Ed McBain concocts an excellent and complex thriller in regards to a expert criminal who haunts the town with cryptic passages from Shakespeare, directing the detectives of the 87th Precinct to a future crime — if only they can figure out what he means.

The 87th Precinct gets a check out from one from the city’s most achieved bad guys — a thief referred to as the Deaf Man. Because he could be deaf. Or he might not. So small is known about the person who’s harassing Detective Steve Carella with puzzling about Hark!: A Novel from the 87th Precinct messages that it’s hard to tell. But when a pattern emerges, the detectives of the 87th are forced to hit the books and brush through to their Shakespeare — because each fresh clue consists of a line from one of his takes on. Unless they are able to crack this challenging riddle and defeat the Deaf Man at his personal cat-and-mouse game, someone is going to end up hurt, or something will end up being taken — or both. It’s always so difficult to tell using the Deaf Man.

Ed McBain brings his most intelligent and devious legal back to the 87th Precinct using a richly plotted and literary criminal offense.