Really great 87th precinct novel, notable because it disposes completely with the normal formula and characters (who are only glimpses from afar).
It’s a pretty simple tale, with little in the way of mystery, but the tension ramps up brilliantly and the whole thing is wonderfully compelling. Great stuff ( )

This is so different from the first eighteen books in the series, and I loved it! It's told from the point-of-view of Roger Broome, a man in town to sell some wood pieces. Roger meets a woman named Molly, and well, that's what the story is about. The 87th Precinct, and its detectives, are purely background to the story.

Should Roger go to the police, or go home to his mother? The ending is exactly what I wanted. McBain nails it! ( )

I am unsure how this book qualifies as an 87th Street Precinct book. Basically, it's about a guy who accidentally kills a girl he picks up in a bar and then spends the rest of the book deciding whether or not he should report his crime. Awful. ( )

I don't think this is one of Ed McBain's better books. Though I must admit that the last third of it had finally captured me. That's because the lead character, Roger Broome, reminded me of Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me. ( )

He Who Hesitates is an interesting departure from the police procedural stories that normally come out of the 87th, something that McBain is fond of doing on occasion. When you're almost twenty novels into a series, it makes sense o shake things up every now and then. In this case, the entire story is told from the point of view Roger Broome, who is visiting The City during the winter (February, a month later than the previous novel, Ax) in order to sell "woodcrafts" made at his country home (which just happens to be nearby the ski resort Cotton Hawes visits in The Empty Hours). Roger is the "He" who hesitates, as he struggles with whether he should go home, or report something to the police. Some of the bulls from the 87th make brief appearances, primarily Carella, Hawes, Willis, and Parker, but the majority of the story involves the people of the city, both the innocent citizens and the criminal element, all experienced through the senses of a simple country boy harboring a guilty secret. If you're only into the 87th series for the boys in the precinct, then you might want to skip this one, but even without them, this is a solid entry that still possesses McBain's charm and talents. ( )