Fuzz [Paperback]

Ed McBain (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1969

The greatest novel of McBain's famous 87th Precinct series set in and around NYC police stationhouse. Steve Carella finds how two brutal murder cases converge through coincidence in a startling and savage conclusion. Serialized in THE SATURDAY EVENING POST and filmed with Raquel Welch.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Signet (September 1, 1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451040015
• ISBN-13: 978-0451040015
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,956,603 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

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FUZZ IS A FIVE!!!!, August 19, 2002

By 

Mac Blair "Mac Blair" (Huntingdon, TN USA) - See all my reviews

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

Fuzz is a five, to me anyway. There are really three stores going on at the same time. One is: someone is throwing gasoline on bums as they sleep and setting them on fire. Carella goes undercover for this one and gets burned himself. Another is: who is after John the Taylor? He is to be robbed but different people show up at the time of the robbery. The other story is the main one.A commissioner is killed after a threat. The Deputy Mayor is killed after a threat. The Mayor is to be next. The squad figures it is the "deaf man" again. All the 87th precinct people work on this. Carella considers him to be a "master criminal"--can he be caught???????? Read as the entire group try to bring this man to justice. As usual McBain writes so you can believe you are there.You get to where you have feelings for each officer and really think you know them. This is the 22nd book I have read by McBain and I think there was only one I did not like. The odds are pretty good you will like this one also.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well Done but Not One of McBains Best, May 27, 2008

By 

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

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

Each of McBain's 87th Precinct novels has a little twist of its' own. This one has another appearance by 'the deaf-man'; whose only hard of hearing but hard to kill. Like all of his stories, there are actually three crimes being followed. The one with the deaf-man has to do with him killing politicians and then extorting money from wealthy men.

Story number two has to do with a robbery that is set-up by two of the dumbest criminals who ever lived, and were overheard planning the robbery in a luncheonette. Someone overheard them and wants a piece of the action, ends up getting caught by the police and he rats on the guys.

Story three is about two young guys who have been poring gasoline on bums and then setting them on fire. One of the bums has died. Steve Carella goes undercover as a derelict to try and catch them. But Steve gets beat up twice for his troubles. Who ever heard of a police undercover action without back-up?! Going by himself Carella deserved to get beaten up.

The ending is just too ridiculous to be believed, it piles coincidence on top of remarkable luck and plain stupidity. Totally unbelievable.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Deaf Man's Second Appearance, June 4, 2001

By A Customer

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

Ed McBain's 1968 "Fuzz" is a terrific read and a lot of fun from a great writer. Notable mostly for the second appearance of the Deaf Man, whom the reader learns more about his brilliance, and the 87th Precinct detectives who try to thwart his every move. Unfortunately, the Deaf Man will try to stop the detectives by making them look stupid and incompetent in the process.

I loved this book. The more I learn about the Deaf Man, the more I want to know. Congratulations to Mr. Ed McBain, the master, for creating such a terrific character. Maybe I could learn a few things or two from the Deaf Man about being a criminal genius.

I also enjoyed the background story about the squad room painters and the Tailor Shop. As for the reader from Minneapolis, MN, did it ever occur to you that not all cops are corrupt and rascist? Even then, remember reading about Detective Andy Parker? Next time, try reading the book before writing a bad review and insulting a great writer.