Customer Reviews

Hark!: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (87th Precinct Mysteries)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A murderer obsessed with anagrams uses Shakespearean sonnets and plays to lead on the detectives of the 87th precinct. Who is the man known as the "Death Man," or "Adam Fen?" In this terse, tense book, Ed McBain takes his rider on an unequaled wild journey of crime and deception, through the streets of "the city" to find a killer. McBain's stark prose is sometimes difficult to understand, however, as the reader sometimes does not know who is speaking. But it is a well-written novel nonetheless.

Ed McBain is the pen name for Evan Hunter, a man who penned the script for the classic Hitchcock movie, The Birds. Here the author uses his knowledge of crime to craft another perfectly- executed story which is action-packed and a lot of fun.

This is not the book with which to start the series, as there are too many references to previous books. It's also not the best of the series as, while the clues were fun, they became tiring and I wanted to story to move along. There is an excellent secondary character to the Deaf Man, which was fun. If you're a fan of the series and have a plane to catch, take this along. Otherwise, I'd go back and start much earlier in the series.

Ed McBain is a prolific author and also a very entertaining one. In this book about the 87th Precinct, The Deaf Man" has returned. I am of the opinion that a book should stand on it's own and you shouldn't have had to have read a prior novel which dealt with the same people to understand what is going on. I don't think this one measures up on that basis. The first chapter is a bit of a grabber and perhaps promises more than the book eventually delievers. The Deaf Man spends most of the book sending Shakespearean clues to the 87th Precinct which are supposed to help them figure out his next crime. Why he goes through that exercise is not clear to me and if I were you I would not get too bogged down in trying to figure out the clues. The rest of the cast of characters are in various stages of "being in heat" which is mildly entertaining. The Deaf Man's "sidekick" somewhat steals the show and is as memorable as any character in the book. If you have a plane ride in your future or plan to spend some time by the fire, this will keep you company quite nicely.

With the possible exception of Hannibal Lecter, no modern villain can hold a candle to McBain's Deaf Man, and with HARK!, he is back to torment Carella and the boys.

This time he is sending them anagrams and Shakespearean quotes, seemingly pointing toward his next caper. Ultimately they determine it has something to do with a violin concert or the theft of a first edition of the Shakespearean Folio, but neither pertains to the 87th and the messages seem to imply that the crime will go down on their turf.

Meanwhile, McBain juggles several other plotlines that flow naturally into each other. Carella is preparing for the double marriage of his mother and his sister and he's not happy about it. Two of the other detectives, Cotton Hawes and Bert Kling, have woman problems, and Ollie Weeks is still looking for his missing manuscript, along with helping out with the Deaf Man.

Since his style is so different from other mystery writers, McBain takes some getting used to. He seems to revel in breaking all of the rules. Throughout this one, he has the detectives gather around Carella's desk, trying to figure out the various messages. At least a half dozen of them contribute and their various contributions can be irrelevant and annoying; they act a whole lot like the Keystone Kops, and I suppose that's the point; McBain is teasing his own characters.

Something else I find remarkable is how well McBain mixes elements from the fifties (the first item in the 87th series appeared in 1956) with modernisms. His homicide detectives wear fedoras, for instance, and the apartments of some of the characters are anachronistic as well, but he also incorporates some modern political commentary and the use of modern technology. For instance, Carella's son helps him "Google" the Shakesperian quotes.

No other author since John D. McDonald has been able to balance mystery writing, social commentary and fun as well as McBain.

While I was very happy to see the Deaf Man return, I was disappointed with this book. Frankly, not much happens except the Deaf Man sending a stream of notes to the 87th precint. Unlike Eight Black Horses, there wasn't much action. Not McBain's best effort.

I have to disagree with most of the other reviews and say I found Hark! a terrible disappointment. I love the 87th precinct novels and have read almost all of them, and this is the first one I haven't read in a day or less. It dragged dreadfully, the stuff about the Shakesperean notes was just plain dull and unconvincing, and a lot of the chat between the detective read just like the conversations in other 87th precinct books. Has McBain run out of steam, or is it me?

This book contains so many references to other 87th Precinct novels that the longtime McBain fan ends up scratching his head. In which book did Eileen Burke get raped? In which book did Sonny Cole (Carella's father's killer) die? Willis's old girlfriend from Poison getting shot by those two men? Wasn't that book over a decade old? Getting stuck in the sleeping bag--wasn't that from Fuzz? In which book did Gloria Stanford shoot the deaf man in bed? What was the plot of Fat Ollie's book? Ah,yes.
Aside from all the flashback stuff, Hark! is full of incident. Carella goes broke paying for two weddings at once (his mother's and his sister's). Bert Kling goes crazy with suspicion over his new girlfriend Sharon Cooke. Cotton Hawes finds out that his girlfriend, Newswoman Honey Blair, has a fan who gets deadly jealous. And we find out that the murderous Deaf Man's accomplice, a freelance hooker named Melissa Summers, isn't above using a gun herself. Willis and Burke start dating (jump to page 128 for their sex coupling). One keeps turning the pages in Hark! but it's sad to be reminded of how forgettable these 87th Precinct novels really are.

Once again : Masterpiece-adventures from 'The fine Boys from Grover Avenue and beyond'.
With speed and wit.
With character and soul.
With love and mayhem.
This time an 'Ellery Queen puzzle' and an 'Alfred Hitchcock plot'.
Watch out : All of this comes turbo-fast and in pairs!!!
As the ending of this one is just the beginning and an open start of a new one.

"Sonny Sanson", an alias he used for this job to mean "I am without sound" has the gun pointed at the heart of his former associate Gloria. He demands she give to him whatever is left from the illegal drug sale. Gloria apologizes for her betrayal of him and cooperates, but Sanson is disinterested. Quoting Macbeth he shoots her twice in the chest before tying her to her bed just as she did to him.

The Deaf Man is back and has begun his quest for vengeance. Next target is the 87th Precinct specially Steve Carella, but others will do. This time he taunts his opponents with Shakespearean citations or anagrams that have the cops struggling to decipher. Steve knows that this cat and mouse game is going bad for the police who do not know whether their dangerously brilliant opponent is even deaf. If he only had to stop a delusional homicidal genius Steve would be okay, but he also must pay for the double weddings of mom and sis, which is why he is in a panic.

The latest Ed McBain police procedural is the usual delightful tale that mixes the personal troubles of the members of the 87th with minor cases and a major investigation. The story line is fast-paced as the cops misinterpret many of the Deaf Man's clues and there are many personal insights into the characters as the audience observes goings on such as Steve having cardiac arrest over weddings more so than his deadly chess opponent and the continuation of Fat Ollie's book as well as other wonderful subplots that fit perfect together in Mr. McBain's latest winning police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

HARK! All fans of the 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain (the alter ego adopted by Evan Hunter to distinguish this series from his supposedly more serious mainstream literary efforts) will be both delighted and saddened by this latest addition to the series.

The reader's delight will stem in general from the fact that this story remains true to the essence of the series but especially from the fact that The Deaf Man, one of the most erudite and clever opponents which Steve Carella and his fellow cops have ever faced, returns to challenge them once again after his presumed death years ago. The cops of the 87th Precinct, who - together with their families and their romantic interests - people the basic storyline of each novel and provide the familiarity and continuity which long time readers of the series so treasure, continue to experience the complications of their personal relationships. Sharyn Cooke and Bert Kling head for personal conflict, Honey Blair and Cotton Hawes have the stress of a new friendship compounded by the complications of a case which finds them with opposing interests, Steve Carella tries to overcome the distraction of his negativity towards the upcoming weddings of his mother and sister, and finally Fat Ollie Weeks not only continues to be enchanted by fellow cop Patricia Gomez but also in a bizarre twist of fate Ollie also suddenly receives news which revives his hope of recovering the stolen and apparently irretrievably lost sole copy of the manuscript of his novel, REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER.

The reader's sadness and deep regret will stem from the knowledge that McBain's recent death means that the series is about to end after any completed sequels are published posthumously; his faithful readers will now have to be content with rereading their favorite entries in the series or finally having time to catch up on some of the unread volumes among the fifty-four 87th Precinct novels published during a span of almost fifty years. We will also have to live with our lingering uncertainty as to the fate of The Deaf Man, and will never know whether he once again would have been resurrected from a near brush with death as he has been for purposes of this story.

The story begins with a murder, as many police procedurals do. Soon thereafter, a cryptic note is delivered by messenger to Carella, and several others follow rapidly thereafter. Even the name of the communicant presents the detectives with a mystery; as they puzzle over the weirdness of the messages, the unrecognized references and the apparent misspellings, despite their increasing frustration they recognize that they are being taunted by the murderer. As they start to unravel the meaning and source of the earlier notes, additional complications arise from later communications. It seems that they are always several steps behind the murderer and the future crimes which he seemingly is planning. Eventually, even after they realize that HARK! The Deaf Man has returned! they cannot locate him or identify his future crime. The reader is treated to the fun of trying to unravel the messages which are stymieing Carella and his associates; a knowledge of Shakespeare and an ability to solve anagrams will be very helpful in this effort. This book should especially appeal to readers who like word puzzles. Through such devices McBain has managed to keep the series fresh and interesting, just as he did through combining THE FRUMIOUS BANDERSNATCH with the pop music scene in the previous installment.

This is much more a book to savor than many of the novels in the series, not only because we know we will soon never meet these characters again, but also because the complexity of the problems presented by the notes mean that a lot of the enjoyment is in the details which speed readers will miss. Two warnings are appropriate. First, as in many novels of this genre and even more than usual in this series, there is a great deal of VULGAR LANGUAGE and profanity. Second, despite the fact that this book is arguably one of the best in the series, A FIRST TIME READER WILL NOT POSSESS SUFFICIENT CONTEXT TO MAKE THIS A FIVE STAR READ rather than just another clever police procedural.

Thus, despite the fact that the last few entries in the series veered away from McBain's use of titles which by themselves were usually evocative of subject matter likely to be appropriate for a police procedural (beginning in 1956 with COP HATER and spanning such stories as POISON, ICE, HEAT, DOLL, BIG BAD CITY and LADY KILLER), he managed to make this story as entertaining as the many earlier entries in this continuing police drama with its ensemble cast. As would be expected, the writers for many of the recent book and TV series have adopted new methodologies, whether it is the scientific approach of crime scene investigation or the integration of legal thrillers and courtroom drama with detective work. Nevertheless, HARK proves beyond a doubt that old fashioned detective stories, relatively brief and uncomplicated, still have to ability to provide their readers with great entertainment.

Tucker Andersen