Jason Bovberg

Here's a unique little sneak peek at a forthcoming title. Over at the NSFW Outdoor Co-Ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society, one of the members was captured reading a 2021 release called FIVE DECEMBERS, by James Kestrel. Only info I could find so far: It's a "a major new novel set in the shadows stretching from Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, penned by an author writing under the name James Kestrel, whose previous books have earned raves from Lee Child, Meg Gardiner, James Patterson and Stephen King."

Wezzo

I discovered the HCC books properly last year. I'd read Joyland on Kindle back around 2015, but hadn't really paid much attention to the branding. Last summer I was feeling a little brow-beaten by the pandemic and wanted to re-engage with some fiction - I'd been on a pretty staunch non-fiction reading material diet for several years - and while browsing Stephen King I stumbled across the Hard Case Crime range and the titles and artworks grabbed me. I've got through about twenty of the titles in the range since then - favourites so far are the two John Blake titles by Richard Aleas/Charles Ardai, Grifter's Game by Lawrence Block, The Corpse Wore Pasties by Jonny Porkpie, and Money Shot by Christa Faust - and I've also branched off into some other non-HCC Block too (Bernie Rhodenbarr). I've got another ten HCC titles on my shelf ready to work through, too. It's been really nice to envelop myself in these pulp-y, noir-y worlds.

Jason Bovberg

This is on shelves today! Go get it!

Jason Bovberg

Hey Wezzo, nice to see another person here! I thought the thread was dead. You've listed some of my own favorites. I'd add HOME IS THE SAILOR by Day Keene, TOUCH OF DEATH by Charles Williams, VENGEFUL VIRGIN by Gil Brewer, STOP THIS MAN by Peter Rabe, MEMORY by Donald Westlake, THE TWENTY-YEAR DEATH by Ariel S. Winter, all the Michael Crichtons--some faves just off the top of my head. Yeah, these books are fantastic for this weird time in our lives.

Wezzo

It's funny, I was searching around the Internet for places to discuss the Hard Case Crime output, being a relatively recent convert, but so many blogs and groups have been inactive for years; then I stumbled upon this up-to-date thread here on DVDTalk, of all places. I appreciate the effort you've been putting in here!

Thank you so much for the recommendations. I haven't read any of those yet, but I'll be sure to bump them up the priority list. Several are hard to come by, presumably sold out in the old MMPB format and not reissued since they moved to the new publishers, but I always keep an eye out on Amazon marketplace and eBay. (Sadly, there aren't usually a huge number of UK sellers for them second-hand, it's mostly US sellers, which can make postage to here in England prohibitive on single titles. But occasionally you get lucky!)

I've got Later by King arriving within the next couple of days, and I'll probably bump that to the top of the reading pile. I also have a couple of Quarrys I'm itching to get started on.

Jason Bovberg

Thanks man! Yeah, this used to be a bustling thread, and we even had drop-ins by Charles Ardai and Lawrence Block on these pages! Interest has slowed down, but for me at least, the line still goes strong.

The QUARRY novels are top-notch.

Geofferson

There was another board around that generated discussion but the name escapes me. It's been years and likely died off. Besides this thread, HCC on social media is also worth following.

As for recommended books, I'd also suggest Two for the Money by Max Allan Collins -- 2 of his Nolan books combined into 1 and I believe there is another one due on the horizon -- as well as Say It With Bullets by Richard Powell -- a gem of a classic pulp paperback with plenty of humor. Westlake's Memory was just a fantastic story -- and one that stuck with me for years after finishing it.

As it happens, I'm currently reading Pimp which is the latest in the Max Fisher series of collabs by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr. Also highly recommended.

Wezzo

Appreciate the recommendations! Looks like Two for the Money is getting reissued next month, so that'll be on my pick-up list for sure. Based on some of their recent tweets, sounds like there may be not just one but two or three more Collins two-fers coming this year, excitingly.

Jason Bovberg

This one has been recommended to me a few times. Time to dive in! Not sure why I've put it off for so long.

Jason Bovberg

This one hits shelves today. Go grab it!

Jason Bovberg

And here's some more information from Charles Ardai about FIVE DECEMBERS...He's asking readers to choose their favorite of these two covers.

Jason Bovberg

James Kestrel's FIVE DECEMBERS is now officially on the HCC site, due October 2021.



December 1941. America teeters on the brink of war, and in Honolulu, Hawaii, police detective Joe McGrady is assigned to investigate a homicide that will change his life forever. Because the trail of murder he uncovers will lead him across the Pacific, far from home and the woman he loves; and though the U.S. doesn’t know it yet, a Japanese fleet is already steaming toward Pearl Harbor.

This extraordinary novel is so much more than just a gripping crime story—it’s a story of survival against all odds, of love and loss and the human cost of war. Spanning the entirety of World War II, FIVE DECEMBERS is a beautiful, masterful, powerful novel that will live in your memory forever.

• First publication anywhere!
• Author has previously won praise from Stephen King, James Patterson, Lee Child, Meg Gardiner, Justin Cronin, and many more
• Author has been a finalist for the Edgar, Stoker, and Dashiell Hammett Awards

Jason Bovberg

And then a new Quarry book from Max Allan Collins, QUARRY'S BLOOD, in November 2021.



At the very end of his bloody, clandestine career, the professional hitman known as Quarry—star of the Cinemax TV miniseries of the same name—receives a visit from a beautiful young woman who seems to have uncovered all his carefully hidden secrets. But what does she want? To expose him? To blackmail him? To get him to come out of retirement to kill someone for her? This brand new installment in Hard Case Crime’s longest-running series—the final installment in the chronology, taking place even after THE LAST QUARRY—will give readers a thrilling look at the last act of Quarry’s professional life.

• First publication anywhere!
• The final book in the Quarry chronology, bringing the 45-year saga right up to the present day

Jason Bovberg

Bit of a surprise, Hard Case Crime has reissued its 5th title, TWO FOR THE MONEY by Max Allan Collins (the first two Nolan novels), in anticipation of the next two-in-one Collins volume in June, DOUBLE DOWN (see above). This new edition is in the trade paperback format, and it's got all-new cover art. Below you can see the original cover art versus the new.

It's on shelves today, so if you're a collector, go get it!

Jason Bovberg

And now DOUBLE DOWN is on shelves.

starfire123

It is a really good good book and It is really interesting.

Geofferson

Looks like another unpublished Westlake novel has been unearthed -- Call Me a Cab. I guess this an expansion of an old Redbook novella.




Apparently there is one more unpublished Westlake book that people are aware of called Ice - hopefully Ardai can eventually track this one down too.

Jason Bovberg

What a treat! Can't wait.

Jason Bovberg

At Waterstones UK, you can order a signed hardcover of FIVE DECEMBERS. Check it out here.

Photos courtesy of our own Wezzo, who managed to snag an early copy!

Wezzo

Got through this one in a single long weekend, and can't recommend it highly enough! A beautiful, breathtaking novel that goes deeper and broader than most HCC - there's crime, yes, but also war, romance, and a remarkable sense of place and time.

Jason Bovberg

The third Nolan volume has been added to the HCC site as a March 2022 release ...




SOMETIMES YOU BURY THE PAST.
SOMETIMES IT BURIES YOU.


Every professional thief knows you never return to the scene of a crime. But what if you’re forced to?

In this intense heist story—appearing in bookstores for the first time in three decades—MWA Grandmaster Max Allan Collins brings veteran thief Nolan and his young partner in crime Jon back to rob the same bank they targeted in their debut novel, TWO FOR THE MONEY, at the behest of an embezzling executive and a femme fatale with dollar signs where her soul should be. And those aren’t the only figures resurfacing from the past either—the ruthless Comfort clan is back to even old scores, and some members of the Outfit are packing bullets with Nolan’s name on them. With all these forces marshalled against him, can even the toughest professional hardcase come out on top?

• Two full-length novels in one volume!
• Sequel to Hard Case Crime’s prior Nolan volumes TWO FOR THE MONEY and DOUBLE DOWN
• Original cover painting by Mark Eastbrook

Jason Bovberg

FIVE DECEMBERS is on shelves today! I scored an early copy over the weekend, and it's excellent so far. Really a special one.

Scuttlebutt has it that "James Kestrel" is the pseudonym of novelist Jonathan Moore, who I've been reading for a while (since his THE POISON ARTIST). I've missed his most recent books, though, so now I'll be searching for those soon.

Geofferson

Thanks for the reminder and had no idea this was Jonathan Moore - I have only read Dark Room but really liked it.

I still need to pick up this latest HCC title.

Jason Bovberg

I'm embarrassed to ask this, because it's such a small thing, but--hey--I'm a collector. I've noticed something odd about the hardcover dust jacket of FIVE DECEMBERS. I checked two bookstores, and every copy seems to have the same flaw. See the pic. On the spine next to the title is an annoying black dot. I'm wondering if this is a flaw in the entire 1st edition printing, or if it might have affected only a portion of the dust jackets. Can anyone else chime in?

Jason Bovberg

So I found this same flaw in a bookstore a thousand miles away (while on vacation), But this store had ONE copy that was fine. That copy is now mine.

Very strange, but--again--minor.