Hardcase

Hard Case is dedicated to the legendary Richard Stark although it owes more to Philip Marlowe and The Continental Op than it does to the remorseless Parker. At first I thought this was a subtle parody of the form but that is because Simmons is such a fine writer. He has written novels in almost every genre. In this case he takes the themes of noir novels and works them into a story which is genuinely exciting, with a dry humor that makes the violence acceptable.

This is overall some of the best writing I've seen since McDonald's Travis Magee series. It is deceptively simple and direct but the main character is unforgettable. We also have some fully developed unique bad guys.

Okay so I am a fan of the Joe Kurtz books, I wish more than three where written. Solid writting, good depth of people that make this book so great.

Simmons can write...no matter the label you want to put on his fiction, it still proves to be as good as it gets.His debut in the "horror" genre won the Bram Stoker Award; his debut in the "fantasy" genre won the World Fantasy Award; his debut in "science fiction" won the Hugo Award, so should one be surprised if he wins the Edgar as well?HARDCASE is an excellent hard-boiled crime novel with a top caliber "hero" in the ultra-violent Joe Kurtz. Put in a situation where most would cower, Kurtz does what must be done in order to survive and conquer.Filled with great characters and as many twists as a pretzel, this is grim and gritty as it should be.

Dan Simmons was originally planning to publish HARDCASE under a pseudonym. Why? I'm not sure, other than the fact that he pays homage to the "Parker" novels, which were written by Richard Stark (a.k.a. Donald Westlake), at the beginning of his book and that maybe he wanted to, at first, emulate the path Westlake took as a writer. Whatever the reason, I'm extremely happy that Mr. Simmons decided to go ahead and have this exceptional entry into the "mystery" genre published under his own name. Otherwise, I probably would've missed it. HARDCASE is a story that deals with ex-P.I. Joe Kurtz, a man who's hard as nails and can kill when the need arises, yet still has his own code of honor. When Kurtz's female partner is raped and murdered by Sammy Levine and Eddie Falco, he quickly extracts revenge on the two men and spends eleven years in Attica for it. While in jail, Kurtz helps out and protects Steve Farino, the son of Buffalo, New York's mob boss, Don Byron Farino. This leads to a job with the Farino Family when Kurtz is finally paroled. Kurtz offers his help to the Don in finding out who's trying to secretly take over the Family business of drugs trafficking and truck hijackings. There are a number of people, however, who'd rather not have Kurtz sticking his nose in places it doesn't belong. Killers (Malcolm Kibunte and Cutter, DooRag and his posse of gangbangers, the Alabama Beagle Boys, and an assassin known only as the Dane) are hired to take out Kurtz before anything incriminating can be uncovered. If that wasn't enough, there's also Manny Levine (a dwarf who carries a .44 Magnum revolver and looks like a mean version of Danny DeVito), who's seeking revenge for the death of his brother, Sammy. Kurtz is going to find out that staying alive on the outside is a lot harder than when he was in jail. HARDCASE literally hooked me in the first six pages and kept me riveted to the couch, until the book was finally finished a few hours later. I knew I liked the character of Joe Kurtz the moment he threw Eddie Falco out of a six-story apartment window as police cars were pulling up to the curb down below, then turned around, opened the door to the apartment, and waited patiently on his knees with his fingers laced behind his head for the cops to come in. Few novels are able to grab a reader that fast and not let go! Kurtz proves to be not only smart and tough, but also loyal to the people close to him. There's his street-wise secretary, Arlene, and a homeless man named Pruno, who was once a college professor and speaks Latin, plus Doc, who's a night security guard in a vacant factory and has an arsenal of high-quality handguns for sell. Then, there's Rachel, the twelve-year-old daughter of his late partner, Samantha, and though it's never stated or actually implied, I think Joe is the young girl's actual father. Mr. Simmons (an author who has continuously proven his talent with such diverse novels as CARRION COMFORT, SUMMER OF NIGHT,