Ed McBain made his debut in 1956. In 2004, more than a hundred books later, he personally collected twenty-five of his stories written before that time. All but five of them were first published in the detective magazine Manhunt and none of them appeared under the Ed McBain byline.Here are kids in trouble and women in jeopardy. Here are private eyes and gangs. Here are loose cannons and innocent bystanders. Here, too, are cops and robbers. These are the stories that prepared Ed McBain to write the beloved 87th Precinct novels. In individual introductions, McBain tells how and why he wrote these stories that were the start of his legendary career. Indhold: Kids (First offense—Kid kill—See him die). Women in jeopardy (The molested—Carrera's woman—Dummy). Private eyes (Good and dead—Death flight—Kiss me, Dudley). Cops and robbers (Small homicide—Still life—Accident report—Chinese puzzle—The big day). Innocent bystanders (Runaway—Downpour—Eye witness—Every morning—The innocent one). Loose cannons (Chalk—Association test—Bedbug—The merry merry Christmas). Gangs (On the sidewalk, bleeding—The last spin)