From Publishers Weekly
The 25 crime stories the late MWA Grand Master (1926ะฒะโ2005) wrote between 1952 and 1957 and selected for this thematically arranged collection display in embryo the style and techniques that he would later hone into perhaps the finest police procedural series of all time: the 87th Precinct. Born Salvatore Lombino, McBain (Fiddlers) changed his name legally to Evan Hunter, one of three names these early stories were published under in magazines like Manhunt and Argosy. McBain's entertaining general introduction points to the wide range of his subject matter: "Here were the kids in trouble and the women in jeopardy, here were the private eyes and the gangs. Here were the loose cannons and the innocent bystanders. And here, too, were the cops and robbers." Equally illuminating are his introductions to individual tales like "See Him Die," which, greatly expanded, became the 13th book in the 87th Precinct series. This is an essential volume for McBain fans, an inspiration for aspiring authors and a treasure for both. (July)
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From Booklist
McBain oversaw the compilation of this anthology of his early crime fiction before his death in 2005. Long before McBain was the McBain of the 87th Precinct series and the winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award and the British Crime Writers' Diamond Dagger Award, he wrote short fiction, paid by the word, for 1950s pulp magazines such as Manhunt and Argosy under the names of Richard Marsten, Hunt Collins, and Evan Hunter. This collection presents 25 of those crime stories, published between 1952 and 1957 (none of his science fiction, adventure, or western stories are republished here). Grouped thematically under such headings as "Women in Jeopardy," "Private Eyes," and "Cops and Robbers," the stories are definitely of the period, long on hard-boiled tone, short on subtlety. More interesting than the stories themselves are McBain's general introduction, which presents both comic details about his career and valuable insights into his writing, and the short prefaces he gives each section, which provide a window into the times and his own development as a writer. For McBain fans. Connie Fletcher
Copyright ะยฉ American Library Association. All rights reserved