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constantreader471's review
4.0
This is book 6 in the Hardman series. I have read 8 books in the series and I am now reading the rest on Kindle Unlimited. I have enjoyed every one. This book has Hump Evans and Jim Hardman out drinking when they decide to find a place to eat. They see a bar sign "Sandwiches and beer". While sitting at the bar, Hardman sees a man getting ready to kill another man at the bar. Hardman clubs the killer with a heavy glass ash tray, but not soon enough to stop the knife attack. The wounded man survives. Hardman takes him back to (Hardman's) home when he refuses an offer of a ride to the hospital. He patches up the wounded man, who leaves in the morning. But he has left his wallet behind. Hardman places an ad in the newspaper, offering to return the wallet.
Instead, Hardman is asked to speak the father of the wounded man, who calls himself Ed Temple, but the wallet IDs him as Edward Templeton. The wealthy father hires Hardman to find his long lost son. There is a reason that the son has remained lost. Someone is trying to kill him. Hardman does find Ed and ends up trying to protect him. Unraveling why he is the target of professional killers is at the heart of a taut mystery. This book is written with Ralph Dennis trademark spare, lean prose. If you are a fan of Raymond Chandler, you will enjoy this series.
One quote: Hardman in the wealthy father's house: "We passed through the foyer and into a large living room. It was a room that didn't look lived in. It had as much personality as an airport toilet bowl. The sofa, the chairs, the tables looked untouched by human hands or rumps."
I devoured this book in 2 days.
Instead, Hardman is asked to speak the father of the wounded man, who calls himself Ed Temple, but the wallet IDs him as Edward Templeton. The wealthy father hires Hardman to find his long lost son. There is a reason that the son has remained lost. Someone is trying to kill him. Hardman does find Ed and ends up trying to protect him. Unraveling why he is the target of professional killers is at the heart of a taut mystery. This book is written with Ralph Dennis trademark spare, lean prose. If you are a fan of Raymond Chandler, you will enjoy this series.
One quote: Hardman in the wealthy father's house: "We passed through the foyer and into a large living room. It was a room that didn't look lived in. It had as much personality as an airport toilet bowl. The sofa, the chairs, the tables looked untouched by human hands or rumps."
I devoured this book in 2 days.
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