A "gripping" collection of crime stories from the author of the acclaimed 87th Precinct novels ( People).Ed McBain's 87th Precinct is "perhaps the finest police procedural series of all time" ( Publishers Weekly). But before he turned to novels, McBain wrote short crime fiction under various names, for pulp magazines including Manhunt and Argosy. Collected in this anthology are twenty-five of these early stories, organized under ...

Police hunt for a perp who's picking off politicians in this "triumph" ( Chicago Sun-Times).The detectives of the 87th Precinct have gotten a call threatening the life of the city's parks commissioner unless a five-thousand-dollar ransom is paid. It seems like an obvious crank call. The deadline soon passes—and the parks commissioner is shot in the head as he leaves a concert.Soon, another anonymous warning follows and the deputy mayor is blown up ...

A police detective hunts for a pattern in a puzzling murder spree in this mystery by "a master" ( Time).A blind violinist taking a smoke break. A cosmetics sales rep cooking an omelet in her own kitchen. A college professor trudging home from class. A priest contemplating retirement in the rectory garden. An old woman walking her dog. These are the seemingly random targets, all shot twice in the face. But most serial killers don't use guns. Most serial kil...

An ad executive meets two beautiful—and dangerous—sisters in this sexually charged thriller from the bestselling author of the 87th Precinct series.To escape the daily grind, Steve Richmond leaves his advertising firm for a vacation on Lake George, hoping for two weeks in paradise. Instead, he finds mosquitoes, a drafty cabin, damp blankets, and locals desperate to take him for every penny he's worth. On the bright side, there are plenty of beautiful girls, and the...

A sleeper agent travels cross-country to assassinate the president in this terrifying political thriller from the bestselling author of the 87th Precinct series.Sonny Hemkar is a doctor in a rough part of Los Angeles, a resident whose days and nights are an endless parade of bullet wounds, cracked skulls, knife-wielding addicts, and innocent victims who don't understand what's happening to their neighborhood. Sonny is just as frightened as they are, but he can't le...

The author of the 87th Precinct series presents a riotous story of the gamblers, mobsters, and other colorful characters who hang around Aqueduct Racetrack.Andrew Mullaney has the money to get to Aqueduct Racetrack, but nothing to bet once he gets there. It's a tragedy, because today he's got a sure thing: a filly named Jawbone who's guaranteed to win. Desperate, Andrew asks every hood he knows to spot him fifty bucks, tapping chess hustlers, pool sharks, and hoodl...

A struggle for control of a shoe company becomes a battle between good and evil in this corporate thriller by the author of the 87th Precinct series.For three generations, footwear company Julian Kahn has been synonymous with high fashion. And for Raymond "Griff" Griffin, head of Kahn's cost department, it would be a perfect place to work were it not for Mr. Kurz. A petty tyrant installed by the bank when ownership's grip on the company began to slip, Kurz has made...

A racially charged murder pushes a mild-mannered district attorney to the brink in this gritty legal thriller by the author of the 87th Precinct series.After an intense heat wave, storms threaten to blanket New York City, and three boys walk across town with knives in their pockets and murder on their minds. They're tough kids in combat boots, crossing into Spanish Harlem to pick a fight. And when they see one of their intended victims, they surround him, draw thei...

A cautious New York burglar risks his neck for the score of a lifetime in this rollicking thriller by the bestselling author of the 87th Precinct series.Alex Hardy is the finest thief in New York City. A crib burglar, he robs apartments—never hotels, never offices, never liquor stores, never jewelers. Strictly apartments, and strictly during the day. He's paranoid, ready to cut and run as soon as a job turns sour—he's already been to prison once, and he doesn't pla...

A vacationing police detective stumbles upon a human-trafficking ring that threatens his fiancée in this thriller by the author of the 87th Precinct series.Phil Colby is just cruising into Sullivan's Corners when the motorcycle cop flags him down. Phil isn't worried; he wasn't speeding, and as a city cop on holiday in a neighboring state, he expects a certain amount of understanding. But the local cop is unimpressed by his brother in blue, and he doesn't buy the st...

A collection of twenty short stories from the legendary crime author and creator of the 87th Precinct series.Ed McBain was one of the most admired and prolific crime writers of the twentieth century. His long-running 87th Precinct series helped define the gritty police procedural. In The McBain Brief, he presents a series of short stories where desperation, greed, and violence lead to bad ends.A collector who loves his porcelain more than his daughte...

In the 1960s the masters of crime fiction expanded the genre’s literary and psychological possibilities with audacious new themes, forms, and subject matter—here are four of their finest worksThis is the second of two volumes gathering the best American crime fiction of the 1960s, nine novels of astonishing variety and inventiveness that pulse with the energies of that turbulent, transformative decade.In Margaret Millar’s The Fiend...