Wed 19 Apr 2023
A 1001 Midnights PI Review: RALPH DENNIS – Atlanta Deathwatch.
Posted by Steve under 1001 Midnights , Reviews[4] Comments
by Robert J. Randisi
RALPH DENNIS – Atlanta Deathwatch. Jim Hardman #1. Popular Library, paperback original, 1974. Brash Books, softcover, 2018.
In 1974, Popular Library introduced a new series called “Hardman,” by Ralph Dennis, by releasing the first two books in the series simultaneously. These were followed by five more that year, and another five in 1976. The series stands at twelve, and that’s a shame, because although Hardman was marketed as just another men’s adventure series, it was much more than that. It was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale subgenre that was filled with Executioner rip-offs.
Jim Hardman is a disgraced ex-cop working out of Atlanta as an unlicensed PI with an ex-football player sidekick, Hump Evans. They walk a tight legal line and will do just about anything for money that doesn’t offend Hardman’ s morals — which are high for the kind of life he leads.
In this book they are hired by a black mobster called “The Man” to find out who killed a girl he was in love with, but the plots of these novels are secondary to the actions and interactions of the main characters and the crisp writing. At its worst, Dennis’s writing is well above that of the run-of-the-mill men’s adventure series; and at its best, it is a fine example of PI writing that depends little on the conventions of the genre.
Other novels in the series particularly recommended are Working for the Man (1974), The One Dollar Rip-Off (1976), and The Buy-Back Blues (1976).
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Reprinted with permission from 1001 Midnights, edited by Bill Pronzini & Marcia Muller and published by The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 2007. Copyright © 1986, 2007 by the Pronzini-Muller Family Trust.
April 19th, 2023 at 9:11 pm
“Fresh breath of Hell” seemed coined for this series. Tough, smart, surprising in their depth, a debut almost of the kind of changes Crumley, Lansdale, and others would ring on the genre later on tossing tropes to the wind in favor of impact.
I don’t recall a lot of plots too well, but set-pieces, characters, and action scenes linger almost viscerally.
These books delivered a heck of a kick for your Men’s Action paperback money. Barry Malzberg’s Lone Wolf books were probably the only others in that particular genre to take such chances with the formula and do so much with the result.
April 20th, 2023 at 9:17 pm
Here’s a welcome update from Wikipedia:
“For decades, it was believed that there were only 12 books in the Hardman series, which ended with The Buy Back Blues. But a long-lost, unpublished Hardman novel, All Kinds of Ugly, was discovered by Lee Goldberg in late 2019 and was released by Brash Books in February 2020. The book was written during the course of Dennis’ research for MacTaggart’s War and was originally entitled Hardman in London. Publishers Weekly said in their review that All Kinds of Ugly demonstrated that Dennis’ “strong prose and well-paced storytelling place him alongside the likes of George V. Higgins and Ross MacDonald.” In June 2021, the book was chosen as a finalist for the 2020 Shamus Award for Best Paperback Novel by the Private Eye Writers of America.
Here’s the link to Dennis’s complete entry:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Dennis
April 26th, 2023 at 11:58 pm
I stumbled on this series a few years ago and was delighted with them. I completely agree that anyone dismissing them as some sort of Mack Bolan-light would be completely mistaken.
August 21st, 2023 at 9:31 pm
The Hardman books are incredible. I’ve written about my obsession to republish the books… and later everyhing Dennis ever wrote … .in a number of CrimeReads essays:
Discovering a Lost Classic of 1970s Crime Fiction
https://crimereads.com/discovering-a-lost-classic-of-1970s-crime-fiction/
Ralph Dennis & the Lost Hardman classics
https://crimereads.com/ralph-dennis-the-lost-hardman-classics/
An Enduring Passion for a 1970s Crime Series and the Thrill of Discovering a Lost Novel
https://crimereads.com/an-enduring-passion-for-a-1970s-crime-series-and-the-thrill-of-discovering-a-lost-novel/
And, later this year, we will be publishing Ralph Dennis’ first, unpublished novel, which was recently discovered in an attic in Atlanta….