AWARD WINNERS KEN BRUEN AND JASON STARR TEAM UP AGAIN – FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A DECADE!

AWARD WINNERS KEN BRUEN AND 

JASON STARR TEAM UP AGAIN – FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A DECADE!

Hard Case Crime to Publish PIMP on
10^th Anniversary of Duo’s First Collaboration

RAVES FOR THE COLLABORATIONS OF BRUEN AND STARR:

“Two of the crime fiction world’s brightest talents, Ken Bruen and Jason Starr, join forces for one of the year’s most darkly satisfying and electric noir novels…This is one of the top guilty pleasures of the year.”

-- Chicago Sun-Times

“This tense, witty, cold-blooded noir…reads seamlessly—and mercilessly…Funny [and] vividly fresh.”

         -- Entertainment Weekly

“Adventurous crime-fiction fans who like their literary escapism totally unrestrained will find this brazenly violent and downright vulgar novel…as filthy as it is fun.”

         -- Chicago Tribune

“A full-tilt, rocking homage to noir novels of the 1950s...Hard Case’s latest release is smart, trashy fun.”

-- Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Fasten your seat belts, and enjoy the bumpy ride of double- and triple-crosses, blackmail, and murder. If Quentin Tarantino is looking for another movie project, this novel with its mix of shocking violence and black comedy would be the perfect candidate. Highly recommended as a terrific summer read.”

         -- Library Journal, starred review

“Two of the century’s best thriller writers have joined forces to bring a postmodern twist to the black heart of noir fiction. Grade: A.”

         -- Rocky Mountain News

New York, NY; London, UK (June 1, 2015) – Ten years after they first teamed up to produce the widely acclaimed dark comedy thriller Bust, award-winning authors Ken Bruen (Jack Taylor) and Jason Starr (Twisted City) have teamed up again for a brand new stand-alone installment in the saga of self-deluded druglord Max Fisher, titled PIMP. A no-holds-barred satire of Hollywood and New York, the book finds Fisher masterminding the introduction of a new designer drug – called “PIMP” – while his longtime lover, Angela Petrakos, infiltrates the movie industry to turn Max’s story into a box-office blockbuster…or at least a series on Netflix. PIMP will be published in Spring 2016 by Hard Case Crime, the celebrated line of pulp-styled crime novels from editor Charles Ardai and publisher Titan Books.

“Bruen and Starr deserved every one of the raves they won for Bust, Slide and The Max,” said Charles Ardai, “and PIMPis their wildest ride yet.  It’s the best Hollywood satire since Get Shorty, and easily the funniest book we’ve ever published. And utterly merciless – it makes South Park look like choir practice.”

Prefiguring the TV series Breaking Bad, Bruen and Starr’s first three novels told the story of ordinary businessman Max Fisher and his descent into criminality, first conspiring to kill his wife in Bust, then reinventing himself as a brutal drug kingpin in Slide and The Max. Bust was a finalist for the Barry Award in 2006, Slide for the Anthony Award in 2007.

“People have been asking us for years to give them another book about Max and Angela,” said Jason Starr, “and we were just waiting till we had just the right story to tell. We think PIMP is the best of the four books and can’t wait to see it knock readers for a loop.”

“It’s the perfect antidote for Gone Girl,” said Ken Bruen.

PIMP will feature a brand new cover painting in the classic pulp style by Michael Koelsch, whose previous work for Hard Case Crime has graced novels by James M. Cain, Lawrence Block, Robert Silverberg, and Donald E. Westlake.

About Hard Case Crime

Called “the best new American publisher to appear in the last decade” by Neal Pollack in The Stranger, Hard Case Crime has been nominated for and/or won numerous honors since its inception including the Edgar, the Shamus, the Anthony, the Barry, the Spinetingler, and the Ellery Queen Award.  The series’ books have been adapted for television and film, with a TV series based on Max Allan Collins’ Quarry novels scheduled to air this fall on Cinemax and the series Haven shortly to complete its fifth season on SyFy.  Recent Hard Case Crime titles include James M. Cain’s never-before-published final novel, The Cocktail Waitress; eight lost novels written by Michael Crichton under the pseudonym “John Lange”; andBrainquake, the final novel of writer/filmmaker Samuel Fuller. Hard Case Crime is published through a collaboration between Winterfall LLC and Titan Publishing Group. www.hardcasecrime.com

About Titan Publishing Group

Titan Publishing Group is an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981, comprising three divisions: Titan Books, Titan Magazines/Comics and Titan Merchandise.  Titan Books, nominated as Independent Publisher of the Year 2011, has a rapidly growing fiction list encompassing original fiction and reissues, primarily in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, horror, steampunk and crime. Recent crime and thriller acquisitions include Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins’ all-new Mike Hammer novels, the Matt Helm series by Donald Hamilton, and the entire backlist of the Queen of Spy Writers, Helen MacInnes.  Titan Books also has an extensive line of media- and pop culture-related non-fiction, graphic novels, and art and music books. The company is based at offices in London, but operates worldwide, with sales and distribution in the U.S. and Canada being handled by Random House.  www.titanbooks.com