A thriller dated by its ties to then-current political and social history, but still exciting in chasing down the bad guys. The movie to see for this is the original with Walter Matthau as the transit cop, Robert Shaw as Mr. Blue leading the gang (consisting of Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo, and Earl Hindman) and Matthew's dad, James Broderick as the conductor. The film is tighter than than book and ends more satisfactorily, but nonetheless, this is an intriguing crime to consider. ( )

A novel of only fair quality that is dated in its awkward handling of characters of different ethnicities. The plot idea is clever and imaginative, but the 1974 movie with Walter Matthau carries it out better than does the book. ( )

1973. Four men decide to hijack a New York subway train and hold hostages for a million dollars. The key to the heist was a gimmick they designed to run the train without a driver in the cab. I was disappointed that none of them escaped with the money. It was a pretty good plan. ( )