Cop Hater (87th Precinct Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

Publishers Weekly McBain is so good he ought to be arrested. -- Review

Review

People

Ed McBain is, by far, the best at what he does. Case closed.

Publishers Weekly

McBain is so good he ought to be arrested.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Pocket; 1st THUS edition (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671775472
• ISBN-13: 978-0671775476
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #194,070 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The 87th Precinct 87 Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first and still one of the best in the series., December 21, 1999

By	Joseph T. Reeves (Fort Meade, MD USA) - See all my reviews

First published in 1956, "Cop Hater" was Ed McBain's first novel in the long-running 87th Precint series, and it's lost none of its freshness or edge. The 87th Precint series is unique in its ability to deftly combine the police procedural narrative technique with excellent characterization. While there is not a disappointing entry in the series, this one is in the top five. While later novels tend to be more introspective and more indepth, the first several were lean, tough, and hard-hitting.

This novel introduces Det. Steve Carella and his fellow detectives at the squad as they try to find out who is murdering fellow cops and why. Although these characters will grow and expand in later novels, McBain ably sets the stage here, and truly hits the ground running. There is no awkwardness or hesitation as seen in other debut novels. As always, the strongest supporting character is McBain's fictional city of Isola which combines the best and worst qualities of several major U.S. cities, especially New York. McBain describes his city and its citizens with a palpable rhythm that stays with you after you're done reading. With such a diverse and fascinating backdrop to work from, 87th Precint novels will never drag. Truly a masterwork.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that aged well, March 30, 2000

By	Old Fisherman "Jim" (Orange, California USA) - See all my reviews

This is a reissue of the very first 87th Precinct novel written in 1956. It deals with three members of the 87th detective squad being gunned down for no apparent reason and how the rest of the 87th goes about finding the killer.

Crime novels in those days were less introspective and more lean so McBain wastes no time getting to the heart of the matter with the first corpse occurring rather quickly. However, as with all Ed McBain novels, the writing is crisp, the dialogue snappy, and though the page-count of these earlier novels was less than it is today he still manages to flesh out his characters and make them interesting.

Just as interesting is the forward where Mr. McBain discusses how the series came into being and how it evolved to its present form.

If you've never read this installment of the 87th, or just haven't read it in a long time, I urge you to pick it up. Ed McBain truly is a good writer whether he's writing crime novels under the Ed McBain alias or "serious" novels under his own name, Evan Hunter.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great airport read, December 6, 1999

By A Customer

I picked this up for a delayed flight. I have not read any of the other (50+? ) in the series and this caught my eye. It's interesting because it is the first of a very successful series set in the same 87th precinct in a fictional city AND because it was written in the 50s. Very atmospheric, 'book noir' feel to it. Read it all in one flight.