The Big Heat Audiobook By William P. McGivern cover art

The Big Heat

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

The Big Heat

By: William P. McGivern
Narrated by: Christopher Lane
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $11.87

Buy for $11.87

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

 It started almost innocently when a cop committed suicide. It was worry over ill health, said his wife. Detective Dave Bannion wasn't so sure, but when he started digging, he was told to lay off, fast! Instead, he turned in his badge and started stalking the city streets and bars in search of the truth, where he uncovers a red-hot story of murder and corruption that would blow Philadelphia's underworld sky high.

Bannion was big, strong, and angry enough to kill, but he was only one honest man in a city full of mobsters and crooked cops. The big heat was on.

©1953 William P. McGivern (P)2003 Blackstone Audiobooks Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Mystery

Critic reviews

"The man can tell a story!" (San Francisco Chronicle)
"This classic police procedural is a recent addition to the ever growing numbers of recordings of vintage material. Despite having been written more than 50 years ago, it holds up well, thanks to sharp dialogue and Christopher Lane's crisp reading." (AudioFile)

All stars
Most relevant  
A classic murder mystery with a few interesting twists and it moves at a nice pace.

enjoyable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Have owned the movie version of this book on VHS for several years & recently bought the DVD. Thought I'd check out the book. It was very good. A couple of characters names were changed for the movie however the book went smoothly even better than the movie did. I enjoyed this one & plan to check out other books by this same author.

Watch the movie too

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This was a wonderful read! Fun cops and thugs 1950's affair, very fifties, decent plot. I enjoyed noting the differences in our society between then and now. All "PC" (political correctness) is out the window; anyone of "color" is not referred to by his name but a "negro" or "colored person". Women are made to believe they haven't a brain in their head. But taken in its venue, it's just a hardy good against evil, cops and robbers suspense story.

Good 1950's Cops and Thugs Story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.