logo
Wrong email address or username
Wrong email address or username
Incorrect verification code
Ed McBain
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. ... show more



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.

show less
Birth date: October 15, 1926
Died: July 06, 2005
Ed McBain's Books
Recently added on shelves
Ed McBain's readers
Share this Author
Community Reviews
Abandoned by user
Abandoned by user rated it 5 years ago
More than any of the books so far, this book reminded me of an episode from Homicide, Life on the Streets, with two separate storylines that are set to converge. In one story line, we have Virginia Dodge, who has taken the squad room hostage, waiting for Steve Carella to arrive back at the station...
Abandoned by user
Abandoned by user rated it 5 years ago
This is not the first 87th Precinct mystery that I've read - I bought a whole bunch of them when the kindle editions went on sale for .99 back in 2012. This one wasn't available at the time, so I skipped it. The first one, Cop Hater, also wasn't available at that time, a fact which I just realized s...
Murder by Death
Murder by Death rated it 7 years ago
This was my final holiday read for Christmas this year and it was excellent! Otto Penzler, the owner of The Mysterious Bookshop in NYC, each year commissions a short mystery from a well-known author, to be published in a small pamphlet and given to customers at the holiday season as a way to say ...
Reading Slothfully
Reading Slothfully rated it 10 years ago
This book has three stories, novelettes perhaps, one each by Ed McBain, Walter Mosley, and Donald E. Westlake. Sounds fun! The down side of this book is that it only counts as a single book on my reading list. 'Twould have been much nicer to be able to get three books checked off for the year. Oh we...
Abandoned by user
Abandoned by user rated it 10 years ago
This review was originally posted on amazon on January 22, 2012: I really enjoyed this book, so I am pleased that there are 54 more of them available. Recently, 35 of these 87th Precinct mysteries were the Kindle Daily Deal. Which means that I bought 35 books for $35.00. Which is a bargain by any ...
see community reviews
Need help?