Cop Hater

Looking forward to reading it. I gave it 4 stars because I'm sure I'll love it. Could not submit this with a rating.

This is the novel that started the 87th Precinct series. It introduces Carella, Kling, Teddy, and others in the series during the hunt for a cop killer. As always, the dialogue is crisp with no padding, the descriptions are atmospheric, like the 50s Noir Hollywood was putting out. You know you're seeing everyday people at work, not some super-idiosyncratic armchair wonder. It sets the tone for a series that will (hopefully soon) see it 50th entry. When this was written in 56, Carella was in his 20s. With #49(Big Bad City), he's contemplating the threat of turning 40. Ahh, the joys of being able to control the passage of time!

I have never read any of McBain's books and thought the best place to start was with the first of this series. I thought it was quite good and it kept me interested from page one. It is a short book but McBain doesn't waste words and every page relates to the story at hand; there is no "small talk." I enjoyed the book and highly recommend it to anyone not familiar with McBain's 87th Precinct.

This is not only the first of the 87th Precinct police procedurals, it's also one of the best. You get to meet Teddy when she was still Miss Franklin. You get to meet some detectives who don't appear in any other books (guess why!). Most importantly, you get to see McBain's genius when it was raw. There are a few clanking sentences in this one, and a few little mistakes that would never appear in his more recently written, more polished books. For instance: "The room smelled badly." Even so, this is great fun and highly recommended. If you want to order more than one McBain, the best is "Ice," with "Vespers" second and the books about the DEAF MAN also high on the list.

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.

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.