Hark! The 87th Precinct Podcast

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast special solo-pod. Coming much too late to celebrate the 70th anniversary of either the book or the film, Paul is taking a look at the story behind the book The Blackboard Jungle and the film. How did Evan Hunter get it published? What obstacles did the film face in production and what were some of the critical reactions to both? Special thanks go to Jake War...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct podcast. Well, it's been a while (42 months or so, as of release of this) so we thought it high (not low) time we got back together. Luckily Spike Lee thought to adapt Kurosawa's High and Low into his 2025 film Highest 2 Lowest and so how could we resist this opportunity? Remember, we're Hark87Podcast on most social things, but particularly Bluesky now....

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast bonus episode! In fact, it's the last ever bonus episode. And everything went fine, yessir, no technical hitches or anything (*nervously runs finger around collar, eyes darting about the room*).  We explore as always the original UK and US covers of the books and those of our own editions and some international versions before getting into the films, televi...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast. In fact, it's the last (except our bonus episode) of the main series of this podcast as we arrive at the final book in the saga of the boys of Grover Avenue. It's Fiddlers. The corpses are piling up and the squad have to figure out what links the killings, whilst navigating their own matters of love, loss and family. Does McBain leave us on a high? Find out wit...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct bonus extra minipod! Before we approach the final book in the official series of the 87th Precinct, we need to divert down a side-track to look at the book TRANSGRESSIONS - ten novellas selected and edited by Ed McBain. The book includes a novella from the author, set in the 87th Precinct, called Merely Hate, so we can't ignore it. In this brief episode Paul will outlin...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast bonus episode! This is the bonus for our show all about the 54th (of 55!) novel in the series, Hark! As usual we take a look at the cover designs for the book then settle back into the usual nonsense from the year of publication - in this case it's 2004. Prepare yourself for the Dave Mathews Band, Look and Read and some sequels.  See you soon for the conclu...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast. It's 2004 and we're finally examining the book that we named the podcast after... HARK! Our old frenemy, The Deaf Man, is back and this time his scheme is more baffling than ever. We dig into this, the penultimate entry in the canon. Nearly there, folks! We outline some of the events in 2004 and you can, of course, join us in the bonus episode for more from tha...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct bonus mini-episode. In 2003 the BBC ran a writing competition and amongst the eight 'famous' authors taking part was Mr McBain himself. After generating a short-story for the competition entrants to complete, the authors also wrote their own end to the tale and so we get an extra little slice of the 87th Precinct to enjoy. Click on the links here for the archived BBC we...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast Bonus episode! This is the bonus episode accompanying our look at The Frumious Bandersnatch. You know the drill by now... we look at the book cover designs from the States, the UK and around the world then dig into the music, film and TV of the period of the book's writing/publication.  We've not got many more of these to do as we're onto Book 54 of 55 soon...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast. This is our show all about 2004's book, The Frumious Bandersnatch. McBain once again takes on the creative industries and the squad's first kidnapping since King's Ransom. Is the author eating his cake and having it too, with how he discusses the difficult topics in the book?  Featuring our first ever live Musical Illustration, we try and get across our fe...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast bonus episode! Merry christmas and happy holidays to you all. This is the bonus episode to accompany our look at McBain's comic tour-de-force Fat Ollie's Book. We go through some contemporary reviews (forgot to do them in the main episode - sorry!), then take the opportunity to explore the year 2002, even the book was published in '03, and in particular the Chri...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct podcast. It's 2002/03 and Ed McBain has written probably the most overtly comic novel in the entire series of the 87th Precinct. Follow us as we tag along with Fat Ollie Weeks to see if he can find (a) a murderer, (b) his book and (c) love and redemption? Oh, we forgot to look at the contemporary reviews of the book in this episode, so watch out for them in our Christma...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast bonus episode. Having slogged through the grim world of 2001's terrorism, money laundering and drugs in the 51st book of the series, we retire to our safe space of the bonus episode to take a look at the book cover designs and then our usual run down of the charts, movies and television of the period. What were your favourite things of 2001? Let us know on the u...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast. It's 2001 and, shortly before everything changed, McBain publishes his 51st novel in the series, which takes in drugs, money and international terrorism. It's strange to read back this story which feels so relevant to the period. A dense tome, populated by assassins, burglars, the secret service and much, much more - we try our best to tackle everything that go...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct podcast bonus episode. The year is 2000. The millenium has ticked over and we're still not flying in personal rockets to the moon. However, we have finished reading the 50th novel in McBain's series, The Last Dance. As usual we look at the book covers of the UK and US editions, as well as some other international versions, then delve into the charts, movies and TV of th...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct podcast It's the 21st century and Ed McBain has just released the 50th book in the 87th Precinct series. It's The Last Dance and we're back to the theatre again for a tangled tale of drugs, murders, intellectual property rights and homonyms. Is it a worthy celebration for the 50th tale or a mess of bits and pieces? Find out what we think here. As usual our bonus episode...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast Bonus Episode. We've looked into the 49th novel of the series, The Big Bad City, in our main episode so now it's time for our usual examination of the book covers of the original editions in the US and UK, as well as some other overseas versions. Then it's time to trawl through the music, movies and television of 1999 for some context of the period. See you soon...

Hark! It's the 87th Precinct Podcast! We're back, after a slightly longer than usual break, with a look at the 49th book of the series - the last of the Twentieth Century - The Big Bad City. Otherwise known as Nuns and Cookies? We speculate on the relevance of the title, McBain's approach to writing about popular music as well as looking what the author was up to and what was going on in the world...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast bonus episode. This is the bonus material for our examination of 1997's 'Nocturne'. We look at an increasingly poor selection of book cover designs and then dig into what was in the cinema, on television and in the charts in the year it was released. As usual we then offer up our picks from the period as well. See you soon for book 49 - The Big Bad City. Fare Th...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast. McBain returns, after a break from the series in 1996 for reasons we outline, to bring us this tale of terrible things happening at nighttime. This is a dense book with stories that are in turns tragic, comic, graphic and upsetting. This is our first podcast 'together' since the pandemic hit and we're a little giddy with excitement, especially when Stevo gets h...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct podcast mini-episode. This is a little bonus for you all whilst we're still getting sorted ready to tackle Nocturne, the next 'main' book in the series. It gives me an opportunity to tell you all about the TV Guide exclusive 87th Precinct story Reruns. Meyer and Carella are dealing with a burglary at an actor's apartment. Who are all these people taking his stuff to the...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct podcast bonus episode. This is the bonus attached to our review of Book 47 - the theatrical whirlwind that is 'Romance'. As usual this episode takes in the original book cover designs in the UK and US with some international editions thrown in for good measure, before we did into the Movies, TV and Music of 1995 and offer up our own pick. Stay tuned for a TWIST ENDING!...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct podcast. We've reached 1995. McBain has reached the 47th book in his long running series and he's decided that it's theatre-land's turn for a mystery. There's a lot more autobiographical and bibliographical referencing in this book than you might know and we lay out the author's own history with the stage as well as trying to get to grips with this play-within-a-book mu...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct podcast bonus episode. This is the bonus episode to accompany our look at 1993's Mischief. We take a look at the covers of the US and UK releases and also investigate an Italian and Japanese edition. Please smell along at home. Then it's into our round up of 1993 in music, film and television and our personal picks from the year. Keep listening to hear Paul tell you all...

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast! The year is 1993 and after last year's pretty straightforward offering (Kiss), Mr McBain brings us the exact opposite! Lots of story threads! Loads of cops! Hardly any Steve Carella! And.... THE DEAF MAN IS BACK. Join us as we try and untangle this dense mix of torment, abandoment, murder, riots and music. Keep listening to hear extracts from contemporary revie...