Hard Case Crime
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hard Case Crime is an American publisher of paperback hardboiled crime novels founded in 2004 by Charles Ardai, also known as the founder of the Internet service Juno, and Max Phillips. The series recreates, in editorial form and content, the spirit of the pulps of the 1940s and '50s. The covers feature original art done in pulp style by artists such as Robert McGinnis and Glen Orbik.
The collection includes both hard-to-find books from the pulp era (typically labeled Complete and unabridged on the cover), and new novels written specially for the collection (typically labeled First publication anywhere). The most widely reviewed entry in the series to date is a novel by Stephen King, The Colorado Kid.
Three novels published by Hard Case have been nominated for the Edgar Award: In 2005, Little Girl Lost, by Richard Aleas (a pseudonym for Hard Case Crime co-founder Charles Ardai), was nominated as Best First Novel by an American Author and Domenic Stansberry's The Confession won the award for Best Paperback Original; in 2006, Allan Guthrie's Kiss Her Goodbye was nominated for Best Paperback Original.
Max Phillips' Fade to Blonde won the 2005 Shamus Award for Best Paperback Novel of the Year.
[edit] Titles
September 2004
- Grifter’s Game by Lawrence Block
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Chuck Pyle
- ISBN 0-8439-5349-7
- Fade to Blonde by Max Phillips
- First publication anywhere
- cover art by Gregory Manchess
- ISBN 0-8439-5350-0
October 2004
- Top of the Heap by Erle Stanley Gardner
- First publication in 30 years
- cover art by Bill Nelson
- ISBN 0-8439-5352-7
- Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas (a pseudonym for Ardai)
- First time in paperback
- cover art by Robert McGinnis
- ISBN 0-8439-5351-9
November 2004
- Two for the Money by Max Allan Collins
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Mark Texeira
- ISBN 0-8439-5353-5
- The Confession by Domenic Stansberry
- First publication anywhere
- cover art by Richard B. Farrell
- ISBN 0-8439-5354-3
March 2005
- Home Is the Sailor by Day Keene
- First publication in over 30 years
- cover art by Farrell and Manchess
- ISBN 0-8439-5356-X
- Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie
- First publication anywhere
- cover art by Pyle
- ISBN 0-8439-5355-1
May 2005
- 361 by Donald E. Westlake
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Farrell
- ISBN 0-8439-5357-8
- Plunder of the Sun by David Dodge
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by McGinnis
- ISBN 0-8439-5358-6
July 2005
- Branded Woman by Wade Miller
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Glen Orbik
- ISBN 0-8439-5359-4
- Dutch Uncle by Peter Pavia
- First publication anywhere
- cover art by Farrell
- ISBN 0-8439-5360-8
October 2005
- The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
- First publication anywhere
- cover art by Orbik
- ISBN 0-8439-5584-8
November 2005
- The Girl with the Long Green Heart by Lawrence Block
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by McGinnis
- ISBN 0-8439-5585-6
December 2005
- The Gutter and the Grave by Ed McBain
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Farrell
- ISBN 0-8439-5587-2
January 2006
- Night Walker by Donald Hamilton
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Tim Gabor
- ISBN 0-8439-5586-4
February 2006
- A Touch of Death by Charles Williams
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Pyle
- ISBN 0-8439-5588-0
March 2006
- Say It with Bullets by Richard Powell
- First publication in 50 years
- cover art by Michael Koelsch
- ISBN 0-8439-5589-9
April 2006
- Witness to Myself by Seymour Shubin
- First publication anywhere
- cover art by Larry Schwinger
- ISBN 0-8439-5590-2
May 2006
- Bust by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr
- First publication anywhere
- cover art by Farrell
- ISBN 0-8439-5591-0
June 2006
- Straight Cut by Madison Smartt Bell
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Pyle
- ISBN 0-8439-5592-9
July 2006
- Lemons Never Lie by Richard Stark (a pseudonym for Westlake)
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Farrell
- ISBN 0-8439-5593-7
August 2006
- The Last Quarry by Max Allan Collins
- First publication anywhere
- cover art by McGinnis
- ISBN 0-8439-5594-5
September 2006
- The Guns of Heaven by Pete Hamill
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Larry Schwinger
- ISBN 0-8439-5595-3
October 2006
- The Last Match by David Dodge
- Never before published!
- cover art by William George
- ISBN 0-8439-5596-1
November 2006
- Grave Descend by John Lange
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Gregory Manchess
- ISBN 0-8439-5597-X
December 2006
- The Peddler by Richard S. Prather
- Complete and unabridged
- cover art by Robert McGinnis
- ISBN 0-8439-5598-8
