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A Matter of Conviction
A racially charged murder pushes a mild-mannered district attorney to the brink in this gritty legal thriller by the author of the 87th Precinct series.
After an intense heat wave, storms threaten to blanket New York City, and three boys walk across town with knives in their pockets and murder on their minds. They’re tough kids in combat boots, crossing into Spanish Harlem to pick a fight. And when they see one of their intended victims, they surround him, draw their knives, and plunge their weapons into the poor boy’s gut. The attackers flee, and blood pours down the victim’s lifeless body, mingling with the sudden rain. But despite the showers, nothing will be able to extinguish the full-blown panic that threatens to set the city aflame.
Prosecuting the case falls to Hank Bell, a Harlem-born district attorney with a solemn sense of civic duty. As the case threatens to unravel, Hank will be the only thing that stands between his city and blood-spattered anarchy.
The inspiration for John Frankenheimer’s classic film The Young Savages, this is a hard-eyed look at a city on the edge of chaos, written by a man who understood urban crime better than anyone legendary crime writer Ed McBain.
After an intense heat wave, storms threaten to blanket New York City, and three boys walk across town with knives in their pockets and murder on their minds. They’re tough kids in combat boots, crossing into Spanish Harlem to pick a fight. And when they see one of their intended victims, they surround him, draw their knives, and plunge their weapons into the poor boy’s gut. The attackers flee, and blood pours down the victim’s lifeless body, mingling with the sudden rain. But despite the showers, nothing will be able to extinguish the full-blown panic that threatens to set the city aflame.
Prosecuting the case falls to Hank Bell, a Harlem-born district attorney with a solemn sense of civic duty. As the case threatens to unravel, Hank will be the only thing that stands between his city and blood-spattered anarchy.
The inspiration for John Frankenheimer’s classic film The Young Savages, this is a hard-eyed look at a city on the edge of chaos, written by a man who understood urban crime better than anyone legendary crime writer Ed McBain.
528 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1959
About the author
Evan Hunter
194 books118 followersBetter known by his pseudonym Ed McBain.
Born Salvatore Albert Lombino, he legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952. While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.
Born Salvatore Albert Lombino, he legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952. While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 31, 2015
Description: After three teenage hoods stab blind Puerto Rican Roberto Escalante, assistant DA Hank Bell is tasked with prosecuting the case. He's looking for convictions for first degree murder for all three of the boys, even 15 year-old Danny DiPace, son of his old girlfriend, Mary DiPace. He grew up in the neighborhood and investigates the case with Lt. Gunderson. He learns that Escalante may have pulled a knife and was actually one of the leaders of the Puerto Rican gang that fought regularly with their Italian opponents. Bell's wife is upset at the prospect that he's seeking the death penalty for kids and he thinks she's just a liberal living in her own little perfect world. As he gathers more evidence however, he begins to see that it's all far more complex than it first appeared. He pursues justice in the case - Written by garykmcd 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4ylI...
Evan Hunter is better known as Ed Mcbain. The start of this had me thinking of those finger clicks from West Side Story
July 12, 2018
Guilty...or not.
An interesting look at an attorney 's world, or part of it. The reality of his neighborhood comes as no surprise, what it does to him is the story. His end reaction is quite a change in his thinking.
An interesting look at an attorney 's world, or part of it. The reality of his neighborhood comes as no surprise, what it does to him is the story. His end reaction is quite a change in his thinking.
July 31, 2012
A good book to use in comparative literature class with the movie, "The Young Savages." Pretty predictable but some nice suspense.
watched-not-read
July 18, 2020The Young Savages (1961)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055633/...
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055633/...
March 27, 2023
Damn that was a fabulous story. This is one of the few tales whose theme will never fade away. A story so based in fact that it can be told forever without losing its quality.
Want to Read
June 24, 2023The Young Savages (1961)
October 2, 2025
🖊️ Fabulously well-told story of a gang of punks.
📕Published — 1959. In the public domain.
🎥 1961 movie version with Burt Lancaster, Shelley Winters, Telly Savalas, et al.
༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻
📕Published — 1959. In the public domain.
🎥 1961 movie version with Burt Lancaster, Shelley Winters, Telly Savalas, et al.
༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻✬༺༻༺༻
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews