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dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
When a cop is cut down with a .45, Detectives Carella and Bush spring into action. But can they stop the killer before he kills again?
I was looking for another crime series to begin reading when the 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain caught my eye. I'd read one McBain book before, The Gutter and the Grave, and I enjoyed it enough to take a change on the long long long series of 87th Precinct books..
Cop Hater is a police procedural about someone killing cops, set in the fictional city of Isola. While it was written in the 1950's, women and minorities get better treatment in this book than in a lot of its contemporaries. Steve Carella, the lead character, is engaged to a beautiful deaf mute named Teddy, is something I didn't expect but McBain manages to make their relationship believable.
Cop Hater takes place during a heat wave and all of the characters have frayed nerves from the beginning. All of the cops wonder which of them will be next, as did this reader. One thing I liked is that while Carella is the lead, he's no super cop and no angel. While the mystery wasn't solveable, the killings made sense once the motivations behind them were explained.
It's a pretty quick read. I enjoyed it enough that I'll read the next couple but McBain wrote 50-something of these things so I'm not sure I'll attempt to ever read all of them.
I was looking for another crime series to begin reading when the 87th Precinct series by Ed McBain caught my eye. I'd read one McBain book before, The Gutter and the Grave, and I enjoyed it enough to take a change on the long long long series of 87th Precinct books..
Cop Hater is a police procedural about someone killing cops, set in the fictional city of Isola. While it was written in the 1950's, women and minorities get better treatment in this book than in a lot of its contemporaries. Steve Carella, the lead character, is engaged to a beautiful deaf mute named Teddy, is something I didn't expect but McBain manages to make their relationship believable.
Cop Hater takes place during a heat wave and all of the characters have frayed nerves from the beginning. All of the cops wonder which of them will be next, as did this reader. One thing I liked is that while Carella is the lead, he's no super cop and no angel. While the mystery wasn't solveable, the killings made sense once the motivations behind them were explained.
It's a pretty quick read. I enjoyed it enough that I'll read the next couple but McBain wrote 50-something of these things so I'm not sure I'll attempt to ever read all of them.
bmarr's review against another edition
4.0
Very good book! Great start to the 87th Precinct series. Can't wait to read more. The book holds up surprisingly well for being written in the 1950's.
readingoverbreathing's review against another edition
3.0
"[Homicide] is the most exotic crime because it deals with the theft of something universal—a man's life."
I was not expecting a lot from this little mass market paperback with a People magazine quote on its cover and where the author's name dwarfs the book's actual title. I'd never pick up this kind of book on my own, the superstar bestselling author kind, where he or she turns out so many that you can't believe that quality has kept up with quantity.
But, honestly, this wasn't that bad. It's stereotypical male cop business, sure. It uses phrases like 'he was getting too old for this' more than once. It definitely doesn't pass the Bechdel test. But it was an easy read, and a lot of the time while reading I found I was actually kind of enjoying myself.
Do I sound snobby? Probably. I don't like looking down on any kind of literature, but I do find it hard to help myself here. I guess it goes to show me that there is some merit of enjoyment to be found here. McBain does a wonderful job of keeping the plot moving, jumping from perspective to perspective, but never in a way that feels rushed or overwhelming. I was also pleasantly surprised by how atmospheric his writing was; he milks the effects of the heat wave that takes place here, sure, but he milks them well, so well that you almost start to sweat yourself.
I will say I definitely saw the ending coming, although I wasn't ever totally sure I was right.
Spoiler
I thought maybe it'd turn out to be an inside job, a cop killing cops, as that really would have turned the whole 'cop hater' thing on its head, but the Alice thing also made sense.I still have not yet looked over my course's discussion questions for this yet, so I'm intrigued to see what kind of conversations we'll be having about this this week. Who would have thought I'd end up with so many differing opinions on such a book?
aaronreadabook's review against another edition
2.0
Pulp police procedural. I quite liked the atmosphere of this one but the central story wasn't much of a story to me, none of their investigations led to the crime being solved.
thejoeyharris's review against another edition
5.0
Great start to the legendary series. Detective Carella investigates when three cops are killed. And the rest is history...
rbriese7's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
dfs's review against another edition
1.0
I honestly did not like this book. There was a lot of back-and-forth dialogue which made it confusing at times to determine who was speaking. To top it off, this book has a lot of profanity and blaspheming in it. This book would have been more enjoyable if that was censored or eliminated.
timmens59's review against another edition
3.0
Book 1 of the 87th Precinct series. McBain wrote a cool introduction to this edition, explaining the genesis of the series and the idea of his to focus on the investigations of a station house, not a particular detective. I enjoyed the book and McBain's exposition on the fictional metropolis. His imagery is hard-boiled and fun. What I found interesting is McBain's detailing of early scientific police lab procedures. You can tell when he was researching all this stuff with the NYPD that he geeked up by it all. It comes through.
paulataua's review against another edition
3.0
Came across an audiobook version, so why not. Ed McBain has always been one of those writers I have always meant to get around to but have never actually done so. Of course, it suffers from all the things that were acceptable back in the 1950s, but just seem absurd now, like most descriptions of women either start with or at least include some reference to breast size. Having said that, I did get a feeling that McBain did play a major role in developing the police procedural, so it was worth visiting just for that. Nothing special , but mildly entertaining.