The Hard Case strikes back

Hard Case Crime are back and so I hand you over to 

headman 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. 

  
Best,
Charles