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Hark!

by Ed McBain

Somebody at my local library made a comment that Hark! was a disappointing novel for a writer like Ed McBain. I'm afraid I don't agree. But if you expect a certain type of book when it's advertised as an 87th Precinct novel, then perhaps you have good reason to be disappointed – unless you realize that an author like Ed McBain (who has written so much and for whom the 87th Precinct novels are only one small portion of his total output) is bound to use every variation possible on the mystery theme. If you're the type who examines every sentence and every plot in hopes of discovering something with which you can find fault, more power to you. I base my critiques solely on enjoyment.

And Hark! is decidedly enjoyable. Sure - I doubt that detectives in any busy U.S. city will bother with a communication long enough to realize it's an anagram or a palindrome - they're more likely to assign its origin to a crazy and ignore it or throw it away, regardless of who they think it might be from. Plus, unfortunately there are few actual detectives who would take time to figure out the meanings even if they did take it seriously. But then what city has a master criminal who would take the obviously considerable effort to compose them in the first place? Such implications of unreality could well be the source of anyone's displeasure with the book. BUT – when you recall that what you're reading is only fiction, with enough reality thrown in otherwise, you can also appreciate the cleverness – especially of the author!

Hark! is full of murders, and the book begins with one in the very first chapter. Gloria Stanford made a grave mistake – she tried to swindle Adam Fen. And Adam Fen is just an anagram for the Deaf Man – curse of the 87th Precinct and especially Detective Stephen Carella. Melissa Summers, an ex-whore and present girlfriend of the Deaf Man cleans out Gloria's safe deposit box of the money she's stashed away just before Detective Eileen Burke gets to the bank.

A sub-plot concerns the fact that Carella's mother and sister are both getting married, and he's offered to pay for the cost of both weddings – although how he's going to be able to afford it is hard to say. Even when his mother's fiancι offers to help pay the cost, Steve refuses – then kicks himself afterward.

The Deaf Man keeps sending the 87th Precinct quotes – first in the form of anagrams, then palindromes (a word or phrase that can be read identically backward or forward)
suggesting the time and type of hit he's about to make. He seems fond of Shakespearian quotes – and educates men in the 87th in spite of themselves. The Deaf Man also gives Melissa money to get messengers to take his hints to the police station – which Melissa finds difficult, since so few of the types she knows are willing to go anywhere near such a place. Eventually she gets dopers to do it, since they'll do almost anything for money which they can then use to get a fix.

Konstantinos Sallas is a famous violinist, and the Deaf Man has been tracking him, keeping careful watch on his habits. Mr. Sallas is only in the city until he completes his concert there, and constantly has a bodyguard with him. The 87th is only moderately aware of Sallas, until they finally discover that the word 'darts' consistently used by the Deaf Man can be turned into 'Strad.'

When Melissa discovers that the Deaf Man had actually no intention of taking her with him when he finished his job and left for foreign, summery ports, she shoots him. And even with his warning gasps into the phone she gets out of the country. The 87th Precinct solves the riddles and knows what the Deaf Man is really after, but too late.

Ed McBain uses Hark! to point out our fallibility as well as provide an entertaining tale. The Deaf Man – if he's really deaf – is assuredly a worthy adversary, taking some very real
effort to give the 87th what they need to find him, and at the same time, using some very literary quotations to hide his actual hints. Anyone interested in conundrums, puzzles or crosswords is sure to be captivated by this book. Different it certainly is, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Alan Paul Curtis

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