I've probably read more 87th Precincts than the other three writer combined. Must have read a couple of dozen in a row back in the 70s/80s. The one I read three years ago, one of his last, was like Law and Order: Too downbeat and the good guy (good gal) dies. It's intersting the way McBain had Carella go from a Korean War veteran over the years to a veteran of "one of our little wars." Detected very little aging, a character in the perpetual now, which is all right. I think readers and writers get too obsessed with the aging process of Parker's Spenser and Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone.
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In fairness, I'd say Law & Order owes a debt to McBain that will probably never get paid. Remember the old 87th Precinct TV show?
Patrick King
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