King's Ransom.

ED MCBAIN

Publication: Simon and Schuster, 1959, New York

First edition. Page edges uniformly tanned else fine in dust jacket. A police procedural freely adapted by Akira Kurosawa for his relentlessly engrossing film, HIGH AND LOW (1963). An executive of a shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is mistakenly kidnapped and held for ransom. The dilemma is he has the money the kidnappers demand but had intended to use it to gain control of the shoe company with the intent of keeping it out of the hands of incompetent and greedy executives.The drama heightens when he must decide between the certain loss of the company versus the probable loss of the child. Steve Carella and the other detectives of the 87th Precinct step into the picture to provide direction and assistance. An exceptional copy.

Inventory Number: 47071