Ed McBain Books

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Evan Hunter was born with the name Salvatore Albert Lombino on October 15, 1926. He was born and raised in New York City, living in East Harlem before moving to the Bronx at the age of twelve. Hunter wrote some stories while serving in the navy during World War Two, but they would not be published until the fifties, when he was an established author. He legally changed his name in 1962 to Evan Hunter and was successful and well known with this name. He is even more known as Ed McBain, which is a name that he used for most of his crime fiction work. Hunter sold his first story under his born name, but published more under his pen names, of which he had many. He died from laryngeal cancer at the age of 78 in Weston, Connecticut in 2005. This was due to the fact that he was a heavy smoker for a few decades and had three heart attacks. Hunter needed an operation on his heart and had a precancerous lesion on his larynx. He had it removed but it would return.

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He has written novels, short stories, and screenplays. The most known of his screenplays is probably “The Birds” that was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. He was supposed to write “Marnie” but he and Hitchcock clashed on a scene and was fired from the project. Hunter also wrote the “87th Precinct” series, and released at least one novel (sometimes two) a year, starting in 1956 until the year 2005.

ED MCBAIN AWARDS

McBain has been nominated for four Edgar Awards, but he lost each time. He was nominated twice for best short story (“The Last Spin” and “Sardinian Incident”), once for best movie (“The Birds”), and best novel (“Money, Money, Money”). McBain was named Grand Master by Mystery Writers of America. He also received a Diamond Dagger British Crime Writers, and was the first American winner of the award.

ED MCBAIN BOOKS INTO MOVIES/TV

Hunter adapted one of his own novels into a movie, he did this by writing the screenplay for “Strangers When We Meet” based off his novel of the same name that was released in the year 1958. He also wrote “Fuzz” that was based off a novel from the “87th Precincts” series. NBC ran a series called “87th Precinct” that ran from 1961 until 1962. He wrote a novel called “Blackboard Jungle” in 1954, the next year it was made into a movie.

BEST ED MCBAIN BOOKS

For those readers looking to get into novels by Ed McBain, this section will help with that. It will go over the novels “Cop Hater” and “The Mugger”.

Cop Hater: This is the first novel in the “87th Precinct” series and was released in the year 1956. Steve Carella is a cop with New York City’s famed 87th Precinct, and thinks that he has seen it all. Nothing is able to prepare him for the sight he sees on a hot July night. One of his fellow detectives (named Mike Reardon) dead on the sidewalk after his face was blown off by a .45. Later, Reardon’s partner is killed too, and a .45 caliber round is found in his chest. It is not a coincidence and Carella knows this. He figures that the whole thing is nothing more than a grudge killing. There is a third murder that ruins his theory. He has but a single clue and he dives deep into the underbelly of the city. Carella goes a gloomy search for answers that takes him from a notorious brothel to a beautiful and dangerous widow. He will not stop until either a bullet finds him or he finds the truth.

The Mugger: This is the second novel in the “87th Precinct” series and was released in the year 1956. There is something special about this mugger. He goes after women in the dark. He goes at them from behind, attacks them, and then takes their purse. The mugger tells them not to scream and as they are in pain on the ground, he bows and then tells them that Clifford thanks them. He puts one victim in the hospital and another in the morgue, making the police angry and going to extreme lengths to bring him to justice. Bert Kling (a young and dashing patrolman) is always ready to help out a friend. Bert’s friend’s sister in law is the murder victim. This gives him some personal reasons to want the maniac killer, and it quickly turns to a burning obsession for him. It may get him killed.

When Does The Next Ed McBain book come out?

Ed McBain doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Transgressions, Vol. 3 and was released on December, 2nd 2006.

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