The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
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Average rating4
15
Ratings2
Average rating4
A New York subway train is taken hostage in this “high-voltage thriller with the kick of a third rail” (The Washington Post). A New York Times Bestseller After a New York City train leaves the Pelham station at 1:23 p.m., four armed men take control of it—along with seventeen passengers. Their demands are simple: deliver one million dollars, or the hostages will be killed one by one. Fast-paced and intensely psychological, this novel tells the story from the point of view of each of the hijackers—revealing each man’s motivations, desperations, and fatal flaws. The basis of a blockbuster 1974 movie that was remade in 2009 with Denzel Washington and John Travolta, this classic modern thriller will have you on the edge of your seat, and holding on tight. “Entertaining . . . Clever in its details, frequently quite funny, and witty in its comments on how New York City functions . . . [A] slam-bang ending.” —The New York Times “A wild ride.” —The Pittsburgh Press “Harrowing, terrifying, and so, so good.” —BusinessWeek
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I've been wanting to read this for many years and have finally gotten around it. It was definitely worth the wait. An edge of the seat thriller that had been captivated to the end. Highly recommended.
We are serious, desperate men
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1973) is a thriller novel by Morton Freedgood. He wrote under the pen name John Godey. The novel's title comes from the train's radio call sign. When a New York City subway train leaves to start a run, its call sign is the time it left and where. Here it is Pelham Bay Park Station at 1:23 p.m.
The plot starts with a normal day on a subway. The hijacking of a subway train, the number 6 train, interrupts this. Four men armed with submachine guns detach the lead car of the train and take it and 17 hostages into a tunnel. Led by Ryder, a former mercenary, the hijackers are:- Longman, a disgruntled former motorman- Welcome, a violent former Mafia thug, and- Steever, a powerful, laconic brute.They threaten to execute the hostages unless the city pays one million dollars in ransom.While the city rushes to comply, transit police try to puzzle out the hijackers' plan. They don't realize that Longman has figured out how to bypass the "dead-man's switch". This allows the car to speed along the track by itself while the hijackers escape through an emergency exit. As they prepare to leave Ryder and Welcome begin to argue. This ends with Ryder fatally shooting Welcome. The delay allows one of the passengers, an undercover police officer who jumped off the train as it started to speed away, to shoot Steever. Longman escapes while Ryder shoots the passenger. As Ryder is about to administer a fatal head shot, he is himself shot dead by DCI Daniels of Special Operations Division. The novel ends with Longman's arrest.
All in all I liked this book. There are a handful of things that set this apart from the run-of-the-mill crime thriller. For example, it uses a third person narrative. This allows for a constant switching of viewpoints. Different characters describe the same scene. By doing this the book feels less claustrophobic. It has a scope grander than a subway car held in a tunnel. Nobody appears to be the main hero too. Each person has their own motives and agendas. The movie versions didn't do justice to this fact.
In summary, a better than expected thriller. Much better then the most recent movie version, that's for sure.
