Ernest K. Gann Critical Essay | Critical Essay by Martin Levin

Critical Essay by Martin Levin

In ["Of Good and Evil"] Mr. Gann follows the attempts of the harassed fuzz to keep pace with crime, or at least to come out even.

Like most authors who study closely the workings of an honest police force, Mr. Gann is less suspicious of "police brutality" than of the civilian horrendousness that fills the daily blotter with maimed old men, bludgeoned cashiers and corpses of varied origin. And he pleads the cause of the cops in sincere if ponderous terms. This novel has been written before, and perhaps better …, but the subject of civic vice is irresistible—and, unfortunately, inexhaustible.

Martin Levin, "Readers Report: 'Of Good and Evil'," in The New York Times Book Review (© 1963 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), November 10, 1963, p. 48.