My Crime Beat Column: The Terrorist In Fact And Fiction

The below Crime Beat column originally appeared in the Orchard Press Online Mystery Magazine: 

The terrorist has long been a staple villain in fiction. From Ian Fleming to Tom Clancy, the terrorist in thrillers has been portrayed as a criminal out to extort money, a religious fanatic doing the work of God (as he sees it in his deluded mind), or a former soldier seeking revenge for some perceived slight.

We’ve seen neo-Nazis, white supremacists, international criminals, misguided youth and of course, the Islamic fanatical terrorist exporting the Mid-East conflict to America. 

In Money, Money, Money, Ed McBain’s Middle Eastern character arrives at an American airport, and he is deeply offended at being profiled as a terrorist - even though he is one. 

McBain’s crime novel, involving money laundering and international terrorism, was published two days before the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  

Ed McBain, aka Evan Hunter, aka Salvator Lombino, said he was on a book promotion tour in Chicago when he heard the news of the attack. He noted the eerie similarity between his novel and the real unfolding events. 

Since 9/11, the stock bad guy terrorist in fiction and action movies has become a very real villain and a very real threat. 

America’s war on terrorism may have begun in earnest following the September 11th attacks, but the terrorist's war against America and the Western democracies can be traced back to the 1960s and the 1970s. 

Plane hijackings, kidnappings, car bombs and other acts of terrorism plagued the capitals of Europe throughout the 1970s and right on into the new century. Europeans have long lived under the gun (and the bomb) of Middle East terrorists, as well as the IRA, organized crime, separatist movements and a variety of left- and right-wing terrorist groups. These groups considered embassies, hotel lobbies, sports arenas, airport lounges and sidewalk cafes free-fire combat zones. 

I lived in Europe for two years in the mid-1970s while serving in the U.S. Navy and I saw how life could be affected by the fear of terrorism. I talked to a good number of Britons, Italians, Germans, Spaniards and other Europeans in train stations, restaurants and bars as I traveled throughout Europe. I recall that nearly all of them expressed a deep fear of terrorism following every news account of a car bombing or assassination in London, Paris or Stockholm. 

Terrorism was not an abstraction to them. It was a very real threat to their well-being. 

I was in Belfast during the Christmas season, and I was saddened to see this war-torn city with British troops in full combat gear on street corners. 

While I was there a bomb was detonated at a store, and several innocents were killed. 

I recall being glad that we didn’t see terrorist attacks on American soil. I also reflected on America’s good fortune to have fought all our modern wars on foreign shores. 

Previous to 9/11, terrorists mostly targeted our military people at overseas posts, from the Marine barracks in Beirut to the USS Cole in Yemen. They also targeted Americans traveling abroad on foreign airlines and cruise ships. 

Of course, since 9/11, that’s all changed now. The terrorists have brought the war home in a big way. 

The terrorists have brought the war to our shores and like the Europeans, we now must live with the threat of terrorism. 

9/11 was perhaps America’s worst disaster, but the acts of heroism and humanity that followed the attack led me to believe that we have the resolve to win the war on terrorism. 

Note: The above FBI.gov photo shows the Statute of Liberty and beyond it the World Trade Center on fire on 9/11.

A Look Back At Ed McBain's 87th Precinct Film 'Fuzz'

I began to read and enjoy Ed McBain's 87th Precinct crime novels when I was a teenager in the 1960s. 

(Ed McBain is seen in the below photo). 

I also read his literary novels, written under his name Evan Hunter, such as The Blackboard Jungle, and A Matter of Conviction, a novel about New York street gangs that was made into one of my favorite films from the 1960s, The Young Savages. The film starred Burt Lancaster and Telly Savalas.

Evan Hunter changed his name legally from his name at birth, Salvatore Lombino. He died in 2005.

One of the 87th Precinct crime novels I enjoyed was Fuzz, written in 1968.

The crime novel featured the 87^th regular cops, such as Detective Steve Carella, and a reoccurring bad guy in the crime series, “The Deaf Man.”

I also watched and enjoyed the 1972 film Fuzz, based on McBain’s novel, which starred Burt Reynolds as Carella and Yul Brenner as “The Deaf Man.” McBain wrote the screenplay for the action-comedy.  

Lee Pfeiffer at Cinemaretro.com offers his take on the 1972 film Fuzz.

In reviewing "Fuzz" when it opened in 1972, Vincent Canby of the New York Times noted that the film looks more like a dress rehearsal than a finished movie and was obviously intended to appeal to viewers who had a limited attention span. In contrast, Roger Ebert said he was put off by the exploitive elements of the movie poster, but in the end called it a funny, quietly cheerful movie. I guess I land in the same ballpark as Ebert, although I'm not without criticism of the film, which was based on author Ed McBain's popular "87th Precinct" novels that explored the excitement and absurdities found in a modern, big city police department. The film has an impressive ensemble cast: Burt Reynolds and Raquel Welch (reunited after co-starring in "100 Rifles"), Tom Skeritt, Jack Weston and Raquel Welch, who appears rather fleetingly despite her prominent billing. Oh, and the bad guy is played by Yuel Brynner, who appears rather late in the film in a limited number of scenes.

The film is primarily played for laughs and it's scattershot plot jumps around at a dizzying pace. The action takes place in the aforementioned 87th Precinct in Boston, a run-down venue located in a troubled part of the city. The plot focuses on a harried group of cynical detectives who report to their equally cynical, burned-out boss, Lt. Byrnes (Dan Frazer). The precinct is depicted as decrepit and as worn-out as its inhabitants. There's a lot of chaotic action going on throughout the day with various local miscreants and eccentrics clogging up the works, much to the frustration of the burned-out cops.  The plot sees seasoned veteran cops Steve Carella (Burt Reynolds), Bert Kling (Tom Skerritt) and Meyer Meyer (you read that right) (Jack Weston) trying to cope with the chaos- as well as the arrival of a strikingly beautiful policewoman who has been assigned to the precinct, Eileen McHenry (Raquel Welch). Among the cases being investigated simultaneously are the identities of the creeps who have been setting local hobos on fire, a serial rapist, various petty crimes and a late-breaking, high-profile threat posed by an unknown man who phones in death threats aimed at local public officials. When the ransom he demands isn't paid, said officials are bumped off in a high profile manner despite intense efforts by the police to thwart the plots. The villain is known as The Deaf Man (Yul Brynner), a sophisticated brute with the persona of a Bond villain, who employs a small team of loyal and very competent crooks to help him carry out the various assassinations.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link: 

STREAMING REVIEW: "FUZZ" (1972) STARRING BURT REYNOLDS AND RAQUEL WELCH (SCREENPIX) - Cinema Retro

And you can watch the film via the below link:

Fuzz (1972) Burt Reynolds, Yul Brynner, Raquel Welch - Action, Comedy - YouTube

Hard Case Crime To Publish Two Lost Novels By Ed McBain

When I was a teenager I read and enjoyed Ed McBain's 87th Precinct crime novels, as well as his other crime novels, such as A Matter of Conviction. That novel about New York street gangs was made into one of my favorite films from the 1960s, The Young Savages, which starred Burt Lancaster and Telly Salvalas.

I also read his literary novels, such as The Blackboard Jungle, written under his name Evan Hunter, which he legally changed from his name at birth, Salvatore Lombino.

So I was pleased to learn that Hard Case Crime has announced that they are publishing two lost novels by the late great crime writer. (I love Hard Case Crime's book covers).

You can read the Hard Case Crime announcement below:

New York, NY; London, UK (January 21, 2015) – Hard Case Crime, the award-winning line of pulp-styled crime novels from editor Charles Ardai and publisher Titan Books, will publish two lost novels by best-selling crime novelist Ed McBain, creator of the legendary “87^th Precinct” series and recipient of the Mystery Writers of America’s prestigious Grand Master Award. Both books were originally published in the 1950s under other names (neither was ever credited to Ed McBain), and both have been unavailable for more than 50 years.

SO NUDE, SO DEAD was McBain’s first crime novel and tells the story of a piano prodigy turned heroin addict who wakes up in a seedy hotel room to find his companion of the night before – a beautiful singer and fellow addict – murdered in bed beside him. On the run from the police and growing desperate for a fix, he has to find the real killer or face a date with the electric chair. 

CUT ME IN is the story of a New York literary agent who is forced to play private detective when his widely loathed, philandering partner is shot to death in his office. Was the killer one of the women the dead man was sleeping with? Or was the motive for his murder tied up with the contract for a lucrative television deal that’s missing from the office safe…? The book offers a dark and sexy crime story mixed with a pull-no-punches satire of the Manhattan business world in the pre-MAD MEN era, informed by McBain’s own personal experiences working in an ethically dubious literary agency early in his career.

Hard Case Crime will publish SO NUDE, SO DEAD July 14, 2015, with a brand new cover painting in the classic pulp style by award-winning illustrator Gregory Manchess. The same month, Hard Case Crime will also re-issue its one previous McBain title, THE GUTTER AND THE GRAVE, for the first time ever in trade paperback format. CUT ME IN is scheduled for a January 12, 2016 publication and will feature a new cover by legendary painter Robert McGinnis.

As a special bonus, each of the three books will also include a long-lost private-eye novelette by McBain starring Matt Cordell, the detective from THE GUTTER AND THE GRAVE. These three novelettes were originally published in pulp magazines of the 1950s and haven’t been seen in more than half a century.

“We were fortunate to get to work with Ed McBain at the very end of his life on THE GUTTER AND THE GRAVE, and we’ve been looking for a way to bring readers more of his work ever since,” said Charles Ardai. “We were thrilled to discover these terrific early works, which essentially no one alive today has ever read. It’s like having two new McBain novels – a huge treat for his millions of fans.”

About Hard Case Crime

Called “the best new American publisher to appear in the last decade” by Neal Pollack in The Stranger, Hard Case Crime has been nominated for and/or won numerous honors since its inception including the Edgar, the Shamus, the Anthony, the Barry, and the Spinetingler Award.  The series’ books have been adapted for television and film, with two features currently in development at Universal Pictures, a TV series based on Max Allan Collins’ Quarry novels in development by Cinemax, and the TV series Haven in its fifth season on SyFy.  Recent Hard Case Crime titles include Stephen King’s #1 New York Times bestseller, Joyland; James M. Cain’s lost final novel, The Cocktail Waitress; a series of eight lost novels written by Michael Crichton under the pseudonym “John Lange”; and Brainquake, the final novel of writer/filmmaker Samuel Fuller. Hard Case Crime is published through a collaboration between Winterfall LLC and Titan Publishing Group. www.hardcasecrime.com

About Titan Publishing Group

Titan Publishing Group is an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981, comprising three divisions: Titan Books, Titan Magazines/Comics and Titan Merchandise.  Titan Books, nominated as Independent Publisher of the Year 2011, has a rapidly growing fiction list encompassing original fiction and reissues, primarily in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, horror, steampunk and crime. Recent crime and thriller acquisitions include Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins’ all-new Mike Hammer novels, the Matt Helm series by Donald Hamilton, and the entire backlist of the Queen of Spy Writers, Helen MacInnes.  Titan Books also has an extensive line of media- and pop culture-related non-fiction, graphic novels, and art and music books. The company is based at offices in London, but operates worldwide, with sales and distribution in the U.S. and Canada being handled by Random House.  www.titanbooks.com  

I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus And Other Crime Stories From Otto Penzler

One of the books I enjoyed over the holiday season was Christmas at The Mysterious Bookshop.

Edited by Otto Penzler, the noted publisher, editor and anthologist of mysteries, crime fiction, true crime and thrillers, as well as the longtime owner of the famous Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, this collection offers original short stories by some of our best crime writers.

"As a way of thanking our customers for their support, I have commissioned an original story from some of the finest mystery writers in America each Christmas season for the past 17 years," Penzler wrote in the introduction of the book. "These stories are then published in handsome booklets and given to my customers as a Christmas present. The only criteria for the authors were that the stories should be set during the Christmas season, involve a mystery, and have at least some of the action take place at The Mysterious Bookshop."

Penzler went on to write that the stories have ranged from humorous to suspenseful to heartwarming. In this year's collection, the late, great crime writer Ed McBain, a/k/a Evan Hunter, a/k/a Salvatore Lombino, offers an interesting story called I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus. Donald E. Westlake, another great writer who recently passed on, offers a short story featuring his series character Dortmunder called Give Till It Hurts.

There are also fine stories by Andrew Klavan, Charles Ardai, Lawrence Block, and other crime and mystery writers. Although the holidays are over (except for the after-Christmas shoppers), you can extend the season by reading Christmas at The Mysterious Bookshop.

You can also read more about Otto Penzler (seen in the above photo) in a Los Angeles Times piece via the link below:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-et-otto-penzler-20101223,0,6751503.story