ed McBain and several stand-alones penned by his alter ego, Evan Hunter. –Jane Adams
User Ratings and Reviews
3 Stars Very predictable
Since the book’s first part you’ll know who snatched the kids. So that makes the book a little bit boring and disappointing at the end when you read what you already knew. The story has too many characters and stories that doesn’t have to be there, for example:
Rafe and his girlfriend.
Alice’s run over.
The FBI implication.
And the press implication among others.
In spite of the above points you can read the book and have a fairly good time reading it albeit is not a good thriller
5 Stars Alice may be in jeopardy but Ed’s in top form!
If you read anything by Ed McBain (a.k.a Evan Hunter) this is the one. What a great book! Alice’s son and daughter are kidnapped and there are characters aplenty trying to solve the case. McBain does a superb job of giving everyone something interesting to do, much like he did with the 87th Precinct gang. At the end, it’s not the local police or the FBI that crack the case and figure it all out…it’s Alice. A dramatic conclusion as a determined mom rescues her children.
2 Stars Where have you gone, Ed McBain
I’ve been a fan of Ed McBain books for decades, especially the 87th Precinct police procedurals. His prose was crisp. He didn’t lard the story with scenes and details that were meaningless. I would compare those books with the superb Georges Simenon police procedurals featuring Inspector Maigret.
Then along came “Alice in Jeopardy.” The story is, to put it simply, cluttered with, pointless and graphic sex scenes, characters and conversations that do not advance the story, etc. Lest I be accused of giving away the plot, I can go no further.
The prose style itself is unlike McBain, aka Evan Hunter. Did he change editors in this book shortly before the author died? It would seem so. And to make it all worse, the denouement will be transparent to the reader who has read ten or more mysteries.
Any new reader shouldn’t judge Ed McBain by this novel. I say that in his defense. Go to any of the 87th Precinct books instead. Let this one reek in peace.
“Alice in Jeopardy” doesn’t deserve more extended comments.
2 Stars Contractural obligation, or what?
I’ve read at least 25 McBain/Hunter books and this is probably the only one I wouldn’t recommend. The plot is full of holes, such as the police leaving the main character totally alone in the middle of an investigation.
As a few have mentioned, there are characters that contribute nothing to the story and serve no purpose. There are some misplaced political asides that appear from nowhere also. I guess they made Ed feel better at the time. Both the characters and the commentary are distractions and nothing but filler.
It’s sad that Ed/Evan has passed on, and he was a great, some would argue the greatest, author of the police procedural, but this isn’t one of them by a longshot.
4 Stars Ed McBain’s last novel is still a good one. He was a great writer
Alice in Jeopardy, by Ed McBain (who recently passed away), is an exciting novel about family, kidnapping, police and the press and what happens when no one really knows what’s going on. Alice, recently widowed, comes home from work and finds that her kids are not home. That evening, she hears from a kidnapper: “I have your kids, don’t tell the police, or they die.”
Alice struggles with what to do, and decides at first to not call the police. However, soon the police, and the FBI become involved in an investigation to get Alice’s kids back. McBain tackles the story from many angles, and spends a lot of time developing the character of each. There are quite a few scenes that are meaningless to the plot, but add a lot to the character development. The cast of characters include a well-meaning housekeeper/nanny, an older man who treats Alice like her child, a ditzy blonde involved in an accident that won’t leave Alice alone, Rafe, the brother in law of dubious character, the well-intentioned police, and of course, the kidnapper(s).
In Alice’s opinion, the investigation is being messed up, and it is true that the police make mistakes, but I’m never really sure they messed anything up. Kidnapping investigations never go as planned. I think the FBI and police did a good job. If anything, McBain illustrated the problems law enforcement has sometimes working together.
The primary problem I had with the book is I never really felt Alice was actually in jeapordy, nor her kids. McBain spends so much time on other characters, you never really get the sense Alice won’t get her kids back. Almost no time is spent on the kids. A story line involving the kids and their dilemma would have added to the suspense. Another thing that bothered me is a comment made about Bush and the economy. It’s fine for characters show political opinions and many did. But one comment struck me as ignorant: regarding Eddie’s job as a stockbroker “…you used to be able to make good money as a stockbroker until Bush got elected and the economy went to heck.” That bothers me for several reasons. One, presidents aren’t powerful enough to instantly change the economy. Two, the economy has improved vastly since Bush got elected according to the numbers. Three, the 9/11 terrorist attacks are what did all the damage to the economy.
Aside from my politcal disagreements, I really enjoyed this book and am sad that McBain has passed on. I’ve read several McBain, Hunter books that aren’t part of his 87th precinct series and enjoyed them all.
FYI, I can’t believe this is only the third review of this book. I’d think more people would have read it.
Filed under: Insurance Book Reviews