Hark! The 87th Precinct Podcast

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct podcast.

Please note that as this podcast deals with the final years of the author's life, there is some discussion of illness and mention of surgery.

This is the second part of Evan Hunter's life story, told in overview, based on my research. This covers the period 1960 to his death in 2005 (and a little beyond).

If you've enjoyed these episodes, consider having a look back at the rest of the podcasts covering the 87th Precinct and beyond and sharing and reviewing the show. If you'd like to contact us, you can find us on Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky (just search for Hark 87) and you can email on [email protected].

Hark! It's an 87th Precinct Podcast.

This is a very special episode, the first of a two-parter, released to commemorate the 100th birthday of Evan Hunter.

This is adapted from my ongoing research into the man, which accompanies my research into the 87th Precinct series. In this episode I take you from Italy in the 1890s to 1960 in New York, with digressions into the worlds of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Simon and Schuster and the musical career of Hunter's father.

This solo-pod is presented by Paul Abbott. Find us on Bluesky, Instagram and at [email protected] if you want to get in touch.

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 Ward for taking on the role of the Voice of American Censorship.

If you'd like any more deep dives into non-87th Precinct novels, do get in touch on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook or at [email protected] and drop a suggestion. And now, over to you, Vic Morrow...

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. Please do rate, review and share the episodes. If you'd like to email us, please use [email protected] to do so and check out our blog pages for previous episodes, scores and so forth.

Why not listen to Paul's song High To Low (by Good Grief) on Bandcamp to accompany this episode?

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, television and music from the year of release - in this case, 2005. Paul, Morgan and Stevo have made their picks from the year as well. Sort of.

Fare thee well!

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 within as we investigate not only the book itself, but the other things released by McBain/Hunter during the final year of his life and after that. 

Thank you so much for sticking with us and keeping us motivated to do this project. We truly appreciate it. So, until the bonus episode arrives, we'll merely say...

Fare Thee Well!

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 outline the other authors in the book and a little about this short(-ish) story, whilst you wait for us to bring you our last official episodes! 

Until then, 

Fare Thee Well.

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 concluding story in the series - FIDDLERS.

Fare thee well.

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 that year. Join us soon for the FINAL book in the series, Fiddlers.

Fare thee well.

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 website and the PDF of the complete tale.

See you soon for Book 54 - Hark!

Fare thee well.