Friday, September 23, 2011

Hard Case Crime Update from Charles Ardai

First of all: We're back!  After more than a year, Hard Case Crime has new books in stores.  GETTING OFF by Lawrence Block is the story of a beautiful young woman who sets out to murder every man she's ever slept with, while QUARRY'S EX by Max Allan Collins is the latest installment in his popular series about the hit man known as Quarry.  In two weeks, two more new titles will arrive in stores: THE CONSUMMATA, begun in the 1960s by the legendary Mickey Spillane and completed after his death (at Mickey's request) by Max Allan Collins, and CHOKE HOLD by Christa Faust, the second story about Angel Dare, who first appeared in the Edgar Award-nominated MONEY SHOT.
 You can find out more about each of these books on our Web site, www.HardCaseCrime.com.  While you're there, you can also get a taste of our first two 2012 titles: THE COMEDY IS FINISHED by Donald E. Westlake and BLOOD ON THE  MINK by Robert Silverberg.  (The Westlake has never been published before; the Silverberg hasn't been published in any form for 50 years!) You can order any of these books online or -- better yet -- by requesting them at your favorite local bookstore.  Whichever way you choose, we very much hope you will get yourself copies of these books. Heck, get extras for your friends -- they make great gifts for the crime fiction fans in your life.  
Later in 2012, we'll be bringing you Edgar Award finalist Joseph Koenig's first new book in 20 years, FALSE NEGATIVE, a tale of a true-crime writer investigating the death of beauty pageant contestants in 1950s Atlantic City; and a very unusual first novel called THE TWENTY-YEAR DEATH by Ariel S. Winter.  THE TWENTY-YEAR DEATH is three times the length of our usual books, and for an important reason: the story is told in the form of three separate pulp crime novels, each written in the style of a different famous mystery writer!  These two books aren't up on our Web site yet, but we'll be unveiling the cover of FALSE NEGATIVE (by the inimitable Glen Orbik) around October 7 -- so mark your calendar...  
And what's coming after those two?  We've got something very, very special to announce.  After hunting for more than 9 years, we have located and secured the rights to the final, never-before-published novel by noir master James M. Cain, author of MILDRED PIERCE, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, and THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE.  The new book is called THE COCKTAIL WAITRESS, and it may be the single most important discovery we've ever made.  It's the story of a beautiful young widow whose first husband died under suspicious circumstances and who finds herself pursued by two new men, each of whom has something she wants.  But she can't have both of them...or can she?  It's steamy, gritty, suspenseful, and altogther worthy of the legacy of this great writer. We can't wait to show it to you. 
Alas, we do have to wait for that one.  But happily you've got plenty of good books to read in the meantime.  This is a good time to be a Hard Case Crime fan, for the first time in quite a while, and I want to thank you sincerely for keeping the flame burning all these months while we were away.  If you get a chance, please tell a friend about our books.  If you read our new titles and like them, please post a review somewhere online to let people know.  The best thing you can do to ensure that Hard Case Crime books keep coming is not just to buy them yourself (though we're very grateful for your doing that) but to tell people about them and help us spread the word.  
Many thanks for that help, and for all your passion for what we do -- it's what keeps us doing it.  

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