Reads like the debut novel it is. Those used to reading the hardboiled works of Piccerilli, Cain, Macdonald, etc will be disappointed. ( )

An amazingly Good first book. Lots of violence and strong language but what is becoming rare, a really good storyline. Boo and Jr are hired to find a teenage runaway and where she winds up as well as where the book goes is a very dark place. This was an outstanding gritty book, as well as a Terrific beach or pool read. ( )

The Hard Bounce has everything you want in a crime novel. Noirish atmosphere, attitude, rich characters, supremely snappy dialogue, descriptive and fast moving action, humor. And heart.

Boo Malone and his business partner, Junior are friends since their time as orphans at Saint Gabriel’s Home for Boys. They provide security to bars in Boston, but they’re both bouncers at heart. Their bond goes deeper than business or friendship from their days as boys having to look out for each other at the home.

They’re hired to look for a missing fourteen year-old girl, Cassandra. Not their usual type of job, but the money is good- really good. Of course with big money comes big trouble and once the action starts in never really stops.

They’re both big, ugly, tattooed guys, and among the great character descriptions some of the best are reserved for skinny people. One is “pipe-cleaner thin.” Another’s “clothes hung off him like socks on a chicken.” Equal opportunity – a four hundred pound woman is “one of the fattest beasts outside a zoo.”

Boo and Junior run across some real malice in their search for Cassandra. There are no easy answers to the ugliness the world has to offer and no happy endings. What there is, is a book with great writing and a plot that keeps pounding away and never lets up. ( )