A showcase of short stories by Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master, Evan Hunter.

Ed McBain is a pen name of Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Evan Hunter, who wrote the screenplays for his own novel "Strangers When We Meet," Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," and the novel "The Blackboard Jungle." As Ed McBain, he has written fifty 87th Precinct novels, the blueprint series for every successful police procedural series.

This original collection of eleven short stories takes you onto the gritty and violent streets of the city, and into the darkest places in the human mind. "First Offense" is narrated from behind bars by a cocky young man who stabbed a storeowner in a robbery attempt. In "To Break the Wall," a high school teacher has a violent encounter with several punks. And a Kim Novak look-alike blurs the line between fantasy and reality in "The Movie Star." These and eight more stories showcase the mastery for which the San Diego Union-Tribune dubbed McBain "the unquestioned king."