What do you think?
Rate this book
Hard Luck Hank #0.1
Early Years
Collection of short stories featuring Hard Luck Hank and his early days on Belvaille.
Includes:
-Why Hank came to Belvaille
-Hank's first job
-Where Hank got his plasma pistol
-Hank's first murder
-Introduction of glocken
-Where the Gentleman's Club and Athletic Club came from
-Hank's first love
-How and why Belvaille changed and became what it is today
NOTE: while the stories are stand-alone, it contains many references to characters and events in Hard Luck Hank novels.
Includes:
-Why Hank came to Belvaille
-Hank's first job
-Where Hank got his plasma pistol
-Hank's first murder
-Introduction of glocken
-Where the Gentleman's Club and Athletic Club came from
-Hank's first love
-How and why Belvaille changed and became what it is today
NOTE: while the stories are stand-alone, it contains many references to characters and events in Hard Luck Hank novels.
- GenresScience Fiction
63 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 8, 2014
14 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 8, 2014
Really amusing set of short stories with a main character I enjoy. What's not to love?
October 11, 2019
Pants
July 18, 2023
3.5/5⭐: An easy and enjoyable read. As long as the author keeps this format I think this series has great potential.
April 17, 2015
Hard Luck Hank: The Early Years, Steven Campbell
5 stars. One for each of the short stories in this collection about Hank's early years on Belvaille.
I selected 5 stars because Hard Luck Hank simply makes reading fun. I've mentioned before about a Hank book... that they aren't Literary Pulitzer Prize winning books, but then I could never stomach reading John Updike, despite his 30+ literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. Don't misunderstand, I do like good writing. It is a rare jewel to get great writing, adorable characters, and Hank who's a blend of Bruce Banner, The Hulk, and a thug-like version of Forrest Gump. Yeah, I know! How could that character NOT be fun. And Mr. Campbell's writing gives Hank a remarkable “voice” that Mr. Owen nails in the audio he does of Hank.. Oh... but no whispersync on this one. More on that later.
I liked each of the stories as they are tiny sparks in the rich back-story of Hard Luck Hank. You'll find a story about Hank's first job on Belvaille, how he became a thug, how he managed to escape being in a gangster gang, and more. Like in Screw the Galaxy, the novel, Hank blunders his way into becoming the unlikely hero of the day in this collection as well.
This book is not for the science fiction reader who wants the writer to scientifically explain how he knows both the position and velocity of a Higgs boson so that an invention of a Heisenberg compensater wouldn't be needed in a transporter of human beings. But if the reader can laugh to tears over such things as a character saying, “Ow, that hurts!” after being shot in the face... they have the right book in their hands.
Now a recommendation or two, maybe a little rant. First, read “Screw the Galaxy” first. It is the first book. While this “Early Years” is stuff about Hank's early years I think you will enjoy it better after reading the first full novel and getting to know him. Hopefully, with whispersync audio as Liam Owen does the voice of Hank perfectly. He is Hank's voice. Now the ranting begins...
I do believe there should be whispersync audio for everything written by Mr. Campbell about Hank and it should be read by Liam Owen. I've nagged Mr. Campbell and Amazon about it. Mr. Campbell claims it is entirely up to Amazon, who owns Audible, where the audio book is sold. I wanted to purchase the whispersync audio of all the Hank books, but only the first one has it available. I don't want to spend a weeks worth of meals of my meager income on an audio book that doesn't even sync with the Kindle book, verses a usually reasonable costing whispersync audio. So I wanted to know... why no whispersync?
Amazon tried form letters for idiots to put me off when I was trying to understand why there was no whispersync on the second and third books. When that didn't work they tried handing me over Audible, the left hand that doesn't know what the right hand is doing, of the Amazon conglomeration, where they were talking gibberish with one small truth included... that if you read between the lines, which is the only place you will find anything that makes sense, is that a decision is made... magically, mysteriously, but from my research, rarely in a fashion that makes sense to readers or authors. I'm going to take a leap here and assume money is largely involved. But... whispersync wasn't available for this short collection of stories. I missed you Liam.
5 stars. One for each of the short stories in this collection about Hank's early years on Belvaille.
I selected 5 stars because Hard Luck Hank simply makes reading fun. I've mentioned before about a Hank book... that they aren't Literary Pulitzer Prize winning books, but then I could never stomach reading John Updike, despite his 30+ literary awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. Don't misunderstand, I do like good writing. It is a rare jewel to get great writing, adorable characters, and Hank who's a blend of Bruce Banner, The Hulk, and a thug-like version of Forrest Gump. Yeah, I know! How could that character NOT be fun. And Mr. Campbell's writing gives Hank a remarkable “voice” that Mr. Owen nails in the audio he does of Hank.. Oh... but no whispersync on this one. More on that later.
I liked each of the stories as they are tiny sparks in the rich back-story of Hard Luck Hank. You'll find a story about Hank's first job on Belvaille, how he became a thug, how he managed to escape being in a gangster gang, and more. Like in Screw the Galaxy, the novel, Hank blunders his way into becoming the unlikely hero of the day in this collection as well.
This book is not for the science fiction reader who wants the writer to scientifically explain how he knows both the position and velocity of a Higgs boson so that an invention of a Heisenberg compensater wouldn't be needed in a transporter of human beings. But if the reader can laugh to tears over such things as a character saying, “Ow, that hurts!” after being shot in the face... they have the right book in their hands.
Now a recommendation or two, maybe a little rant. First, read “Screw the Galaxy” first. It is the first book. While this “Early Years” is stuff about Hank's early years I think you will enjoy it better after reading the first full novel and getting to know him. Hopefully, with whispersync audio as Liam Owen does the voice of Hank perfectly. He is Hank's voice. Now the ranting begins...
I do believe there should be whispersync audio for everything written by Mr. Campbell about Hank and it should be read by Liam Owen. I've nagged Mr. Campbell and Amazon about it. Mr. Campbell claims it is entirely up to Amazon, who owns Audible, where the audio book is sold. I wanted to purchase the whispersync audio of all the Hank books, but only the first one has it available. I don't want to spend a weeks worth of meals of my meager income on an audio book that doesn't even sync with the Kindle book, verses a usually reasonable costing whispersync audio. So I wanted to know... why no whispersync?
Amazon tried form letters for idiots to put me off when I was trying to understand why there was no whispersync on the second and third books. When that didn't work they tried handing me over Audible, the left hand that doesn't know what the right hand is doing, of the Amazon conglomeration, where they were talking gibberish with one small truth included... that if you read between the lines, which is the only place you will find anything that makes sense, is that a decision is made... magically, mysteriously, but from my research, rarely in a fashion that makes sense to readers or authors. I'm going to take a leap here and assume money is largely involved. But... whispersync wasn't available for this short collection of stories. I missed you Liam.
June 21, 2015
Just a nice book providing the exposition for the longer Hard Luck Hank books. Entertaining and a very quick read. I didn't feel I was missing this information after reading a full-length HLH book, but it's nice to have it stored in my little pea brain!
August 19, 2014
Some short stories of Hard Luck Hank.
Hank is awesome; a punching bag who can choose to be what he wants to be in a criminal world.
Hank is awesome; a punching bag who can choose to be what he wants to be in a criminal world.
September 30, 2014
I swear this was all in either book 1 or 2... I can't remember which, but I definitely remember reading it. Not bad, but not great... Not worth the $2.99 I paid for it, and I love Hank.
January 22, 2017
Ironically I probably would have liked more over the top stuff in Hank's backstory and less in Deleova's
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews