The Heckler

87th Precinct #12

by Ed McBain

"There are crazy people all over, you know that, don't you?" Spring was intoxicating the city air, but the harassing anonymous telephone calls planting seeds of fear around town were no April Fool's joke. Crank calls and crackpot threats reported to the 87th Precinct by a respected businessman were not exactly top priority for detectives Carella and Meyer -- until a brutal homicide hits the papers. Connections are getting made fast and furious, and there's a buzz in the air about the Deaf Man, a brilliant criminal mastermind. Now, the 87th Precinct is buying time to reveal the voice on the other end of the line -- as the level of danger rises from a whisper to a scream....

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Procedural, Detective, Thriller, Mystery Thriller

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

"Ed McBain" is one of the pen names of American author and screenwriter Salvatore Albert Lombino (1926-2005), who legally adopted the name Evan Hunter in 1952.

While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.

He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, Evan Hunter, and Richard Marsten.

Reviews

[James Thane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the twelfth book in Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series and the first in which a character known as the Deaf Man appears. The Deaf Man is a criminal mastermind who will appear in several subsequent books and who has a special gift for tormenting Steve Carella and the other detectives of the 87th.

The Heckler begins when a businessman reports that he has become the victim of an apparent practical joker who phones him repeatedly, warning him to vacate the loft where he runs a clothing business or he will be killed. Later, someone begins shipping the clothier paper supplies, furniture and other such things that he didn't order, causing chaos in the man's day-to-day affairs.

The detectives have no luck trying to determine who might be tormenting the businessman or why. Then other businessmen begin calling and reporting similar problems. Then, in a seemingly unrelated development, an elderly man is found murdered and left naked, save for his shoes, in a city park. Carella finds a burned uniform of some sort that may have belonged to the dead man, but who was the man and who would have killed him, stripped him and then burned his uniform?

The detectives work as best they can, trying to puzzle out solutions both to the killing and to the harassment that is being perpetrated upon the complaining businessmen. In the meantime, we watch the Deaf Man and his confederates planning a very carefully calculated crime. All of it will lead to an explosive climax and the reader will be treated to a very entertaining ride along the way. This is one of the better books in the series and fans of the 87th Precinct will not want to miss it.

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Το τσιμπούρι", εκδόσεις Bell.

Χρονολογικά είναι το δωδέκατο βιβλίο της σειράς του 87ου Αστυνομικού Τμήματος και δέκατο που περνάει στη λίστα με τα διαβασμένα. Πέρυσι τέτοια εποχή διάβασα για τελευταία φορά βιβλίο της σειράς (αλλά και γενικά του συγγραφέα) και η αλήθεια είναι ότι μου έλειψαν οι χαρακτήρες, η ατμόσφαιρα, οι διάλογοι, το όλο ύφος γραφής και η ρεαλιστική αποτύπωση του κόσμου των αστυνομικών. Όμως αν δεν θέλω να ξεμείνω γρήγορα από βιβλία της σειράς (για τα μεταφρασμένα μιλάω πάντα), τότε θα πρέπει να τα διαβάζω αραιά και που.

Όσον αφορά την υπόθεση, διάφοροι καταστηματάρχες δέχονται καθημερινά απειλητικά τηλεφωνήματα από κάποιον άγνωστο, λέγοντάς τους ότι αν δεν φύγουν μέχρι το τέλος του μήνα, θα πεθάνουν. Παράλληλα, άρχισαν να καταφτάνουν στα καταστήματα αυτά διάφορα εμπορεύματα που υποτίθεται ότι παρήγγειλαν οι ιδιοκτήτες τους, κάτι που όμως δεν έκαναν. Τα τηλέφωνα του 87ου Αστυνομικού Τμήματος άρχισαν να σπάνε από καταγγελίες και παράπονα, με τους αστυνομικούς να προσπαθούν να βγάλουν μια άκρη: Πρόκειται για φαρσέρ, ή όντως υπάρχει κίνδυνος να διαπραχθούν εγκλήματα; Κάποια μέρα, θα εμφανιστεί και ένα πτώμα, αγνώστων λοιπών στοιχείων. Συνδέεται με την ιστορία; Και τι ρόλο βαράει ένας κουφός;

Πολύ ωραία η ιστορία, με μια πραγματικά πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα και ιντριγκαδόρικη κεντρική ιδέα. Φυσικά όλα τα καλούδια που συναντάει κανείς στα βιβλία της σειράς, θα τα βρει και εδώ: Έντονος ρεαλισμός, εξαιρετικά φυσικοί διάλογοι, καλό χιούμορ, φοβερή ατμόσφαιρα και προσεγμένη πλοκή με στοιχεία δράσης και μυστηρίου. Μάλιστα, προς το τέλος γίνεται ένας πραγματικός χαμός, ενώ η αγωνία βαράει κόκκινο. Σίγουρα από τα καλύτερα βιβλία της σειράς που έχω διαβάσει (αν και όλα πάνω-κάτω είναι στο ίδιο εξαιρετικό επίπεδο ποιότητας).

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good entry in the 87th Precinct series from McBain. I have enjoyed several of these police procedurals and this was one of the best so far. In this one, a business man is being threatened to leave his establishment by the end of the month or he will be killed. He has received several phone calls stating this but are the calls serious or is it just a heckler? But then other businesses in the city receive similar calls. At the same time, a man is found stripped and dumped in the park with a shotgun wound to his chest. He is left wearing only his shoes and socks. Could this murder be tied to the harassment phone calls? The cops of the 87th don't have much to go on but both cases are linked to a mysterious deaf man who seems to be plotting something big. Can he be stopped before chaos hits the city?

This book was originally published in 1960 and the methods used by the police are definitely dated. However, these novels are still quite enjoyable with McBain's experienced writing making for a great crime novel. I'll be looking forward to reading more of these.

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am mystified that the Department of Homeland Security--doesn't the name have an anachronistic teutonic flavor to it, you know, kind of like Fatherland; it's all I can do to avoid making the famous Dr. Strangelove salute--hasn't banned this book and burned all the copies. It certainly provides a terrifyingly easy scheme to shut down New York.

The Deaf Man is at it again, harassing the 87th squad in a fiendish plot to rob a bank of $2 million. Clues abound, but in his usual obeisance to realism, things go wrong, communication is imperfect, i.e. shit happens.

As far as shutting down NY, the plotters plant small incendiary devices in public places, like movie theaters, ball parks, paint stores, etc., all timed to go off at the same time. The ensuing chaos totally preoccupies the police and fire departments as well as the hospitals. It would be really quite easy. So while TSA is strip searching your grandmother at La Guardia, morons could be planting all sorts of nefarious little devices that would be even more effective than slamming a plane into the Twin Towers.

Classic McBain.

[Colin Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great read in the 87th Precinct series. A friend of Meyer Meyer's family comes to him as he has received death threats to vacate an old loft where he sells women's dresses. Soon the threats spread to other businesses and a body is found in Grover Park killed by a shotgun blast and left naked. Steve Carella follows leads and Meyer is following his case separately. An officer ends up in hospital and all hell breaks loose in Isola. Everything leads to a suprising climax.

Great stuff. Amm hooked on this series now.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

'She came in like a lady, that April.'
McBain follows the poetic line with a calm, hopeful beginning in this 12th visit to Isola. He brings an air of shy innocence to the intro chapter with the cool, pale personification of the early Spring month being a gentle lady that cheers the populace with her approach. But on with the mayhem.
Carella is trying to solve the case of a close range shotgun killing - the victim stripped down to his socks. Meyer Meyer investigates a spate of threatening calls. It's good to see Frankie Hernandez getting a fairer crack of the whip than his first appearance.
This one really is a corker, with a villain who towers above the usual brand of none to smart lawbreakers, a Moriarty figure, a master of probability and percentages, who flaunts his complex scheme, inspired by the Sherlock Holmes stories, one of which Detective Kling coincidentally reads in the squad room - "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League".
McBain's writing is great here with so much going on from the absurdly intricate caper to the captivating collection of characters that doesn't end with just the regulars. Speaking of regulars - where's Cotton Hawes got to? Not that I'm missing him at all. From the gentle beginning, through the tangled investigation, true suspenseful tension and climactic finale I've got to say this was one of the best so far.
My edition had a fascinating little afterword by McBain on the book and the series so far. Miss at your peril.

[wally · Rating 4 out of 5]

just finished this one, tuesday evening, eight thirty...apparently a foot of snow has fallen the last twenty-four...so we're up over 200" of snow for the year. what is that? 16'8" enough to make a snowman or two.

good story. the heckler. this story is a hoot. has attitude, flavor, april. turns to may. remember the paul simon song? was it paul simon? april...come she will.
need to read some more mcbain. this is maybe what, #8? 9? 10? got this one on a deal, too...maybe just one of those kindle deals. you open the kindle to read. there's the little advert? "begin reading".
mcbain? okay! you bet.

good yarn. check it out. as the song has it.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't really been loving the last couple books, I thought maybe I was about done with the series, but this one was amazing. First off, I'm always a sucker for a Holmes reference, and having one of the detectives reading Holmes in the station and recognizing their case was like the Red Headed League was super fun... made even more so because it was a Red Herring to boot.

I loved the bad guy had this crazy complicated plan (because smart bad guys always over complicate things), and it got foiled by the tiniest of random details.

I'm not sure I'm sold on the 'deaf man' as recurring criminal mastermind... I mean, he failed. All he really did was sow a bunch of chaos. I guess we'll see how that goes next time... the internet tells me he's in 5 books all together (not so many out of like 70) so it won't be a huge thing either way.

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spring reverie in Isola is disturbed when a man is found dead by a nasty shotgun wound. Meanwhile, businessmen all over the city are being threatened to evacuate their premises, with the common theme of a nearby bank, jewelry store, etc. This 12th novel of McBain introduces the Deaf Man, an archvillian and master of the feint. Once again, Detective Steve Carella gets too close to the truth and gets shot, regaining consciousness just in time to avert an almost perfectly planned robbery by a sociopath.

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 3 out of 5]

První zjevení Hluchého - McBainova Moriartyho. Respektive spíš je to něco mezi Moriartym a Wile E. Coyotem, protože proti tomuhle padouchovi je evidentně celý vesmír a tak jeho plány většinou na konci zmaří vždycky nějaká nešťastná náhoda. Což je tedy jediná klika, protože 87 revír má problémy i se zcela běžnými zločinci a nějakého génia vůbec nepotřebuje.
Je fakt, že jak se McBain snažil navodit pocit realističnosti a chtěl se vyhnout geniálním a nezničitelným detektivům, šel z dnešního pohledu už trochu do opačného extrému. Jeho hrdinové často spíš jako spolek - pokud se to slovo ještě smí používat - dementů. Není tu napětí postavené na tom, jak hrdinové odhalují stopu za stopou, ale spočívá spíš v tom, jestli někoho napadne sdělit zásadní informaci svému kolegovi. Navíc jsou to otloukánci, kteří vždycky někam naběhnou s tasenou zbraní a chromá důchodkyně na vozíčku je srazí lopatkou. A nejhorší z nich je Steve Carella, který šel k policii čistě proto, aby se stal cvičným terčem. Ve třetím dílem ho postřelil feťák, ve dvanáctém to do něj napálí další mizera... a to je jen taková rozcvička, Carella je málem zabitý v každém díle s Hluchým. I když Carella ví, že se padouch blíží a je ozbrojený - stejně je mu to prd platné.
Tady je ale dost problém v tom, že čtu autora v kuse. Což není nikdy zdraví. Člověk si pak všímá věcí, které by normálnímu čtenáři unikly. Třeba to, že si v dialozích McBain hodně pomáhá tím, že dává vedlejším postavám výraznou hlášku opakovačku, která dodává dialogu na stylovosti a i na rytmice. ("Pijte mládenci, to chmury zahání, po té rostou chlupy na dlani." nebo "To je jen takový kec.") Ještě to dotáhnu do patnáctky a pak si dám na chvíli pauzu, abych nabral síly na další Carellovo zmlácení.
Ale jasně, člověk tady kritizuje, ale musí si uvědomit, že už je to přece jen titul z jiné éry, titul, který v podstatě formoval celý detektivní žánr. A je fakt, že to, co si McBain tady dovoloval, jak experimentoval se zápletkami, to by si dneska asi už nikdo nedovolil.

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I don't read mysteries. They only make me feel stupid" - Detective Meyer

Without giving us too much to know about the main storyline from the early pages, "The Heckler" starts with three semi-connected narrative threads:

1) A citizen is registering a complaint to Detective Meyer at the 87th Precinct about being called by some joker three or four times a week, warning him to vacate his dress shop before the end of the month or he'll be killed.
2) A shotgun-murdered old man is found in a city park and Detective Carella catches the case.
3) A gang of criminals playing poker have a new bomb-maker on the team, led by an interesting baddie monikered "the Deaf Man."

We readers start to get tips as to what those criminals are all about in bits and pieces while Carella and Meyer stumble about their cases ignorant to the Deaf Man's plan or even his existence.

In "The Heckler" (1960), Ed McBain's storytelling is in top form, with some disjointed hopping around the NYC-styled city of Isola lending that order-within-chaos feel to the atmosphere and situation, the city being a character itself. We get smart drop-ins with a number of cops in the 87th, moving along quickly and easily, brothers in purpose and hijinks, honor and duty alongside human frustration and challenges, until about the 2/3 mark when things get abruptly western and the story takes a more serious and dangerous path to its finale.

Verdict: A bit of a shift in the 87th Precinct novels, "The Heckler" is a smart mix of police procedural and heist thriller with a memorable bad guy, a new high point for the 87th series.

Jeff's Rating: 5 / 5 (Excellent)
movie rating if made into a movie: R

[Nigel Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read a few stories involving the Deaf Man, so it was nice to finally get to meet him at the point when he was actually introduced. He’s a terrific villain who has the capacity to keep the whole of the 87th on their toes. He’s strong, cunning, logical, clinical and lethal and that makes him the perfect adversary for Steve Carella.

It’s April. Myer Myer is visited by an old friend of his father’s. The guy is receiving threatening calls insisting that he leaves one of his business properties by the end of the month, or else. As it happens, a number of other businesses in the city are being heckled and messed about in one way or another. Random packages arrive that were never ordered. Chauffeurs turn up to collect passengers who aren’t going anywhere. An entire catering and entertainment menagerie appear for a wedding where there is neither bride nor groom. The Heckler is creating low-level chaos around the city and for the police and it’s entirely part of the big plan.

Meanwhile, the body of an older man is found wearing nothing but a pair of navy-issue shoes, a pair of socks and a peppering of shotgun pellets. The identity of the guy is a complete mystery, but when an old night-watchman’s uniform is pulled out of an incinerator, the pieces begin to fit together.

They’re all the Deaf Man’s dirty deeds, of course. He’s all set to pull off a major heist and will go to any length to make sure everything goes to plan. The guy is totally ruthless.

The unfolding of the novel is utterly compelling. Whether we’re with the detectives investigating the murder, the businessmen who are victims of threats and practical jokes or following the gang as they prepare to carry out their robbery, the levels of intrigue remain high.

I found it interesting that I was rooting for both the police and the thieves at the same time. By the end of it all, I was hoping the Deaf Man would manage to pull it all off in spite of all the chaos left in his wake. Maybe you’ll feel the same. I won’t tell you how it plays out just in case.

The Heckler is a spectacular book. It offers the space and time to get close to the characters while moving ever forward in the cases and schemes. Definitely one not to miss whether you feel like reading anything else in the series or not.

[Dale Lehman · Rating 5 out of 5]

McBain was a brilliant storyteller, with a breezy style that ranges from the matter-of-fact to the lyrical, from the tense to the comical. It's always a pleasure to read his work.

In this 12th installment in the 87th Precinct series, detectives are faced with a strange series of harassing calls, warning business owners to vacate their premises. When a dead man is found stripped of everything but a pair of Navy shoes, there seems to be no leads and certainly no connection to the phone calls. Then one of the investigating detectives is savagely attacked and left in a coma, and he's the only one with the clues necessary to understand the savage plot that's afoot.

I'll stop there to avoid spoilers. Suffice it to say, this is one of the most outlandish criminal schemes I've encountered in detective fiction, and the criminals almost get away with it. But as Robert Burns famously wrote, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley."

If there is any flaw in this novel, it's that it ends a tad too abruptly for my tastes. But maybe that's just because I was having so much fun reading it that I didn't want it to end!

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I read these in order, this is the most complex of the 12. I don't believe it needed to be as complicated as plotted. With so much going on this entry probably needed more length. There's a lot that happens and McBain squeezes is all in a short length. The other side of this is that after revealing so many elements to the crime for much of the book, the whole thing ends a little too easily. That, and it leaves a loose end. Not unusual for real law enforcement, but the first of the 12 to feature such.

The villain presented is the best of the lot. apparently, the bloke will return to the scene of the crime. There's another very good character in one named Raskin. This is one of the first with very few characters as major parts of an 87th tale.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 6 out of ten points.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This installment of the 87th Precinct novels has a very devious bad guy and a more complicated plot than some of the others. Plenty of action, more ridiculous missed opportunities for communication between the detectives to delay the solution, and tons of sexist language, stereotypes, and a pinch of bigotry for good measure. I shouldn’t like these as much as I do, but they are addictive police procedural brain candy. I can’t help myself. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Mark Schiffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute pleasure, left me grinning ear to ear by the end. Takes a little bit to really get cooking but once it gets there you have a really fast and fun heist sequence that takes up a good chunk of the book. Also great to spend more time with Meyer Meyer, I always appreciate getting to know the bulls a little better. The Deaf Man is instantly iconic and I can’t wait to read more installments with him as the antagonist.

[AndrewP · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took a bit of a departure from the previous novels in that there was a clever master criminal, only identified as 'the deaf man', challenging the squad from the 87th Precinct. No petty crime, this one effected a large portion of the city.

Not much else to say about the plot as I don't want to give anything away. If you have read the earlier books then by all means continue on with this one.

[Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing reminds me of John Creasy, not only in the tone but in the attempt to create a huge, national plot. It’s ridiculously overblown and unbelievable. It goes where Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger would soon go.

[Vicky D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best of the 87th books so far!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good 60s cop story, with Carella and friends dealing with a mastermind.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre detective story that could have been almost good if explored further. Full of fake deep moments and pretentious writing. The dynamics between the main characters (all men) and the women (all side characters) can only be described as disturbingly sexist. Every women in the book is treated as an object that is sexualized by the men around her.

[Nik Maack · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Bond used to be a fairly ordinary spy doing ordinary things. Then, one day, "Moonraker" happened. Suddenly the scope of Bond's problems were crazy big. A super villain wants to destroy the entire world! All of the worst tropes of spy novels came out of Ian Fleming's sudden shift to goofier, campy levels.

This book is Ed McBain doing the same thing. Forget small crimes and murders. What if we had a super villain?

The answer is, screw you. I didn't sign up for that campy scale of nonsense. I like the conversations of small time criminals and cops. This book? It's goofy.

Not a complete write off, though. It's enjoyable in parts. But it lagged for me because of the odd tone change. The super villain angle is obnoxiously dull.

My least favourite 87th Precinct book so far.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Businessmen are receiving harassing phone calls.

A dead, naked man is found in the park.

Can the two crimes be related?

An interesting, though not particularly memorable entry in the series.

[John Carter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t much care for it. For one thing, it was painfully overwritten. Just the first example, from page 1, which is speaking of the month of April: “She was a delicate thing who walked into the city with the wide-eyed innocence of a maiden, and you wanted to hold her in your arms because she seemed alone and frightened in this geometric maze of strangers, intimidated by the streets and the buildings, shyly touching you with the pale-gray eyes of a lady who’d materialized somehow from the cold marrow of March.” Later, describing the rebar in the floor of a bank vault: “The steel mat was like an army of die-hard virgins opposing an undernourished rapist.” If McBain wanted to write poetry, he should have put it in a different book, not a crime novel. For another, half the city is destroyed by explosive and incendiary bombs, with some unspecified but large number of ordinary citizens injured or killed, and there’s no follow-up. Turn the page and it’s a month later and everything is back to normal. And my last major annoyance was that one of the lead characters solves the case while in a coma. Lots of detail of surrealistic visions he has, and his attempt to pronounce a single word that will help prevent all the mayhem. This ought to have, if not prevented at least caused some amelioration in the disaster that ensued, but no. The death and destruction was already well underway; and the only person in the room with him was deaf. P. D. James once said, “In a sense, the detective story is a small celebration of reason and order in our very disorderly world.” This was not.

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 1 out of 5]

87th Precinct mystery. Steve Carella gets shot again, this time by the “Deaf Man.” This is getting a little old, this constant use of Carella as a punching bag or the character around which the “mystery” is structured (like his sister’s wedding in an earlier novel). McBain has several interesting characters in the 87th, and he’s done Carella to death (literally, almost). What was “fun” here? The scene in which the break goes against the Deaf Man, who has carefully calculated and elongated the odds in his favor for getting away with his burglary. There’s still some horrendous overwriting here, although nothing as purple as the last novel. It’s amazing, to me, that these novels were bought and published. I know why I read them now, that is, because I’ve read the 1980s 87th Precinct, and know how good McBain gets, but how ever did he survive long enough with work of this poor caliber? Is there a Young McBain even now creating a series that we will look back at 20+ years hence publishing today? I doubt it. I think the publishing conditions and conventions were much different in the late 50s and early 60s. Today’s writer has to be much better with that first novel, and each subsequent one.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A superior effort by McBain. From the very beginning when he describes the city and its seasons, he sucks you in yet again. His frequent allegory to the city as a woman - sometimes a danger mistress, other times a whore, other times a loving spouse. This time, it's the Deaf Man who's battling the men of the 87th. The Deaf Man is a great bad guy - super smart, one step ahead of everyone, not high up on the conscience food chain. It was a little weird during a section where he drugs a girl and then sexually assaults her. And our lead character, Steve Caralla, gets shot multiple times and almost dies - once again. But the cat and mouse game of the Deaf Man is pulled out with a feeling of effortlessness, and the finale where havoc erupts throughout the city eerily evoked 9/11. Can't wait for more Deaf Man books.

[Kev Ruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The 12th entry in the 87th Precinct series, and possibly the most complex plot so far. McBain weaves a really intricate story this time, though the resolution feels a bit too easy. What really stood out, though, is that for the first time, there’s a loose end at the end—not something you usually get in these books. After checking reviews, I realised it’s intentional, setting up the villain, the Deaf Man, to return in a later instalment.

Carella gets shot. Again. And when you find yourself genuinely worrying about him (and poor Teddy), you know you’re fully invested in this world and its characters. That’s part of what makes this series so gripping. As always, McBain brings the city to life—the way he describes it makes you feel like you’re right there on the streets. Another solid entry.

[Downward · Rating 3 out of 5]

mcbain unravels a crime novel here that is unconventional in its presentation, although it gives us a lot of traditional twists to chew on, because its protagonists are so over-the-top useless. they unravel the dual mysteries of who is making crank calls trying to get business owners to vacate their businesses and the discovery of a dead body to varying degrees of success, but these successes and failures have absolutely no effect on the outcome of the novel. there's a great story in here, but it veers further away from the police and leans more heavily on the criminals; mcbain doesnt take advantage of this fact, and holes us up with useless exposition, developing characters we dont care about and have no investment in, in spite of his efforts.

[F.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only other Ed McBain book I’ve read is Cop Hater, the inaugural 87th precinct novel, which I thought was okay but ordinary. However I was a callow twenty year old at the time and so my opinion is easily discounted.

Having now picked up The Heckler, I can say at least one of this series is really exciting. This is an ingeniously plotted thriller with a criminal mastermind and a chaotic ending which I imagine will be even more shocking in a post 9/11 America. If there’s a flaw it’s that the cops themselves are barely evolved ciphers, but they’re just there to plod along in their jobs while a modern day Moriarty orchestrates his – and hopes to avoid dumb chance.

[Jez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favourites. Contains some of McBain's more cringeworthy stuff on women, and a sexual encounter that just comes across like a push for sales controversy. Recycles a big dramatic moment to little effect. Introduces The Deaf Man, a recurring villain who likes to explain how brilliant he is and brings a really contrived plot that does nothing for the realism that's such a hallmark of the series. Still gets a 3 because Hernandez gets some decent page time, and with him some good stuff on race, plus it's still McBain, very readable.