Saturday, February 03, 2007

Hard Case Crime Update

Three pieces of exciting news for fans of Hard Case Crime: 1) Later this year we're going to be publishing the last crime novel the great Mickey Spillane ever wrote. It's called DEAD STREET, and it's about an ex-cop who discovers that his girlfriend's death 20 years earlier in a botched abduction may not have gone down quite the way he thought -- and that she might not be dead after all. Mickey was working on several books at the time of his death, including a couple of Mike Hammer detective novels and a sort of men's adventure novel, but DEAD STREET is the last pure crime novel he put his hand to, and we think Spillane's millions of readers will find it a special treat. If you go to our Web site -- www.hardcasecrime.com -- you'll see we've posted the cover art, a sample chapter, and some information about the book. Just a little taste to whet your appetite...

2) Those of you who read the New York Post may have seen a story in "Page Six" last week about Lawrence Block's new Hard Case Crime novel, LUCKY AT CARDS; those of you who watch Craig Ferguson's "Late, Late Show" this coming week will get to see Larry talk about it on television. It's a great story -- how Larry wrote this terrific crime novel back in 1964, how it was originally published under a fake name and a different title, and how the book hasn't seen the light of day in any form for four decades. Well, after months of anticipation, our new edition of LUCKY AT CARDS is finally out -- you can find it at your favorite local bookseller. I know you won't want to miss this one.

3) At the end of this month, Max Phillips -- the man who co-founded Hard Case Crime with me and won the Shamus Award for Best Paperback Novel for FADE TO BLONDE -- will be publishing a new novel called EYE OF THE ARCHANGEL, under his sometime pseudonym "Forrest DeVoe Jr." It's a spy novel set in the 1960s, and it tells the story of operatives Jack Mallory (the laconic Texan with a talent for gunplay) and Laura Morse (the beautiful and deadly martial arts expert) teaming up to save the world from an international arms dealer who has gotten his hands on some technology developed by a German scientist at the end of World War II. You'll visit Monte Carlo and the Swiss Alps, race in the Grand Prix, witness a fight to the death atop a swaying cable car, and meet a cast of colorful, sexy, and dangerous characters. If you enjoyed the recent Bond film "Casino Royale," you'll love EYE OF THE ARCHANGEL. We're not publishing this book -- it's coming from HarperCollins -- but I can't recommend it more strongly. Not because Max is a friend and I like to see his books do well (though that's true, of course) -- simply because the book's so damn good. If you like our books, you'll like this one. We'll be back with more news in a few weeks, including our first free book drawing of the new year. In the meantime, do pick up a copy of LUCKY AT CARDS -- you won't regret it...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two comments. 1) the Late Late Show is slated for Tuesday evening according to Block's website. 2) I liked Fade to Blonde. I reserved that fade and several other Hard Case novels at work (the library). I could say I lucked out on getting Fade, but all Hard Case books I have read have been consistently good.

Unknown said...

That was one of my favorite Hard Case books. But, as you say, they've all been good.