Bread [Paperback]

Ed McBain (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 1995

Was the warehouse fire an accident? And why was the warehouse's security guard lying dead outside? The detectives of the 87th Precinct must listen to a bloodcurdling tape which is their best clue to solving a tangle of arson, dope, homicide and pornography.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Stephen King and Nelson DeMille on Ed McBain

I think Evan Hunter, known by that name or as Ed McBain, was one of the most influential writers of the postwar generation. He was the first writer to successfully merge realism with genre fiction, and by so doing I think he may actually have created the kind of popular fiction that drove the best-seller lists and lit up the American imagination in the years 1960 to 2000. Books as disparate as The New Centurions, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Godfather, Black Sunday, and The Shining all owe a debt to Evan Hunter, who taught a whole generation of baby boomers how to write stories that were not only entertaining but that truthfully reflected the times and the culture. He will be remembered for bringing the so-called "police procedural" into the modern age, but he did so much more than that. And he was one hell of a nice man. --Stephen King

Way back in the mid-1970s, when I was a new writer and police series were very big, my editor asked me to do a series called Joe Ryker, NYPD. I had no idea how to write a police detective novel, but the editor handed me a stack of books and said, “These are the 87th Precinct novels by Ed McBain. Read them and you’ll know everything you need to know about police novels.” After I read the first book--which I think was Let’s Hear It for the Deaf Man--I was hooked, and I read every Ed McBain I could get my hands on. Then I sat down and wrote my own detective novel, The Sniper, featuring Joe Ryker. My series never reached the heights of the 87th Precinct series, but by reading those classic masterpieces, I learned all I needed to know about urban crime and how detectives think and act. And I had a hell of a time learning from the master. Years later, when I actually got to meet Ed McBain/Evan Hunter, I told him this story, and he said, “I would have liked it better if my books inspired you to become a detective instead of becoming my competition.” Evan and I became friends, and I was privileged to know him and honored to be in his company. I remain indebted to him for his good advice over the years. But most of all, I thank him for hundreds of hours of great reading. --Nelson DeMille

To read about how Ed McBain influenced other mystery and thriller writers, visit our Perspectives on McBain page.

For a complete selection of 87th Precinct novels available for Kindle (paperbacks coming in February 2012), visit our Ed McBain's 87th Precinct Booklist.

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--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Ed McBain was one of the pen names of successful and prolific crime fiction author Evan Hunter (1926–2005). Debuting in 1956, the popular 87th Precinct series is one of the longest running crime series ever published, featuring more than 50 novels, and is hailed as "one of the great literary accomplishments of the last half-century." McBain was awarded the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement in 1986 by the Mystery Writers of America and was the first American to receive the Cartier Diamond Dagger award from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Mandarin (February 27, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749309253
• ISBN-13: 978-0749309251
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,231,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed McBain was one of the many pen names of the successful and prolific crime fiction author Evan Hunter (1926 - 2005). Born Salvatore Lambino in New York, McBain served aboard a destroyer in the US Navy during World War II and then earned a degree from Hunter College in English and Psychology. After a short stint teaching in a high school, McBain went to work for a literary agency in New York, working with authors such as Arthur C. Clarke and P.G. Wodehouse all the while working on his own writing on nights and weekends. He had his first breakthrough in 1954 with the novel The Blackboard Jungle, which was published under his newly legal name Evan Hunter and based on his time teaching in the Bronx.

Perhaps his most popular work, the 87th Precinct series (released mainly under the name Ed McBain) is one of the longest running crime series ever published, debuting in 1956 with Cop Hater and featuring over fifty novels. The series is set in a fictional locale called Isola and features a wide cast of detectives including the prevalent Detective Steve Carella.

McBain was also known as a screenwriter. Most famously he adapted a short story from Daphne Du Maurier into the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). In addition to writing for the silver screen, he wrote for many television series, including Columbo and the NBC series 87th Precinct (1961-1962), based on his popular novels.

McBain was awarded the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement in 1986 by the Mystery Writers of America and was the first American to receive the Cartier Diamond Dagger award from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. He passed away in 2005 in his home in Connecticut after a battle with larynx cancer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the Best McBain up to this Point (1975), October 16, 2008

By 

Grey Wolffe "Zeb Kantrowitz" (North Waltham, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bread (Paperback)

"Bread" is the 29th installment of the "87th Precinct" novel series, and maybe the best up to this point. Not only are we given a great story (yes there is only one in this book) but we are also introduced to one of McBain's best characters, Oliver "Fat Ollie" Weeks of the 83rd in the Diamondback district. Ollie is only slightly about Parker in the hygiene department and can match him BO to BO on any day. Ollie though is a good detective, but with the mouth of a bigot who doesn't understand why some people are upset by the way he talks and acts and smells.

The story starts with an arson investigation, then leads to another arson and then two murders and the beating of a woman. Involved are a group of business partners who add new meaning to the expression 'cya'. They are so busy double dealing and trying to screw each other that even they lose track of who's doing what to who. It's a great story and much more realistic and believable then the "Deaf Man" stories. I'm looking forward to more of "Fat Ollie".

Zeb Kantrowitz

12 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sizzling, March 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Bread (87th Precinct Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

McBain captures the tense relationships of city life in "Bread." The heroes and the villians are equally memorable characters. McBain provides it all: humor, suspense, and action all in perfectly written prose.

5.0 out of 5 stars A typical 87th Precinct novel - excellent, January 21, 2012

By 

L. Smith (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bread (87th Precinct) (Kindle Edition)

I never tire of reading the 87th Precinct stories and while I have not done so in order, as I just grab one and read it when I get the chance, this one was a little early as it is the introduction to one of my favorite characters, Fat Ollie. Everything I like about these stories is present in this one - a case that seems simple at first (an arson investigation) turns more complicated as each person is interviewed. From arson to gangs to drugs - this book makes those twists and turns very entertaining as you follow another exciting case for the 87th.