The Golden Girl and All

Hardman #3

by Ralph Dennis, Joe R. Lansdale (Introduction), Richard A. Moore (Introduction)

The third novel in Ralph Dennis' great, but hard-to-find 1970s detective series that's been sought-after for decades by readers of the very best in crime fiction. “Like Chandler and Hammett before him, Dennis was trying to do something different with what was thought of as throwaway literature.” Joe R. Lansdale, from his introduction Jim Hardman was a mediocre Atlanta cop until he was wrongly accused of corruption and thrown off the force. Now he works as an unlicensed PI, trouble-shooter and bodyguard…often partnered with his drinking buddy Hump Evans, a black, ex-NFL player who supports his playboy lifestyle by working as hired muscle. In THE GOLDEN GIRL AND ALL, Hardman is hired to find Peggy Holt, a drug dealer, stripper, and serial seductress who has kidnapped her six-year-old daughter from her ex-husband. Peggy has disappeared into an Atlanta underworld populated by the dirty cops, crooked lawyers and violent mobsters that she's bedded and betrayed...and who keep coming back for more. The only way Hardman can find her is to follow the trail of corpses that she's left in her wake... without becoming one himself. “Ralph Dennis has mastered the genre and supplied top entertainment.” The New York Times “The Hardman books are by far the best of the men’s action-adventure series.” Mother Jones Magazine “Among the best series books around. The dialogue is marvelously realistic.” Philadelphia Daily News This edition includes an introduction by New York Times bestselling author Joe R. Lansdale and an afterword by Richard A. Moore.

Genres: Crime, Hard Boiled, Mystery

188 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Ralph Dennis was born in South Carolina and had a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina, where he also taught. For mystery fans, Dennis will always be associated with the City of Atlanta, the locale for the twelve novel series about Jim Hardman, former cop and unofficial private eye, all published by Popular Library between 1974 and 1977.

At the time of his death in 1988, he was working at a bookstore in Atlanta and had a file cabinet full of unpublished novels.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded down to 4 stars

This is book 3 in the Hardman series. Jim Hardman, ex Atlanta cop and Hump Evans, ex NFL football player, are hired by a lawyer, Jack Smathers, to find a 6 year old girl kidnapped by her mother. The father, Edward Simpson, hired the lawyer when he divorced the mother. Unfortunately, he never filed the proper paperwork for full custody. The father lives in Chapel Hill, N. Carolina and the mother lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Hardman does find her, but there are some serious drugs involved and people attack him, beating him severely. How Hardman and Hump untangle all of the twists and turns to recover the little girl makes for an exciting mystery thriller. I read this book in 1 day.
There is a disclaimer at the beginning of the book, stating that the book was written in 1974, and reflects cultural and sexual attitudes of the time. It's worth noting that Hump, a black man, is an equal partner to Hardman, a rather forward move by the author in 1974 Atlanta.
Thanks to Brash Books for sending me this eBook.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard-Edged Crime Fiction

Peggy Holt. She's a modern-day Helen of Troy, the Golden Girl, the femme fatale who melts men's brains and gets them to do her bidding. And she's absconded with the kid her ex-husband thought he sort of had custody of, six year old MaryAnn somewhere in the bleaker parts of Atlanta. It's up to Jim Hardman, a pudgy forty year old ex cop, and his buddy, ex football star Hump Evans, to find her before half the Atlanta underworld does. If you are into hard-edged action-packed crime fiction, the Golden Girl is your golden ticket. Smoothly written, well plotted, and fast-paced. This series is terrific.

[Piker7977 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just a rough and tough, gritty, ass-kicker of a book. I'm loving this series.

[Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice series from the 70s

This is the third in the series. I expect to read them all. Don't expect them to be politically correct for the 21st century.

[Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hardman and Hump are hired to do an easy quick job in finding out if a six-year-old kid was kidnapped and by who. Of course, things spiral out of hand. Even on a quickie like this, murder and drugs spring up.

Only read the first three of this series, but I have to say, this sits up there with Marc (Narc) Olden for best 70s retro reads. A really good time. Just sad to see in the ebook that the publisher had to note that this was from 1974 and reflects the sexual, cultural, politics and language of the day.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this from AudioBookBoom and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This was about a 3-star read until the last quarter of the book, when the tension and excitement ramped up significantly. Both Hardman and Hump are under the gun, dirty cops are running rampant, and a little girl's life is at risk.

We learned a lot about Jim Hardman's morals in the one, too: he isn't always picking up "work" for money, and he appears to have a soft heart when it comes to innocent children in the dark and dreary world of Underground Atlanta.

More Hardman, please!

[Ross Cumming · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third novel in the republished series of Hardman novels, which were originally released in the mid 70’s and which have subsequently attained a bit of a cult status.
In this instalment ex Atlanta cop, Jim Hardman, ably assisted by his partner, ex-pro footballer Hump are hired to track down Peggy Holt, who has kidnapped her 6 year old daughter from her estranged husband. But things aren’t as straightforward as they seem and Hardman and Hump are drawn into a complicated plot involving crooked cops and drug dealers.
Another cracking story in the series for what is becoming on of my favourite ‘double acts’, Hardman & Hump. They are also assisted by Art, Hardman’s ex-partner from his Atlanta P.D. days, who manages to keep him on the right side of the law, just and also Hardman’s girlfriend Marcy, who provides the ‘love’ interest but also gets herself unwittingly involved in the action.
Slowly working my way through the series and I hope it maintains the high standard set in theses initial publications.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific series, and I liked this one at least as much as I liked the first two Jim Hardman episodes. It moves along pretty well, and the plot is not only effective, but holds up well after all these years.

What keeps me from five stars is some flat characterization and a bit of confusion about what is happening until it is sorted out in the end. The book is also a trifle generic, but it's an excellent read nevertheless.

For some reason, Hardman reminds me of prolific Australian PI writer Peter Corris' character, Cliff Hardy (even though Hardy is in a lot better shape). However, the Hardy series starts in 1980 so it clearly did not influence Dennis. If you like the Dennis series, though, give Corris a try if you have not yet done so.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows hot on the heels of the last, which is not surprising because Ralph Dennis wrote the first seven books in one year, then stayed away for a couple years before blowing through the last five in the series in 1976 and 1977. I haven't found out why there was a gap, and there was a different artist for the final covers as well.

Hardman and Hump start out taking what looks like a lame, easy case because they're bored, but it gets twisty and shot through with betrayal and risk before its over, because nothing in their world is ever safe or easy.

Ralph Dennis, the author, stretched a little in this book and had some things to say about the family unit, relationships, getting by in the real world with a straight job as opposed to what we now view as "gig economy." His views are still anchored in the 1970s, but it's surprising how some of the old problems are new again. Or are now with us and, if not better understood, are at least more recognizeable.

Even though I'd read the book years ago, I'd forgotten much of the plot and it still surprised me with the twists and turns. I was also surprised by how much it resonated with Robert B. Parker's GOD SAVE THE CHILD in the plot. Spenser, of course, is a much different private eye than Hardman is, although Hump and Hawk are cut from some of the same cloth. Although, all things considered, I'd say Hardman is more jaded than Spenser, and Hawk is more cold than Hump ever thought about being.


I had a great time with this one and the pages turned really quickly as I tried to figure out what was going to happen next.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third installment of Ralph Dennis' classic Hardman novels is just as good as the previous titles. Hardman continues crashing through the underworld of 1970's era Atlanta, clashing with cops and crooks alike in his quest for justice. Sadly, in the middle of this conflict is a poor little girl.
Hardman is brought in by a lawyer and asked to locate the little girl who is the victim of a parental kidnapping. The mother is the likely suspect and she has a history of drugs and rotten boyfriends. She apparently is a wild vixen in the bedroom, but always attracts the wrong sort of men.
It is important to remember that Hardman has no credentials. A former cop, Hardman simply does favors for people in exchange for cash. He even occasionally smuggles dope for a local drug dealer.

Hardman gets a line on the little girl almost immediately. Of course, along the way there is a dead body, the brother of a legendary cop now crippled and thus retired. The girl is kidnapped from the mother because she has several pounds of high-grade, uncut, heroin. The poor little girl's situation gives this novel more emotion than the first two novels in the series.

In fact, this novel has a lot more emotion than the other novels. The author manages to work up the emotion as the possibility of the cop's dead brother being crooked emerges and appears likely. Another of the cops, a tough and brash man, seeks to protect his friend from this knowledge in a display of extreme loyalty. This loyal display gives the reader cause to like the tough cop who is otherwise fairly unlikeable. In the midst of a cast of unscrupulous and selfish characters this cop was a nice reality touchstone.

Hardman and Hump like to drink and they always find a way to have a bottle on hand. They aren't drunks, but they always have a way to find a bottle somewhere. Sometimes they use the liquor to ingratiate themselves with underworld types or to obtain information. In one scene, a bottle of peach wine is used to bait an old wino into information.

Dennis describes Atlanta lovingly. One area, the underworld, a run-down area below a set of train tracks. While this is 1970's Atlanta, my curiosity was piqued by the description of this area. At the time of the writing the goal of a group was to bring about a revival of the area and make it an area for viable businesses. Reading this book I wondered if that goal was later successful.

As usual in this genre, there is plenty of action and violence. There are enough double-crosses to generate tension. And all along the way, the motives of the girl's mother are in question. The reader at times despises her and at others is led to empathize with her, waiting for the ultimate conclusion to discover if she is going to act in the child's interest or her own.

The final conclusion is perhaps the best in the series thus far. Hardman and his partner, Hump, go to visit the crippled cop to explain his brother's death. There is a moving scene where they all sit down to play a hand of poker as they discuss the details. This ties the novel into a fine conclusion and really humanizes all of the surviving characters. This time around, Hardman's strong external nature is softened by the need of the little girl. This is not a dash for cash, a need for revenge, or a race to survive. The rescue of the little girl becomes the novel's main focus and gives it strength. A very well-written thriller.

[Bradley Valentine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm on a tear with these Ralph Dennis Hardman books recently. I like to not binge authors like I used to. My reading list is dense and I'm curious -- frankly I started reading books years ago not for pleasure as much as I wanted to be a writer and wanted to read everything great. Maybe be influenced by the greats. That worked to a point and it hurt, too, to a point. These days I'm even more of a reader and while I'm still a writer with ambitions, I've my own ideas on style now and I'd rather not be all that influenced. Back then I had no confidence in my voice and figured I better build a Frankenstein's monster made of my favorite authors instead since I'd obvious be found out as a kid who never made the so-called "gifted" programs at school.

All of that is just to explain why I'm gobbling up all these Hardman books. It's because I read for pleasure these days. Regardless whether or not it's directly influences my work, I have gotten better just reading for pleasure because something happens when work becomes pleasure. The reader begins to feel it in so many ways. I've known people who sneer at the idea of reading novels despite their own ambitions to write novels. It's kinda weird, right? Like being a chef and hating dinner.

Golden Girl is my favorite Hardman so far. It's the first time in a while where a mystery had not only drawn me in, but also it made me care about its outcome. I'm reasonably sure most mystery writers don't really have a thought out plan when they begin writing. To me, it seems like there are so many characters and subplots floating around that the writer has made it plausible that any one of them could turn out to be the killer. How boring, right?

Ralph Dennis in this book made it mystery one that really just had one person involved who made sense. And yes in retrospect you wonder why you couldn't guess at it from the start. I love other mystery writers (rather those who have been notable as such but aren't exclusively that) like Ellroy and Lehane and so many others. So few come off like it was much more than a cheesy magician's magic trick.

So I guess that makes me the guy who dislikes mystery, loves mystery writers and who very much liked this mystery novel.

BTW somebody called me out about my rating of books. I often give books 3 stars. To me, 3 stars is very solid, right? 3 stars to me feels like I enjoyed the book, but not with great excitement and a sense that better will be done in the future. 4 stars is what I give the stuff that does really excite me. I rarely ever give 5 stars. To be, those books should be unicorns. There really aren't that many 5 star books in my opinion.

[Tad Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ralph Dennis is a cult favorite of crime novelists, not much known outside that circle. He wrote a series of mass market paperbacks in the ‘70s that were appreciated by cognoscenti as being a cut above the usual paperback series fare of that era. His books have been long out of print, but are back now, and I was interested, since I’m also a 70s paperback novelist whose books were, I’d like to think, a cut above.
Dennis lives up to the rather esoteric hype. This book, the first I’ve read, is way better written than a lot of the big best sellers of today like David Baldacci. Dennis knows how to weave a plot, to create characters, to write believable dialogue and to write a clear and cliche-free English sentence.
His setting is Atlanta, which he seems to know very well. His character is Jim Hardman, a former cop who has never bothered to get a p.i. license but instead “does favors “ for people, much like Lawrence Block’s Matthew Scudder. His best friend/sidekick is a very tough black man who operates outside the law, much like Robert Parker’s Spenser and Hawk. I don’t know who came first, and I don’t see any plagiarism here - just ideas that were in the air at the time. Dennis and Block were both part of the same New York paperback circuit, and probably knew each other (I knew Block slightly, never met Dennis).
The story involves kidnapping, double crosses, a girl with almost too much sexual allure to be believable (but Dennis keeps her believable, a tribute to his ability), some beatings, some drinking, enough twists to keep you turning the pages. I’m now a fan. I’ll read more.

[Craig Pittman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third book in Ralp Dennis' series of '70s action-adventure novels about pudgy ex-cop Jim Hardman and his muscular buddy, ex-NFL player Hump Evans -- and it's the weakest one of the three I've read so far.

Hardman and Hump take on a case not because they need money but because they're bored. The case looks easy at first -- find a Chapel Hill academic's ex-wife, because she's kidnapped their six-year-old daughter -- but things are not what they seem. The ex, Peggy Holt, is a ruthless woman, a masterful seductress and a would-be drug dealer. Before long Hardman stumbles over a couple of corpses and has suffered quite a beating, and the only thing that keeps him going is his concern over the fate of the little girl.

The book, as with all of Dennis' novels, has some sparkling characterization and snappy dialogue -- but not as much as the first two. And the plot isn't nearly as twisty as in the first two Hardman novels. The best scene is the climax of the book, which takes place in an under-construction Underground Atlanta.

I started reading this series because of a piece about it in CrimeReads, and read this one in particular because the Kindle edition was free to borrow. I'm kind of glad I didn't spend money on this one. I haven't decided yet whether I'm interested in moving on to No. 4.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.

This is the third book in the Hardman series. It is a standalone [no cliffhamger ending]. It's not necessary to have read any of the prior books in the series, but To fully enjoy this series you should start at the beginning .

Here, Hardman takes an easy case to find a missing child but nothing is quite what it seems. The child's mother seems to be an Helen of Troy like character to men. And at the same time, Hardman's own relationship is somewhat falling apart.

The action is non stop. Be warned this was written in the 70s and contains language and viewpoints from that era. I am thoroughly enjoying this series and would recommend.

I listened to this book -- the narrator, Shawn Compton, perfectly embodies this series.

[Mike Crooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Technically this is a reread of a book I devoured fifty years ago.The third installment of the Hardman detective series was every bit as interesting today as it was back in 1973; the story holds up pretty well, BUT, you are keenly aware that the 1970s was a totally different time and some of the habits and ideas would not be tolerated today. As a detective/crime series the Hardman books by Ralph Dennis are just as good as any author popular back then and better than most. If you can find the series you won't be disappointed... Amazon Kindle had a great deal on the entire series which I took advantage of quickly.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in the series of hardboiled crime from the 1970s. More misogynistic than ever, with discriminatory language all over the place, but compelling with it and written in a lean, spare, page-turning style. Plot-focused throughout with a lot of twists and complexity in the hunt for a missing girl. Dennis uses the opportunity to paint a grim picture of double-crossers, blackmailers and drug dealers and as usual handles things with aplomb. Not my favourite of the series, but certainly an effortless read.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read a number of the books in this series back in the 70s (I’m seriously old) when they came out. When I saw through Book Bub that they had been reissued I picked up this one. It was as good as I remembered! Good story, fascinating characters including the “golden crotch”. The Kindle version was full of typos which at times I found frustrating but endured. It was like going back to a high school reunion, and I’ll do it again!

[John Callanen]

Pulp is still paper

I grew up reading Mack Bolan and books of that genre this is right in the same vein and I wish I'd found it before now these aren't literary masterpieces but if you need something to take you back a few years for a bit of nostalgia if you need the equivalent of a Western set in a Urban sprawl this will do it

[K. Counihan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hardman Book 3 Good Story

1970's Atlanta and in this episode Hardman and Hump Evans are hired to find Peggy Holt , stripper, drug dealer,etc. Peggy wants to be a parent again so she snatches her 6 year old kid from the ex- husband who has legal custody of the child. Peggy tells Hardman she may have sold or lost the kid.
She can't remember?

[Randall Coan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably The Best Yet

I have all of the Hardman novels on Kindle and have been gradually working through them. I really enjoy them all, and this, the third entry, is my favorite yet. Great pulp style story and the continuing character development of Hardman, Hump and Marcy. Highly recommended.

[Wpayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Golden Girl and All

Really liked the story. Kept me wondering and reading. Liked the team of Hardman and Hump Evans. Just one thing I didn't like about the two but let other readers figure out what that might be. Very interesting read tho.

[Tj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quickly becoming an absolute favorite series. Hardman is a mean, asskicking antihero built in the Westlake Parker mold- a consciousness tough guy who also take some lumps. Great, propulsive storytelling.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard boiled with heart

It’s like gazing into a looking glass that shows not a reflection but a glimpse back in time. The early 70s alive and well in these fast paced reads. One of the best detective writers around that everyone should know but no one does. Great stuff.

[Connie Hamby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read book

I have really enjoyed reading about Jim Hardmam and his side kick books , if you like good action books you will enjoy reading them

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An awesome series. Book four on order.

[Jim A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another well written action novel from Ralph Dennis.

Written in the 70’s, this is a fun read. Also the terms used by charters back then would not be PC today.

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Ralph Dennis. Definitely a lost treasure of crime fiction from the 70s. Glad Brash Books resurrected the series.

[Dan Beaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 3 and Dennis is hitting his stride with the character. Still incredibly un-PC... but the writing is crisp and the pacing is strong.

[Ben Boulden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid entry in the hardboiled--in both style and theme--Hardman series.

[Sergiu S. Dobre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have not enjoyed it as much as the first two in the series! Rather convoluted and unnecessarily confusing!