22 March 2007

Hard Case Crime

The most exciting thing in publishing these days (from this desk, anyway) is Hard Case Crime from Dorchester Publishing, q.v. http://www.hardcasecrime.com/index.shtml. Once a month, starting in September of 2004, a new paperback has been released, and it seems that Dorchester is committed to continuing that at least through 2007. About half of the titles are reprints of "classic" noir (A Touch of Death by Charles Williams) and some are new authors (Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie). Famous names like Stephen King, Pete Hamill, Donald Westlake and Erle Stanley Gardner show up alongside emerging stars like Ken Bruen, Jason Starr, Russell Hill and Richard Aleas. The books are consistently good, some are brilliant, but the eye-catching covers give the series a distinctive trademark. The artists have captured the lurid flashiness of the heyday of mystery and thriller paperbacks. They make you want to own the books, show them off on your shelf, and best of all, open them up. Noir fiction is alive and well! M.C. sez "check 'em out."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mark, I am interested in all of the noir authors you list, not all of whom I have read (but will try) and many of whom I really admire. I have to fess up to an adversion to Stephen King, though I admit he is a gifted (and certainly speedy) writer. Perhaps you could suggest something of his I might look at -- and like. It would be appreciated. And yes, let's hear it for Joe Bob! NCO