Hard Case Crime: The Max (20 page)

Humming that anthem Angela used to sing,
The Soldier’s Song
, he drove at a nice easy pace till he hit the open road. Then, thinking he better start getting used to his new identity, he shouted “Bollix to ye all!” and fucking floored it.

Discover Where Max and Angela’s Odyssey Began!

by
KEN BRUEN

and
JASON STARR

“Some of the funniest dialogue this side of Elmore Leonard.”

—Otto Penzler

When Max Fisher hired Angela Petrakos as his assistant he was an unhappily married man. But the two of them had a plan to put an end to that unfortunate situation: Pay an ex-IRA hit man to put Deirdre Fisher out of her misery. Only there’s a secret Angela didn’t tell Max: She’s sleeping with the hit man — and Max is next on the hit list.

But Max survives, only to reinvent himself as a hip-hop drug dealer, while Angela finds herself hooking up with a would-be world record holder... in the field of serial killing.

Bust
and
Slide
are black comic masterpieces by two of the most acclaimed writers working in the crime fiction genre. Between them, Bruen and Starr have been nominated for every major award in the field, and their collaborations for Hard Case Crime have won raves from publications ranging from the
Chicago Sun-Times
and the
New York Sun
to
Entertainment Weekly
. If you enjoyed
The Max
, don’t miss the chance to find out where it all started!

Available now at your favorite bookstore. For more information, visit
www.HardCaseCrime.com

From the Award-Winning Co-Author of BUST, SLIDE and THE MAX

by
JASON STARR

A New York bar bouncer with dreams of being more, Tommy Russo jumps at the chance to join a horse-owning syndicate. But to do so he’ll have to pony up $10,000 — and that’s money he hasn’t got. So what’s an ambitious young man to do?
Anything he has to...

A
CCLAIM FOR
FAKE I.D.—

“An American masterpiece, a piece of great literature while it’s also a great crime novel.”

—Pulpetti

“A powerful novel of the American Dream turning into the American Nightmare.”

—Time Out

“Starr expertly combines elements of hard-boiled crime novels with a dark view of human nature to create a one-of-a-kind, mesmerizing read.”

—Publishers Weekly

—
AND RAVES FOR
JASON STARR:

“Jason Starr is hypnotically good.”

—Lee Child

“You can’t stop reading.”

—Newsweek

Available now at your favorite bookstore. For more information, visit

www.HardCaseCrime.com

Sexy Suspense From an MWA Grandmaster!

The Girl With the

LONG GREEN HEART

by
LAWRENCE BLOCK

SHE WAS EVERY MAN’S DREAM — AND ONE MAN’S NIGHTMARE

Johnny Hayden and Doug Rance had a scheme to take real estate entrepreneur Wallace Gunderman for all he was worth. But they needed a girl on the inside to make it work.

Enter Evelyn Stone: Gunderman’s secretary, his lover — and his worst enemy. Gunderman promised to marry her, but never came through. Now she’s ready to make him pay...

A
CCLAIM
F
OR
LAWRENCE BLOCK:

“The narrative is layered with detail, the action is handled with Block’s distinctive clarity of style and the ending is a stunning tour de force.”

—New York Times

“Block is awfully good, with an ear for dialogue, an eye for lowlife types and a gift for fast and effortless storytelling that bear comparison to Elmore Leonard.”

—Los Angeles Times

“Wonderful.”

—USA Today

“Lawrence Block is a master of entertainment.”

—Washington Post Book World

Available now at your favorite bookstore. For more information, visit

www.HardCaseCrime.com