As a matter of personal taste, I just flat out don't care for Lawrence Block. Dates back to when I was a kid and he was an unavoidable presence in EQMM, I think. Plus sometimes he strikes me as a bit preachy-touchy- feely in that Ross MacDonald way.
I believe McBain/Hunter is a true hot shot. I can't say he's under-rated because, in his Evan Hunter persona, he isn't. But we probably haven't talked about him enough here. I don't really think he's HB, per se, but he certainly borrowed some of that sensibility on occasion.
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"he strikes me as a bit preachy-touchy- feely in that Ross MacDonald way."
Yes, that sums up my opinion of both Block and MacDonald. McBain does not, in the 87th Precinct Novels, focus on any one character. But the language and carryings on seem pretty hard boiled to me. Few other writers examine as gritty crime scenes as McBain does. If really gruesome murders fits into hard boiled, and it does in my book, only Ruth Rendell is his equal.
Patrick King
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