Hard Case Crime Update from Charles Ardai

Friends,

We just put a new book up on our Web site (www.HardCaseCrime.com): PASSPORT TO PERIL by Robert B. Parker. This is not the same Robert B. Parker as the current author who writes the best-selling Spenser detective novels -- this Robert B. Parker died in 1955 after a short but accomplished career as a journalist during World War II and (it later turned out) as an agent on behalf of the OSS, the predecessor to the CIA. PASSPORT TO PERIL is a terrific thriller set in the shadowy streets of war-torn Budapest, as an American traveling on a stolen passport hunts for the secret of his brother's death. The cover is by Greg Manchess and the opening chapter (which takes place on the Orient Express!) will keep you riveted. You can find both now at our site.

Meanwhile, our printer just delivered advance copies of our first two 2009 titles: KILLING CASTRO by Hard Case Crime favorite Lawrence Block and THE DEAD MAN'S BROTHER by the late science-fiction great Roger Zelazny. (You can find the cover art and a sample chapter for each of these on our Web site, too.) And you have a chance to get your hands on one of these advance copies, since we're giving away 10 of each to lucky readers drawn at random. To enter the drawing, just send an e-mail to drawing@hardcasecrime.com including your name, which of the two books you'd be more interested in receiving, and the address to which you'd like the book mailed if you're selected. All entries must be received by 5PM New York Time on October 25 (only one entry per person, please); we'll draw the names of the 20 winners that night and notify them within a day. Best of luck to all who enter.

Looking ahead, we have an exciting bit of news to share about another upcoming book: We recently learned of the existence of an unpublished novel by the great pulp writer Lester Dent (creator of classic pulp hero Doc Savage). It's called HONEY IN HIS MOUTH, it's a crime novel Dent originally wrote with the publisher Gold Medal in mind, it's one heck of a page-turner...and we'll be publishing it in 2009.

What's that? You want more? Well, no guarantees yet, but...I just got back from the annual "Bouchercon" mystery convention (where SONGS OF INNOCENCE won the Shamus Award, incidentally -- if you haven't read it yet, now you really have to!), and while we were standing on line for drinks atop the catacomb where Edgar Allan Poe is buried, Max Allan Collins and I fell to talking, and...let's just say we may not have seen the last of the hitman known as Quarry.

Which isn't the worst reason I can imagine to pick up our latest title, THE FIRST QUARRY, now available in a bookstore near you. And of course there are other reasons, too -- starting with the fact that you'll enjoy the heck out of it.

Finally, a reminder: We're just 6 weeks away from our big "50th anniversary" book, FIFTY-TO-ONE! Any fan of our books is going to want to get their hands on that one -- so if you haven't already asked your local bookseller to order or hold a copy for you, now's the time...