Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Pg. 69: Allan Guthrie's "Hard Man"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Allan Guthrie's Hard Man.

About the book, from the author's website:
Has Pearce finally found his match? The time-served Edinburgh hard man is still recovering from the loss of his mother when he’s invited by the dysfunctional Baxter family to protect their pregnant 16-year-old daughter from Wallace, her 26-year-old husband. Having found out that the baby’s not his, Wallace – a man with a reputation for violence – has sworn vengeance. Pearce declines the job: he’s no babysitter. But when Wallace starts taunting Pearce, he goes too far. Before long, Pearce is forced to confront him. Now it’s deeply personal. Time to find out who the real hard man is...
Among the praise for Hard Man:

"By turns hilarious and horrifying, Guthrie’s original voice grabs the reader and doesn’t let go."
--Kirkus (starred review)

"The mixture of black comedy and relentless action makes this a hardboiled romp to remember."
--Library Journal

"If there's going to be a better crime novel in 2007, it's one that will have to do a lot to beat Hard Man."
--Shots Mag

"one of those books that makes you wonder what the writer will come up with next"
--Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine

"a dark, perfectly placed journey through psychoses, surreality and the twilight world of noir that is Guthrie’s twisted vision of Edinburgh"
--Crime Scene Scotland

"a thoroughly engaging tale, complete with some twists that are so stealthily deployed they're pure genius."
--Sandra Ruttan, Spinetingler Magazine

“If you’re looking at this book wondering if you should buy it, let me save you some trouble: Buy it. Because about halfway through it, when the floor completely drops out from under you, you’re going to want to call me and say, “Jesus, what did you do to me?” but you won’t be able to, because you’ll be too busy feverishly turning pages. Sure, I could throw the usual machine-gun barrage of adjectives at this book — violent, funny, smart, stark, sacreligious, utterly screwed — but again, let’s cut to the chase. Allan Guthrie’s Hard Man is already my favorite book of 2007 because, frankly, I can’t imagine what would top it.”
--Duane Swierczynski, author of The Blonde

"Dark, twisted, violent, and brilliant."
--Stuart Macbride, author of Dying Light

"The characters of Allan Guthrie's Hard Man suffer all the consequences that pluck and thick-skulled stupidity can bring upon them, and Guthrie describes it all with skill, wit, and originality: I promise this is a story you haven't read before."
--Thomas Perry, bestselling author of Nightlife

Visit Allan Guthrie's Noir Originals Website and the Hard Man blog.

The Page 69 Test: Hard Man.

--Marshal Zeringue