Learning to Kill - by Ed McBain (Paperback)

About the Book

These are the 25 stories that prepared Evan Hunter to become Ed McBain, and that prepared McBain to write the beloved 87th Precinct novels. In individual introductions, McBain tells how and why he wrote these stories that were the start of his legendary career.

Book Synopsis

Ed McBain made his debut in 1956. In 2004, more than a hundred books later, he personally collected twenty-five of his stories written before that time. All but five of them were first published in the detective magazine Manhunt and none of them appeared under the Ed McBain byline.

Here are kids in trouble and women in jeopardy. Here are private eyes and gangs. Here are loose cannons and innocent bystanders. Here, too, are cops and robbers. These are the stories that prepared Ed McBain to write the beloved 87th Precinct novels. In individual introductions, McBain tells how and why he wrote these stories that were the start of his legendary career.

From the Back Cover

"The amazing thing about these stories . . . is how strong and clear the voice is as if the man himself were still in the room." Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
DISCOVER THE STORIES THAT TAUGHT ED MCBAIN TO KILL
One of the most prolific and admired writers of crime fiction in the world . . . McBain could not write a bad line. New York Daily News
McBain was a master, and his tales of the city are timeless. The Washington Post
McBain dissects police procedures with the precision of a brain surgeon. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
McBain is the true king of American dialogue. The Atlantic Monthly
McBain . . . virtually invented the modern police procedural. Associated Press
McBain has a great approach, great attitude, terrific style, strong plots, excellent dialogue, sense of place, and sense of reality. Elmore Leonard
ED McBAIN (1926-2005) held the Mystery Writers of America s prestigious Grand Master Award and was the first American to receive the Diamond Dagger, the British Crime Writers Association s highest award. "

Review Quotes

PRAISE FOR ED McBAIN
"One of the greatest American crime writers . . . McBain was a master, and his tales of the city are timeless."-THE WASHINGTON POST

"Ed McBain is a master. He is a superior stylist, a spinner of artfully designed and sometimes macabre plots."-NEWSWEEK
--