-
The Charleston Knife Is Back in Town
- Hardman, Book 2
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
The second novel in the unforgettable, long-lost series by Ralph Dennis is finally back in print...after being coveted for years by collectors of the very best in hardboiled fiction.
Jim Hardman was a mediocre Atlanta cop until he was wrongly accused of corruption and thrown off the force. Now he works as an unlicensed PI, troubleshooter, and bodyguard...often partnered with his drinking buddy Hump Evans, a black, ex-NFL player who supports his playboy lifestyle by working as hired muscle.
Five kids rip off a gambling party attended by Hump Evans and some of Atlanta’s criminal and political elite. Hardman is hired to recover the loot and find the kids before they are caught and butchered by a hitman from Charleston with a very sharp knife.
This new edition includes an introduction by Joe R. Lansdale, the New York Times best-selling author of the Hap & Leonard crime novels.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Atlanta Deathwatch
- Hardman, Book 1
- By: Ralph Dennis
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jim Hardman was a mediocre Atlanta cop until he was wrongly accused of corruption and thrown off the force. Now he works as an unlicensed PI, trouble-shooter, and bodyguard...often partnered with his drinking buddy Hump Evans, a black ex-NFL player. Hardman is hired by The Man, a black mobster, to investigate the murder of his white girlfriend, a college student. It’s a case that plunges Hardman and Evans into the center of a violent street war that stretches from Atlanta’s seedy back alleys to the marbled corridors of power.
-
-
First in a Long Out-of-print Series
- By ssimon2000 on 01-28-19
By: Ralph Dennis
-
Of Mice and Minestrone
- Hap and Leonard: The Early Years (Hap and Leonard)
- By: Kathleen Kent - introduction, Kasey Lansdale - contributor, Joe R. Lansdale
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hap Collins looks like a good ol’ boy. But even in his misspent youth, his best pal is Leonard Pine, who is Black, gay, and the ultimate outsider. Inseparable friends, Hap and Leonard climb into the boxing ring, visit their families, get in bar fights, and just go fishing - all the while confronting racists, righting wrongs, and eating a whole lot of delicious food.
-
-
Wringing every last drop
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 04-08-23
By: Kathleen Kent - introduction, and others
-
Everybody Knows
- A Novel
- By: Jordan Harper
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing, William DeMeritt
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to Mae Pruett’s Los Angeles, where “Nobody talks. But everybody whispers.” As a “black-bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms, at the center of a sprawling web of lawyers, PR flaks, and private security firms she calls “The Beast.” They protect the rich and powerful and depraved by any means necessary.
-
-
Dreck!
- By cindy m on 06-09-23
By: Jordan Harper
-
The Donut Legion
- A Novel
- By: Joe R. Lansdale
- Narrated by: Joe R. Lansdale, Kasey Lansdale, Finlay Stevenson, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlie Garner has a bad feeling. His ex-wife, Meg, has been missing for over a week and one quick peek into her home shows all her possessions packed up in boxes. Neighbors claim she’s running from bill collectors, but Charlie suspects something more sinister is afoot. Meg was last seen working at the local donut shop, a business run by a shadow group most refer to as ‘The Saucer People’; a space-age, evangelist cult who believe their compound to be the site of an extraterrestrial Second Coming.
-
-
cults, donuts and noir of my!
- By Anonymous User on 05-02-23
By: Joe R. Lansdale
-
11-22-63
- A Novel
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Craig Wasson
- Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King - who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer - takes listeners on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.
-
-
I Owe Stephen King An Apology
- By Kelly - Write Well Academy on 04-16-12
By: Stephen King
-
A Drink Before the War
- By: Dennis Lehane
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With novels like Mystic River and Shutter Island, Dennis Lehane has dramatically altered the landscape of the crime thriller—while boldly overstepping the boundaries that have long separated mystery from literature. Now two of his sensational early novels have been combined in a single volume—two gritty and mesmerizing masterworks of suspense featuring the private eye duo of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro.
-
-
White Bread
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-30-12
By: Dennis Lehane
-
Atlanta Deathwatch
- Hardman, Book 1
- By: Ralph Dennis
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jim Hardman was a mediocre Atlanta cop until he was wrongly accused of corruption and thrown off the force. Now he works as an unlicensed PI, trouble-shooter, and bodyguard...often partnered with his drinking buddy Hump Evans, a black ex-NFL player. Hardman is hired by The Man, a black mobster, to investigate the murder of his white girlfriend, a college student. It’s a case that plunges Hardman and Evans into the center of a violent street war that stretches from Atlanta’s seedy back alleys to the marbled corridors of power.
-
-
First in a Long Out-of-print Series
- By ssimon2000 on 01-28-19
By: Ralph Dennis
-
Of Mice and Minestrone
- Hap and Leonard: The Early Years (Hap and Leonard)
- By: Kathleen Kent - introduction, Kasey Lansdale - contributor, Joe R. Lansdale
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hap Collins looks like a good ol’ boy. But even in his misspent youth, his best pal is Leonard Pine, who is Black, gay, and the ultimate outsider. Inseparable friends, Hap and Leonard climb into the boxing ring, visit their families, get in bar fights, and just go fishing - all the while confronting racists, righting wrongs, and eating a whole lot of delicious food.
-
-
Wringing every last drop
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 04-08-23
By: Kathleen Kent - introduction, and others
-
Everybody Knows
- A Novel
- By: Jordan Harper
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing, William DeMeritt
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to Mae Pruett’s Los Angeles, where “Nobody talks. But everybody whispers.” As a “black-bag” publicist tasked not with letting the good news out but keeping the bad news in, Mae works for one of LA’s most powerful and sought-after crisis PR firms, at the center of a sprawling web of lawyers, PR flaks, and private security firms she calls “The Beast.” They protect the rich and powerful and depraved by any means necessary.
-
-
Dreck!
- By cindy m on 06-09-23
By: Jordan Harper
-
The Donut Legion
- A Novel
- By: Joe R. Lansdale
- Narrated by: Joe R. Lansdale, Kasey Lansdale, Finlay Stevenson, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charlie Garner has a bad feeling. His ex-wife, Meg, has been missing for over a week and one quick peek into her home shows all her possessions packed up in boxes. Neighbors claim she’s running from bill collectors, but Charlie suspects something more sinister is afoot. Meg was last seen working at the local donut shop, a business run by a shadow group most refer to as ‘The Saucer People’; a space-age, evangelist cult who believe their compound to be the site of an extraterrestrial Second Coming.
-
-
cults, donuts and noir of my!
- By Anonymous User on 05-02-23
By: Joe R. Lansdale
-
11-22-63
- A Novel
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Craig Wasson
- Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King - who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer - takes listeners on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.
-
-
I Owe Stephen King An Apology
- By Kelly - Write Well Academy on 04-16-12
By: Stephen King
-
A Drink Before the War
- By: Dennis Lehane
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With novels like Mystic River and Shutter Island, Dennis Lehane has dramatically altered the landscape of the crime thriller—while boldly overstepping the boundaries that have long separated mystery from literature. Now two of his sensational early novels have been combined in a single volume—two gritty and mesmerizing masterworks of suspense featuring the private eye duo of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro.
-
-
White Bread
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-30-12
By: Dennis Lehane
-
The Singapore Wink
- Mysterious Press - HighBridge Audio Classics
- By: Ross Thomas
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two pirates do battle on an old junk ship in Singapore Harbor. They leap nimbly from deck to rigging, crossing swords like fencing masters. And then one surprises the other, slicing a rope and sending the unfortunate pirate tumbling into the bay. This is how stuntman Angelo Sacchetti dies. Edward Cauthorne was his opponent, a fellow stuntman whose career died along with Sacchetti. He’s selling used cars when two thugs approach him.
By: Ross Thomas
-
Deadline
- Jack McMorrow Mystery, Book 1
- By: Gerry Boyle
- Narrated by: Michael A. Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Jack McMorrow, a hard-hitting crime reporter for the New York Times, now living in the backwoods of Maine, near the paper plant in Rumford. Jack's there to run the local paper, but when a unpopular photographer is found drowned in a nearby canal, Jack gets drawn into a complicated game that has kept members of the town silenced and in fear for their lives. Maine may be the place where life is as it should be, but McMorrow finds out staying alive may be harder than he thought.
-
-
Great narration
- By MolllyT on 02-06-20
By: Gerry Boyle
-
361
- A Hard Case Crime Novel
- By: Donald E. Westlake
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The men in the tan-and-cream Chrysler came with guns blazing. When Ray Kelly woke up in the hospital, it was a month later, he was missing an eye, and his father was dead. Then things started to get bad. From the mind of the incomparable Donald E. Westlake comes a devastating story of betrayal and revenge, an exploration of the limits of family loyalty and how far a man will go when everything he loves is taken from him.
-
-
Numbers mean violence
- By Ryan on 03-23-21
-
No Game for a Dame
- Maggie Sullivan Mystery, Book 1
- By: M. Ruth Myers
- Narrated by: Mary Ann Jacobs
- Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A .38, a nip of gin, and sensational legs get Depression-era private investigator Maggie Sullivan out of most scrapes - until a stranger threatens to bust her nose, she's hauled in on suspicion of his murder and she finds herself in the cross-hairs of a crime boss with connections at City Hall.
-
-
A Perfect LISTEN: Pithy Mystery + Spot-On Voice
- By JHague on 07-16-15
By: M. Ruth Myers
-
Killing Man
- By: Mickey Spillane
- Narrated by: Stacy Keach
- Length: 2 hrs and 41 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The image of bloodshed in his office remained etched in Mike Hammer's mind forever - his secretary sprawled on the floor and a stranger sitting dead and mutilated at his own desk. In one moment a storm of madness entered the private eye's life. As he starts hunting for the killer, Hammer is haunted by the message left on his desk: "You die for killing me." Suddenly, he is in too deep with a lethal blonde who has big ideas, a CIA secret, and another set of murders.
-
-
Great listening!
- By Kindle Customer on 03-19-21
By: Mickey Spillane
-
The Town
- A Novel
- By: Chuck Hogan
- Narrated by: Donnie Wahlberg
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Four masked men - thieves, rivals, and friends from the tough streets of Charlestown - take on a Boston bank at gunpoint. Holding bank manager Claire Keesey hostage and cleaning out the vault were simple tasks. But career criminal Doug MacRay didnt plan on one thing: falling hard for Claire.
-
-
Interesting Concept; Wooden Characters
- By Maggie Mac on 01-04-11
By: Chuck Hogan
-
The Hunter
- By: Richard Stark
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You probably haven't noticed them. But they've noticed you. They notice everything. That's their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers' work habits. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack. They're heisters.
-
-
A dark story
- By Dave Nelson on 04-06-13
By: Richard Stark
-
Shaft: The Original Novel
- By: Ernest Tidyman
- Narrated by: Will Dixon
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Shaft is a private eye. John Shaft is a black man made of muscle and ice, and he has no prejudices. John Shaft will kill anyone...black or white. When the cloistered daughter of Harlem's crime boss discovers the true nature of her father's work, she runs off to be as bad as dad. By the time she disappears, she's into sex, liquor, dope, and a few other scenes. Now, Big Daddy wants Shaft to get his baby back.
-
-
Shaft's The Name, Shaft's The Game
- By JAMARR GREENE on 01-20-21
By: Ernest Tidyman
-
Quarry
- A Quarry Novel, Book 1
- By: Max Allan Collins
- Narrated by: Christopher Kipiniak
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quarry doesn't kill just anybody these days. He restricts himself to targeting other hitmen, availing his marked-for-death clients of two services: eliminating the killers sent after them, and finding out who hired them…and then removing that problem, as well. So far he's rid of the world of nobody who would be missed. But this time he finds himself zeroing in on the grieving family of a missing cheerleader. Does the hitman's hitman have the wrong quarry in his sights?
-
-
The great Max Allan Collins
- By Bradley Paul Valentine on 09-25-16
-
I, the Jury
- By: Mickey Spillane
- Narrated by: Mike Dennis
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here's Mickey Spillane and Mike Hammer in their roughest and readiest—a double-strength shot of sex, violence, and action that is vintage Spillane all the way. It's a tough-guy mystery to please even the most bloodthirsty of fans!
-
-
read this one for what it is
- By Midwestbonsai on 07-08-16
By: Mickey Spillane
-
Setup on Front Street
- Key West Nocturnes Series, Book 1
- By: Mike Dennis
- Narrated by: Mike Dennis
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Key West, 1991. Don Roy Doyle is back in town. Tough and quick-witted, he's fresh out of prison, where he served three years for a diamond swindle. Now he's back to collect his share of the proceeds, about $200,000, but the money has vanished. A local family dynasty which has controlled the island's politics for generations, a cop with a grudge, the FBI, and the Russian mob all have a stake in the action.
-
-
Believable characters and unexpected twists.
- By Yleana on 09-15-13
By: Mike Dennis
-
Skin Deep
- The Simeon Grist Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Timothy Hallinan
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For a fee so big he can't turn it down, Simeon Grist is hired to watchdog the kind of guy he'd usually prefer to throw through the nearest window. Toby Vane is the golden boy of prime-time television, whose gee-whiz smile and chiseled features mask a dark secret that would take the shine off for his millions of adoring female fans: every now and then he beats up a woman, and almost any woman will do.
-
-
Good performance of a slightly above average book
- By Richard W. on 06-27-15
By: Timothy Hallinan
Related to this topic
-
The Hunter
- By: Richard Stark
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You probably haven't noticed them. But they've noticed you. They notice everything. That's their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers' work habits. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack. They're heisters.
-
-
A dark story
- By Dave Nelson on 04-06-13
By: Richard Stark
-
Quarry
- A Quarry Novel, Book 1
- By: Max Allan Collins
- Narrated by: Christopher Kipiniak
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quarry doesn't kill just anybody these days. He restricts himself to targeting other hitmen, availing his marked-for-death clients of two services: eliminating the killers sent after them, and finding out who hired them…and then removing that problem, as well. So far he's rid of the world of nobody who would be missed. But this time he finds himself zeroing in on the grieving family of a missing cheerleader. Does the hitman's hitman have the wrong quarry in his sights?
-
-
The great Max Allan Collins
- By Bradley Paul Valentine on 09-25-16
-
The Deep Blue Good-By
- A Travis McGee Novel, Book 1
- By: John D. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He's a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He's also a knight errant who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: he'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.
-
-
Before the A-Team, there was Travis McGee
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-12-16
-
361
- A Hard Case Crime Novel
- By: Donald E. Westlake
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The men in the tan-and-cream Chrysler came with guns blazing. When Ray Kelly woke up in the hospital, it was a month later, he was missing an eye, and his father was dead. Then things started to get bad. From the mind of the incomparable Donald E. Westlake comes a devastating story of betrayal and revenge, an exploration of the limits of family loyalty and how far a man will go when everything he loves is taken from him.
-
-
Numbers mean violence
- By Ryan on 03-23-21
-
The Sins of the Fathers
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The hooker was young, pretty...and dead, butchered in a Greenwich Village apartment. The prime suspect, a minister's son, was also dead, the victim of a jailhouse suicide. The case is closed, as far as the NYPD is concerned. Now the murdered prostitute's father wants it opened again--that's where Matthew Scudder comes in.
-
-
Good introduction to a popular series
- By Sharron on 12-26-11
By: Lawrence Block
-
Night Life
- By: David C. Taylor
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York City, 1954. The Cold War is heating up, Senator Joe McCarthy is running a witch hunt for communists in America, the newly formed CIA is fighting a turf battle with the FBI to see who will be the primary United States intelligence agency, and the bodies of murdered young men are turning up all over the city.
-
-
terrific in every way
- By Martha on 04-12-16
By: David C. Taylor
-
The Hunter
- By: Richard Stark
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You probably haven't noticed them. But they've noticed you. They notice everything. That's their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers' work habits. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack. They're heisters.
-
-
A dark story
- By Dave Nelson on 04-06-13
By: Richard Stark
-
Quarry
- A Quarry Novel, Book 1
- By: Max Allan Collins
- Narrated by: Christopher Kipiniak
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Quarry doesn't kill just anybody these days. He restricts himself to targeting other hitmen, availing his marked-for-death clients of two services: eliminating the killers sent after them, and finding out who hired them…and then removing that problem, as well. So far he's rid of the world of nobody who would be missed. But this time he finds himself zeroing in on the grieving family of a missing cheerleader. Does the hitman's hitman have the wrong quarry in his sights?
-
-
The great Max Allan Collins
- By Bradley Paul Valentine on 09-25-16
-
The Deep Blue Good-By
- A Travis McGee Novel, Book 1
- By: John D. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He's a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He's also a knight errant who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: he'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.
-
-
Before the A-Team, there was Travis McGee
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-12-16
-
361
- A Hard Case Crime Novel
- By: Donald E. Westlake
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The men in the tan-and-cream Chrysler came with guns blazing. When Ray Kelly woke up in the hospital, it was a month later, he was missing an eye, and his father was dead. Then things started to get bad. From the mind of the incomparable Donald E. Westlake comes a devastating story of betrayal and revenge, an exploration of the limits of family loyalty and how far a man will go when everything he loves is taken from him.
-
-
Numbers mean violence
- By Ryan on 03-23-21
-
The Sins of the Fathers
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The hooker was young, pretty...and dead, butchered in a Greenwich Village apartment. The prime suspect, a minister's son, was also dead, the victim of a jailhouse suicide. The case is closed, as far as the NYPD is concerned. Now the murdered prostitute's father wants it opened again--that's where Matthew Scudder comes in.
-
-
Good introduction to a popular series
- By Sharron on 12-26-11
By: Lawrence Block
-
Night Life
- By: David C. Taylor
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York City, 1954. The Cold War is heating up, Senator Joe McCarthy is running a witch hunt for communists in America, the newly formed CIA is fighting a turf battle with the FBI to see who will be the primary United States intelligence agency, and the bodies of murdered young men are turning up all over the city.
-
-
terrific in every way
- By Martha on 04-12-16
By: David C. Taylor
-
Big City, Bad Blood
- By: Sean Chercover
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Disillusioned newspaper reporter-turned-private detective Ray Dudgeon doesn't want to save the world; he just wants to do an honest job well. But when doing an honest job threatens society's most powerful and corrupt, Ray's odds of survival make for a sucker's bet.
-
-
Quintessentially Chicago
- By Eva Gannon on 09-21-09
By: Sean Chercover
-
The Brass Cupcake: A Novel
- By: John D. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A classic novel by John D. MacDonald with an exclusive introduction written and read by Dean Koontz. Ex-cop Cliff Bartells might be the last honest man in Florence City, Florida. After quitting the force over a crisis of conscience, he takes a job at an insurance company buying back stolen jewelry. Cliff is focused on keeping the bottom line down and staying out of the spotlight.But when an affluent tourist from Boston is murdered over a hefty collection of jewelry, Cliff finds himself wrapped up in a case that’s making national headlines.
-
-
Good Social History ...
- By Montana on 05-14-17
-
Flood
- A Novel (Burke, Book 1)
- By: Andrew Vachss
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Burke's newest client is a woman named Flood, who has the face of an angel, the body of a high-priced stripper, and the skills of a professional executioner. She wants Burke to find a monster for her - so she can kill him with her bare hands. In this thriller, Andrew Vachss's renegade private eye teams up with a lethally gifted avenger to follow a child's murderer through the catacombs of New York, where every alley is blind and the penthouses are as dangerous as the basements.
-
-
Noir!
- By Snoodely on 03-06-14
By: Andrew Vachss
-
Dead Irish
- Dismas Hardy, Book 1
- By: John Lescroart
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his new life as a bartender at the Little Shamrock, Dismas Hardy is just hoping for a little peace. He's left both the police force and his law career behind. Unfortunately it's not as easy to leave behind the memory of a shattering personal loss - but for the time being, he can always take the edge off with a stiff drink and a round of darts.
-
-
Soap-opera thrillers?
- By Snoodely on 01-27-10
By: John Lescroart
-
Pursuit: A Novel
- By: Thomas Perry
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thirteen bodies are found in a Louisville restaurant. When the police can find no suspect or motive, the family of one of the victims seeks the services of the enigmatic and solitary specialist Roy Prescott, known for his ability to find people who don't want to be found.
-
-
Mr. Perry continues to amaze.
- By Richard Delman on 12-27-12
By: Thomas Perry
-
The Butcher's Boy
- By: Thomas Perry
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thomas Perry's Edgar Award-winning debut novel follows a professional hitman on the run from both the mafia and the government.
-
-
A writer with extreme talents.
- By richard on 02-26-12
By: Thomas Perry
-
Cold City
- Repairman Jack: Early Years Trilogy, Book 1
- By: F. Paul Wilson
- Narrated by: Alexander Cendese
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If you've never read a Repairman Jack novel, this is the place to begin. It's 1990. A twenty-one-year-old named Jack has dropped out of college, leaving his old life behind to build a new one in New York City. Manhattan's rough edges are jagged enough to shred any unwary newcomer, but perhaps not one who is determined to stay off the grid, at any cost, in the busiest metropolis on earth. And to do so, he'll have to take jobs of a less than legal nature.
-
-
Fun, as long you don't think too much
- By Andrew Pollack on 01-17-14
By: F. Paul Wilson
-
The Last Dead Girl
- By: Harry Dolan
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a rainy night in April, a chance encounter on a lonely road draws David into a romance with Jana Fletcher, a beautiful young law student. Jana is an enigma: living in a run-down apartment and sporting a bruise on her cheek that she refuses to explain. David would like to know her secrets, but he lets them lie-until it's too late. When Jana is brutally murdered, the police consider David a prime suspect.
-
-
A great, dark read, appropriate reader too.
- By Karen on 05-01-14
By: Harry Dolan
-
Until Proven Guilty
- J. P. Beaumont Series, Book 1
- By: J. A. Jance
- Narrated by: Gene Engene
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lurking in the dark corners of J. P. Beaumont's bizarre case was not just a demented mind obsessed with murder, but secrets so deadly that even a street-tough cop could die guessing.
-
-
Until proven guilty
- By Jean on 04-21-11
By: J. A. Jance
-
The Man in the Crooked Hat
- By: Harry Dolan
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Private investigator Jack Pellum has spent two years searching for the man he believes murdered his wife - a man he last saw wearing a peacoat and a fedora. Months of posting flyers and combing through crime records yields no leads. Then a local writer commits suicide, and he leaves a bewildering message that may be the first breadcrumb in a winding trail of unsolved murders....
-
-
Crazy Glue'd Me To Story
- By Ted on 01-11-18
By: Harry Dolan
-
Red Harvest
- By: Dashiell Hammett
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the last honest citizen of Poisonville was murdered, the Continental Op stayed on to punish the guilty--even if that meant taking on an entire town. Red Harvest is more than a superb crime novel: it is a classic exploration of corruption and violence in the American grain. From the author of The Maltese Falcon.
-
-
Great story, great narration, terrible reccording
- By yep on 08-21-14
By: Dashiell Hammett
-
A Nail Through The Heart
- A Poke Rafferty Thriller
- By: Timothy Hallinan
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poke Rafferty was writing offbeat travel guides for the young and terminally bored when Bangkok stole his heart. Now the American expat is assembling a new family with Rose, the former go-go dancer he wants to marry, and Miaow, the tiny, streetwise urchin he wants to adopt. But trouble in the guise of good intentions comes calling just when everything is beginning to work out.
-
-
Ever been to Bangkok?
- By Richard Delman on 12-11-11
By: Timothy Hallinan
What listeners say about The Charleston Knife Is Back in Town
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Abby Martin
- 04-03-19
1970's vintage mystery
The Hardman series is a re-release of a 1970's era series. Like the other reviewer says, the book is a product of it's time. Listeners are made aware that some aspects of the book are not P.C. by contemporary standards.
Hardman is a disgraced Atlanta cop doing his best to navigate the line between legitimate private investigation and the rougher parts of Atlanta. The mystery is tight and the characters are well written (flawed, yet well intentioned).
If you like a gritty, urban setting and rough around the edges characters, you'll like this story. This book is well written and definitely worth a listen.
The narration is excellent.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Laura
- 03-04-19
Series Keeps Getting More Enjoyable
I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.
This book was originally published in the 1970's and has the vernacular of that era. This is the second book in the Hardman series. It is a standalone story with no cliffhanger ending. However, this series is great [and thanks to Brasch Books is being re-released, hopefully to the larger audience it deserves], so I highly recommend that you start with the first book. You also gain some additional insight into the MCs - their relationship and background by starting with the first book.
Here, Hump attends a party of high rollers where all of the partygoers are robbed. Hardman is hired by the grandmother of one of the robbers to find him before he is killed by a hitman seeking some retribution. Hardman and Hump, loosely working with the Detective, work to right some wrongs in their own way.
This is so well written - the investigation has some great twists and turns but the relationship between Hump and Hardman is absolutely worth the price of admission. I really enjoy the humor - both situational and in their conversations.
The narrator, Shawn Compton, does a great job. His tone and pace completely compliment this series.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rayc
- 03-05-19
A 5* read/listen.
The Charleston Knife Is Back in Town: Hardman, Book 2. I read these books many many years ago, now listening to them is a real pleasure. A simpler style of writing then than now, the violence language & sex is less graphic - definitely NOT politically correct by today's standards.
It is a great read/listen, sometimes similar to "Shaft" in it's style.
I highly recommends this step back in time for anyone who remembers this series. Also for anyone who wants a taaste of the crime genre of that era.
I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my own request, and voluntarily leave this review.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dee
- 02-22-19
I. Love. This. Series.
This is only the second book in the series but I am professing my undying love nonetheless. This series rocks!!!!
The two main characters, one Black and one White, are a messed up version of a dynamic duo but they work. Set in the backdrop of the still very racist America of the 70's, Hump and Jim go about righting the wrongs (sorta.)
The narrator has this flow and way of being that just helps you settle comfortably into the story. This book was easily a 10 out of 10!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ssimon2000
- 02-25-19
Outstanding Atlanta Noir

My Books
Browse ▾
Community ▾
Steve Simon rated a book it was amazing
8 minutes ago

The Charleston Knife is Back in Town (Hardman Book 2)
by Ralph Dennis
Read
Read in February 2019
I received this from AudioBookBoom and the publisher, Brash Books, in exchange for an honest review.
This really is an outstanding series, and is so much more than the "Men's Action Adventure" that is was marketed as back when it was first published in the mid-70s. So glad that Brash Books is rereleasing these long-lost books!
Just like the first one, Jim Hardman and Hump Evans get wrapped up in some violent shenanigans, this time involving a group of kids who set up a robbery of some high-rolling gamblers; of course, it goes wrong, and they are hunted by the Atlanta gang bosses, along with a hired assassin. Hardman and Hump are hired by the grandmother of one of the boys, and immediately run afowl of the assassin and an Italian mafioso.
As expected, Shawn Compton does an outstanding job narrating, and I can't wait to listen to the next one!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Peterack
- 03-05-19
Great Entry In A Series that has returned.
Ralph Dennis wrote a number of "Hardman" books back in the day and they are back! Having never read them, I am excited to be finally doing so. I liked the first one, but his second surpasses that entry by far. Hardman and his sidekick, Hump (a former football player) attend a boxing match. Following that Hump is invited to a party which he attends only to discover that it was a set up.
When the mother of one of the robbers comes to Hardman to get her son out of the gang and to safety, he and Hump take the case. What begins as a by the numbers adventure mystery soon becomes complicated when an assassin for hire - The Charleson Knive - is hired to kill the gang members. This begins a race between the two elements to locate the gang first.
What a well plotted story. The author does not waste words, and yet conveys the location, characters so well that the plot absolutely moves swifter than a hot knife through melted butter. Narrator Shawn Compton, not a "showy" narrator, still conveys individual voices for the characters and guides the reader through this taught tale.
Hopefully each book in the series is better than the previous. In short time I will be reading and listening to the 3rd in the series. Note: you do not have to read the first entry to enjoy this one. Though there is some linking of characters, the plot of the previous one is referred to so a reader who begins with this will not be lost. Grab these books and listen/read as soon as you can. You will not be sorry!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!