Hard Case Crime
11-09-06, 09:23 AM
#76
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I didn't care for SAY IT WITH BULLETS -- maybe it was the slow opening that bishop mentions that put me off. I quit it after 50 pages or so. Seemed too generic to me.
I finished the new (old) Larry Block book last night: LUCKY AT CARDS. Anyone who liked GRIFTER'S GAME or THE GIRL WITH THE LONG GREEN HEART will enjoy this one, too. Classic early-period Block. Good stuff. (It's even more remarkable when you consider the Larry probably wrote it in 2 weeks.)
I finished the new (old) Larry Block book last night: LUCKY AT CARDS. Anyone who liked GRIFTER'S GAME or THE GIRL WITH THE LONG GREEN HEART will enjoy this one, too. Classic early-period Block. Good stuff. (It's even more remarkable when you consider the Larry probably wrote it in 2 weeks.)
11-16-06, 01:45 PM
#78
Moderator
August 2007 title recently announced:
http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?entry=bk34
http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?entry=bk34
FRIGHT
Cornell Woolrich
August 2007
ISBN: 0-8439-5774-3
Cover art by Arthur Suydam
A man. A woman. A kiss in the dark. That is how it begins. But before his nightmare ends, Prescott Marshall will learn that kisses and darkness can both hide evil intent—and that the worst darkness of all may be lurking inside him.
Lost for more than half a century and never before published under Cornell Woolrich’s real name, FRIGHT is a breathtaking noir crime novel worthy of the writer who has been called "one of the giants of mystery fiction" and “the Hitchcock of the written word.”
* A lost novel by one the greatest crime writers—first publication in more than 50 years!
* Woolrich is the legendary pulp master who wrote Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, I Married a Dead Man, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, and other noir classics
Acclaim for Cornell Woolrich...
"The supreme master of suspense."
— The New York Times
"You can palpably feel the agony in Woolrich and his work."
— James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential
"One of the great masters."
— Ellery Queen
"It is high time Woolrich was rediscovered."
— Los Angeles Times
Cornell Woolrich
August 2007
ISBN: 0-8439-5774-3
Cover art by Arthur Suydam
A man. A woman. A kiss in the dark. That is how it begins. But before his nightmare ends, Prescott Marshall will learn that kisses and darkness can both hide evil intent—and that the worst darkness of all may be lurking inside him.
Lost for more than half a century and never before published under Cornell Woolrich’s real name, FRIGHT is a breathtaking noir crime novel worthy of the writer who has been called "one of the giants of mystery fiction" and “the Hitchcock of the written word.”
* A lost novel by one the greatest crime writers—first publication in more than 50 years!
* Woolrich is the legendary pulp master who wrote Rear Window, The Bride Wore Black, I Married a Dead Man, The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, and other noir classics
Acclaim for Cornell Woolrich...
"The supreme master of suspense."
— The New York Times
"You can palpably feel the agony in Woolrich and his work."
— James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential
"One of the great masters."
— Ellery Queen
"It is high time Woolrich was rediscovered."
— Los Angeles Times
11-16-06, 01:47 PM
#79
Moderator
Originally Posted by bishop2knight
I woke up this morning and read Grave Descend in its entirety. I thought was a great little book. Lots of action. Lots of mystery. Lots of dames.
11-17-06, 07:23 PM
#81
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Just finished my fourth HCC book in about a month, 361 by Westlake. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. It was another great read, but something was missing. It was less fun, I guess. And I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. This one was darker; more real somehow. And more gritty than the others I've read. Which is fine, usually, but after reading some more "exciting" and "fun" reads, this one didn't quite keep pace.
I will say, however, that the line on the cover is the best yet. "He lost everything-except his eye for vengeance."
That's classic. And if you've read it, you understand why.
So, to keep track for myself more than anything, here's how I'd rank 'em so far if I were into such things:
1) Grifter's Game
2) Grave Descend
3) Say it with Bullets
4) 361
Of course, that's terribly unfair to rank these since I really enjoyed each one.
I will say, however, that the line on the cover is the best yet. "He lost everything-except his eye for vengeance."
That's classic. And if you've read it, you understand why.So, to keep track for myself more than anything, here's how I'd rank 'em so far if I were into such things:
1) Grifter's Game
2) Grave Descend
3) Say it with Bullets
4) 361
Of course, that's terribly unfair to rank these since I really enjoyed each one.
Last edited by bishop2knight; 11-17-06 at 07:28 PM.
11-18-06, 03:56 PM
#82
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Richard Stark (aka Donald Westlake in disguise) has a new Parker book out from Mysterious Press. I just finished it yesterday and it's another winner. Man's been writing the series for over 40 years (with a long break in the middle) and it's still fresh. That's one helluva accomplishment.
11-20-06, 08:02 PM
#83
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Just finished reading Home is the Sailor by Day Keene. Bloody fantastic. Drunk sailors, dames, and murder, what could be better? Swede was probably my favorite lead character from the HCC line, just for all of his faults. And the storyline was great, too. 
I don't know if this one can knock off Grifter's Game from the top spot for me, but it's a very close second.
I don't know if this one can knock off Grifter's Game from the top spot for me, but it's a very close second.
11-27-06, 07:17 PM
#84
DVD Talk Reviewer Emeritus
Thread Starter
A new title was recently announced, for September 2007: Kill Now, Pay Later by Robert Terrall...another name I'm not familiar with. Here's the cover:
Last edited by Jason Bovberg; 11-27-06 at 07:21 PM.
01-10-07, 08:30 AM
#88
Moderator
Some news from the folks at HCC:
Happy new year, everybody.
If you visit our Web site, www.hardcasecrime.com, you'll see we've put up our first new title of the year. It's SLIDE, the sequel to our much-loved 2006 novel BUST, by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr. The cover's another swell piece of work by R. B. Farrell, showing lovely Angela Petrakos and an unfortunate soul chained to a chair. You can read the first chapter of the book on our site (just click on the title "SLIDE" in our list of books and then on "Read a Sample Chapter"); the book itself will be out in October. (We'll be holding a drawing to give out some free advance copies soon than that -- but they haven't been printed yet...)
Meanwhile, in just 2-3 weeks you'll be able to get your hands on Lawrence Block's LUCKY AT CARDS, a classic story of a card cheat who falls for the wrong woman. The book was written back in 1964, but it's never been published under Block's real name, or under this title -- or in any form at all for four decades. That means that even if you're as passionate a Block fan as I am (and I know some of you are), the odds are you've never read this book. If you liked GRIFTER'S GAME, if you liked THE GIRL WITH THE LONG GREEN HEART, you simply have to read LUCKY AT CARDS. And if you've never read Block, well, this is a great place to start. It's a really fantastic book, and we're proud to give people their first look at it in ages. Ask your local bookseller to order it!
Some news about future books:
* At the end of this year we'll be bringing you DEADLY BELOVED by Max Allan Collins, the first-ever novel about his comic book detective "Ms. Tree" (featuring a cover painted by "Ms. Tree" co-creator Terry Beatty). "Ms. Tree" is the longest-running crime comic in the history of comics, and it's a treat to bring her to a new medium.
* People loved John Lange's GRAVE DESCEND so much in 2006 that we've decided (together with Mr. Lange) to bring back another of his long-lost thrillers. The next one will be ZERO COOL, the story of an American radiologist who goes to Spain for a relaxing vacation and finds himself caught up in a deadly struggle among some extremely colorful (and homicidal) criminal factions. It's a pulse-pounding adventure in the best John Lange mode, and I think you'll get a real kick out of it.
* Finally, I'm very excited to announce that we'll be adding a book by Robert Bloch to our list -- and not just any book, a very special book. Bloch became famous, of course, as the author of PSYCHO, the novel that introduced Norman Bates to the world and made a generation afraid to take a shower. But back in the 1950s, when he was starting out, Bloch also wrote a number of crime novels, mostly for the "ACE Doubles" line of books. These were volumes that bound two books together, back to back: You'd read one book first, right-side-up, and then you'd flip the book upside down and have a whole other story to read. Double the fun! Well, two of Bloch's best crime novels -- SHOOTING STAR and SPIDERWEB -- have been out of print since their first appearance, as halves of two different ACE Doubles, back in the '50s. And we're going to be bringing them back...as halves of the first-ever Hard Case Crime Double. That's right -- two painted covers, two complete novels, bound back to back in one volume, all for the low, low price of...well, the same price we always charge, $6.99. Can't wait to typeset that sucker (I love proofreading upside down).
We'll have more news soon -- including an exciting announcement about a book we aren't publishing but that every Hard Case Crime fan will want to read: a new novel by Max Phillips, co-founder of Hard Case Crime and author of our Shamus Award-winning FADE TO BLONDE. In their advance review of this new book (which will be out from HarperCollins in March), Kirkus wrote, "CASINO ROYALE? Why bother with recycled 007 when [Phillips] serves up the '60s sexy super-spy stuff with even more nifty retro brio? [It's] pure pop art."
The title of this brilliant, brilliant book? EYE OF THE ARCHANGEL, by "Forrest DeVoe Jr." You'll be hearing a lot about this one -- and not only from us...
As ever,
Charles
------------
Charles Ardai
Editor, Hard Case Crime
If you visit our Web site, www.hardcasecrime.com, you'll see we've put up our first new title of the year. It's SLIDE, the sequel to our much-loved 2006 novel BUST, by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr. The cover's another swell piece of work by R. B. Farrell, showing lovely Angela Petrakos and an unfortunate soul chained to a chair. You can read the first chapter of the book on our site (just click on the title "SLIDE" in our list of books and then on "Read a Sample Chapter"); the book itself will be out in October. (We'll be holding a drawing to give out some free advance copies soon than that -- but they haven't been printed yet...)
Meanwhile, in just 2-3 weeks you'll be able to get your hands on Lawrence Block's LUCKY AT CARDS, a classic story of a card cheat who falls for the wrong woman. The book was written back in 1964, but it's never been published under Block's real name, or under this title -- or in any form at all for four decades. That means that even if you're as passionate a Block fan as I am (and I know some of you are), the odds are you've never read this book. If you liked GRIFTER'S GAME, if you liked THE GIRL WITH THE LONG GREEN HEART, you simply have to read LUCKY AT CARDS. And if you've never read Block, well, this is a great place to start. It's a really fantastic book, and we're proud to give people their first look at it in ages. Ask your local bookseller to order it!
Some news about future books:
* At the end of this year we'll be bringing you DEADLY BELOVED by Max Allan Collins, the first-ever novel about his comic book detective "Ms. Tree" (featuring a cover painted by "Ms. Tree" co-creator Terry Beatty). "Ms. Tree" is the longest-running crime comic in the history of comics, and it's a treat to bring her to a new medium.
* People loved John Lange's GRAVE DESCEND so much in 2006 that we've decided (together with Mr. Lange) to bring back another of his long-lost thrillers. The next one will be ZERO COOL, the story of an American radiologist who goes to Spain for a relaxing vacation and finds himself caught up in a deadly struggle among some extremely colorful (and homicidal) criminal factions. It's a pulse-pounding adventure in the best John Lange mode, and I think you'll get a real kick out of it.
* Finally, I'm very excited to announce that we'll be adding a book by Robert Bloch to our list -- and not just any book, a very special book. Bloch became famous, of course, as the author of PSYCHO, the novel that introduced Norman Bates to the world and made a generation afraid to take a shower. But back in the 1950s, when he was starting out, Bloch also wrote a number of crime novels, mostly for the "ACE Doubles" line of books. These were volumes that bound two books together, back to back: You'd read one book first, right-side-up, and then you'd flip the book upside down and have a whole other story to read. Double the fun! Well, two of Bloch's best crime novels -- SHOOTING STAR and SPIDERWEB -- have been out of print since their first appearance, as halves of two different ACE Doubles, back in the '50s. And we're going to be bringing them back...as halves of the first-ever Hard Case Crime Double. That's right -- two painted covers, two complete novels, bound back to back in one volume, all for the low, low price of...well, the same price we always charge, $6.99. Can't wait to typeset that sucker (I love proofreading upside down).
We'll have more news soon -- including an exciting announcement about a book we aren't publishing but that every Hard Case Crime fan will want to read: a new novel by Max Phillips, co-founder of Hard Case Crime and author of our Shamus Award-winning FADE TO BLONDE. In their advance review of this new book (which will be out from HarperCollins in March), Kirkus wrote, "CASINO ROYALE? Why bother with recycled 007 when [Phillips] serves up the '60s sexy super-spy stuff with even more nifty retro brio? [It's] pure pop art."
The title of this brilliant, brilliant book? EYE OF THE ARCHANGEL, by "Forrest DeVoe Jr." You'll be hearing a lot about this one -- and not only from us...
As ever,
Charles
------------
Charles Ardai
Editor, Hard Case Crime
01-10-07, 11:39 AM
#90
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It's about time this thread was resurrected. And with such great news, too. I'm not as knowledgable about the authors as most of you are, but I'm excited about the new Block, and that Bloch book has me more than interested.
01-10-07, 01:58 PM
#91
I completely missed the boat on this series (too little time and my head's been buried in Stephen Hunter novels of late) but it sounds right up my alley.
Sorry for all the questions but:
Are these available at the local Barnes & Noble? Are they numbered? Is the book club that was mentioned earlier in the thread the best way to go? It looks like $5.99 per book w/ shipping? Any recommendations on finding the earlier books? Looks like I've got some catching up to do.
Sorry for all the questions but:
Are these available at the local Barnes & Noble? Are they numbered? Is the book club that was mentioned earlier in the thread the best way to go? It looks like $5.99 per book w/ shipping? Any recommendations on finding the earlier books? Looks like I've got some catching up to do.
01-10-07, 02:47 PM
#92
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Yes, they are numbered. Many of them would be available in your local bookstore, but by no means all. I believe they're all still in print, though, so you might check Amazon.
01-11-07, 08:24 AM
#93
DVD Talk Reviewer Emeritus
Thread Starter
Originally Posted by ytrez
Are these available at the local Barnes & Noble? Are they numbered? Is the book club that was mentioned earlier in the thread the best way to go? It looks like $5.99 per book w/ shipping? Any recommendations on finding the earlier books? Looks like I've got some catching up to do.
If you have trouble finding the early ones, you can go the Amazon route--which I recommend--and if all else fails, try eBay for "lots" of several older titles, usually in new condition. I believe bishop2knight found a few elusive titles that way. Although, I'll reiterate that the best way to buy is new, so that Hard Case gets all the profit they can off these babies.
01-11-07, 09:10 AM
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Originally Posted by FunkDaddy J
As David said, yes, these books are available every month at the local B&N. In my experience, they typically come out on the first Tuesday of every month. At my two local B&N stores, I always see a smattering (maybe 8-10) of older titles.
If you have trouble finding the early ones, you can go the Amazon route--which I recommend--and if all else fails, try eBay for "lots" of several older titles, usually in new condition. I believe bishop2knight found a few elusive titles that way. Although, I'll reiterate that the best way to buy is new, so that Hard Case gets all the profit they can off these babies.
If you have trouble finding the early ones, you can go the Amazon route--which I recommend--and if all else fails, try eBay for "lots" of several older titles, usually in new condition. I believe bishop2knight found a few elusive titles that way. Although, I'll reiterate that the best way to buy is new, so that Hard Case gets all the profit they can off these babies.
Actually, I just started LEMONS NEVER LIE. I was just looking at the cover and the next thing I know I'm 100 pages into it.
Last edited by bishop2knight; 01-11-07 at 09:12 AM.
01-12-07, 08:13 AM
#97
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Finished Lemons Never Lie last night. Another fantastic read. I loved how Stark managed to make his story a nice mixture between intense and humorous. Sure, it's not funny, but there's something about the style of writing and the storytelling...I guess what you'd call it is fun. Not as dark as some of the others, but probably one of the more entertaining.
1) Grifter's Game
2) Grave Descend
3) Lemons Never Lie
4) Say it with Bullets
5) Home is the Sailor
6) 361
1) Grifter's Game
2) Grave Descend
3) Lemons Never Lie
4) Say it with Bullets
5) Home is the Sailor
6) 361
Last edited by bishop2knight; 01-13-07 at 10:20 AM.