Product Description
Ice coats the streets where the rapist prowls. Ice spills from the pockets of a dead diamond dealer. Ice runs through the heart of a cold-blooded killer and that of the players in a multimillion dollar show-biz scam. And the deep chill of winter, it is the 87th Precinct who must brave the winds of death to save a city frozen with fear. National ads/media. Reissue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

First 87th Precinct Long Novel
Up til now all of the 87th Precinct books have been between 150-200 pages.This is the first full size novel, which was intended to be turned into a TV movie.Just like all of the previous books in the series it stars the detectives of the eight-seven, Carella, Meyer, Kling, Brown, a cameo by Hawes, Genaro, and a newcomer from the Rape Squad downtown, Eileen Brennan.

The main story revolves around three murders that occurred in one week, with the same gun.But the dead are a small time dealer in Diamondback, a dancer from a legit theatre and a diamond merchants.All three were killed by two shots to the head but they have nothing in common and the eight-seven 'Loot' Pete Byrnes is afraid that they have a 'crazy' running around killing people randomly.A crazy is the worst kind of murderer because there's no pattern or logic to the killings.

Looking for a link, Meyer and Carella may have to end up interviewing all one hundred and fourteen people who are involved in the musical that the dancer was in.Even after interviewing them all they may still not find a connection.In between, Steve has in the back of his mind that Kling (who is exhibiting the symptoms of depression) may be thinking of 'eating his gun'.It well played and well thought out.

Needless to say the movie of "Ice" which was made in 1997 wasn't very good and the reviews are so so.I mean 'Joey Pants' plays Meyer Meyer, what they couldn't find a fat bald jew to play the part?But McBain has loaded the book with at least three different uses for ICE (and no not the immigration service which in 1983 was still INS).When someone comments that the decoy from the Rape Squad isn't that 'well endowed' she say, "so get Raquel Welch".Welch starred in the 1970 movie of McBain's "Fuzz" whose screenplay is attributed to 'Evan Hunter' which was McBain's legal name.

All in all the book is an accomplished novel and I look forward to more of the same in the last twenty books of the series.

Zeb Kantrowitz

Realistic, excellent portrayal
Again, Ed McBain puts together several crimes that puzzle the wits of the Eight Seven.Some of the men and women in blue are going through personal issues and these are compassionately told.The hard, realistic cop banter is so perfectly done that you can see the characters playing out in front of you.I very much enjoyed this work as a complex set of murders and subplots were woven together toward a satisfying ending.

Without giving anything away, the title, ICE, is nicely penned.It will take you until the end to see all the reasons.

If you haven't read anything by Ed McBain, this would be as good a start as any.He is one of the top writers of this genre in the business.This book is entertaining, insightful and although written in 1983, it fits into today's societal ills quite nicely.

Ice on the Streets
The officers of the 87th Precinct are given charge of the investigation of three murders, which ballistics reveal were done by a single murderer using the same gun. Finding a further relationship of the three victims is the basic problem. Evan Hunter, using the pen-name of McBain, has gained the reputation of being the leading writer of police procedurals. Proven crime-investigation methods are a basic part of McBain's novels, but the dominant procedure is the intelligent interview of suspects and witnesses, which exhibit the author's skills in creating realistic dialog. The officers of the precinct provide the story with numerous characters with a variety of motivations. A few sub-plots provide occasions for the use of "ice" as a unifying motif: the setting is in a severe winter storm, a murder involves suspicious diamonds, the icy hearts of a couple of ruthless characters are revealed although they are represented as being lovers. A secondary theme may be more important to the thoughtful reader: among the numerous motivations of the men who take up a career of police work is the search for justice. Officer Meyer Meyer, near the end of the story, says "There is no justice." Nevertheless, the resolution of the plot suggests that ultimately there will be justice, even in a vicious world, although it may be achieved in unexpected ways. Although he has authored hundreds of novels and other works, McBain (Hunter) is an expert in plot twists, unusual characters, and unexpected revelations that always keep the readers' interest and makes dedicated fans for a lengthy series.
Lloyd Beldon Lacy

You can't beat McBain.
McBain was the master.I don't know of any other author who is as good at creating an ensemble cast of characters with distinctive personalities, multiple plot lines and combining them together with excellent dialogue and a very strong sense of place.Even the title is tied into the story by four meanings of the word which relate to the plot lines.If you've not read McBain, particularly the 87th Precinct series, I highly recommend them.While each book stands alone, I'd start at the beginning.I'll miss having new books by this excellent author, but always be grateful for his being as prolific as he was.

Lurid but beautiful, engrossing yet repellent.
Ed McBain was well into his long series of 87th Precinct books by the time the time he produced this one in 1983.This one is longer than most and has a huge cast.Social groups depicted include theatre personnel, drug dealers, diamond merchants, and of course the familiar 87th precinct cops.Accordingly, there are a huge number of suspects for the reader, and possibly the author, to finally attach to the various crimes committed.

Binding together all the disparate elements is the symbol ice.It represents the drugs that lie behind many of the crimes, it coats the night streets of New York where many of the crimes are committed, it seems to run through the veins of many of the dealers, rapists, charlatans and cheats that are encountered here, and its fragility typifies the fragility of law and order and even decent relationships in this so-called center of civilization.

Lurid yet often beautiful, engrossing yet often repellant, this is certainly a McBain book that can be included amongst his best. ... Read more

Product Description
When Michael Barnes's wallet and rental car are stolen in New York City, the Florida orange grower unwittingly becomes entangled in a brutal world where he is framed for murder and must run from both the mob and the police. Reprint. NYT. K. PW. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Repetitive, tedious, incredulous and predictable
If you like Ed BcBain novels, don't listen to this early one. I did so on BOT and if I hadn't already enjoyed some of his later ones,I would NEVER have read another . There are lists and lists and lists. The segment regarding stolen goods states what items are on each table....which lasted over 1 mile of walk/listen time.Most sentences come in pairs and the second repeats up to 50% of the words in the preceding one. Each character is a stereotype. There are flashbacks to Viet Nam ... which have no relation to the story at hand, even by a long and generous stretch.The elements of a McBain story are there. They just don't connect.

McBain's best non-87th Precinct novel
Besides the excellent 87th Precinct novels, Ed McBain has also written several crime and detective novels.Of these, "Downtown" is the best, as well as one of his best, period.

"Downtown" starts onChristmas Eve as Florida orange grower Michael Barnes, in New York onbusiness, runs afoul of bogus cops, thieves, the mob, and a slimy movieproducer. McBain piles on the action and absurdity at a furious pace asBarnes sinks deeper and deeper into the worst New York has to offer. McBain has always been adept at infusing his hard-boiled fiction with asardonic humor that borders on the ludicrous.In "Downtown," heproves he can still walk that tightrope as he balances the hilarity ofBarnes' situation with a lean, hard-hitting narrative style.

In fact,McBain's humor is so deliberately distracting, you don't realize it when heturns deadly serious.Michael Barnes may be bounced from one jam toanother, but he too has a dark side, like most McBain characters.Whenpushed enough, he too becomes as deadly as his foes and as hard-boiled asany Raymond Chandler creation."Downtown" is another example ofEd McBain at his best.Highly recommended.

Take this trip to New York!
Reminiscent of the "Out of Towners," this business trip to New York is tough on the hero but endlessly entertaining for the reader. Definitely one of McBain's best ... Read more

Product Description
The mugger was special. He preyed only on women. He waited in the darkness, coming from behind to snatch their bags. Then he punched his victims and told them not to scream. As the women reeled with pain and fear, he bowed, and said, 'Clifford thanks you, madam.' The cops in the 87th Precinct are not amused. They want the mugger and they want him bad. Especially after he puts one victim in hospital ...and the next one in the morgue. The dead girl was pretty and only seventeen. And patrolman Bert Kling has a personal reason to go after her murderer...a reason that becomes a burning obsession and an easy way for a cop to get killed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

McBain thanks you, Madam
McBain's second novel in the 87th Precinct series delivers an alternate to the straight mystery that started the series, setting the tone that his novels would switch back and forth betwee, and gives the main mystery a bizarre and darkly humorous twist.

In this case, a mugger that courteously bows and thanks the women he abuses and victimizes ("Clifford thanks you, Madam.") is terrorizing the city, and the bulls of the 87th doing their best to stop him. The pressure already on them increases when one of Clifford's apparent victims turns up dead.

With Carella on a honeymoon in the Poconos with his new bride Teddy, Willis and Havilland team up to track down the notorious Clifford. They are assisted in the search with the introduction of bald jokester Meyer Meyer, the most patient man in the 87th. Also introduced is female detective Eileen Burke, who goes undercover as Clifford bait in a desperate attempt to trap the mugger.

At the same time, patrolman Bert Kling finds himself stepping out of bounds as he looks into the murder of an old friend's daughter, who just happens to be Clifford's homicide victim. His private investigation threatens to endanger his job, but also puts him in contact with the dead girls beautiful college friend, whom he falls for instantly.

The Mugger is one of McBain's less spectacular stories, by which I mean it is not the crimes themselves that keep you riveted, but the characters involved and the stories they tell. A good portion of the book is taken up by interrogation transcripts, but they give a deeper feeling to the city and its denizens rather than bog it down.

Clifford Thanks You
And you will thank Clifford back for this exciting, fast-paced early entry in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series of police thrillers.

A mugger is brutalizing the women of the 87th Precinct, stealing their purse, punching them up, and taking his leave with a dandyesque bow and the immortal words: "Clifford thanks you." The detectives of the 87th have no sense of humor where this sort of thing is concerned, especially when one apparent victim is found lying dead on a riverside embankment.

While the series actually began with "Cop Hater," this second book, published in 1956, is where the series, and its mythical city of Isola, begins to take shape. McBain takes time out to describe the demographics of the 87th, the dance clubs, the stay-at-home wives who rake each other over in their washing-line gossip sessions like so many Mesdames Defarge.

Some nice time-outs, too, like one early on about the essence of urban loneliness. "Loneliness doesn't respect the calendar," he writes. "Saturday, Tuesday, Friday, Thursday - they're all the same, and they're all grey."

Steve Carella, the de facto hero of the 87th series, is away on his honeymoon for this one, and the reins are taken, for maybe the only time in the series, by a patrolman rather than a detective. Bert Kling is still nursing his injury from "Cop Hater" when an old friend pays him a visit, asking him to talk to his sister-in-law. That he does, and when the sister-in-law turns up dead the next day, he finds himself investigating the mysterious circumstances of her life. Why was a beautiful woman so sad, why did she visit a strange dance club and sit zombielike on the sidelines despite the many invitations to dance, why did she turn up a corpse on the other side of the city?

Since Kling is just a beat cop, he is limited in what he can do, but he does manage to meet one woman who may have some answers, particularly for his own lonelyheart condition. Claire Townsend is one of several recurring characters to make her first appearance here, along with Dets. Meyer Meyer and Eileen Burke and two favorites of mine, the clueless Homicide dicks Monoghan and Monroe.

The mystery moves along at McBain's signature pace, with the detectives setting up dragnets and working around the clock. There is plenty of action, and nice detours like with a sunglasses manufacturer who explains the intricacies of his trade, and the difference between "fronts" and "temples." As with so many of his books, McBain makes you feel less like a bookreader and more of an eavesdropper on a world every bit as vibrant and lived-in, if not more so, than your own.

It's a quick read, but if it's your first 87th book, five will get you ten it won't be your last.

The Mugger is out there, preying on women in the night!
He uses the darkness of the city night as his cloak. He watches with a deep sense of patience. He silently, quickly steps up to the women, assaulting them violently. It is their money he is after...For he goes by the name of Clifford, and he is the Mugger. His method is always the same. After snatching his victim's purse, he bows from the waist and politely says "Clifford thanks you Madam." With several cases of muggings apperently commited by the same man, the detecives of the 87th Precinct go full tilt in bringing this man to justice. Detecives Hal Willis and Roger Hallivand head the case with what they have. Hal Willis is short in size, but don't let that fool you. He is a master of judo and knows how to use it. Roger Hallivand is a bull of a man, easily clearing the six foot mark. He speaks with his fists instead of words. Together, these two detecives use all they have to try to crack this case. Finally, a very attractive girl is found murdered, in which all evidence of the murder points toward the Mugger. The dead girl happened to be related to a friend of Bert Kling, who is a cop working in the 87th Precinct. Although he isn't a detecive, but instead a patrolman, Kling is weary. However, he is still convinced to seek out the killer by the victim's sister. He reluctantly agrees, and starts his own investigation. However, because he isn't a detecive and cannot offically investigate the crime without stepping on toes, Kling runs into trouble alng the way...Will the crafty Mugger ever be caught? Will Kling solve the murder? Will Kling ever be promoted to detecive? A very short and satisfying read. A true thriller. The second book in the acclaimed 87th Precinct series will keep you on edge. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

A GREAT READ!!!!!
This is only the second McBain book I have read. It is very , very good. I am going to try to find them to read in order. Have a long way to go I know. The Mugger is about Bert Kling, who is a partolman. He is searching for a mugger named Clifford. He is doing this in his off duty time. Then a young girl Kling has met is killed, was it by the mugger or not????? The ending is great is all I will say about that. The book is fairly short, easy to read and will hold you attention. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery.

Excellent Procedural from '56
This entry in the 87th series spotlights Bert Kling before his promotion to detective.A mugger wearing cheap sunglasses has been targeting womenin the precinct.When the sister of a friend is found murdered with allclues pointing to the mugger, Kling investigates and gets embroiled in thehunt for the purse snatcher. Noticeably absent in this novel is SteveCarella, who is usually McBain's focal point. ... Read more

Product Description
Twice outfoxed by a brilliant maniac, the men of the 87th attempt to find out who shot the commissioner dead on the steps of Philharmonic Hall. Reissue. NYT. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Thank God for Public Libraries!
Since McBain has written a zillion books, I wanted to be caught up with the 87th Pct books by enrolling to my nearest public library.The Fuzz caught my eye because it was one of his earliest, printed in 1968.The book I picked up was reprinted in 1972.Great book, I must add!Carellaalways gets a beating--and to a pulp! Somebody teach this manself-defense!

A money-hungry deaf man terrorize the city, making the 87thpct go berserk!He's demanding money from them, but when they don'tdeliver, some well-known city official is murdered.There is lots ofaction: car bombing, shooting, beating, etc.

The Fuzz was hilarious anda great read--a page turner.Although, I stumbled into some British-customvocabulary for a U.S.A. plotted book (and I found this odd), it was writtenwell.I'm sure that if McBain revised this book, it would contain Americanlingo and a year 2000's style.

Excellent book!I recommend it toanyone who wants to read it.As a matter of fact, GO TO YOUR TO NEARESTPUBLIC LIBRARY TO GET IT IF IT'S OUT OF PRINT. ... Read more

Product Description
Detective Steve Carella attempts to find out who killed a nude dancer, bombed a ghetto church, murdered a local resident, and shot Detective Andy Parker. Reissue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

TO, TO CONFUSING!!
Hate to be a wet blanket but this one is totally confusing to me. This is the 25th MaBain book I have read. I think I have given all of them a five star except two. This is about 24 hours in the life of the 87th Precinct. There are several cases and several policeman all involved at one time. You read about one case for a page or two, then another one for a page or two, until you go through all of them then you start over again. I like the detectives and I like the 87th Precinct, I did just not like this format. I guess my brain is not large enough to maintain it all and keep it straight. Will continue to read them asnot likeing only two out of twenty five is pretty good.

A Great introduction to McBain
This was my first 87th precinct novel, and it definitely has me looking forward to more.This actually reads more like an episode of NYPD Blue, than a mystery novel, but it is a solid introduction to a group of characters I was not familiar with.The book is short and flies quickly.It is a 24 hour segment, covering both the night and day shift and 3-4 crimes that the detectives deal with and solve during their shift.If this seems like a cliche at all, realize that this was written before Hill Street Blues, or Homicide, or NYPD Blue so this format is years ahead of that television trend and is before Joseph Wambaugh's similar style.I highly recommend this book.It'll go quick and will have you in search of more McBain books.

Recommended for first time readers of Ed McBain.
After producing 87th Precinct crime novels regularly for fifteen years, Ed McBain issued this one in 1971.He uses a variant on the usual formula.Crimes investigated by most of the sixteen detectives on the Police Squad in one twenty-four hour period are presented.Robbery, prostitution, paedophilia, suicide, drug offences, assassination, murder, missing persons, ghosts - all these things come to the attention of the regular officers that feature in McBain's books.The cross-cutting and the editing techniques now so familiar to viewers of TV police procedural programs are here initiated by McBain.

As usual, McBain displays unerring skill at presenting scenes and characters vividly and economically.Especially realistic is the dialogue.

Readers who wish to be introduced to an Ed McBain crime novel are recommended to start with this one.Shorter than most, but tightly-packed, it provides the reader with quick access to the realism, sleaze and sensation that comprise the McBain formula.

Come Together
With this book (first published in 1971), McBain brings the varied crew of the 87th Precinct togther in one story at the same time.This is the format that all later period 87th Precinct books would follow.There are atotal of four plots in this one, each investigated by a different detectivefrom the precinct.A murder, a suicide, a jewel heist and a bombing eachget their due treatment.This is one of the better entries in the 87thPrecinct series and a must read for any McBain fan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

An Enjoyable Mystery; Superior New York Ambiance
"The Big Bad City" ( 1999)is one in the long series of 87th Precinct mystery novels by Ed McBain.It's set in contemporary times, in "Isola," his take on the wonderful city of New York, and boasts a complex, multi-level plot that should please most mystery lovers.

McBain's cop, Detective Steve Carella, is involved in three cases at once.The Cookie Boy, so dubbed by the city's media, is a careful, professional thief, who leaves white boxes of home baked chocolate chip cookies on the pillows of his victims. But, this time, he has stumbled into an occupied apartment, with disastrous, murderous results.The body of a pretty girl has been found in the park: preliminary investigation reveals that she is a nun, Sister Mary Vincent, born Kate Cochran in Philadelphia, and possessor, strangely enough, of breast implants.And Sonny Cole, convicted felon who killed Carella's father in the commission of a felony but was somehow found not guilty, is following Carella, planning to kill him, as he believes the detective will inevitably try to kill him in revenge.So McBain's juggling these three interesting plots, though it must be said, they are somewhat mannered and artificial.But he works them out, in a page turner that keeps driving forward.

McBain also did a superior job of rendering New York, its ambiance, its speech, its geography and harsh weather: hewas certainly one of the best of the genre writers in thisregard.I do get a bit distracted by his made-up names for streets, boroughs and bridges, don't know why he thought that necessary, but I can live with it. The author, who is deceased,was the only American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers Association's highest award.He also held the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award.His books, at the publication of this one, had already sold over one hundred million copies worldwide; this figure includes the highly influential The Blackboard Jungle: A Novel, published early in his career under his own name, Evan Hunter; made into a movie under the same name (Blackboard Jungle). He also wrote the screen play for Alfred Hitchcock's famed film, (The Birds (Collector's Edition)).He was a talented guy, and a prolific writer, and "Big Bad City" is an enjoyable read.

Ed McBain - it is what it is
First of all I am not a huge fan of Ed McBain.
It is a nice read with the true story feel except for the obvious theatrical conclusion.
If you want a semi-boring detective story descriping the failing judicial system, the typical criminal backgrounds and habits while centered around the good cop Steve Carella and his criminal investigation then this book is just the thing.

I am sure I am stepping on a lot of toes here. I am not belittling the author. The story was quite good and you could even picture the sweating duo in their suits a hot day, the less bright cops on the force firing off "as if it was a black kid on a Brooklyn roof with a CD in his hand", as well as the dislikable one who can get things done in a slight different way. But why not make the places more descriptive (=alive) and the stories a little more elaborate. But I guess the format is; a simple cop story, and nothing more.

If you like Ed McBain's books then you should broaden your horizon and sample Sjövall-Wahlöö who also wrote quite a few good cop stories during the sixties and seventies. They actually liked Ed McBain, but created their own style which I find more engaging as they focus more on the story and have more suspense. Again I am sure I am a bit biased being from Sweden. But another major difference is that they didn't use silly aliases such as Isola for Manhattan. I have met Americans that rate their novels very high, even above Ed McBain.

Henning Mankell is another good (Swedish) author in the same genre. Try one of his first books with detective Kurt Wallander. This author carries on the tradition from Sjövall-Wahlöö (and Stieg Trenter before them) into the nineties and the new millenium.

If you want more suspense crime novels then I recommend the Millenium series by the late Stieg Larsson. The first book is a little of a bore as well, but has a great conclusion, and builds up to the next two novels which are simply superb. I also saw the first movie but it sucks big time. The swedes can do first rate commercials, but not motion pictures. They all seem to suffer from the Bergman syndrom (slow and difficult :-)

A late arrival to McBain finds hims wonderful
I've arrived late to Ed McBain. The first work of his I read was his last (unless, like the late Ludlum, his estate decides to keep him alive through badly written and truly "ghost" novels).

McBain wrote, I think, 55 87th Precinct police procedurals. "The Big Bad City" was published in 1999. Structurally, McBain seems to have found a forumula and stuck with it - and that's a good thing, because his forumula works.

In a city that stands in as a thinly veiled New York city, the 87th Precinct bustles with activity. The precinct's detectives juggle many cases at a time, some propelled by political pressure, others by the personal involvement of the detectives, some because of happenstance and lucky tips or breaks.

In "The Big Bad City," a burglar dubbed The Cookie Boy by the press because he leaves chocolate cookies behind is on the loose;the man who killed Detective Cardella's father decides to wrap up loose ends by killing the Detective is on the prowl and a woman is found strangled in the park. The latter case rises from the routine when the woman is discovered to be a young nun - with breast implants.

McBain is in flawless. His characters have enough depth to be believable; just enough depth. His police officers run the range from the competent to slovenly and not quite-as-competent. Some are fair-minded, some are bigots. They solve their crimes through good, tedious police work. They don't get miraculous breaks: just those that they develop through their own persistence , diligence, experience and hard-work, aided by the occasional walk-in or phone-in tip. McBain is terrific at describing this often boring, often discouraging work without himself becoming tedious.

The unravelling of the murder of the nun is great storytelling as is the story of the guy plotting to kill the cop. The burglar story is a delight that could easily stand alone as a short story.

I regret having discovred McBain after his death, but he left one hell of a legacy.

Jerry

more of the same from the 87th precinct
If you have read McBain before, you will find more of the same in this novel. As usual in his 87th precinct works that I have read, McBain (pen name of the author) sets out what are basically three short stories that interlink and form into a short novel. All three of these stories are slick no nonsense to the point Dragnet style pieces. They are very readable and enjoyable. If you are a fan as I am and are looking for more of the same from McBain this book will not let you down. If you have not read McBain before, I would suggest that you start towards the beginning of his series even though you could jump in here and it would not effect the enjoyment this work offers in any way. That aside, I am only rating this work as a three star read because it is so formulaic. I can't bring myself to rate it any higher because I feel that the author is just churning this out without much thought (even though he does this quite well). This book is not high literature. It is just something, as are all of the books in this series, to pick up and enjoy for what it is, a mass produced work by a master in familiar surroundings.

This is a read that I would recommend, might be 4 stars
The only reason I am being a little hard on McBain here is that one of his numerous Isola city crime novels melds into another with little to make any particular work stand out from the rest. As usual, this book is taught with fine prose and a couple different plots that weave past each other and develop without pain to the reader. As usual the plots are distinct and well scripted while being laced with tidbits of philosophical rumblings by the protagonists. McBain is in my opinion one of the more gifted writers of the last five decades, churning out enough material to encompass several careers. Only I don't think McBain is taking any risks here, he plays it safe and we get more of the same. So that is why I am knocking this book down a couple of notches. Its totally worth reading and I would say that you will not be disapointed by purcasing this book. Its just not ground breaking and I am being hard on the old guy because I think he has it in him to churn out a magnificent read if he desired.

Lastly I would reccomend early Dick Francis novels or Johng MacDonald if you are looking for authors on par with McBain. They are different but similar in approach to their craft. ... Read more

Product Description
Jerome Edward McKennon was found sprawled on the carpet, the phone clenched in his fist. It was a gruesome poisoning, and the clues lead to gorgeous Marilyn Hollis. When Detective Hal Willis finds himself falling in love with Marilyn, he knows the only hope for their love is to prove her innocence, before passion turns to Poison. HC: Arbor House. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good read
This was a good mystery book.TIhe last 1/4 of the book was fast paced and I couldn't put it down.The ending has 2 huge surprises, you'll never guess who the killer is, althoughmcbain gives hints for the motive.I don't like the way the end leaves you hanging.I figured he must pick it up with his next book, but from reading a description, it doesn't look like he does.

The story of the innocent hooker
I heard the audio book, and it held my interest.The reader was generally good but his Spanish was really sorry (sorry!).There appeared to be at least one mis-translation from Spanish to English, but this is not the reader's fault, of course.

That aside, the plot line is pretty interesting, but it was reminiscent, to me at least, of Terry Southern's "Candy."This poor woman, a mere teenager when she first gets "turned out," ends up in a Mexican prison, goes from there to a "high-class" Brazilian brothel, where at least one of the so-called "gentlemen" gets turned on by defecating on the young lady's face.

Is that we they call "anal eroticism"?Or just sexual perversion?

Before all is said and done, according to the story, she's made carnal acquaintance with about 6,000 men (and had her uterus scraped in the process, leaving her barren).

Would a woman like this be capable of murder?It sure seems like it, as the story proceeds.In fact, she admits to murder, but in another country, and with just cause.

And another question, would any man, even a cop like Hal Willis, consider attempting to bond with this woman on a monogamous basis?

Well, these are the interesting, and sometimes titillating, questions that unfold in this little mystery.

This is the first McBain book I've read, and I understand that McBain is a pen name for Evan Hunter?

He's a craftsman, but this book may not become a classic, and, as I said, McBain seems to be recycling some of the plot lines, about the young and beautiful woman taken advantage of by countless men, who fights back (Thelma and Louise?How about Lorena Bobbitt?).She has her revenge, in a sense.

Nor does McBain endeavor to be a classic writer or particularly creative or original.He's good enough as he is.

Diximus.

mcbain is good as always, but some rescripting of willis
As always, McBain is entertaining.My only complaint is his changing of Willis's character.In the prior 38 87th precinct books to Poison, Willis was portrayed as a ladies man...tall women were always attracted to him.Also he was a judo expert from his military career.In Poison, he's only had a few girl friends, women don't like him because he's short.And he took judo lessons because he was self-conscious of his height.I liked Willis much better before this book.

Wothwhile reading.
The only shortcoming this novel has is its predictability. And at that, it still delivers a surprise in the end. The only reason I even say it is predictable is with all the evidence pointing to the lovely, if not pure, lady the reader has to know she will be proven innocent....or where is the mystery? McBain succeeds in pulling off a couple of surprises and the characters are developed enough to be interesting, if not always believable.

This novel is no longer in print but if you can find a copy of it somewhere, as long as the price is reasonable, it is worth the investment. It is a fast, fun read with enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (29)

Light, enjoyable read
This is an entertaining book. I'm not one to read many detective novels, but this was definetly a good read that kept me interested, a real page turner yet a light read, it was enjoyable and brought me back to light/easy reading stuff

Another disappointing end-of-career 87th Precinct book
I do wish Ed McBain had stopped writing the 87th Precinct novels before he went into a decline. This is the second of his later 87th works and they just don't have the dialogue or the tight writing or the characterisation which marked his best works like Fuzz or 80 Million Eyes. McBain's going through the motions here. The once delightful repartee between Carella and Meyer Meyer hardly exists and the storyline is lame. Occasionally the plot picks up pace and you think "Oh yes, I remember why I so used to like reading these books" and then it fades away in shadows of what produced at his peak. If you're a big fan of McBain, this is not really worth reading.

The original
Ed McBain's 87th Precinct mysteries are the original or model police procedurals. I won't really call them mysteries as they are different from model mystery books where readers are given clues throughout the book that the protagonists discover and the mystery is not revealed until the end. Rather the reader is taken through the same steps that the police go through and the mystery is solved by good old fashioned police work. Is there a difference? I feel there is, in traditional mysteries, there is a big element of mystification where the reader is left in the dark. In the case of this book, the reader is brought along slowly so that the isn't a big buildup, rather there is a build down as the detectives discover more and more about the case.

I actually haven't read McBain's 87th Precinct books for a long time, more than 20 years, I liked his Matthew Hope books better, but I picked up this one on whim.

This was a short book and it look me a leisurely day to finish. The writing was good and easy to read. The writing was logical and the characters acted reasonably and in a realistic manner. What this showed me is that the late Ed McBain was a seasoned, experienced and good writer.

Apart from the main plot, there was many small subplots that dealt with the detectives' lives. Something that took a little away from the main plot, but these subplots were so well written that it was a pleasure to follow them. The main plot wrapped up with good old fashioned police work and I was satisfied.

This book wasn't a page turner, I didn't feel that I had to keep reading it even through lunch or work, but it was a very decent book. For those who like police procedurals I highly recommend it. I'm definitely going to get some of the 87th Precinct books I've missed during my 20 year hiatus. And RIP, Ed McBain.

Pretty Good
The crimesare solved because of good police work. McBain interweaves the investigation of serial killings with the detectives personal lives.As the story progresses, we learn that the victims of the serial killer were not very nice people . This part is interesting. I wasn't very interested in the personal lives of the police dectives . McBain always writes clear prose and the story is good.

Good

This kind of novel is a little off the beaten path for me, but I had always wanted to read a McBain mystery, and now having done so, I'm glad I did. Good light reading featuring very human "good guys" and a villain with a credible back story. ... Read more

Product Description
The detectives of the 87th Precinct pursue a desperate killer when handsome and wealthy Sy Kramer, a notorious blackmailer, is found with a bullet in his head. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Has not improved with age
Granted "Killer's Payoff" was written nearly 45 years ago, but even forgetting the goofy then-hip dialog and arcane police proceedures, this is still not among the better 87th Precinct novels.The story is fairly mundane for the series and features Detective Cotton Hawes out on a libido rampage.This is obnoxios enough in and of itself, but at the end, McBain uses the old "talking killer" cliche, only here he multiplies it by three.Bottom line is that these novels are better the more plausile they are.This one contains enough implausibilities to make it hardly worthwhile. ... Read more

Product Description

He appeared to be a decent, upright, honest citizen....

And yet appearances can be more than deceiving in the world of blackmail and extortion. The shocking gangland-style murder of known blackmailer Sy Kramer begs the question: which of Kramer's marks had given him his very last payoff? A politician's beautiful wife with a deadly secret? An overly interested ex-con? A wealthy soft-drinks executive? Or the mystery person who had fattened Kramer's wallet by the thousands? The detectives of the 87th Precinct must break the chain that links the dead man's associates and single out a killer -- before someone else cashes it in. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Early 87th Precinct books set the foundation
#6 in the 87th Precinct series, set in fictional Isola, modeled after New York. Classic "cop fiction" with the boys from the 87th trying to track down the murderer of a blackmailer/extortionist who was mowed down gangland style in the street. First they must track down who he was blackmailing, and then figure out which among them had the means and opportunity to go with their obvious motive for wanting the man dead. Or maybe it wasn't one of Sy's "clients" at all--maybe it was someone from his personal life who wanted him out of the way?

Great police procedural, although a bit dated, as it was written in 1958--the author uses lots of monetary figures which make me laugh--you know, the blackmailer was living in the lap of luxury in a $350/month apartment, stuff like that. LOL I've speculated before on whether McBain realized at the time what a time capsule he was creating? Enjoyable, quick read, interesting to read about the characters that I came to know and love later in the series before they were really fully formed.

ANOTHER WINNER!!!
This is the sixth book on the 87th precinct I have read. They all have been good and this is no exception. The precinct is trying to find who ever gunned down a man who was walking down the street and why. The usual bunch is here, Steve Carella, Bert Kling, Cotton Hawes, Myer Myer(yes that is right) Hal Willis and newcomer Bob O'Bryan. Danny Gimp, the informer for Steve Carella shows up with information. Through much work the answer is found and one of the above is nearly killed. A fast read, will hold your attention and make you want to read the next one, if you can find it. ... Read more

Product Description
The victim had a knife in her chest, and the husband didn't even try to disguise the fact that he was glad. From the very beginning, Detective Steve Carella of the 87th Precinct is sure that someone was hired to make the killing look like an interrupted robbery. Then the dead woman's secrets start to spill out of the closet and Carella and Bert Kling find themselves entering the city's sexual underground to discover the truth. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Someone Please Kill the Narrator
This is the fifteen book in the series that I have read, and except for "Lady, I Did It" I've like and enjoyed McBain's books.But, this was about as dull a story that I have ever read.The people in it, especially the ponderous narration, seemed as if everyone was forced at gunpoint to be in this novel.What I mean is that even the characters didn't want to be there.

The story itself just plods along, with so much unnecessary fluff and fill (especially the side story with Kling) that you get the feeling (or I did) that McBain had a book to deliver and he was gonna get it done no matter what.The problem is that there is no life in the book, it lays there like a fish washed up on the shore gasping for breath.

Every good series, has it's ups and downs; hopefully this is as down as the series gets.

One of McBain's best
Great vintage 87th Precinct novel by the master of the police procedural. In this outing, the boys of the 87th investigate the murder of an attorney's wife. When the lawyer comes home and discovers his wife is dead, he proclaims himself delighted. A petty thief confesses to the crime, but Steve Carella still thinks the husband did it. If you like police procedurals, you will love this book. One of McBain's best.

Reviewer: Liz Clare, co-author of "To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis & Clark"

Not Why I Read McBain
Do you ever start to read a book and find yourself after a while completely alienated from the storyteller and the narrative? It happened here, and it was strange to me because this is an 87th Precinct novel, written by the masterful Ed McBain. I figured the guy was playing with me, setting me up for one of his classic big twists to come.

Only the twist never comes, and you are left with a disengaging, oddly unsympathetic chapter in the 87th Precinct saga.

The boys find what appears to be a straightforward burglary gone wrong: Dead female resident brutally slashed across the abdomen, silverware littering the floor, a guy three chapters in who confesses to the entire crime. But Detective Steve Carella is unconvinced it is as neat as that. While his partner Bert Kling deals with his latest love affair gone bad, Carella sets out to entrap the victim's husband, who says he's glad his wife is dead.

For the first time reading an 87th Precinct mystery, I really resented the detectives, wishing they would leave well enough alone or stir up some interest from Internal Affairs if not the ACLU. In pursuit of his hunch against the husband, who to all appearances seems a decent guy, Carella connives for an array of wiretaps violating not only the fellow's right to privacy, but that of his girlfriend. He also knocks on the doors of some of the dead wife's many ex-lovers, to get information about her other life as "Sadie" to reveal why her husband felt as bitter as he did.

Kling meanwhile uses his badge to get a rebound date with a witness to the crime after breaking up with his latest problem girlfriend, only to pull his gun out when things turn deadly between himself and some of the witness's pals.

It was 1972 when this was published, and perhaps McBain was trying to make some point about the limits of police authority in civil society. But he never makes this clear. Worse, he tells a story that is completely uninvolving as a suspense yarn, desultory and pointless, that lurches to a nonsensical conclusion, jacked up only by an out-of-nowhere attack which my edition pumps up in the teaser copy like it is the point of the story. It might as well be, for the absence of anything else here.

Even McBain's usually crisp writing is curiously distrait: "Reading another man's love letters is like eating Chinese food alone." Um, yeah...

Only toward the end, when McBain as an aside describes the Christmas Eve traffic in the precinct house, a rogue's gallery of pickpockets, thieves, and drunken killers, was I reminded again of why I come back to these McBain stories. It's for their sense of life, of vitality even at its lowest ebb and darkest hour.

Alas, "Sadie When She Died", while low and dark, is almost never vital, except in the wrong places. It's a sad, unpleasant work, further confirmation for me that the early 1970s represent a weak point in the McBain series.

The 8-7 Scores a Perfect 1o
I've read most of the 87th Precinct series, and while the worst ones are always at least above-average, the best ones are a rare excursion into perfection (esepcially for the crime/mystery genre, which, although I love it, is vulnerable to substandard, schlocky stuff). "Sadie" is the best of the best, McBain's most taut, surprising, and intricate little gem. Read it, if only to understand its cryptic title.

SADIE WHO????????
Who was Sadie? Gerald Fletcher calls police and reports he came home and found his wife, Sarah, dead from a knife stabbing. There is even a confesed killer, Ralph Corwin. Carella does not think Corwin was the killer and sets out to prove it. There are many twist and turns. Kling is beaten up by some men. He does not know why or who. Is this connected to the murder? It is a good case of police work and running tips down. McBain writes so you can feel like you are there and can see the action. Who was the killer? Will Kling find out who beat him up? The ending has a surprise twist to it, at least to me. If you like a good mystery with lots going on you will like this one. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Grim episode in the 87th Precinct
Ed McBain's long-running series of mystery novels spanned fifty years and over fifty books. Based in the fictional city of Isola (with its eerie similarities to New York), McBain's conscientious cops spent thousands of pages chasing down every sort of villainous behaviour. From 1956 to 2005, readers were introduced to serial killers, money laundering, granny dumping and more.

In Widows, something awful again happens to the perpetually-beleaguered Detective Steve Carella. This time, his father is killed. While that investigation (one of the rare cases that the reader follows outside of the 87th) is underway, Carella's squad tackles another murder, as a hormonally-supercharged man has been killed, leaving behind a trail of blond lovers, wives, ex-wives and daughters. Finally, Eileen Burke is joining the city's Hostage Negotation team, in one of the more interesting subplots.

Widows is one of the more tonally-interesting books in the series.

Horrible things happen to Carella, and the reader is still being exposed to the horrible things that have happened to Eileen. But the murder cases are both best described as darkly comedic. Tense, hysterical laughter; moments of tragic-yet-entertaining self awareness; bizarre characters; and even the occasional puppy.

Although nothing 'nice' happens in Widows, McBain manages to infuse the entire book with enough dark comedy to keep the reader from contemplating suicide (as opposed to, say, Calypso or Lightning from the early 1980s).

Capable entry in long running series
As is typical in the 87th Precinct novels this has more than one plot strand and the various elemnets are pulled together as the book reaches its climactic pages
Events are set in train by the murder of a beautiful young woman named Susan Browner ,dead of multiple stab wounds in her apartment in Isola.A cache of erotic letters -very explicitly described by the author-is found in the apartment and it is clear she is a " kept woman " .Soon after a man named Arthur Schumacher is shot to death on the street ,and his dog is also shot in the incident .Schumacher was the late Susan Brower's lover .The investigation takes Detective Steva Carella into the family circle of the late Arthur Schumacher -his formar wives,his daughters and step children .The death of Schumacer is not the end of the affair -a former wife ids shot and killed and it is obvious there was considerable dissent in the family .
Alongside this case is the hunt for the killers of Carella's father-murdered during a robbery at his bakery .This case is outside the jurisdiction of the 87th and we are given a step by step exposition of the hunt for the two black youths responsible .There is also a section on Eileen Burke,another regular characterwho is training as a hostage negotiator .We witnes shere skills in this regard when she is called to the scene of a hostage situation in which an elderly Puerto Rican man is holding his grabnddaughter hostage .
The Schumacher case resolved ,the climax sees the other two plot stands coming together as Eileen is called to mediate when the two killers hold a teenage junkie hostage in exchange for a plane to Jamaica .
This is a novel about loss .Carella and his mother mourn the death of his father ;his sister is concerned that her marriage may be in disarray and Carella sepends some time reflecting on the way his youth now seems a distant memory .
It works well enough as a thriller but there is a little too much padding for my sake ,to put it well in the upper echelon of this series but even so most crime novel fans will enjoy another professional outing from an accomplished writer

PACKS A WALLOP.
The writing here is typical of McBain; a brilliant job.

Live a clean life otherwise the loose ends may trangle up!
WIDOWS is a criminal novel which begins with the crime scene of a beautiful 22 year old blond girl found murdered in her expensive penthouse.She had been cut by a knife in several different parts of herbody.A series of exotic letters had been found in her apartment with nonames of the writer mantioned on it. The detectives manage to guess who hadwritten those letters and Arthur Schumacher is found shot onthe road nearhis apartment building, witnessed by the doorman. It is found out thatArthur and Susan had been having an affair for about 10 months.Insuccession Arthur's second wife and ex-wife also get murdered by the sameperson with the same gun.Now it is for the detective-sergents to find outwho is behind all these assainations. The other special part of the book isthe fact that the author goes into the lives of the detective-sergentsalso. His focus is not only on the murder but also on the lives of thepeople involved.A very interesting book to read. Happy Reading! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Let's Hear It For The Deaf Man......Once Again!
The Deaf Man is back once again.

I rate the Deaf Man books as some of the best in the 87th Precinct series. Unlike the routine shootings, stabbings and poisonings of other books, the Deaf Man is guaranteed to offer something more intricate and puzzling. And he certainly doesn't disappoint here; plotting robberies and murder, infiltrating police squadrooms, and sending the 87th a series of bizzare Twelve-Days-Of-Christmas-themed clues. Unlike some of the multi-layered books from this period, there are not multiple investigations going on. The story here is focussed almost entirely on the Deaf Man and his plot. The result is a tighter and leaner book than, say, 'Ice' or 'Lullaby', but that's not a bad thing, and the book is a good, fast-moving read.

Others have noticed that the book is a little more light-hearted than some others, and perhaps this was a deliberate decision after the dark and disturbing 'Lightning'. Also note that the kink factor has been turned up here; there's alot of tying young women to bedposts with ribbons, as well as quite detailed descriptions of ladies' underwear (Oh, so Detective Rawles is wearing the purple silky panties with the black lacy garters and the sheer lavender satin bra. Sure it wasn't the black lacy panties and the silk purple stockings? OK, gotcha....). So enjoy or move on, whatever floats your boat.

Fans should note that the primary protagonists in this one are Carella and Brown. But all the detectives are given some significant time here, particularly in regards to their personal lives. There's plenty of the lovely Teddy Carella, as well as other less-seen partners like Harriet Byrnes. Note in particular a fascinating insight into the gruff, foul-mouthed Parker, which paints a more complex picture of the man. There's also a small subplot dealing with Eileen Burke and the aftermath of the events of 'Lightning'.

A good, easy, entertaining read, and yet another interesting addition to the long-running series.

That Darn Deaf-Man Can Really Mess-up the Holidays
Every author of a long series has times when the reader gets the feeling that the author is only going through the motions.Whenever McBain pulls "The Deaf-man" out of the draw, you know it's that time.Just like Holmes and Moriarty, the 87th and Deaf-man could never have existed.There are NO 'master criminals' except in the imagination of mystery writers.Not only that, but to everyone but the clueless Detectives of the 87th, what is going on is so obvious as to be transparent.

One would think that around Thanksgiving, you started to receive pictures of multiple police equipment as in 8, 4, 5, 3; that you would begin to think of the "twelve days of Christmas" (the song must be playing all over the radio).But it takes the Bulls of the 87th until after they receive eight or nine before someone comes up with the idea. Makes you wonder how their guys could manage to 'catch' a cold.

What's worse it that now that McBain has decided to write 'longer' novels (two fifty to three hundred pages v. one fifty to one eighty); he spends more time on useless narrative.He mentions that nine cops are in the squad and then has to mention each one by name; he does these types of descriptions when he has the 'criminal' repeating the numbers of the combinations over and over again as opposed to just saying he repeated them.It really slows down the book and destroys any tension that is building in the story.

OK, they can't all be brilliant, but he 'telegraphs' what is going to ruin the heist with everything but a parade.Last question, what does the Deaf-man do when he disappears for years at a time?

Zeb Kantrowitz

Captivating and Crisp
Having been caught in an airport delay I grabbed this book out of the terminal bookstore to help pass the time.Lucky grab.I enjoyed the time spent reading this Ed McBain novel (though it wasn't my first I just don't remember the others).

The plot may seem a bit corny.A criminal mastermind (aka the Deaf Man) is planning something nefarious around Christmas time and taunts the 87th police precinct by sending them cryptic clues including a picture of eight black horses.So it's up to the good detectives Kling, Carella and Meyer to unravel the mysterious puzzle in time to foil the Deaf Man's ingenious plan.What makes this so captivating is McBain's ability to keep the action moving at a crisp pace while maintaining an atmosphere of tension and suspense.Throw in a little wry humor and graphic violence and you have a winning formula for an intriguing book.

Also, "Eight Black Horses" was written in 1985.It was a bit refreshing to read something about crime solving before the proliferation of cell phones and the internet.I liked it.

McBain's Out Of Ideas On This One
Have you ever seen the Jumping the Shark website?It's dedicated to TV shows that have gone downhill, and the site invited viewers to pinpoint the exact moment that a show "Jumped The Shark"...the phrase comes from an episode of 'Happy Days'.Well, Ed's "Jumped The Shark" with this one.Any police/crime novel where the author has to rely on an ultra-clever, supernaturally mysterious archnemesis with no name (a la James Bond), well, you know he's out of good plot ideas.And, unfortunately, ol' Ed's spent too much time in this book detailing the sexual exploits of various characters, with said detail contributing little if anything to the story.

Do yourself a favor - stick with Ed's earlier stuff - it's a treat."Eight Black Horses" is a throwaway.

Seasons Greetings From The Deaf Man
It's getting into the holiday season at the 87th Precinct, and what's this? An unexplained package for Det. Steve Carella? A dead naked woman lying in the park across the street? Must be another call from that fiendish archvillain, the Deaf Man.

"Eight Black Horses" was published in 1985, but it's more like a throwback to an earlier time in the 87th Precinct's development, when the accent was more on the mystery and less on the characters around it. That's not a bad thing here, since the problem posed to the investigators (and readers) by the Deaf Man is so involving and enjoyable in its macabre way. You get four dead civilians, three dead cops, and plenty of kinky sex before this one is through, so maybe it's not so bad to take this one as an entry in a lighter vein.

Ed McBain is as serious as death when he writes one of his 87th Precinct thrillers, but sometimes he's less serious than others, like he is here when he writes of a woman, feeling jilted after a one-night stand involving bondage and Russian roulette: "Lying to her, taking advantage of her, doing disgusting things to her, and then not even calling her again..."

The pace of this one zips along in classic 87th Precinct style, with more attention than usual given to the full complement of detectives in the squadroom. The clues the reader and the detectives get are clever even if we pick up on it a little before they do. Something about the Deaf Man makes him operate like his classical predecessor, Moriarty, laying forth the gauntlet in an almost gentlemanly style that would seem archaic were it not so entertaining. It makes him happy company, too, however fiendish he may be.

For those who try to keep score, there's some useful details about the boroughs of Isola and how they were named: "Bethtown had been named for the virgin queen Elizabeth, but undoubtedly by a British officer with a lisp; it was supposed to be Besstown."

And there's even some Christmas cheer to be had. Never mind that the Santa at the local department store isn't called "short eyes" because he gets confused about his elves. Probably the finest misanthropic take on the meaning of Christmas is offered by Det. Andy Parker in a hilarious monologue that belongs in any curmudgeon's handbook.

Even for 87th Precinct fans, the Deaf Man may be a bit of an acquired taste; since he likes to drop clues a la the Riddler he pushes the bounds of realism somewhat more than some 87th Precinct readers might like. But for those of us who enjoy Ed McBain's storytelling vibrancy, having an outsized story now and then only adds to the pleasures of the series.

And there's always useful information to be had. Here, for example, we learn from a detective which silk panties to buy a girlfriend for which day of the week. Saturday is black, we know, but Thursdays are purple? Just as long as you don't forget the lavender garter belt... ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (8)

Great stories by a master writer
The late Evan Hunter (1926-2005) wrote some books under his legal name, many under the name Ed McBain, and still others under other pseudonyms. The Ed McBain police procedurals, his 87th Precinct novels, were and still are best sellers that are beloved by his fans. This volume was written before but published after his death. It contains a seven page introduction by McBain in which he tells the history of the 25 excellent short stories collected in this volume. All of them were written between 1952 and 1957. The stories are introduced by McBain saying something about them, such as how the story later developed into a novel. The book ends with an afterword where McBain relates more about his writing history and a bibliography giving the date, publication, and pseudonym used for each of the 25 tales.
In short, Ed McBain fans will gain two things from reading this book. They will read fascinating crime stories and will see how their hero developed his masterful writing style.

Tales of Private Eyes, Cops, Gangs, and the Mean Streets
The collectionLearning to Killoffers a selection ofEd McBain's short stories,
all published in the period 1952-1957, the years that saw the launch of his literary
career; as the jacket notes proclaim, between the book's covers are to be found
stories written by Ed McBain before he was Ed McBain, stories that first appeared
under either his legally adopted name of Evan Hunter or a variety of noms-de-
plumes. Granted that the selected stories are representative of Mr McBain early
work they afford the reader a chance to look over his shoulder as he masters his
craft.

Most of the stories in this collection first saw publication in Manhunt, one of the
last of the pulp magazines (the pulps, alas, were a dying breed by the time Mr
McBain began his writing career in theearly 1950's); many were written while
the author earned his living working for a literary agency as a reader of unsolicited
manuscripts (In an author'sintroduction he credits his stint of employment at this
agency for providing him with an entry into the publishing world, opening the way
for his own career).

The stories collected inLearning to Killare arranged, according to their thematic
content, into separate sections, under headings such as "Private Eyes", "Cops and
Robbers", "Innocent Bystanders", and "Gangs".

Among the most memorable stories in the collection are those gathered under the
headings "Kids" and "Gangs", affecting tales of youths who, though barely in their
teens, are already trapped by the mean streets into lives ofcrime from which there
is no real hope of escape.

Two stories in this vein are especially noteworthy, "On the Sidewalk, Bleeding"
and "The Last Spin", apair of stories about youngsters who lose their lives to
the violence engendered by the pointless rivalries and turf wars of neighborhood
street gangs.

In "On the Sidewalk, Bleeding" a sixteen year old boy belonging to a street gang
lies in the shadowed recesses of an alleyway, hidden from the view of passers by,
rain drenched and mortally wounded; ambushed and stabbedby a member of a
rival gang, he has been left to die on the cold pavement, alone. Sensing it ebbing
away from him, he grieves the loss of a life he has been robbedof the chance to
live, a life casually stolen from him by someone who knew (and cared for) nothing
about him other than his gang affiliation

In the poignant "The Last Spin" two boys belonging to rival gangs form all too brief
a friendship in the short time it takes for the pair of them to play out a deadly game
of Russian Roulette (a game set up to settle a turf war in a 'civilized' fashion);the
youths, who otherwise could have met only as enemies, discover a greater affinity
for one another than either one ever felt for the confraternity of his gang .

To judge from the stories gathered under the heading "Private Eyes", I have the
sense that Mr McBain couldn't really put his heart into his private eye stories; still,
though written in large part before he had found his true literary calling (more on
that momentarily), they have as much craft invested in them as all the others in the
collection and offer perfectly good entertainment value for the money.

In two of the private eye stories included here Mr McBain allows himself a little
fun playing with the cliches of the genre; one story, "Kiss Me, Dudely" is an out
and out parody (hopefully Mikey Spillaine could take a joke) and "Good and Dead",
a story that otherwise plays things pretty straight, features Matt Cordell, a former
gumshoe who has become a lovelorn wino, driven to the bottle by the infidelity of
the woman he loves, surely a character lampooning all those tough guy P.I.'s who
always keep a bottle of whiskey in their desk drawer, right next to the Smith &
Wesson, and who have no use for two-timing dames. (Only one of the Matt Cordell
stories is included in Learning to Kill but, for anyone wanting more of him, he is
also the protagonist of a full length novel, The Gutter and the Grave, that has been
reissued by Hard Case Crime.)

In a brief introductory note to one of the private eye stories ("Death Flight"), and
through the voice of its first person narrator as well, Mr McBain expresses his belief
that murder investigations are a matter private detectives have no business meddling
in but should rather be left to the police; such a basic discomfort with the private eye
genre led him, early on in his career, to abandon it entirely and turn instead to writing
stories about cops and the milieu they work in.

The cop stories included in Learning to Kill have abare-bones, slightly formulaic
aspect to them; each centers on a pair of police detectives, following their actions
as they investigate and eventually solve a crime; only as much of the human side of
these men is shown as comes out in the context of their professionalactivities; in
fact, the police duos featured in these stories are almost pairs of archetypes, virtually
interchangeable with one another.

The bare-bones quality of these early cop stories was intentional on the author's
part as aportrayal of the humanistic side of police work is not what Mr McBain
was after; rather, they mark a milestone in his career because they showcase the
same meticulous attention to the kitchen details of police work that would later
show up in the author's celebrated 87th Precinct novels.

The stories about cops have, in their miniature format, all the essential traits of the
'police procedural', a genre Mr McBain is usually credited with having virtually
invented; he showed that the conduct of criminal investigations by the police, with
all their attendant drudgery and tedious legwork ,can make for fascinating and
compelling fare when portrayed with the kind of scrupulosity and verisimilitude he
perfected in the course of writing the early cop stories.

Two standout entries in this collection's selection of cop stories are "Chinese Puzzle"
and "Kid Kill", (The latter story is actually found among those under the heading of
"Kids", stories dealing with youthful criminals, but it could just as well be considered
a story about cops.)

"Chinese Puzzle" is a 'fair play ' murder mystery recounted in the classical manner,
laying out in full, for the discerning reader to find and piece together, all the clues
needed to solve the crime; the difference here is that the murderer is unmasked not
by a brilliant amateur sleuth (a 'gentleman detective' in the lineage of Dupin, Holmes
and Poirot) nor by a 'lone wolf' private eye (in the vein of Sam Spade and Mike
Hammer) but by professionals, a pair of police detectives doing the job that the tax-
payers pay policemen to do.

In "Kid Kill" a pair of police detectives are sent to investigate what appears to be
an accidental shooting: a widow's youngest son has been shot to death by his older
brother who was playing with a Luger sent home, as a war souvenir, by the elder
son (who did not return from the war). The story departs a little from the strictures
of a 'by-the-book' procedural: it does not conclude with a tidy resolution nor, even,
with the certitude that a crime has, in fact, occurred; in a fashion that eschews
sensationalism the story considers a matter often touched upon in crime fiction:
the existence, in our midst, of moral monsters.

Learning to Kill is worth reading for sheer entertainment value (it is a collection
of Good Stories) but I would especially commend it to those who are interested in
following along the literary footsteps of a future grand master of the form as he
learned and perfects the skills of his craft.

Learning To Kill Has Lost Its Sheen
If you've ever whiled away an evening watching 21 Jump Street or Law & Order, you owe Salvatore Lombino a debt of gratitude. He virtually created the police procedural, that durable crime-fiction subgenre of which Americans never seem to tire. Not that you'd know him by that name, though. When he began his creative career as a reader at a literary agency, Lombino learned that editors didn't like publishing pieces from authors with "ethnic" names, so he changed his to Evan Hunter. Then when he wanted to pen crime tales, he went by Ed McBain and eventually wrote the influential 87th Precinct novels, churning out scores of them from 1956 until 2005. But in the early days, McBain cut his teeth on short stories, twenty-five of which are collected in Learning to Kill.

A number of the shorts have kept their sheen over half a century since original publication. A private investigator quickly ends up over his head while trying to discover why a "Death Flight" fell out of the sky. A pair of feuding gang members strike up a tentative friendship over a game of Russian Roulette in the poignant "The Last Spin." And McBain puts deliciously noirish twists on stories about a bystander accused of a crime he didn't commit ("Runaway") and a north-Florida boat operator who gets more than he bargained for when he takes out a pair of clients during a week of bad weather ("Downpour").

Unfortunately, the rest have gone a bit dull with the years. The procedurals, in particular, feel tired and rote. Decades of weeknight television have stripped any surprise from storylines about bank heists gone wrong ("The Big Day"), dead infants dumped in churches ("Small Homicide") and cops killed by hit-and-run drivers ("Accident Report"). Also, one doesn't have to be a card-carrying member of N.O.W. to feel uncomfortable with a story that centers on a woman being felt up during a subway ride ("The Molested") or a private-eye satire that has a gal getting cold-cocked multiple times ("Kiss Me, Dudley"). McBain fans will probably find lots to like, but there are better ways for the rest of us to murder our free time.

The Making of a Grandmaster
This isn't really Learning to Kill but really Learning to Become a Professional Writing-101.
Salvatore Lombino, aka Evan Hunter, aka Richard Marsten, and aka- freakin' finally, Ed McBain, was a Grandmaster of the Mystery genre and in this collection of his earliest short stories we get a wonderful introduction and personal glimpse at how it all began.
You don't just become a great writer; it is an evolutionary process and long before you learn how to walk upright you first have to crawl out of the primordial prose and go from grunting to articulation.
That's what you get here; McBane's writing origins and genetic credential check. With these early pulp magazine stories we see the DNA forming, the synapses firing, the links coming together that over time produced a great mystery and police procedural writer.
Are some of the stories in this book out-dated? Sure. They were written in the 50s but they still read well. Better yet, you get McBane's comments on how they came to into being.
This book offers a great introduction into writing and the writing business, from no experience and a wall plastered with rejection slips to pulp magazine acceptance and a life-long career.
Is this book for the modern reader? Probably not but it is for the serious modern writer.
You're missed Sal, Evan, Richard and Ed. You truly are.

Early Ed McBain
These are short stories by "The author later known as Ed McBain". Learned that he was born to Italian/American Parents. (Though he obviously didn't care for that categorization - See Steve Carella's comments from more recent 87th Precinct Novels). The Author.. was born in NYC (believe it was Italian Harlem).
IF you are an Ed McBain addict (as I am) then buy this, to get an idea of the author's development. IF you are new to McBain Try a later 87th Precinct Novel. ("Fiddler's" is quite good.) OR the Matthew Hope Series is Excellent. ("There was a Little Girl" comes to mind.) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A light fun tropical read.
I like Ed McBain's Mathew Hope series. While not as complicated, noir or hardboiled as the 87th Precinct novels, they are great fun andwitty.

This one was almost a short story. Good workable plot, a coupleinteresting sidebars, enjoyable characters and a resolution you canaccept.

The Florida scene is well set in the fictitious city of Calussawith a couple of Miami excursions. Mathew Hope is an interestingprotagonist...a lawyer with a heart of gold willing to be a private eye forhis client as well.

It's fast, easy and entertaining.

I LOVED THIS MATTHEW HOPE BOOK
I BROUGHT THE BOOK IN FLORIDA, WHERE MATTHEW HOPE LIVES. I LIKE THE CHARACTER MORRIS BLOOM. HE MAKES ME LAUGH. THE THINGS MATTHEW SAYS MAKE ME LAUGH ALSO. IN THIS STORY, BEAUTY WAS THE BEAST. I LOOK FORWARD TO READING ED MCBAIN'S 87TH STREET PRECINCT BOOKS ALSO. ... Read more

Product Description
It's not a mystery, it's a story of survival and triumph. That's what some people say about Romance, a would-be hit play about an actress pursued by a knife-wielding stalker. But isn't it romantic! Before the show can open, the leading lady is really attacked, outside the theater. And before the detectives of the 87th can solve that crime, the same actress is stabbed again. This time for keeps. A.D.A. Nellie Brand moves in for a murder conviction, but Detective Steve Carella is sure she's got the wrong guy, and wrestles for the case with Fat Ollie Weeks, Isola's foulest cop. While Bert Kling interviews witnesses and suspects ranging from the show's producers to the author - who has written novels about cops and knows how it's done - to the lead's lovely understudy, he can't keep his mind off what's happening to him. He's falling in love. With a doctor. Who happens to be a deputy chief surgeon. Who happens to be a black woman. In the city of Isola, nothing is black and white. In the play Romance, no one is guilty or innocent. And in the gritty reality of the 87th Precinct, everyone is in love with something - even if it's only murder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

One of the best of the later 87th books...
It seems some people here don't like this entry in the long-running 87th series, but I personally think it's one of the better ones. Perhaps the fact that it's more character-driven and has less actual crime investigation upsets some people, but fans of the series should really enjoy this book.

When 'Romance' star Michelle Cassidy is stabbed in a similar manner to her character in the play, it sets off a blaze of welcome attention for her, as well as an investigation for the 87th. Genuine assault or publicity stunt? But when cast members begin dying it's clear there's more than simply attention-seeking here. As always, there's no shortage of interesting suspects: scheming manager-boyfriends, jealous understudies, co-stars with wandering hands, bickering directors and writers...

The case is set against the backdrop of Kling's attempts at building a relationship with Sharyn Cooke, and their interactions take up a fair part of the book. The issue of mixed-race partnerships is dealt with both seriously ("ain't there enough white women here for you?!") and humorously ("Bert Kling danced like a white man!"). The issue of race is also touched on in a small subplot involving a car accident between Teddy Carella and a black woman.

The main protagonists in this one are Carella and Kling, with minimal input from the other detectives. In response to a complaint below, this is the forty-somethingth entry in the series, so McBain assumes you're familiar with the main characters. If you're the type who expects a large amount of character backstory, you're better off starting with a much earlier book.

This is one of my personal favourites of McBain's later books, and should be well regarded by fans of the series.

Not So Much
I had to give this book one star b/c i couldn't give it anything less.Perhaps one of the worst books i've ever read.dry and boring with no likable characters to root for.I'm not sure if the main characters have appeared in Mr. McBain's other stories and so he expects us to know them but I felt no connection to them. Also you would think with over 300 pages maybe he could have gone into a little more character description of our protaganists rather than having everybody and their grandmother in the book go on random diatribes about nothing.

Even though I'm a pretty fast reader, it took me several weeks to get through the book because it was so boring and that's after skipping half of it.Finally I just read the last chapter (something i never do) and shut the book dropping it in my to be donated pile.The book was such a disappointment especially having heard such glowing reviews about the author and his books in general; that, I don't even want to leave it lying around in my house b/c everytime I see it, I get upset that I actually spent money to buy such drivel.

This was my first and last Ed McBain book.I'll just wait for the TV movies, and may be not even then.

Romance on the Stage, and Off.
Romance is the name of the game.Actually, in this 87th Preceinct series #46, it's the name of a play in an imaginary town called Isola, full of fictitious people and places.

The play in which Michelle Cassidy is rehearsing the lead is about an actress being pursued by a stalker.One evening, a little after seven, as she is leaving rehearsals at the Susan Granger theater, she actually is stabbed by a man wearing a black coat, a black wide-brimmed hat, and black gloves who lunges out of an alley with a knife.

At the Morehouse General Hospital, the red-haired actress was interviewed by t.v. reporters who didn't realize she had been the former child star of ANNIE on the road.She'd been stabbed in the shoulder, inches away from the heart.

The ER intern who'd admitted her said "had the stab wound been two iinches lower and a bit to the right, she'd be 'playing first harp in the celestial philharmonic'."That very afternoon, she had made a report at the precinct about receiving threatening phone calls from a man sounding like Jack Nicholson, saying he would kill her with a knife.

Like the Knoxville police, they don't consider that a crime (to threaten bodily harm) but wait until it happens to show any interest.One thing which made it sound 'fishy' is the plot of "Romance" where the actress is stalked and stabbed.She told reporters she felt it had to be someone familiar with the play.

Her theatrical agent, Johnny Milton, arrived at the hospital as the two police dectectives started to interrogate her and became suspect #1, even though the show's stage manager knew all the details such as Miss Cassidy's being released from the hospital later that very night.

During their investigation, it is discovered that Milton had a reservation at a nearby restaurant (a 5-min. walk) for 7 p.m. (alibi) and told the cops he thought Michelle had 'planned' the scene for publicity.Later, he said they'd had a disagreement over the phone.Someone she knew did come to her apartment and demanded to be let in, while she was home alone.And, she was relieved when she saw who it was through the peephole, took the chain off, and unlocked three different locks to meet her fate.

Johnny Milton had no reason to kill her, as the stabbing in the alley had accomplished everything he wanted to happen.His client suddenly became a 'star,' as the stabbing had put both her and the play on the map because of the media coverage.

It was unusual for real life to mirror a role in a play; this one called 'Romance.'So why kill the golden goose?Where's the motive:love or money.Possibly it could have something to do with the leading role's lovely understudy, Josie Beals.Or, could it have been Chuck Madden, the stage manager, who had a handwritten note on his machine:"Dear God, please forgive me for what I did to Michelle."

Author of THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE in 1954, plus a multitude of novels as Ed McBain and his real name, Evan Hunter, he earned the title Grand Master from the Mystery Writer's of America.He has to his credit short story collections, a few children's books, also screenplays and teleplays of some of his books.He's still grinding them out.

Fatuous Novel-poor plot & p.c. characters
Ed McBain often writes snappy,"movin'on" dialogue, but of the 5 books I have read (all highly recommended) none has a good plot, or interesting characters. Many readers praise his characters, but I find them shallow and almost always insipid and underdeveloped. This novel has good potential with a theatrical background and characters, but it goes nowhere;a budding romance between white policeman and black atty seems surrealistic to me--the atty would never be attracted to the half-bright policeman. Very p.c. Very shallow. Mr. McBain's novels are "airplane" or "beach" novels--which is fine for readers who like these kind of books, but by no stretch of the imagination are his novels "good," compared, for example,to Ruth Rendell, Michael Connelly, or Reginald Hill. The 87th is dullsville.

Entertaining
A very nice, typical 87th Precinct book, and it is quite
entertaining.The basic story is about a play within a play,
where an actress is attacked with a knife, in both the play
and the mystery story here.
But it isn't that complicated, and the author does a nice job
of keeping the two mysteries straight.The characters are very
interesting, and there is enough conflict among the various
people to sustain reader interest.
The mystery deepens as the first obvious suspects are suddenly

crossed off the list, and the police have to begin exploring
other possibilities, and the author does a very nice job of
moving the action forward.
The only hitch in the story is the author's clumsy exploration
of a black-white romance, which doesn't ring true at all and
seems extremely dated.
But a very nice entry in this series. ... Read more

Product Description

It's a nightmare no parent should ever endure. Especially Alice Glendenning, a South Florida real estate agent who hasn't managed to sell a single home -- or collect any insurance money -- after her husband's fatal boating accident. Her daughter and son's kidnappers demand $250,000, the exact amount she's supposed to receive from the insurance company. To complicate matters, her housekeeper has contacted the police -- a glaring error in judgment that puts a spotlight on the crime, the children's lives at risk...and Alice in jeopardy.Amazon.com Review
A deft, sharply drawn, and thoroughly enjoyable stand-alone from a master writer, this fast-paced suspense novel features an appealing heroine, a well realized plot, and enough wit to dial down the tension, let the reader take a deep breath, and enjoy Ed McBains latest.

Alice is a recent widow, still struggling to get over the drowning death of her husband and raise their two young children. A novice realtor, she hasn't made any sales yet, and is counting the days until her husband's insurance policy pays off. Then her kids are abducted and held for ransom--not so coincidentally, for the exact amount of the insurance policy.

Warned not to contact the police, Alice tries to head off the well-meaning assistance of her housekeeper, but so unsuccessfully that before she can stop her, the kidnapping sets off a turf war between the local authorities and the FBI. Meanwhile, two seemingly unrelated occurrences--a near-miss by a passing motorist who almost runs her down and the unexpected appearance of her brother-in-law, an ex-con--lead the reader just far enough astray to keep the suspense building. Eventually Alice takes matters into her own hands, which is clearly the only way to get her children safely home. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read from the author of the two successful series (the 87th Precinct and Matthew Hope novels) written as Ed McBain and several stand-alones penned by his alter ego, Evan Hunter. --Jane Adams ... Read more

Customer Reviews (30)

A very good book
I enjoyed this book alot. It is a character study in slimeballs and liers. It lets you look inside the way they think. The mystery unfolds well but the journey is the main thing. Have you ever wondered why or how punks think? How they justify themselves? (one answer, very little- they don't seem to need a reason) This Mcbain is a great writer- He sees right through types of people for what they really are. This is a great read.

Alice may be in jeopardy but Ed's in top form!
If you read anything by Ed McBain (a.k.a Evan Hunter) this is the one.What a great book!Alice's son and daughter are kidnapped and there are characters aplenty trying to solve the case.McBain does a superb job of giving everyone something interesting to do, much like he did with the 87th Precinct gang.At the end, it's not the local police or the FBI that crack the case and figure it all out...it's Alice.A dramatic conclusion as a determined mom rescues her children.

Contractural obligation, or what?
I've read at least 25 McBain/Hunter books and this is probably the only one I wouldn't recommend.The plot is full of holes, such as the police leaving the main character totally alone in the middle of an investigation.

As a few have mentioned, there are characters that contribute nothing to the story and serve no purpose.There are some misplaced political asides that appear from nowhere also.I guess they made Ed feel better at the time. Both the characters and the commentary are distractions and nothing but filler.

It's sad that Ed/Evan has passed on, and he was a great, some would argue the greatest, author of the police procedural, but this isn't one of them by a longshot.

Where have you gone, Ed McBain
I've been a fan of Ed McBain books for decades, especially the 87th Precinct police procedurals.His prose was crisp.He didn't lard the story with scenes and details that were meaningless.I would compare those books with the superb Georges Simenon police procedurals featuring Inspector Maigret.

Then along came "Alice in Jeopardy."The story is, to put it simply, cluttered with, pointless and graphic sex scenes, characters and conversations that do not advance the story, etc.Lest I be accused of giving away the plot, I can go no further.

The prose style itself is unlike McBain, aka Evan Hunter.Did he change editors in this book shortly before the author died?It would seem so.And to make it all worse, the denouement will be transparent to the reader who has read ten or more mysteries.

Any new reader shouldn't judge Ed McBain by this novel.I say that in his defense.Go to any of the 87th Precinct books instead.Let this one reek in peace.

"Alice in Jeopardy" doesn't deserve more extended comments.

Very predictable
Since the book's first part you'll know who snatched the kids. So that makes the book a little bit boring and disappointing at the end when you read what you already knew. The story has too many characters and stories that doesn't have to be there, for example:

Rafe and his girlfriend.
Alice's run over.
The FBI implication.
And the press implication among others.

In spite of the above points you can read the book and have a fairly good time reading it albeit is not a good thriller

... Read more

Product Description
Preparing for the jewelry heist of a lifetime, fashionable New York burglar Alex Hardy enlists the help of a one-legged prostitute and a veteran break-in artist before he realizes he is in love with an honest woman. Reprint. ... Read more