Introduction

 

 

Welcome to Hard Case Bookshelf. 

I am a big fan of the imprint of Hard Case Crime.  I started collecting the books back in 2011.  My first experience with the stories was 361  by Donald E. Westlake.  I picked up a few more over the next three months and decided I really liked them, especially the reprints from the 60's.  Reminded me of some of the stories I read in the barbershop while waiting for a haircut when I was in my early teens.

It gradually became an obsession with me.  I used to haunt the used bookstores looking for ones I didn't have.  I remember once while visiting a friend in Tulsa and found a treasure trove of 12 books, one of which was The Murderer Vine by Shepard Rifkin which immediately became my favorite.  (Still is even after having read about 60 of them.)

The goal of this blog is to review each of them.  My memory being somewhat iffy, I have decided to start at the beginning, re-reading the ones I have already read, as well as catching up with the ones I have not read.  As such, this blog will be updated at the rate I read them.  For some reason, I thought it would be cool to do this in the order the books were printed.  Thus, the first entry will be Grifter's Game by Lawrence Block.  You will see a more in-depth synopsis than usual, as well as some thoughts I have on the book.  Hope you enjoy them.

PS: If the publishers happen across this blog, thank you for many hours of reading and for the hours to come.

Quiggy

Next: Grifter's Game by Lawrence Block