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Hardman #1
Atlanta Deathwatch
The first novel in the unforgettable, long lost series by Ralph Dennis is finally back in print… after being coveted for years by collectors of the very best in hardboiled fiction.
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.
Hardman is hired by The Man, a black mobster, to investigate the murder of his white girlfriend, a college student. It’s a case that plunges Hardman and Evans into the center of a violent street war that stretches from Atlanta’s seedy back alleys to the marbled corridors of power.
This new edition includes an introduction by Joe R. Lansdale, the New York Times bestselling author of the Hap & Leonard crime novels.
“His prose was muscular, swift and highly readable. 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)
RUNNING TIME => 6hrs. and 42mins.
©2018 Adventures in Television, Inc. (P)2018 Adventures in Television, Inc.
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.
Hardman is hired by The Man, a black mobster, to investigate the murder of his white girlfriend, a college student. It’s a case that plunges Hardman and Evans into the center of a violent street war that stretches from Atlanta’s seedy back alleys to the marbled corridors of power.
This new edition includes an introduction by Joe R. Lansdale, the New York Times bestselling author of the Hap & Leonard crime novels.
“His prose was muscular, swift and highly readable. 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)
RUNNING TIME => 6hrs. and 42mins.
©2018 Adventures in Television, Inc. (P)2018 Adventures in Television, Inc.
7 pages, Audible Audio
First published April 1, 1974
441 people are currently reading
486 people want to read
About the author
Ralph Dennis
55 books43 followersRalph 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
December 18, 2018
A solid 4 stars
Thanks to Brash Books for sending me this eARC through their Priority reviewers program. It is a republication of an overlooked author. His first publisher published his books as cheap men's action-adventure paperbacks. In reality, this one is book 1 in a series of hard boiled private eye stories in the tradition of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. I found the plot to be well written with believable characters. Jim Hardman is an ex Atlanta policeman who was forced to resign after being falsely implicated in a corruption scandal. He now works as unlicensed PI. He has an African American sidekick, Hump, an ex football player who can ask questions where Hardman can't.
Hardman is hired by a member of the Black Mafia to find the killer of his white girlfriend, Emily Campbell.
Together Hardman and Hump follow the trail of clues as more people die. They do solve the case and there is a satisfying ending. There is a disclaimer at the beginning explaining that the book was published in 1974 and reflects the cultural and sexual attitudes of the time.
This book was an easy fast paced read --2 days.
I plan to read more books in this series.
Thanks to Brash Books for sending me this eARC through their Priority reviewers program. It is a republication of an overlooked author. His first publisher published his books as cheap men's action-adventure paperbacks. In reality, this one is book 1 in a series of hard boiled private eye stories in the tradition of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. I found the plot to be well written with believable characters. Jim Hardman is an ex Atlanta policeman who was forced to resign after being falsely implicated in a corruption scandal. He now works as unlicensed PI. He has an African American sidekick, Hump, an ex football player who can ask questions where Hardman can't.
Hardman is hired by a member of the Black Mafia to find the killer of his white girlfriend, Emily Campbell.
Together Hardman and Hump follow the trail of clues as more people die. They do solve the case and there is a satisfying ending. There is a disclaimer at the beginning explaining that the book was published in 1974 and reflects the cultural and sexual attitudes of the time.
This book was an easy fast paced read --2 days.
I plan to read more books in this series.
August 28, 2019
”’Maybe you ought to back off from the job.’
‘I think I ought to,’ I said.
‘We see you following that girl around again, it won’t be just to talk.’
‘I’m off the job, as of now.’
‘That’s a smart white ass.’ The arm tightened around my neck and I was pulled back and up, until I was out of my seat. Ferd worked me over, belly and kidneys and groin. I wanted to vomit, but it was backed up and choked off by the arm at my throat. It wasn’t until they were through and I was slammed forward against the steering wheel that it came gushing out. It splattered all over my pants and shoes and the floorboards.
‘Remember, Hardman.’”
Jim Hardman is in good company. Philip Marlowe was routinely roughed up in the course of his investigations. He took a lot of blows to the back of the head. As these black gangsters were playing a song with a thudding bass on Hardman’s torso, I kept thinking...welcome to the Marlowe club of private investigations.
The thing is, Hardman is not a private detective. He is an ex-cop who was thrown off the force who, for lack of any interest in gainful employment, provides unsanctioned detective work to discerning clients. Some of these jobs are on one side of the law, and some maybe drift over to the other side of the law.
Following a white college girl who is hanging out with black gangsters isn’t fun work to begin with, but when he gets handed cracked ribs, sore nuts, and pink piss, the pay just isn’t worth the health risk.
So he is off the case. There are easier ways to make money. The thing is, the girl, Emily Campbell, is found strangled to death. Her father, the one who hired Hardman in the first place, can’t help but feel if Hardman had stayed on the case his daughter would still be alive.
As Hardman tries to put the pieces together, he starts to realize that her “boyfriend,” the pimp/drug dealer man called...The Man, isn’t going to fit the frame. Something more sinister is behind the death of Emily Campbell, and Hardman is becoming more and more determined to discover the truth. ”Looking at a crime was sometimes like walking around a piece of sculpture at a gallery. From every angle, it was a different piece of sculpture. So it was with a crime. You had to be standing in the right way, with your head in the right place, and then you understood the crime.”
This isn’t a senseless, random crime of a young girl being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is a real reason why this beautiful, young woman has been murdered. The trick is figuring out WHAT she knew and WHEN and the WHO her knowing made upset.
As the list of the dead gets longer, Hardman is doing everything he can not to be third or fourth or fifth on that list. If not for his friend Hump Evans, he might not live out the week.
”I met Hump two years ago, while I was still on the force, working nights. I’d gone to check into a brawl that had been reported at the Blue Light. The fight was over when I got there. Three black studs were spread all over the floor and Hump, barely sweating, was seated at the bar drinking draft beer.
‘Those boys tried to have some fun on me,’ Hump said.
It seemed that the shortest of the three had started it by looking up at Hump and asking how the weather was up there. Hump had spit in his eye and said it was raining. That was when the fight broke out. From the way Hump looked, it hadn’t been a long fight.”
Yeah, if you have Hump Evans in your corner, your chances of surviving and winning any fight have gone up exponentially.
Publishers note: This book was originally published in 1974 and reflects the cultural and sexual attitudes, language, and politics of the period.”
One of the terms that particularly stands out for me in this book is the frequent use of the word quim. ”Quim noun slang. Vulgar. Meaning: vagina, vulva. The word dates back to 1725. Coarse and disparaging use for ‘females collectively’ is from 1935.” To my knowledge, I’ve never heard this word used in a conversation. I might be a tad young to have heard it used as slang. The term that was being tossed around when I was younger was the C word, which I still find to be more offensive than just about any other word I’ve ever heard to disparage a female. Quim is a word I have encountered in literature a few times, so I am not unfamiliar with its usage, but it is interesting seeing it appear in a 1970s novel.
I find the book to be an authentic historical archive of time and place. I’m probably reading the book with different eyes than what most modern reader’s will. Needless to say, Gloria Steinem’s or Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s names did not come up in the course of the novel. This novel is geared towards a male audience and perpetuates to some degree the male fantasies/delusions about women.
While working in the book biz, I encountered Ralph Dennis’s books numerous times, but didn’t really give them much thought. (They are highly collectible now, and I wish I’d bought stacks of them.) The covers remind me of books like The Executioner, Nick Carter, Black Samurai, The Destroyer, Doc Savage, and Matt Helm. At the time, I was more into writers like Fyodor Doestovesky, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell, and Virgina Woolf. I had no idea about Dennis’s place in hardboiled novel history. Joe R. Lansdale, in the forward to this book, talks about Dennis’s influence on his own work, especially his wonderful Hap and Leonard series that first appeared in 1990. Atlanta Deathwatch was published in 1974.
The Hardman and Evans friendship reminded of the famous Boston duo of Spencer and Hawk who were created by the grand master Robert B. Parker. The first Spencer book came out in 1973, but interestingly enough, the first appearance of Hawk doesn’t happen until the fourth book in the series, Promised Land, published in 1976. It won the Edgar Award for best novel. So, two years after Hump Evans appears in Atlanta Deathwatch, the character of Hawk teams up with Spencer. I do wonder, was Parker influenced by Ralph Dennis? If Dennis’s novels had been marketed differently, exposing them to a wider audience, the very audience that made Robert B. Parker a very beloved and successful novelist, could Dennis have had Parker’s career?
Quite possibly.
Well, with a few minor alterations to the text, but maybe in 1974 that wouldn’t have been necessary. What he needed was different covers conveying to a wider audience of readers that his books were novels they might enjoy reading.
I have been asked several times by my friends and followers questions like, how can I be reading Jorge Luis Borges one week and Ralph Dennis the next week? I realize that to follow my reading list can be confusing. I might be the most eclectic reader in the Goodreads universe. I notice that most readers find a niche of books they know they will like, and they mire themselves down in that niche, but for me, I love being frequently jostled out of my comfort zone. Borges makes me uncomfortable. He, in some ways, makes me feel unworthy as a reader of his transcendental thoughts. He stretches my brain, and to keep his tail lights in sight ahead of me, I have to hit the nitro. Dennis makes me uncomfortable in a different way. Baser human instincts are explored in this novel. This is not the antiseptic world that most of us live in.
Victorian, aristocratic men frequently explored the redlight district of the city, looking for entertainment, but also to feel more alive than what their normal life would allow them. Fortunately, for me I don’t have to go to the southside of town to experience the seedier side of life. I certainly don’t have to go alone. I can hop in the backseat with Hardman and Evans and buckle my seatbelt.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
‘I think I ought to,’ I said.
‘We see you following that girl around again, it won’t be just to talk.’
‘I’m off the job, as of now.’
‘That’s a smart white ass.’ The arm tightened around my neck and I was pulled back and up, until I was out of my seat. Ferd worked me over, belly and kidneys and groin. I wanted to vomit, but it was backed up and choked off by the arm at my throat. It wasn’t until they were through and I was slammed forward against the steering wheel that it came gushing out. It splattered all over my pants and shoes and the floorboards.
‘Remember, Hardman.’”
Jim Hardman is in good company. Philip Marlowe was routinely roughed up in the course of his investigations. He took a lot of blows to the back of the head. As these black gangsters were playing a song with a thudding bass on Hardman’s torso, I kept thinking...welcome to the Marlowe club of private investigations.
The thing is, Hardman is not a private detective. He is an ex-cop who was thrown off the force who, for lack of any interest in gainful employment, provides unsanctioned detective work to discerning clients. Some of these jobs are on one side of the law, and some maybe drift over to the other side of the law.
Following a white college girl who is hanging out with black gangsters isn’t fun work to begin with, but when he gets handed cracked ribs, sore nuts, and pink piss, the pay just isn’t worth the health risk.
So he is off the case. There are easier ways to make money. The thing is, the girl, Emily Campbell, is found strangled to death. Her father, the one who hired Hardman in the first place, can’t help but feel if Hardman had stayed on the case his daughter would still be alive.
As Hardman tries to put the pieces together, he starts to realize that her “boyfriend,” the pimp/drug dealer man called...The Man, isn’t going to fit the frame. Something more sinister is behind the death of Emily Campbell, and Hardman is becoming more and more determined to discover the truth. ”Looking at a crime was sometimes like walking around a piece of sculpture at a gallery. From every angle, it was a different piece of sculpture. So it was with a crime. You had to be standing in the right way, with your head in the right place, and then you understood the crime.”
This isn’t a senseless, random crime of a young girl being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There is a real reason why this beautiful, young woman has been murdered. The trick is figuring out WHAT she knew and WHEN and the WHO her knowing made upset.
As the list of the dead gets longer, Hardman is doing everything he can not to be third or fourth or fifth on that list. If not for his friend Hump Evans, he might not live out the week.
”I met Hump two years ago, while I was still on the force, working nights. I’d gone to check into a brawl that had been reported at the Blue Light. The fight was over when I got there. Three black studs were spread all over the floor and Hump, barely sweating, was seated at the bar drinking draft beer.
‘Those boys tried to have some fun on me,’ Hump said.
It seemed that the shortest of the three had started it by looking up at Hump and asking how the weather was up there. Hump had spit in his eye and said it was raining. That was when the fight broke out. From the way Hump looked, it hadn’t been a long fight.”
Yeah, if you have Hump Evans in your corner, your chances of surviving and winning any fight have gone up exponentially.
Publishers note: This book was originally published in 1974 and reflects the cultural and sexual attitudes, language, and politics of the period.”
One of the terms that particularly stands out for me in this book is the frequent use of the word quim. ”Quim noun slang. Vulgar. Meaning: vagina, vulva. The word dates back to 1725. Coarse and disparaging use for ‘females collectively’ is from 1935.” To my knowledge, I’ve never heard this word used in a conversation. I might be a tad young to have heard it used as slang. The term that was being tossed around when I was younger was the C word, which I still find to be more offensive than just about any other word I’ve ever heard to disparage a female. Quim is a word I have encountered in literature a few times, so I am not unfamiliar with its usage, but it is interesting seeing it appear in a 1970s novel.
I find the book to be an authentic historical archive of time and place. I’m probably reading the book with different eyes than what most modern reader’s will. Needless to say, Gloria Steinem’s or Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s names did not come up in the course of the novel. This novel is geared towards a male audience and perpetuates to some degree the male fantasies/delusions about women.
While working in the book biz, I encountered Ralph Dennis’s books numerous times, but didn’t really give them much thought. (They are highly collectible now, and I wish I’d bought stacks of them.) The covers remind me of books like The Executioner, Nick Carter, Black Samurai, The Destroyer, Doc Savage, and Matt Helm. At the time, I was more into writers like Fyodor Doestovesky, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell, and Virgina Woolf. I had no idea about Dennis’s place in hardboiled novel history. Joe R. Lansdale, in the forward to this book, talks about Dennis’s influence on his own work, especially his wonderful Hap and Leonard series that first appeared in 1990. Atlanta Deathwatch was published in 1974.
The Hardman and Evans friendship reminded of the famous Boston duo of Spencer and Hawk who were created by the grand master Robert B. Parker. The first Spencer book came out in 1973, but interestingly enough, the first appearance of Hawk doesn’t happen until the fourth book in the series, Promised Land, published in 1976. It won the Edgar Award for best novel. So, two years after Hump Evans appears in Atlanta Deathwatch, the character of Hawk teams up with Spencer. I do wonder, was Parker influenced by Ralph Dennis? If Dennis’s novels had been marketed differently, exposing them to a wider audience, the very audience that made Robert B. Parker a very beloved and successful novelist, could Dennis have had Parker’s career?
Quite possibly.
Well, with a few minor alterations to the text, but maybe in 1974 that wouldn’t have been necessary. What he needed was different covers conveying to a wider audience of readers that his books were novels they might enjoy reading.
I have been asked several times by my friends and followers questions like, how can I be reading Jorge Luis Borges one week and Ralph Dennis the next week? I realize that to follow my reading list can be confusing. I might be the most eclectic reader in the Goodreads universe. I notice that most readers find a niche of books they know they will like, and they mire themselves down in that niche, but for me, I love being frequently jostled out of my comfort zone. Borges makes me uncomfortable. He, in some ways, makes me feel unworthy as a reader of his transcendental thoughts. He stretches my brain, and to keep his tail lights in sight ahead of me, I have to hit the nitro. Dennis makes me uncomfortable in a different way. Baser human instincts are explored in this novel. This is not the antiseptic world that most of us live in.
Victorian, aristocratic men frequently explored the redlight district of the city, looking for entertainment, but also to feel more alive than what their normal life would allow them. Fortunately, for me I don’t have to go to the southside of town to experience the seedier side of life. I certainly don’t have to go alone. I can hop in the backseat with Hardman and Evans and buckle my seatbelt.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
August 28, 2019
This is old-fashioned crime fiction in the best sense of the term. Originally published in 1974, the first novel in the Hardman series is a lean, gritty, hardboiled novel that would have been perfectly at home on the spinning racks of men's adventure novels that populated the nation's drug and book stores back in the day.
Jim Hardman is an ex-Atlanta cop who was railroaded off the force on trumped up corruption charges. He now works as an unlicensed P.I. Hardman, who is white, has an African American partner named Hump. Hump played for a time in the NFL and provides the muscle and intimidation where needed. He's also Hardman's guide into the city's African-American neighborhoods.
As the novel opens, a businessman named Arch Campbell has hired Hardman to trail his daughter, Emily, and see how she's spending her time. Emily attends a local college and has been an outstanding student until recently when her grades and her attendance have begun to slide. It seems like a simple task, and Hardman trails the young woman to a seedy bar on the black side of town. But while he's watching Emily, two thugs jump him, beat him up badly, and warn him off the case.
Hardman agrees to drop the case, telling Emily's father that he's not getting paid enough to absorb that kind of punishment. But then Emily is murdered and it turns out that she's been dating a black crime boss known as The Man. The Man now summons Hardman and hires him to find Emily's killer. With Hump at his side, the two work and fight their way through Atlanta's dark underbelly, following the trail of a brutal crime that's not nearly as simple as it might appear on the surface.
This is a quick and entertaining read with lots of action and violence, and it will appeal to those readers who enjoy classic hardboiled novels. Be forewarned, however: this book reflects the language and cultural and sexual attitudes of the early 1970's. It's not remotely politically correct.
Jim Hardman is an ex-Atlanta cop who was railroaded off the force on trumped up corruption charges. He now works as an unlicensed P.I. Hardman, who is white, has an African American partner named Hump. Hump played for a time in the NFL and provides the muscle and intimidation where needed. He's also Hardman's guide into the city's African-American neighborhoods.
As the novel opens, a businessman named Arch Campbell has hired Hardman to trail his daughter, Emily, and see how she's spending her time. Emily attends a local college and has been an outstanding student until recently when her grades and her attendance have begun to slide. It seems like a simple task, and Hardman trails the young woman to a seedy bar on the black side of town. But while he's watching Emily, two thugs jump him, beat him up badly, and warn him off the case.
Hardman agrees to drop the case, telling Emily's father that he's not getting paid enough to absorb that kind of punishment. But then Emily is murdered and it turns out that she's been dating a black crime boss known as The Man. The Man now summons Hardman and hires him to find Emily's killer. With Hump at his side, the two work and fight their way through Atlanta's dark underbelly, following the trail of a brutal crime that's not nearly as simple as it might appear on the surface.
This is a quick and entertaining read with lots of action and violence, and it will appeal to those readers who enjoy classic hardboiled novels. Be forewarned, however: this book reflects the language and cultural and sexual attitudes of the early 1970's. It's not remotely politically correct.
February 24, 2020
I received a free copy of this from the publisher for review.
I knew I was in for a good time when I saw this warning at the start of the book:
“Publishers note: This book was originally published in 1974 and reflects the cultural and sexual attitudes, language, and politics of the period.”
That’s right, baby! It’s 1974 so let's get sleazy!
Jim Hardman is an ex-cop who now makes his living in Atlanta as an off-the-books private investigator, and he supplements his income by occasionally transporting narcotics. Hardman is doing what seems to be a simple job of following a young college girl for her father, but a thorough beating from some thugs get him to drop the case.
Unfortunately the girl is then murdered and a black gangster known only as The Man hires Hardman to find the killer. This is a little odd since it was The Man who had Hardman scared off the case originally. Investigating her death results in increasing carnage all around him, but fortunately Hardman can count on his best friend, a former NFL player named Hump Evans, to back him up and let him sleep on his couch when Hardman is afraid to go home.
I got interested in checking out this series after attending last year’s Bouchercon and hearing author/publisher Lee Goldberg talk about how he had become obsessed with this mostly forgotten series and had made it a mission to reprint the books in order to make sure that Ralph Dennis wasn’t forgotten. You can read all about that here.
After finishing the book, I’m very glad that Goldberg got these out here. Dennis was a far better writer than the original publication of these as ‘men’s action adventure paperbacks’ would indicate. In his introduction of this edition, Joe R. Lansdale credits these books as being an influence on his creation of Hap & Leonard so I think it's fair to say that the Hardman & Hump partnership was one of the pioneers of the whole detective-character-with-bad-ass-friend dynamic that a lot of modern PI novels use.
The morally flexible Hardman becomes a fairly complex character over the course of the book. He isn’t operating on some kind of strict moral code like a Marlowe or a Spenser, and he lacks the polish of a Sam Spade. Overall, Hardman comes across as a good guy who once got a raw deal and is now just doing the best he can.
The ‘70s factor might be a plus or a minus depending on each reader’s own preferences. I loved the whole grimy atmosphere of the book in which Hardman and Hump think splitting a pint of booze in the car while tailing someone is just standard operating procedure. If this book was scratch & sniff the odor would be of an old shag carpet filled with cigarette ash and spilled Pabst Blue Ribbon.
There are some things that come across as cringe-worthy in terms of race and sexism, but overall Dennis’ writing isn’t nearly as dated as you’d expect from a book of this genre written in this era.
I had a lotta throwback fun with this, and I’ll be checking out more of the series.
I knew I was in for a good time when I saw this warning at the start of the book:
“Publishers note: This book was originally published in 1974 and reflects the cultural and sexual attitudes, language, and politics of the period.”
That’s right, baby! It’s 1974 so let's get sleazy!
Jim Hardman is an ex-cop who now makes his living in Atlanta as an off-the-books private investigator, and he supplements his income by occasionally transporting narcotics. Hardman is doing what seems to be a simple job of following a young college girl for her father, but a thorough beating from some thugs get him to drop the case.
Unfortunately the girl is then murdered and a black gangster known only as The Man hires Hardman to find the killer. This is a little odd since it was The Man who had Hardman scared off the case originally. Investigating her death results in increasing carnage all around him, but fortunately Hardman can count on his best friend, a former NFL player named Hump Evans, to back him up and let him sleep on his couch when Hardman is afraid to go home.
I got interested in checking out this series after attending last year’s Bouchercon and hearing author/publisher Lee Goldberg talk about how he had become obsessed with this mostly forgotten series and had made it a mission to reprint the books in order to make sure that Ralph Dennis wasn’t forgotten. You can read all about that here.
After finishing the book, I’m very glad that Goldberg got these out here. Dennis was a far better writer than the original publication of these as ‘men’s action adventure paperbacks’ would indicate. In his introduction of this edition, Joe R. Lansdale credits these books as being an influence on his creation of Hap & Leonard so I think it's fair to say that the Hardman & Hump partnership was one of the pioneers of the whole detective-character-with-bad-ass-friend dynamic that a lot of modern PI novels use.
The morally flexible Hardman becomes a fairly complex character over the course of the book. He isn’t operating on some kind of strict moral code like a Marlowe or a Spenser, and he lacks the polish of a Sam Spade. Overall, Hardman comes across as a good guy who once got a raw deal and is now just doing the best he can.
The ‘70s factor might be a plus or a minus depending on each reader’s own preferences. I loved the whole grimy atmosphere of the book in which Hardman and Hump think splitting a pint of booze in the car while tailing someone is just standard operating procedure. If this book was scratch & sniff the odor would be of an old shag carpet filled with cigarette ash and spilled Pabst Blue Ribbon.
There are some things that come across as cringe-worthy in terms of race and sexism, but overall Dennis’ writing isn’t nearly as dated as you’d expect from a book of this genre written in this era.
I had a lotta throwback fun with this, and I’ll be checking out more of the series.
December 5, 2018
Hardman is Back
Atlanta Deathwatch is the first of a dozen books in Ralph Dennis’ Hardman series, an early Seventies paperback trove of hard-action tough crime fiction. Brash Books is republishing the entire hard-to-find series plus a few other bonus features from Dennis’ literary collection.
As the title suggests, this series -at least this book- is set in early Seventies Atlanta and features tag-team of Jim Hardman, a disgraced ex-cop with a chip on his shoulder for the dame who turned on him and threw him to the wolves, tarnishing his badge and his reputation, plus his buddy Hump, an ex football player who busted his knees but can still take on any half dozen losers without even breaking a sweat. This pair in post Civil Rights Georgia may be integrated, but the world they live in is still divided as they find some bars where White Hardman isn’t exactly welcome and other joints where African-American Hump has trouble getting served. They are a matched set like Starsky and Hutch, but with more of a Dirty Harry take-no-prisoners attitude. They do off-the-Books detective work but are not above doing a little drug-running to make the bills. Down these mean streets, but Seventies style.
Hardman is a little morose, bitter. Hump is a little more steady. And, both are always out looking for some “trim” (women). The scenery here runs from bars to topless joints to seedy backwoods.
This volume starts out with a little shadowing job of a college girl who has gone a little bit too far off the rails for her rich connected daddy’s taste, but runs further into murder, cornering an elusive suspect, gun battles, and dealings with a local crime lord known only as “the Man.”
Probably not going to be studied in 12th grade English along with Chaucer and Dickens and that’s unfortunate cause there’s a lot here to plotting, characterizations, and description that is worth studying. Fast-paced, action-packed, and a load of fun. And, there’s 11 more in the vault this one came out of.
Atlanta Deathwatch is the first of a dozen books in Ralph Dennis’ Hardman series, an early Seventies paperback trove of hard-action tough crime fiction. Brash Books is republishing the entire hard-to-find series plus a few other bonus features from Dennis’ literary collection.
As the title suggests, this series -at least this book- is set in early Seventies Atlanta and features tag-team of Jim Hardman, a disgraced ex-cop with a chip on his shoulder for the dame who turned on him and threw him to the wolves, tarnishing his badge and his reputation, plus his buddy Hump, an ex football player who busted his knees but can still take on any half dozen losers without even breaking a sweat. This pair in post Civil Rights Georgia may be integrated, but the world they live in is still divided as they find some bars where White Hardman isn’t exactly welcome and other joints where African-American Hump has trouble getting served. They are a matched set like Starsky and Hutch, but with more of a Dirty Harry take-no-prisoners attitude. They do off-the-Books detective work but are not above doing a little drug-running to make the bills. Down these mean streets, but Seventies style.
Hardman is a little morose, bitter. Hump is a little more steady. And, both are always out looking for some “trim” (women). The scenery here runs from bars to topless joints to seedy backwoods.
This volume starts out with a little shadowing job of a college girl who has gone a little bit too far off the rails for her rich connected daddy’s taste, but runs further into murder, cornering an elusive suspect, gun battles, and dealings with a local crime lord known only as “the Man.”
Probably not going to be studied in 12th grade English along with Chaucer and Dickens and that’s unfortunate cause there’s a lot here to plotting, characterizations, and description that is worth studying. Fast-paced, action-packed, and a load of fun. And, there’s 11 more in the vault this one came out of.
October 12, 2020
Excellent introduction to the first in an entry run of 12 fast-paced novels by Ralph Dennis.
This is one of those Men's Adventure/Action Paperback Originals from the 1970s that feature a white former cop ("Hardman") and his "partner" (muscle for hire) black former-NFL defensive back "Hump".
I can't begin to rave about how enjoyable this novel is.
Set in an Atlanta a lifetime ago, Joe Lansdale in his superb introduction to this book suggests that it's a little bit randy, a little bit racist, a little bit raunchy for these scarifyingly politically correct days.
Maybe it is but then again, back in the 70s I was still in high school. To me it feels like last weekend.
I don't need to get into the plot. It features the two unique (for those times) freelancing trouble shooters. Private detectives on the hoof.... have (illegal) gat will ramble all around 1970s Atlanta. Or as they used to call it back in the rock & raunch era "Hot-lanta".
Some nice back & forth patter, superb verbally laid out action sequences, and a satisfying whodunnit and why wrap-up.
Some reviewers compare Ralph Dennis to the writing of Hammett, Chandler, and Macdonald but if anything, it's closer to Hammett's "Op" tales than to Chandler's or Macdonald's Knights of Neon
"Marlowe" and "Archer".
Highest Recommendation.
This is one of those Men's Adventure/Action Paperback Originals from the 1970s that feature a white former cop ("Hardman") and his "partner" (muscle for hire) black former-NFL defensive back "Hump".
I can't begin to rave about how enjoyable this novel is.
Set in an Atlanta a lifetime ago, Joe Lansdale in his superb introduction to this book suggests that it's a little bit randy, a little bit racist, a little bit raunchy for these scarifyingly politically correct days.
Maybe it is but then again, back in the 70s I was still in high school. To me it feels like last weekend.
I don't need to get into the plot. It features the two unique (for those times) freelancing trouble shooters. Private detectives on the hoof.... have (illegal) gat will ramble all around 1970s Atlanta. Or as they used to call it back in the rock & raunch era "Hot-lanta".
Some nice back & forth patter, superb verbally laid out action sequences, and a satisfying whodunnit and why wrap-up.
Some reviewers compare Ralph Dennis to the writing of Hammett, Chandler, and Macdonald but if anything, it's closer to Hammett's "Op" tales than to Chandler's or Macdonald's Knights of Neon
"Marlowe" and "Archer".
Highest Recommendation.
July 9, 2023
Every time my brother and I are together, we are obnoxious, to say the least. We feed off of one another and are able to make a room either roar in laughter or blush in embarrassment (his wife says it's because our faces are ornery-shaped; who knows). We are a family of wit, and we pride ourselves in that. We probably got it through our grandpa who was not afraid to embellish when telling a story and would often say, "Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story." You're probably saying to yourself, "What does this hippy horseshit have to do with the book?" Well, here it is.
I love a good tale of wit, and when it is mixed with friends who feed off of one another's dry humor, it can be very satisfying. This book reminds me of the movie Payback, with Mel Gibson. It's violent, flirtatious, humorous, dangerous, mysterious, and nostalgic. Plus, it's full of wit and no-nonsense wisdom. You can't beat that.
If you're looking for some old-fashioned humor and hard-boiled detectives, man, is this gonna be a treat for you. I can't wait to read the next one.
There it is and there you have it.
I love a good tale of wit, and when it is mixed with friends who feed off of one another's dry humor, it can be very satisfying. This book reminds me of the movie Payback, with Mel Gibson. It's violent, flirtatious, humorous, dangerous, mysterious, and nostalgic. Plus, it's full of wit and no-nonsense wisdom. You can't beat that.
If you're looking for some old-fashioned humor and hard-boiled detectives, man, is this gonna be a treat for you. I can't wait to read the next one.
There it is and there you have it.
September 2, 2023
Hard to believe some 50 years later, I’m discovering Ralph Dennis, writer extraordinaire except largely unknown. Just finished bk 1 of 13, of his Hardman series, Atlanta Deathwatch. White Ex-cop Jim Hardman and his black sidekick, Hump Evans, exNFL football star who provides the muscle and entry into the black side of Atlanta. Think Spenser & Hawk, only much rawer, more gritty vintage noir. “I thought about calling Hump and having him drop into the cafe and see what he could find out from the inside. Hump’s black, and that’s a great disguise in the part of town I was operating in this Friday night.”
Did I say rawer? “the one with the .32, shifted the gun to his left hand and drove his right into my kidney. I wanted to scream, but the hump of muscle choked it off. There was nothing else to do, so I farted.”
Ex-cop PI: “Looking at a crime was sometimes like walking around a piece of sculpture at a gallery. From every angle, it was a different piece of sculpture. So it was with a crime. You had to be standing in the right way, with your head in the right place, and then you understood the crime.”
Black/White: “Hump didn’t like the redneck shit, but he’d spent a lot of time around other parts of the country where the black-hate pushed at him in subtle ways. I believed, without ever talking to him about it, that he preferred it in the open, where he could deal with it in the physically violent way that got respect if not understanding.”
Perchance to Dream: “And waking on Hump’s sofa, I wondered how dreams used to be before we had movies to structure our dreams out of single shots, and out of camera movement. Maybe that triggered the dream. The betrayal that’s behind a lot of dreams.”
Women Trouble: The 1st. “Maryann off to Little Rock and Agnes Scott, while I caught the bus to Fort Jackson. Drafted. Maybe we reached our destinations about the same time. Tea parties or the rifle range. Dorm life or hand-to-hand combat. And then, when basic training was over, I was off to Japan to a Military Police company. And a couple of months later, I killed my first man.” And now. “ been thinking about Marcy all evening, ever since Art had tossed her back at me. It hadn’t been easy, but I thought I’d weeded her out for good.” The Substitute. “ Now and then, when the pressure gets to me and I’m past feeling like a hawk or a scavenger, I walk off with one of the girls and we grunt and roll around like a ballet for large, awkward fish, and then I put on my pants and go home, weakened and a little bit sad.”
So scene and characters are set… story rolls, damn good action and dialog. Good noir writing at it’s finest. Looking forward to the series, 2-13… Highest recommendation.
Did I say rawer? “the one with the .32, shifted the gun to his left hand and drove his right into my kidney. I wanted to scream, but the hump of muscle choked it off. There was nothing else to do, so I farted.”
Ex-cop PI: “Looking at a crime was sometimes like walking around a piece of sculpture at a gallery. From every angle, it was a different piece of sculpture. So it was with a crime. You had to be standing in the right way, with your head in the right place, and then you understood the crime.”
Black/White: “Hump didn’t like the redneck shit, but he’d spent a lot of time around other parts of the country where the black-hate pushed at him in subtle ways. I believed, without ever talking to him about it, that he preferred it in the open, where he could deal with it in the physically violent way that got respect if not understanding.”
Perchance to Dream: “And waking on Hump’s sofa, I wondered how dreams used to be before we had movies to structure our dreams out of single shots, and out of camera movement. Maybe that triggered the dream. The betrayal that’s behind a lot of dreams.”
Women Trouble: The 1st. “Maryann off to Little Rock and Agnes Scott, while I caught the bus to Fort Jackson. Drafted. Maybe we reached our destinations about the same time. Tea parties or the rifle range. Dorm life or hand-to-hand combat. And then, when basic training was over, I was off to Japan to a Military Police company. And a couple of months later, I killed my first man.” And now. “ been thinking about Marcy all evening, ever since Art had tossed her back at me. It hadn’t been easy, but I thought I’d weeded her out for good.” The Substitute. “ Now and then, when the pressure gets to me and I’m past feeling like a hawk or a scavenger, I walk off with one of the girls and we grunt and roll around like a ballet for large, awkward fish, and then I put on my pants and go home, weakened and a little bit sad.”
So scene and characters are set… story rolls, damn good action and dialog. Good noir writing at it’s finest. Looking forward to the series, 2-13… Highest recommendation.
October 31, 2023
Entertaining series from the 70s. I missed it then (because of poor marketing), just read the reissue with a preface from Joe Lansdale. This is one of the influences for his Hap and Leonard series. Don't read if you are put off rough language and sexual mores from the 70s. [your loss].
January 28, 2019
I received this from AudioBookBoom and the publisher, Brash Books, in exchange for an honest review.
Along with Charles Ardai's Hard Case Crime, Max Allan Collins' Brash Books is quickly becoming my go-to publisher for hard-boiled private eye/noir-styling mysteries. It doesn't matter the time-frame, with stories set in the 30s or in the 70s, it's all been very good.
This one, the first in the long-out-of-print Hardman series by Ralph Dennis, was a lot of fun. Complete with disgraced down-on-his-luck private eye Jim Hardman, his strong-arm sidekick Hump, and his on-again/off-again girlfriend, this seemed to check all the required boxes for a plot set in 1970s Atlanta, with corrupt city officials, black mafia, "innocent" young ladies, and a plot straight out of the times.
The narrator did an outstanding job in capturing the tone and the voices, and there was no confusing over who was talking.
While I will definitely be looking for the rest of the series on audiobooks as they are released over the coming months, I will say that some will find the inherent racism quite shocking. For those that are easily offended, this series is definitely NOT for you. If you can get past all of that, and there is quite a bit, then expect an entertaining read/listen.
Along with Charles Ardai's Hard Case Crime, Max Allan Collins' Brash Books is quickly becoming my go-to publisher for hard-boiled private eye/noir-styling mysteries. It doesn't matter the time-frame, with stories set in the 30s or in the 70s, it's all been very good.
This one, the first in the long-out-of-print Hardman series by Ralph Dennis, was a lot of fun. Complete with disgraced down-on-his-luck private eye Jim Hardman, his strong-arm sidekick Hump, and his on-again/off-again girlfriend, this seemed to check all the required boxes for a plot set in 1970s Atlanta, with corrupt city officials, black mafia, "innocent" young ladies, and a plot straight out of the times.
The narrator did an outstanding job in capturing the tone and the voices, and there was no confusing over who was talking.
While I will definitely be looking for the rest of the series on audiobooks as they are released over the coming months, I will say that some will find the inherent racism quite shocking. For those that are easily offended, this series is definitely NOT for you. If you can get past all of that, and there is quite a bit, then expect an entertaining read/listen.
July 28, 2019
First entry in a series that fell through the cracks until re-discovered by Lee Goldberg.
It's tough, 1970's hard-boiled prose. Jim Hardman is a former cop, forced to resign from the force, and now does favors for friends and odd jobs for both sides of the law to get by. His sidekick is Hump Evan, former NFL-er, now knockaround guy.
A series of events lead the pair to work for the leader of the Black mob, finding out who killed his girlfriend. This leads to violence and savagery.
Highly recommended.
It's tough, 1970's hard-boiled prose. Jim Hardman is a former cop, forced to resign from the force, and now does favors for friends and odd jobs for both sides of the law to get by. His sidekick is Hump Evan, former NFL-er, now knockaround guy.
A series of events lead the pair to work for the leader of the Black mob, finding out who killed his girlfriend. This leads to violence and savagery.
Highly recommended.
April 8, 2019
Atlanta Deathwatch by Ralph Dennis is the opening novel involving former police officer, now private investigator-slash-utility-man for-hire Jim Hardman and his close friend, ex-NFL player Hump Evans.
The series of novels were written in the 1970s and in an obvious hard-boiled style that belies that era when it comes to an urban environment. Joe Lansdale pens an excellent explanatory introduction to the series and describes how novels written by Dennis did not receive the attention they deserved, which is probably true.
The novel is a decent, rough-edged crime novel where Hardman and Evans are hired by a local crime baron nicknamed "The Man" to find out who murdered his girlfriend. The young woman is white and "The Man" is black, which adds to the complexity of the tale, especially when most are baffled of the relationship between a straight-laced woman and a crime lord.
Recommended for readers that enjoy novels as those found in the Hard Case Crime series and fans of Hap and Leonard by Joe Lansdale.
The series of novels were written in the 1970s and in an obvious hard-boiled style that belies that era when it comes to an urban environment. Joe Lansdale pens an excellent explanatory introduction to the series and describes how novels written by Dennis did not receive the attention they deserved, which is probably true.
The novel is a decent, rough-edged crime novel where Hardman and Evans are hired by a local crime baron nicknamed "The Man" to find out who murdered his girlfriend. The young woman is white and "The Man" is black, which adds to the complexity of the tale, especially when most are baffled of the relationship between a straight-laced woman and a crime lord.
Recommended for readers that enjoy novels as those found in the Hard Case Crime series and fans of Hap and Leonard by Joe Lansdale.
May 22, 2019
Wow!!!
Cannot believe how much I loved reading this book. It was a trip down memory lane for i have read all the Travis McGhee and Spencer novels and this was right up there with them. Highly recommend this book! 5 stars out of 5 stars.
Ron
Cannot believe how much I loved reading this book. It was a trip down memory lane for i have read all the Travis McGhee and Spencer novels and this was right up there with them. Highly recommend this book! 5 stars out of 5 stars.
Ron
March 9, 2020
Taken as a straight hard-boiled mystery, this is pretty good. Looked at as one of the (in)famous "Men's action novels" that were churned out in heaps in the 70s, it doesn't quite cut it. Where Mack Bolan was off disintegrating people with bazookas and The Baroness was sleeping with everything in sight, this is a pretty tame mystery by comparison. Although, to be fair, it is more well written than those other 70s pulps, too.
January 8, 2019
Excellent hard-boiled private eye novel with an engaging '70s vibe that grabs you and won't let go. Jim Hardman is a strangely endearing PI with self-doubt issues and a tendency to work both sides of the law to further his interests. The story is expertly plotted and paced as the clues to the murder mystery fall swiftly into place. Hardman and his partner Hump are inclined to get themselves out of dangerous situations using cunning and stealth rather than shooting their way out - a plus in my opinion. I've heard good things about this series over the years and I'm glad to see that it's finally back in print. Recommended.
December 20, 2018
A premier hardboiled private eye tale with a strong voice, deft characterization, and a crazy-perfect plot.
August 25, 2019
Quite good crime fiction. Hardman is well named as this is a hardboiled tale set on the hard streets of Atlanta.
Hardman is a former police officer who was tossed off the force for ... well, it isn't real clear. He works as an unlicensed PI, taking whatever he can get and sometimes perhaps straying a bit into the far side of the law.
The story starts with him on a job following a white college girl who is hanging out with some tough black guys. But, after some of those black guys give him an attitude adjustment, he decides he has better things to do.
Then she turns up dead -- strangled. Hardman is pulled somewhat reluctantly into the investigation. Her boyfriend, who it turns out is a black crime boss, wants him to find the killer. Also, an old friend on the Atlanta police force looks to Hardman for information. He can hardly say no to either.
As Hardman tries to put the pieces together, it becomes obvious that her death was no simple mugging or random act of violence. Soon things get very dangerous and complicated. It is probable that the only thing keeping him from joining the growing body count is his amiable but very tough friend and partner Hump Evans. (The banter between Hardman and Hump is quite fun -- reminiscent of Robert B. Parker's Spencer and Hawk.)
The plot gets twisty and the finish is strong with lots of action.
I enjoyed the 1970s vibe -- no cell phones, no internet, no satellite surveillance.
Good book. Solid 4 stars.
Hardman is a former police officer who was tossed off the force for ... well, it isn't real clear. He works as an unlicensed PI, taking whatever he can get and sometimes perhaps straying a bit into the far side of the law.
The story starts with him on a job following a white college girl who is hanging out with some tough black guys. But, after some of those black guys give him an attitude adjustment, he decides he has better things to do.
Then she turns up dead -- strangled. Hardman is pulled somewhat reluctantly into the investigation. Her boyfriend, who it turns out is a black crime boss, wants him to find the killer. Also, an old friend on the Atlanta police force looks to Hardman for information. He can hardly say no to either.
As Hardman tries to put the pieces together, it becomes obvious that her death was no simple mugging or random act of violence. Soon things get very dangerous and complicated. It is probable that the only thing keeping him from joining the growing body count is his amiable but very tough friend and partner Hump Evans. (The banter between Hardman and Hump is quite fun -- reminiscent of Robert B. Parker's Spencer and Hawk.)
The plot gets twisty and the finish is strong with lots of action.
I enjoyed the 1970s vibe -- no cell phones, no internet, no satellite surveillance.
Good book. Solid 4 stars.
December 12, 2018
Jim Hardman is not a licensed P.I, just like a bare knuckle fighter knows how to rumble but not licensed by boxing boards, he’s a p.i illegal, sort of fixer.
Before he was fired by the Force, before being a cop, he was drafted to Fort Jackson, hand to hand combat training, and after that off to Japan to a Military Police company.
He was to be paid fifty dollars a day by a client for just few days tailing of a woman, a college student, her comings and goings, then she bites the dust.
With the bigger heat, bigger job, he teams up with Hump Evans, a well known ex-NFL player.
They rumble with undesirables and motley crew of men in search for hitters in the murders that follow.
I would agree with the words of novelist Joe Lansdale, from his great introduction in the repackaged tale, “His prose was muscular, swift, and highly readable. There was an echo behind it.”
It’s lucid and thrilling, with some social commentary in ways and there is evil that men do, all presented in a better book cover.
“Hammett took murder out of the Venetian vase and dropped it into the alley,”
that is what Raymond Chandler wrote on Hammett’s writings, in the essay The Simple Art of Murder.
And also he said “Hammett wrote at first (and almost to the end) for people with a sharp, aggressive attitude to life. They were not afraid of the seamy side of things; they lived there. Violence did not dismay them; it was right down their street. Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse; and with the means at hand, not hand-wrought dueling pistols, curare and tropical fish. He put these people down on paper as they were, and he made them talk and think in the language they customarily used for these purposes.”
So did this author Ralph Dennis and Joe Lansdale in their crime writing.
If you liked Joe Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard creation then this will be right up your alley, prepared to be transported to times men carried .32’s, the Saturday Night Specials.
Review with excerpts @ https://more2read.com/review/atlanta-deathwatch-by-ralph-dennis/
Before he was fired by the Force, before being a cop, he was drafted to Fort Jackson, hand to hand combat training, and after that off to Japan to a Military Police company.
He was to be paid fifty dollars a day by a client for just few days tailing of a woman, a college student, her comings and goings, then she bites the dust.
With the bigger heat, bigger job, he teams up with Hump Evans, a well known ex-NFL player.
They rumble with undesirables and motley crew of men in search for hitters in the murders that follow.
I would agree with the words of novelist Joe Lansdale, from his great introduction in the repackaged tale, “His prose was muscular, swift, and highly readable. There was an echo behind it.”
It’s lucid and thrilling, with some social commentary in ways and there is evil that men do, all presented in a better book cover.
“Hammett took murder out of the Venetian vase and dropped it into the alley,”
that is what Raymond Chandler wrote on Hammett’s writings, in the essay The Simple Art of Murder.
And also he said “Hammett wrote at first (and almost to the end) for people with a sharp, aggressive attitude to life. They were not afraid of the seamy side of things; they lived there. Violence did not dismay them; it was right down their street. Hammett gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse; and with the means at hand, not hand-wrought dueling pistols, curare and tropical fish. He put these people down on paper as they were, and he made them talk and think in the language they customarily used for these purposes.”
So did this author Ralph Dennis and Joe Lansdale in their crime writing.
If you liked Joe Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard creation then this will be right up your alley, prepared to be transported to times men carried .32’s, the Saturday Night Specials.
Review with excerpts @ https://more2read.com/review/atlanta-deathwatch-by-ralph-dennis/
December 23, 2018
I read this book when it first came out in 1974. Back then, the violence and the worldview seemed too harsh--at least it was for a small town kid from backwoods Oklahoma who had grown up on the Lone Ranger. A few years later, I picked it up again and read the whole series.
Coming to the book now, from a much different perspective, I enjoyed the book more now than ever. Hardman, who I initially didn't relate with, has now become incredibly relatable with everything going on in the world. The violence and elements of betrayal, and just his gray view of life and not the black and white view I was so accustomed to (and have gotten pulled away from) are spot on.
Dennis has a lot going on in this book, externally and internally, much of which I didn't really understand all those years ago because I hadn't seen it or lived through it. Hardman's character his great, his relationship with Hump Evans is more understandable now than ever, and the world the inhabited is clear to me.
Granted, the book creaks a little in places because technology has changed (no cell phones, but I didn't miss them), but they're of their time. Since the book is set in Atlanta in the 1970s while the Civil Rights movement was still hotly engaged, there are references to racism that might offend some. Women don't come off well in general in this book, but again, the story reflects the times. Edna (Art Maloney's wife) and Hardman's girlfriend Marcy are strong and I liked them.
I enjoyed the book and I've picked up the others. It has been suggested that the Hardman/Hump books were precursors to Robert B. Parker's Spenser/Hawk and Joe Lansdale's Hap/Leonard series, and I think an argument can be made.
Coming to the book now, from a much different perspective, I enjoyed the book more now than ever. Hardman, who I initially didn't relate with, has now become incredibly relatable with everything going on in the world. The violence and elements of betrayal, and just his gray view of life and not the black and white view I was so accustomed to (and have gotten pulled away from) are spot on.
Dennis has a lot going on in this book, externally and internally, much of which I didn't really understand all those years ago because I hadn't seen it or lived through it. Hardman's character his great, his relationship with Hump Evans is more understandable now than ever, and the world the inhabited is clear to me.
Granted, the book creaks a little in places because technology has changed (no cell phones, but I didn't miss them), but they're of their time. Since the book is set in Atlanta in the 1970s while the Civil Rights movement was still hotly engaged, there are references to racism that might offend some. Women don't come off well in general in this book, but again, the story reflects the times. Edna (Art Maloney's wife) and Hardman's girlfriend Marcy are strong and I liked them.
I enjoyed the book and I've picked up the others. It has been suggested that the Hardman/Hump books were precursors to Robert B. Parker's Spenser/Hawk and Joe Lansdale's Hap/Leonard series, and I think an argument can be made.
May 15, 2019
I love the writing style in this book and the way the plot worked itself out through to the ending was just excellent. I will definitely be reading more of this series. Very well done. Recommended A+
May 8, 2019
I must admit I had never heard of Ralph Dennis or The Hardman series of novels but according to the excellent foreword by Joe R. Lansdale these are a long lost series of hard boiled noir novels that were poorly promoted back in the seventies when they were first published. They had bad covers and were basically marketed as male crime/action novels and were lost in the plethora of similar but inferior novels of the time. Thankfully due to pressure from like mined fans, like Lansdale, the series of novels have all been re-published.
Jim Hardman is an ex-cop, who left the Atlanta P.D. after being accused of corruption and now works as an unlicensed P.i. He is ably assisted by Hump Evans, an ex NFL player, with a dodgy knee, who Hardman uses if he needs a bit of muscle. In this first novel of the series Hardman is hired by The Man, a black underworld figure, to investigate the murder of his white girlfriend, whom Hardman had previously been following on behalf of her father. As the bodies pile up Hardman’s investigation becomes more and more dangerous and even his life is in danger as he tries to uncover the truth.
Find it hard to believe that this series of novels sunk at the time of their publication as they are classic crime noir. Hardman and Hump are a great pairing and the dialogue between the two is just great. There are lots of minor characters, some of which I believe will be part of further novels. The action is violent but realistic and the plot is suitably twisted and fast moving. The only minor issue is that being written in the seventies they are of their time and possibly not as politically correct in respect of race and women as we would expect now. This novel is so good I’ve went straight onto reading the next in the series!
Jim Hardman is an ex-cop, who left the Atlanta P.D. after being accused of corruption and now works as an unlicensed P.i. He is ably assisted by Hump Evans, an ex NFL player, with a dodgy knee, who Hardman uses if he needs a bit of muscle. In this first novel of the series Hardman is hired by The Man, a black underworld figure, to investigate the murder of his white girlfriend, whom Hardman had previously been following on behalf of her father. As the bodies pile up Hardman’s investigation becomes more and more dangerous and even his life is in danger as he tries to uncover the truth.
Find it hard to believe that this series of novels sunk at the time of their publication as they are classic crime noir. Hardman and Hump are a great pairing and the dialogue between the two is just great. There are lots of minor characters, some of which I believe will be part of further novels. The action is violent but realistic and the plot is suitably twisted and fast moving. The only minor issue is that being written in the seventies they are of their time and possibly not as politically correct in respect of race and women as we would expect now. This novel is so good I’ve went straight onto reading the next in the series!
October 29, 2018
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was like reading a book from the past. The way the book was told grabbed your attention and held it.
Hardman isn't Tom Selleck hahaha but he gets the job done with his partner Hump. Along with Art, his buddy in the police dept, they solve the murder of Emily.
The book isn't politically correct, because it was first published long before pc was a thought.
I can't wait to read what happens in the second book.
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book, and this is my honest voluntary review.
Hardman isn't Tom Selleck hahaha but he gets the job done with his partner Hump. Along with Art, his buddy in the police dept, they solve the murder of Emily.
The book isn't politically correct, because it was first published long before pc was a thought.
I can't wait to read what happens in the second book.
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this book, and this is my honest voluntary review.
July 3, 2019
An excellent read.
This is the first in a series of books by Ralph Dennis. They were written in the early 70's and very much reflect that. I heard about the series in a post from Joe Lansdale who credits Dennis with being an influence and I can certainly see that.
If you like a good crime/mystery/detective novel, this is an excellent hard-boiled tale.
This is the first in a series of books by Ralph Dennis. They were written in the early 70's and very much reflect that. I heard about the series in a post from Joe Lansdale who credits Dennis with being an influence and I can certainly see that.
If you like a good crime/mystery/detective novel, this is an excellent hard-boiled tale.
July 1, 2020
A pretty standard crime novel from the early 70s, shortish and very readable. What struck me here was the similarity of the two protagonists, Hardman and his black sidekick Hump to Robert B Parker's Spenser and Hawk and Joe Lansdale's Hap and Leonard...two other white/black friendship cum partnerships. I have observed that although the two are always written as being brighter than their peers, the black half of the duo is always drawn as not quite as bright, not quite as law-abiding, more of a loner and player, altogether somewhat darker (no pun intended) than his white compadre. Usually, the white guy gets the jobs and the black sidekick tags along being reactive more than proactive. I am the last person you would consider politically correct and I have enjoyed all the characters mentioned but I am just wondering how these books affect a teenager's attitude on the racism question given a steady diet of the black guy being bright and likeable but always playing second fiddle to his white bud.
May 9, 2019
This review is for the Audible Version.
If you like Parker's Spenser-- You will like Hardman.
This will remind you of Spenser and Hawk-- or even Hap and Leonard.
Hardman is a resigned cop working as an unlicensed private detective. Sometimes, he gets beat up... sometimes he does the beating. Occasionally, he even works as a drug mule. He has had a messed up relationship with a girl (that sort of gets fixed in this novel) and the author likes to include discussion about food, without having Parker's obsession with trying to mention food in every chapter. He plays fast and loose with the law-- he's a bit of a con man-- and he's a tough nut to crack.
I feel like his cop friend, Art, is going to get tired of being lied to in future installments.
A fine novel, and though classified as men's fiction, I was gratified that there was no explicit sex scenes like most men's fiction contains. Strong language and violence abounded.. It is a tough and gritty novel, but much better than I was expecting.
If you like Parker's Spenser-- You will like Hardman.
This will remind you of Spenser and Hawk-- or even Hap and Leonard.
Hardman is a resigned cop working as an unlicensed private detective. Sometimes, he gets beat up... sometimes he does the beating. Occasionally, he even works as a drug mule. He has had a messed up relationship with a girl (that sort of gets fixed in this novel) and the author likes to include discussion about food, without having Parker's obsession with trying to mention food in every chapter. He plays fast and loose with the law-- he's a bit of a con man-- and he's a tough nut to crack.
I feel like his cop friend, Art, is going to get tired of being lied to in future installments.
A fine novel, and though classified as men's fiction, I was gratified that there was no explicit sex scenes like most men's fiction contains. Strong language and violence abounded.. It is a tough and gritty novel, but much better than I was expecting.
February 4, 2019
Who came first, Hawk or Hump? Ralph Dennis's Hardman series paved the way for the Hap and Leonard stories of Joe R. Lansdale (Joe writes the into to the revived series that has been published recently by Brash Books). Hardman's colleague is a big, black, ex-football player named Hump Evans. A couple of years later, Robert B. Parker would introduce Spenser's colleague, a big, black, ex-boxer named Hawk. Coincidence? One wonders. ATLANTA DEATHWATCH, the first of the series, is dated as all get out (black men are "studs" and Inglenook is the wine of choice). However, the characters, main and incidental, are well drawn. Jim Hardman, who will do anything for money (shady or not) has a sense of honor about him. If anything, this reads like a pulpier Ross Macdonald novel. There is love. violence, and a twisted sense of justice in this novel. It could be a gateway into an addictive series.
June 14, 2019
This was written in the early ‘70’s and is in the style of an old Travis McGee. Hardman, a former cop and unlicensed investigator, and his friend Hump, a black former football pro, look into the murder of a young college girl. This takes them into Atlanta politics, the Police and the Black Mafia. The plot moves quickly and the action is equally fast moving. All in all, this was a great read. Thanks to Brash Books for an ARC for an honest review prior to it’s rerelease.
July 8, 2019
An RD. Private Eye/Police Drama/Murder
RD has penned a murder mystery about an Atlanta private eye, ex cop, and his partner, ex NFL player who gave teamed up to do investigative work together. What the white guy can't discover the black man can. They trust no one but themselves and money. They are hired to find out who murdered a young female debutante. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
RD has penned a murder mystery about an Atlanta private eye, ex cop, and his partner, ex NFL player who gave teamed up to do investigative work together. What the white guy can't discover the black man can. They trust no one but themselves and money. They are hired to find out who murdered a young female debutante. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
May 16, 2019
Hard boiled detective story.
Update the firearms, clothing and amounts of money involved and you have a novel of any time. Hartman is written as the brother of all of the hard-boiled ex-cop detectives that are the products of good writers with a lot of research and fine imaginations. This one should not have been obscured by bad cover art.
Update the firearms, clothing and amounts of money involved and you have a novel of any time. Hartman is written as the brother of all of the hard-boiled ex-cop detectives that are the products of good writers with a lot of research and fine imaginations. This one should not have been obscured by bad cover art.
June 3, 2019
Well written crime thriller. Because I didn't read this author back in the day I feel I missed some quality writing. Reminds me of Robert B Parker's Spenser series or John D. MacDonald's Travis Mcgee action novels.
An old series, written in the 70's and it shows. But well worth the read nevertheless.
An old series, written in the 70's and it shows. But well worth the read nevertheless.
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