The Last Dance: A Novel of the 87th Precinct [Import] [Unbound]

Ed McBain (Author)

Product Details

• Unbound
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (December 2000)
• ISBN-10: 0743200470
• ISBN-13: 978-0743200479
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,469,340 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 Excellent as usual!, January 12, 2000

By 

kmorical (Belmont, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Dance: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (Hardcover)

Ed McBain has done it again. The book was entertaining. Unfortunately, it was too short, and left me wanting more. I suppose that's a good thing... Anyway, BRAVA.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Last Dance...let's hope not, April 30, 2000

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Dance: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (Hardcover)

Ed McBain is back at the 87th precinct with the whole gang...Carella, Kling, Brown, Meyer and my personal favorite, Fat Ollie Weeks. McBain uses his tried and true formula, moving the plot forward at a good pace from several directions, until he ties it all up neatly at the end. The writing is wonderful. The dialogue crisp and spare. And the story tight and compact. There's nothing extra in this novel. A truly enjoyable read. Let's hope McBain gives us many more from the 87th.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank God for the 87th Pecinct, January 11, 2000

By 

Brian Torsney "bbt1118" (Palm Desert, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Dance: A Novel of the 87th Precinct (Hardcover)

I have been reading about the 87th Precinct, Steve Carella, Meyer Meyer et al. since my college years. I think I have read them all. I keep waiting for Ed MCBain to go stale, his plots become disorganized and the suspense to ebb. Well 40 plus years of reading and I have yet to be disappointed. "The Last Dance" has all the same characters, but I found the plot to be more intriguing and the suspense lasted until the end. Mr McBain's description of the City on page 91 is alone worth the price of the book. Ed McBain keep on writing, you keep me young.