Hard Boiled

Hard-boiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. Derived from the romantic tradition which emphasized the emotions of apprehension, awe, horror and terror, hardboiled fiction deviates from that tradition in the detective's cynical attitude towards those emotions. The attitude is conveyed through the detectives inner monologue describing to the audience what he is doing and feeling.

The genre's typical protagonist is a detective, who witnesses daily the violence of organized crime tha
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Most Read This Week Tagged "Hard Boiled"

A Man Named Doll (The Doll Series, #1)
Ozark Dogs
Widespread Panic
Gray Dawn (Easy Rawlins, #17)
The Enchanters
The Wind Began to Howl (Isaiah Coleridge, #3.5)
Lowdown Road
Harmattan Season
The Furies (Charlie Parker, #20)
One-Shot Harry
Il Francese
The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)
The Maltese Falcon
Farewell, My Lovely (Philip Marlowe, #2)
The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe, #6)
Red Harvest (The Continental Op #1)
The Lady in the Lake (Philip Marlowe, #4)
The High Window (Philip Marlowe, #3)
The Little Sister (Philip Marlowe, #5)
The Thin Man
L.A. Confidential (L.A. Quartet, #3)
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Trouble Is My Business (Philip Marlowe, #8)
The Big Nowhere (L.A. Quartet, #2)
The Black Dahlia (L.A. Quartet, #1)
Killing Floor (Jack Reacher, #1)
The Way Some People Die by Ross MacdonaldThe Ivory Grin by Ross MacdonaldThe Barbarous Coast by Ross MacdonaldFind a Victim by Ross MacdonaldThe Moving Target by Ross Macdonald
Black Lizard Crime
49 books — 3 voters

Daddy Cool by Donald GoinesDevil Dolls by Joseph NazelThe Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim by Iceberg SlimHarlem Hit by Roosevelt MalloryBlack Vendetta by Matt Gattzden
Blaxploitation
138 books — 6 voters

Blacksad by Juan Díaz CanalesFatale, Vol. 1 by Ed BrubakerBatman by Jeph LoebAmerican Vampire, Vol. 1 by Scott SnyderCriminal, Vol. 1 by Ed Brubaker
Crime Comics & Graphic Novels
237 books — 73 voters


Raymond Chandler
Guns never settle anything, I said. They are just a fast curtain to a bad second act
Raymond Chandler, Playback

Raymond Chandler
The subject was as easy to spot as a kangaroo in a dinner jacket
Raymond Chandler, Playback

More quotes...
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4 members, last active one year ago
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ThreeCrow Publishing Welcome to the Three Crow Books community! We’re here to discuss books published on threecrowboo…more
2 members, last active 11 months ago
Point Blank Noir, hardboiled and pulp. This is the reading group linked to the Point Blank podcast. If you…more
132 members, last active 2 years ago