Welcome to part 4 of the Hard Case Crime discussion. Hard Case Crime is a terrific paperback imprint that's publishing throwback noir from new, established, and classic authors. At the Hard Case Crime Web site (http://www.hardcasecrime.com/), you can check out the latest news about upcoming titles and get early glimpses of forthcoming cover art.
To start off part 4, here's the latest from Charles Ardai, publisher:
Why haven't you heard from me in so long? Because I've had a piece of news to share that I couldn't share until now.
As you probably know, the great Donald E. Westlake, one of the finest crime writers ever to pound an Underwood (and one of the finest men any of us in the business had the privilege to know), died on New Year's Eve this year. At the time, we all thought that the last novel he'd turned in to his hardcover publisher was the last novel of his we'd ever get to read. I certainly thought so -- until I heard from Don's friend of 50 years, Lawrence Block, saying that he had a manuscript in his hands of an unpublished Westlake novel that no editor had ever seen.
The book is called MEMORY, and it's outstanding. Don wrote it in the early 1960s but set it aside when his literary agent advised him that it was too literary and encouraged him to concentrate on more commercial sorts of crime fiction. And despite Larry's urging him to publish it over the decades that followed, Don never did.
He should have. It's a beautifully written, heartbreaking story about a man who suffers an assault (after being caught in bed with another man's wife) and wakes up in a hospital bed suffering from a peculiar sort of brain damage that doesn't make him unable to function but does make it hard for him to form new memories or retain old ones. Stuck far from home (and struggling even to remember where home used to be), paranoid about the attentions of the police, and desperate to reconstruct his lost life, Paul Cole sets out on an extraordinary private investigation: a missing persons case in which he himself is the missing person.
As I mentioned in the last e-mail I sent out, Hard Case Crime will be taking a hiatus after publishing two novels (rather than just one) this December. We won't publish any books in January, February or March. But when we come back in April 2010, it'll be a big, big comeback, since that's when we'll be celebrating Donald Westlake's MEMORY.
April's a long way off, of course -- but if you'd like to get a taste of MEMORY now, you can find a sample chapter (along with a first look at Glen Orbik's cover for the book) on our Web site: www.HardCaseCrime.com.
You'll also notice that we've finally put up a sample chapter for the first of our two December titles, burlesque performer Jonny Porkpie's THE CORPSE WORE PASTIES -- to find it, just click on the title of that book and then choose "Read a Sample Chapter." The sample will give you a peek into the seedy, wonderful world of burlesque. And if you're in New York when the book's publication date rolls around, you'll get to have more than just a peek, since Jonny's burlesque troupe will be mounting a live burlesque show to coincide with the novel's publication. I'll tell you more about this as we get closer, but at minimum you'll get a chance to see the author perform -- and the book's cover models, burlesque stars GiGi LaFemme and Nasty Canasta.
One other thing you'll notice if you visit our Web site: We've said we're publishing two books in December, but the site only shows one. Does this mean there's another December title we haven't put up on the site yet? Yes. That's precisely what it means. That one's a fun little treat and we'd like to keep it a surprise till we're closer to the publication date. It's got a Glen Orbik cover that will knock your socks off and might make you do a double take when you see it...but you'll have to wait till colder weather arrives to find out why.
After our December double feature and then the Westlake novel in April, we'll be switching to a bimonthly schedule for the rest of 2010, largely to give us a bit more time to work on and drum up attention for each novel, and to give readers more time to digest them all. (We've heard from some of you that the book-a-month schedule has left you with a pile of our books you haven't gotten to yet...and it can be hard to get each book the attention it deserves when there's always another coming just four weeks later.) For those of you who do like having a Hard Case Crime novel to read each month, I commend to your attention the 58 books we've already published (the 58th, Peter Rabe's STOP THIS MAN!, hits stores this week). Have you read them all? No? Well, you've got some great reading ahead of you, and a quick toll-free phone call to 1-800-481-9191 can get you as many of them as you want.
I'll have more news for you just as soon as I can tell you about our December surprise -- and about the various live events we have coming up. In the meantime, enjoy the dog days of summer...and, please, a good book.
Best,
Charles
P.S. This being t-shirt season, how about showing everyone at the beach or on the streets how much you love pulp fiction? Check out the stylish and sexy Hard Case Crime t-shirts at http://poeticlicenseprinting.com/artists/hardcasecrime.html.
Geofferson
07-20-09, 09:48 AM
A new Westlake? :drool:
bishop2knight
07-20-09, 10:06 AM
Great news all around.
djmont
07-20-09, 04:22 PM
Max Collins has reported that there is yet another unpublished Westlake novel that Don wrote in the '80s -- a non-humorous book about a stand-up comedian. When KING OF COMEDY came out, Don decided his book was superfluous and shelved it. But Max said he remembers it being really good.
rkndkn
07-24-09, 01:58 PM
Thank you for posting this. I consider Westlake my favorite author of all time.
bishop2knight
07-24-09, 07:37 PM
For Westlake fans, might I recommend this (http://www.amazon.com/Parker-Hunter-Darwyn-Cooke/dp/1600104932/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1248478620&sr=8-1)?
For Westlake fans, might I recommend this (http://www.amazon.com/Parker-Hunter-Darwyn-Cooke/dp/1600104932/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1248478620&sr=8-1)?
http://www.amazon.com/Parker-Hunter-Darwyn-Cooke/dp/1600104932/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1248478620&sr=8-1
Yes you may. :) Parker as a graphic novel sounds pretty cool.
bishop2knight
07-25-09, 12:05 PM
Yes you may. :) Parker as a graphic novel sounds pretty cool.
It's getting great reviews in the comic world. Some are calling it the best graphic novel of the year. I have only flipped through it, and the art is spectacular.
djmont
07-25-09, 05:49 PM
I've got that comic. It's...interesting, I guess. I don't really see the point, but it seems well done.
bishop2knight
07-27-09, 01:17 PM
I've got that comic. It's...interesting, I guess. I don't really see the point, but it seems well done.
The point? It's just a different medium. A different way to tell the story. Not much different then Hollywood producing a new movie.
You may notice that STOP THIS MAN has a $7.99 cover price. I'm crossing my fingers that it's not a permanent price increase. Sure, it's only a buck, but still...
FunkDaddy J
07-30-09, 09:55 AM
Ouch! And I thought $6.99 was high for these thin pulp reprints (as much as I love 'em).
Drake
08-04-09, 08:36 AM
Passport To Peril was the last one I received I haven't seen another one since I wonder if Dorchester Publishing takes a month off in the summer?
Not that it matters I am so behind on reading these......
I spoke to soon I just received it in the mail.
FunkDaddy J
08-09-09, 10:07 AM
Interesting news from Charles Ardai...
***************************
Friends,
I know, in my last e-mail I wrote that I planned to keep the identity of our second December title a secret until we got closer to its Christmas-season publication date (I think I said something like "I'll tell you when it gets a little colder outside"). Well, it's only August and still plenty hot here in New York City -- but it's hard to keep a secret in the age of the Internet, especially when sites like Amazon.com put books up for pre-order four months in advance...
Yes: You can now see our second December title on Amazon.com (though you have to hunt around a little, due to a bizarre error that has our book's cover attached for some reason to a horror novel by Gord Rollo). But since they let the cat out of the bag early, I figured we might as well come clean, too -- so you can find a full complement of information on the book (cover art, description, sample chapter) at our Web site: www.HardCaseCrime.com.
And what is the book...? It's the very hard-boiled story of a man murdered by a blast from a sawed-off shotgun to the face at point-blank range; of a criminal on the run from Chicago who comes to a dirty Pennsylvania coal-mining town and winds up locking horns with the corrupt Masonic lodge that runs the town; of a Pinkerton detective who sets out to clean up the town; and of the doom that pursues a man across an ocean and leaves him at the mercy of the world's most ruthless criminal mastermind. It's a story narrated by a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, whose partner in investigating the twisted plot is a drug addicted private investigator with a brain like a steel trap.
And wait till you see the cover -- Glen Orbik has really outdone himself here, with his portrait of a gorgeous, bosomy dame in a transparent negligee watching with horror as a man with a brand on his arm appears in her doorway.
And the author -- it's one of the best-selling authors in the world. His books have been made into movies, computer games, comic books; they've sold tens of millions of copies. He's not someone you'd think of as a Hard Case Crime author in a million years!
Now, I can hear you out there, saying, "Come on, Ardai -- if you're gonna spill, spill already. What's the name of the damn book?"
According to Wikipedia, The Valley of Fear is the final Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story was first published in the Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915. The first book edition was published in New York on February 27, 1915.
Geofferson
08-10-09, 09:38 AM
Sounds like a good way to cap off the year. :up:
FunkDaddy J
08-16-09, 11:19 AM
I just started this book last night, and I'm really liking it. I'd never heard of the author before, but he's got a subtle humor to his writing style that I really like. I think I'm going to like this one. A real page-turner.
^ This was an odd book. It seemed to start in one direction and then later go in another direction, almost completely forgetting about the main tension of the first part. I guess you could say I loved the first half. But overall, forgettable. A shame. Could have been fantastic if it had followed the compelling thread of the narrative it started.
xmiyux
08-21-09, 05:15 PM
Just got Losers Live Longer (with the odd horizontal cover) in the mail yesterday. I assume this means it will hit bookshops within a week or two.
Drake
08-25-09, 05:10 PM
I just finished Losers Live Longer ,not bad at times I thought the author was being too cute with his prose like "My feet looked black like I was kicking Alice Cooper in the face'...But I did like the ending.
FunkDaddy J
08-27-09, 01:59 PM
Well, a couple of you already have the jump on this, but it's appearing now in bookstores. Check it out!
I wonder how much farther that leg reaches beyond the cover? Knowing Robert McGinnis, at least another few feet.
Drake
08-28-09, 07:57 AM
^ This was an odd book. It seemed to start in one direction and then later go in another direction, almost completely forgetting about the main tension of the first part. I guess you could say I loved the first half. But overall, forgettable. A shame. Could have been fantastic if it had followed the compelling thread of the narrative it started.
I just finished Stop This Man and I loved it much better than Losers Live Longer for me I like the older books in the Hard Case Crime series more than the newer ones.
Stop This Man was pure Noir for me ,I was actually even routing for the main character even though I knew he had radiation poisoning.
Right now I am reading Passport To Peril I am catching up with all these books because I had such a large pile of them.
DJLinus
08-28-09, 08:34 PM
I've never read any of these books, but have heard good things and, frankly, the covers are awesome. I'd been curious about them, but never pulled the trigger...until today. I was picking up some stuff at the Dollar Tree and noticed that they had a copy of Money Shot, so I bought it. For a buck, I figured it's worth a try. (I probably won't get to it for a while, though.)
Drake
09-02-09, 02:00 PM
Just a heads up for everyone if you go over to the Dorchester Publishing website they are having a 35% off back to school sale.
I picked up the last remaining Hard Case Crime books I needed, 10 books for $29 !...that's a pretty good deal. They even threw in one book for free.
Geofferson
09-02-09, 02:20 PM
Just a heads up for everyone if you go over to the Dorchester Publishing website they are having a 35% off back to school sale.
I picked up the last remaining Hard Case Crime books I needed, 10 books for $29 !...that's a pretty good deal. They even threw in one book for free.
Thanks for the heads-up. :up:
NOBODY'S ANGEL
Jack Clark
June 2010
First professional publication ever!
TWO KILLERS STALK THE STREETS OF CHICAGO—CAN ONE TAXI DRIVER CORNER THEM BOTH?
Eddie Miles is one of a dying breed: a Windy City hack who knows every street and back alley of his beloved city and takes its recent descent into violence personally. But what can one driver do about a killer targeting streetwalkers or another terrorizing cabbies? Precious little—until the night he witnesses one of them in action...
A former Chicago cabbie himself, Jack Clark self-published an earlier version of this book in an edition of 500 copies and sold them to his fares from the front seat of his cab. Clark was a finalist for the Shamus Award in 2003.
xmiyux
09-02-09, 07:36 PM
So is the break in their publishing from January until that title in June?
Drake
09-02-09, 08:06 PM
So is the break in their publishing from January until that title in June?
No, they are releasing Memory by Westlake in April of next year.
I really love that cover of Nobody's Angel!
Sean O'Hara
09-22-09, 09:53 PM
So is the break in their publishing from January until that title in June?
There's a note with this month's book that they're going to be publishing bimonthly next year. :-(
However, they also mention one of the books will be by Brett Halliday.
Ten years ago, private eye Mike Shayne did a job for one of the richest men in El Paso, digging up dirt on a boy courting the tycoon’s daughter. Now the daughter’s back, all grown up and dangerous. And so’s Shayne--but this time it’s to investigate murder...
First publication in 20 years!
One of the most popular detectives of all time, Mike Shayne starred in more than 70 novels, a dozen movies, a TV series, radio dramas, comic books, and the long-running Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine.
Filmmaker Shane Black, creator of Lethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, on the work of Brett Halliday...
"In this age of private eyes with cats, funny neighbors, and relationship woes--here’s to 40s thriller writer Brett Halliday, whose baffling, bullet-paced capers have come to light again. Halliday’s books were marvels of misdirection. Red herrings, skewed motives, mistaken identities--he did everything but come to your house and bang cymbals. Halliday’s plots are byzantine gems. This is back when mystery writers were so much smarter than you and me. Want an engrossing read? Pick this one up. Never heard of this book? No matter. It’s been waiting patiently, poised to dazzle you with raw, ingenious storytelling. Halliday is the king of the baffler novel. Pure pleasure. How long can Halliday’s best-selling books remain dormant, undiscovered...? The answer: not a minute longer, thanks to Hard Case Crime."
xmiyux
10-27-09, 07:46 PM
Just got this in the mail today so i assume it will be hitting stores soon.
Maybe it is just you and i caring about this line but i started reading this book this afternoon. So far it has hooked me. A nice hook from the very beginning and a good setup. Hopefully it keeps up the quick pace the whole way through.
FunkDaddy J
11-04-09, 06:48 PM
Yeah, if the activity in this thread is any indication, interest has waned. I'm hoping it's only this thread and not the line that people have lost interest in. :) Because I would hate to see this line go away. Hard Case Crime remains the most exciting line of paperbacks I've seen in a looooong time. I continue to buy (if not read) every single title.
xmiyux
11-04-09, 06:54 PM
I know i got burned out on them after reading like 10 in a row but i am extremely happy to subscribe to the line and stack them up on a shelf. Then every so often i pull out a couple and enjoy them. It is nice to have a whole little collection of stories like these.
It is especially nice to have them without needing to hunt down the out of print titles like i used to. :lol:
So far though i haven't tried out the new line they are doing. Perhaps i am missing out. :shrug:
Geofferson
11-04-09, 10:08 PM
I'm still here too guys. :) I find that I'll wait for a few of the HCC titles to pile-up before I start reading them. As a result, I'll dig into them every few months or so. Recent titles have been hit-or-miss for me -- Fake I.D. was the last good one I read I think.
xmiyux
11-04-09, 10:27 PM
So what have been some of your favorites in the line so far?
Of what I have read, i would probably put Money Shot at the top of the heap. It was a really good story imo. I also enjoyed the two Aleas books.
Geofferson
11-04-09, 10:56 PM
So what have been some of your favorites in the line so far?
Of what I have read, i would probably put Money Shot at the top of the heap.
Pun intended? ;)
I liked both Crichton (ie, John Lange) books. The Westlake and Block books are a given (was surprised I ended up liking Killing Castro). I thought Say it With Bullets was a blast as well as Gardner's Top of the Heap and the Bruen/Starr books.
xmiyux
11-04-09, 11:01 PM
I read one of the Crichton books and enjoyed it. I haven't read the other.
I was extremely disappointed in the King novel. I don't think it should have been in the HCC line at all.
Killing Castro didn't hook me and i ended up sitting it aside. One of these days i will go back and finish it.
wmermine
11-09-09, 04:07 PM
I guess I'll jump in (eventhough I mostly lurk here) to say that I also love these books. I think I have all but maybe 4 of them and have read just over half of them. I've really liked them all. The only ones I put down without finishing were Branded Woman and Dead Street - it wasn't bad, I just needed a change of pace.
I really liked the Bruen/Starr series, all of Max Allan Collins's entries, and The Vengeful Virgin. I wish they'd print some more Gil Brewer as most/all of his books seem to be out of print.
I do think it's smart for HCC to go to printing every other month, though, if for nothing else than to give me a chance to catch up!
I've also read the first Gabriel Hunt book and really liked it. I've got the next one ready to go, but Jim Butcher's books are occupying most of my time right now!
xmiyux
11-09-09, 05:09 PM
It isn't HCC but....
Has anyone read the Harlequin reprints? Just last night i was at Borders and saw they had reprinted some books that looked like classic pulp noir. They had old school covers and even the edges of the pages were dyed red.
FunkDaddy J
11-09-09, 06:40 PM
I hadn't heard of that. Man, from the NFL to Harlequin, everyone's going retro. :)
They all have a little thing on them saying they were being reprinted for Harlequin's 60th Anniversary. The line is called the Harlequin Vintage Collection.
Sean O'Hara
11-10-09, 01:39 PM
Something that's been popping up in my Amazon recommendations that might interest HCC readers is the "Pulp Lesbian" line of books:
Has anyone read the Harlequin reprints? Just last night i was at Borders and saw they had reprinted some books that looked like classic pulp noir. They had old school covers and even the edges of the pages were dyed red.
I stumbled upon these at my local independent bookstore this past Sunday actually. Pretty poor marketing from Harlequin, IMO. Anyway, here are the first 6 titles:
* I’ll Bury My Dead by James Hadley Chase
* Virgin with Butterflies by Tom Powers
* You Never Know with Women by James Hadley Chase
* No Nice Girl by Perry Lindsay
* Kiss Your Elbow by Alan Handley
* Pardon My Body by Dale Bogard
Nth Power
11-10-09, 04:40 PM
I'm still getting the monthly book (well, not monthly anymore), but am taking a break and reading some other stuff. Last one I read was Stop This Man! I thought the plot was thin, but enjoyed it.
So what have been some of your favorites in the line so far?
Of what I have read, i would probably put Money Shot at the top of the heap. It was a really good story imo. I also enjoyed the two Aleas books.
The top ones have probably been :
- the two Lange books
- the two Aleas books
- Bruen/Starr (only read the first one.)
- Money Shot
Drake
11-10-09, 04:51 PM
I read one of the Crichton books and enjoyed it. I haven't read the other.
I was extremely disappointed in the King novel. I don't think it should have been in the HCC line at all.
Killing Castro didn't hook me and i ended up sitting it aside. One of these days i will go back and finish it.
I felt the same way about Killing Castro I was almost half thru and I put it down and have not returned.....it might of been a case of burn out since at that time I went on a binge and read 10 in a row.
xmiyux
11-11-09, 10:00 AM
I felt the same way about Killing Castro I was almost half thru and I put it down and have not returned.....it might of been a case of burn out since at that time I went on a binge and read 10 in a row.
So far Honey in His Mouth has been similar enough to Killing Castro (in theme) and really interesting. I would recommend picking it up.
Geofferson
11-19-09, 01:40 PM
Well, a couple of you already have the jump on this, but it's appearing now in bookstores. Check it out!
http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books/bk59/cover_big.jpg
For those that enjoyed Losers Live Longer, you should check out Atwood's first novel (he only has 2) called 'East of A', which also features PI Payton Sherwood.
The Losers Live Longer cover mentions it, but figured his earlier novel is worth the extra attention since Losers Live Longer received great reviews and I assume readers may be interested in checking out the earlier story. :)
Buy: