Ed McBain Books In Order

Publication Order of 87th Precinct Books

Publication Order of 87th Precinct Collections Books

Publication Order of Matthew Hope Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Children's Books

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Bingo Riggs and Handsome Kusak Books

Publication Order of Transgressions Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Ed McBain was an American author and screenwriter. He was born in October 1926 and passed away in July 2005, at the honorable age of seventy-eight. He was born under the name Salvatore Albert Lombino, however he legally changed his name in 1952 to Evan Hunter. Despite this, he is far better known under the name Ed McBain, due to the fact that this is author title on his wildly successful collection of crime fiction novels.

Ed McBain was a born and bred New Yorker. He was lived in Harlem, New York City from when he was born until he turned twelve. His family then moved to the Bronx. He attended Olinville Junior High School and proceeded on to Evander Childs High School. However, his artistic talent was recognized at a young age when he won the Art Students League Scholarship. From this he became an art student at the prestigious Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to as simply Cooper Union.

After school, McBain, who at this point still went by the name Lombino went on to serve in the Navy and served in World War Two. This is where is love of writing started as he began to write short stories. However, these stories were not published until years later when he began to establish a name for himself in the writing world. After the War, McBain wanted to return to education and he attended Hunter College in his home city of New York. He graduated with majors in English and Psychology and minors in Dramatics and Education. Hunter College proved vital to his writing career as he published a weekly column in the school’s newspaper. This is where he developed some of the key skills that were necessary in his overall writing career.

In 1981, Hunter College honored him by inducting him into their Hall of Fame for his outstanding professional achievements. McBain knew that he wanted to become a professional writer, however had to do some other jobs to support himself before he could make this possible. One of these jobs included teaching in the Bronx Vocational High School. Although he only lasted a measly seventeen days in this position, it proved an important seventeen days as this experience went on to act as the setting for one of his most successful novels, “Blackboard Jungle”.

In 1951, McBain accepted a job as an executive editor for the Scott Meredith Literary Agency. This is where we was given the chance to work with some very important authors of that time, as well as where he wrote and published his first short story, entitled “Welcome Martians” Throughout his life, McBain had three sons, Richard, Mark and Ted. He was a heavy smoker, which lead to his unfortunate diagnoses of laryngeal cancer. After suffering three heart attacks in his life and surviving cancer once, Ed McBain sadly died of cancer in 2005.

Literary Work

Throughout his life, Ed McBain produced an abundance of excellent novels, mainly in the crime fiction genre. The “87th Precinct” is a serious of police procedural novels that many authors contribute too. McBain’s work in this particular collection is possibly what he is most remembered for. The earliest novel that he wrote as part of this collection is entitled “Cop Hater”, which was published in 1956. This novel follows the work of Detective Steve Carella, who is forced to search the underworld of the city to solve the murder of three of the 87th Precinct’s finest detectives.

Steve Carella is an endearing protagonist, as despite his hard exterior, he shows a vulnerable side when it comes to his beloved Teddy. McBain shows throughout his work, his knack of taking an exciting and mysterious plot and adding some sentiment to it. The novel ends with justice for all, as the two people responsible for the murders of the three detectives are sentenced to death and in perfect fashion, Steve and Teddy are married. The character of Steve Carella is a regular in the 87th Precinct collection, however he does not appear in every individual novel.

Another example of McBain’s earliest novels is the 1956 classic, “The Pusher”. This is another novel taken from the 87th Precinct collection and also featured Detective Steve Carella. This plot of this story starts as the detectives of the precinct discover a young, Hispanic man’s body in the basement of his home. There is a rope around his neck, which strongly suggests he has hung himself, however after the autopsy the detectives discover that the man had actually overdosed on Heroin. In relation to the novel’s title, the man was a pusher. This novel grabs the reader’s attention and does not let go until the very end. The suspense is heightened throughout the plot as the twists and turns of this case continue to confuse and entise Detective Steve Carella.

Throughout his life, Ed McBain continued to write successful novels. And his last novel, Fiddlers, which was actually part of the 87th Precinct collection was published in 2005, the year he passed away.

From Fiction to the Big Screen

Despite being an American, Ed McBain’s work was often adapted to films in other countries. Some of his novels were loosely translated in to French films, such as “Blood Relatives” and “Without Apparent Motive”. Both these films became successful in France. In 1963, Japanese director took McBain’s 1959 novel, “King’s Ransom” and created the movie “High and Low”. One adaptation of McBain’s work that was made and set in America is the 1966 film drama, “Mr Buddwing”. This film is based on the McBain’s 1964 novel, Buddwing. Interestingly at the time, this novel was published under the name Evan Hunter.

The film humorously depicts a man who wakes up on a bench in Central Park, New York, with absolutely no idea who he is or how he got there. We follow the character as he wanders the streets of New York meeting women and trying to understand his own identity. With stars of the time such as Jean Simmons and Angela Lansbury, this is one of the most successful adaptations of Ed McBain’s work.

7 Responses to “Ed McBain”

1. Angie Dolan: 2 years ago

   In what year did Hunter (McBain) write The Empty hours ? Why isn’t it listed here ?

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     It is listed. 1962.

     Reply
2. Raisa Ticklén: 3 years ago

   Heard somewhere that in one of the Ed McBain books all the victims are blind. Any idea which book?

   Reply
   • TUBGy: 1 year ago

     Long Time No See (1977)

     Reply
3. andrew bowlby: 3 years ago

   Thank you for your efforts and research.

   Reply
4. andrew bowlby: 3 years ago

   Did Evan Hunter write a book called EXIT,said to be published after his death?

   Reply
   • Graeme: 3 years ago

     I researched it and I can’t find any confirmation of him doing that.

     Reply