I understand why they renamed the book, but the book stands on its own. You can see how the movie developed and while the details of the book and the movie are different, the book's concept was captured in this field. Exciting in it's 'detective noir ' way. The ending twist is still good even though you know it from the film.

Being a big fan of the movie "Bullitt", it was good to read the story it was based on, finally. I did like that the author went into more detail on how Johnny Rossi (changed to Ross for the film) was introduced to his unfortunate lookalike Albert Renick by his unsuspecting wife Ann. Other than the locations and of course the main character's name being different from book to film, the stories matched pretty close. The ending of the book was much less violent for whatever reason. Plus, I doubt Steve McQueen would have wanted his greatest role to be in a movie called "Clancy".

"Mute Witness" is an old-fashioned detective story with an unusually high-ranking main character in sleep-deprived Lieutenant Clancy. The writing is clipped and gritty, evoking 1960's New York City in black and white and shades of gray. Even references to color, such as Clancy's blue striped tie and dark blue hat, seem to fade from the page. Clancy and his nemesis, Assistant DA Chalmers, get along famously. "Chalmers jutted out his jaw, the perfect picture of a crusading Assistant District Attorney. 'I don't know what this is all about, Lieutenant, but you're not getting out of my sight. I'm going with you.' Clancy glanced at him disinterestedly. 'Good. If there's any shooting, stick around.'" Clancy inspires the loyalty of the cops who work for him and even pathologist Doc Freeman, despite his complaining: "'Alive?' There was a moment's shocked pause. 'Clancy, let me go to sleep, will you? I'm a pathologist.' There was a pause. 'Call me when he's dead.'" The main action takes place over two days as Clancy doggedly pursues a case thrust upon him when an unwelcome assignment to protect an organized crime figure turned informant goes wrong. It's a good story.

Unfortunately, the proofreading and formatting of this Kindle edition leave much to be desired. The paragraphs are not indented, which makes the whole book a little difficult to follow. The chapter headings look like they're supposed to be centered between parallel lines, but they're not. Instead, they're indented like all the paragraphs should be. And there are plenty of typos. I counted 54 in a book that's supposed to be 144 pages in print. Also the reader is referred to the "RosettaBooks Connection" for this book at a webpage that does not exist. The website must be searched for the correct page. So the Kindle edition is lacking but can still be enjoyed despite its flaws.

Note: If the publisher is interested in correcting the typos, they are at locations 67, 154, 261, 543x2, 594, 657, 675, 692, 854, 879x2, 994, 1010, 1126, 1170x2, 1181x2, 1189, 1192, 1331x2, 1374, 1445, 1453, 1473, 1481, 1525, 1534, 1707, 1778, 1957, 2008, 2118, 2214, 2228, 2237, 2329x2, 2347, 2391x2, 2418, 2443, 2452, 2460, 2479, 2498x3, 2507, 2559, and 2673.

Mute Witness was adapted to the film: Bullitt with Steve McQueen. Both are extremely good. Robert L. Fish is great writer, I discovered him by paaying attention after the movie to see the credits. I do that when I enjoy a film because the novel its adapted from is mostly better. The time frame of 50/60 New York is excellent and tyhe adaption is also excellent!

About a New York police officer who is in charge of protecting a Mew York monster until he testifies in court for an important case. It was a fast read.

This was a great story. No flowery prose, just the facts....nothing but the facts. The story was brisk and moving. I preferred this book to the movie that it was made into "Bullitt". I was even surprised by the ending even though I saw the movie. Quick read.

This is the first free e-book that I've downloaded for my Kindle that wasn't a classic. Lieutenant Clancy is the main character in this story, a world-weary detective whose latest assignment is to keep Johnny Rossi, a west coast mobster, alive throughout the weekend. On Tuesday, Mr. Rossi will be testifying before the New York Crime Commission against his former colleagues. Why has he chosen to come all the way to New York to testify, when he could have testified just as easily on the West Coast?

Despite these misgivings and others, Clancy really has no choice but to get on with it. Which leads to the part of the story that really annoyed me: the complete incompetence of the officers working with the lieutenant to keep Mr Big Stuff alive. This story is set in the 1960's. I wonder if I'm so accustomed to the TV police procedurals where everything is solved within an hour or two, that anything less looks ridiculous. I don't think so, though, which is why I gave this story only 3 stars.

I will say, however, that as the story progressed, I forgot my irritation and enjoyed it very much.

Mute Witness by Robert L. Pike is a fascinating glimpse into the type of police-genre fiction prevalent in the sixties, with a hard-boiled feel to it. It tells the story of one Lieutenant Clancy, a disgraced detective who gets a call from his nemesis, Assistant DA Chalmers and an assignment to guard an organized-crime boss named Johnny Rossi. Clancy wants no part of the assignment, which he scornfully considers babysitting a hood, but Chalmers wants him to do it, in reparation for a screw-up involving another witness that needed guarding who was killed under Clancy's watch.

Pike creates very memorable characters, and it's easy for the reader to sympathize with Clancy who, along with his friend Doc Freeman and junior detectives Stanton and Kaprowski, struggle to untangle a real mess when this witness is also shot and killed, all the while trying to hide from the vengeful Chalmers what's happened. The first thing that bothers Clancy is the witness didn't even have a spare pair of socks. Rossi was too nice, too ordinary-seeming, to be a professional criminal. There's a knife stuck into the guy after he's dead to try to make it look like the shotgun blast he took didn't kill him. The clues lead back to a vivacious blonde woman who seems utterly carefree until she's told Rossi is dead and reacts with a strange grief that doesn't set right somehow.

This is a very convoluted story told in good simple prose that evokes the time frame and draws the reader into a world of bygone police work, where it was all tiring and often frustrating lead-chasing and footwork, with no internet to help speed the process. Pike has a gift for creating environment as well as characters, and his plot is tightly woven. Clancy's game of cat-and-mouse with Chalmers, along with his struggle to make sense of seemingly senseless bits of information, is reminiscent of Columbo without the ingratiating attitude and rumpled raincoat.

Although this novel was the basis for the great police-action movie Bullitt, it has an entirely different feel. The character of Clancy was radically overhauled in the screen personification of Bullitt. Though essentials of the plot remained, it was more of an adaptation than a straight take, much like Stanley Kubrick's rendition of Stephen King's The Shining. Both this novel and the film are brilliant but in different ways; Bullitt placed more emphasis on the action elements in the plot while the book builds suspense with emphasis on what's going on with the characters, especially Clancy.

Highly recommended for fans of police/mystery novels as an enjoyable and well-crafted suspense story from a gifted author.

Mute witness by Robert l Fish has all the ingredients of a good police procedural. An engaging and interesting detective, fast moving story, witty repartee between characters and a great plot twist in the end. highly recommended.

Excellent thriller novel by Robert Fish - set the scene for the cult 60s film Bullitt. Highly recommended read.

Thoroughly enjoyable novel that became the premise for the classic movie,'Bullitt'.While reading the novel,it's hard not to picture in your mind Steve McQueen in the role of Frank Bullitt.All in all,though,an excellent book.Definitely worth reading.

Received as stated and in excellent condition!