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Working for the Man
Sometimes even criminals need a detective... It's Atlanta, 1974. Ex-cop Jim Hardman and ex-NFL player Hump Evans do odd jobs. Anything that pays. As long as its not kidnapping, robbery, or murder. Not that they are afraid of killing...if that's what it takes to survive one of their odd jobs. And this time it will. An old, professional gambler who once saved Hardman's neck has been working as an accountant for The Man, the city's black Godfather. When the gambler is killed, and The Man's coded ledger disappears, Hardman and Hump are hired to get the book...and settle the score. This is the seventh book in the legendary HARDMAN series and includes an Afterword from Hank Wagner, co-editor of the book " 100 Must Reads." PRAISE FOR THE HARDMAN "Some of the finest paperback originals I have ever read were part of Ralph Dennis' HARDMAN series. The books were well-written, hard-hitting, unsentimental, but still full of heart." Mystery Scene Magazine “Ralph Dennis has mastered the genre and supplied top entertainment.” The New York Times “The Hardman books are by far the best of the men’s action-adventure series.” Mother Jones Magazine “Among the best series books around. The dialogue is marvelously realistic.” Philadelphia Daily News "The Hardman series is one of the finest in the P.I. genre." Robert Randisi, founder of the Private Eye Writers of America
- GenresCrime
153 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1974
About the author
Ralph Dennis
57 books46 followersRalph Dennis was born in South Carolina and had a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina, where he also taught. For mystery fans, Dennis will always be associated with the City of Atlanta, the locale for the twelve novel series about Jim Hardman, former cop and unofficial private eye, all published by Popular Library between 1974 and 1977.
At the time of his death in 1988, he was working at a bookstore in Atlanta and had a file cabinet full of unpublished novels.
At the time of his death in 1988, he was working at a bookstore in Atlanta and had a file cabinet full of unpublished novels.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 21, 2020
4 stars for another fast paced thriller in the Hardman series. Ralph Dennis is underappreciated in the mystery/thriller world. His lean prose style reminds me of Raymond Chandler and Elmore Leonard. His duo of "Hump" Evans, a black ex NFL football player and Jim Hardman, a white ex Atlanta cop, influenced Shane Black, screenwriter for Lethal Weapon movies.
In this book, Hardman gets a call from "the Man", a powerful black Atlanta crime lord. A mutual friend of both men, Ronny, born John B. Kent, has been found murdered. Ronny did bookkeeping for the Man. Ronny was working on the Man's ledger when he was murdered. The ledger is missing and the person who has it wants money or he turns it over to the feds. The Man wants Hardman to find the ledger and the murderer. Hardman owes the dead man for the time Ronny stopped him from getting killed by a cheating pair of gamblers in a card game 20 years ago.
Hardman does find the ledger after many twists and turns. He is almost killed.
Two quotes: Hardman and Evans: "We're alike up to there. Then it splits. I'm going towards forty-three a bit too fast to suit me. I'm slow and pudgy and I get a sunburn the first time I stand in the sun more than ten minutes. He's a bit past thirty and somewhere between 6 foot 6 inches and 6 foot 7 inches and the last time I saw him on the scales at the S&W cafeteria downtown on Peach tree the needle at 270 and some ounces. He also midnight down in the coal mine black."
Hardman on his life: "Now we do odd jobs. Anything that pays. Anything that stops this side of killing. Or mugging for booze money. Or robbing banks."
There is a disclaimer by the publisher, stating that the book was written in 1974 and reflects cultural attitudes and language of the period.
This was a kindle unlimited book.
In this book, Hardman gets a call from "the Man", a powerful black Atlanta crime lord. A mutual friend of both men, Ronny, born John B. Kent, has been found murdered. Ronny did bookkeeping for the Man. Ronny was working on the Man's ledger when he was murdered. The ledger is missing and the person who has it wants money or he turns it over to the feds. The Man wants Hardman to find the ledger and the murderer. Hardman owes the dead man for the time Ronny stopped him from getting killed by a cheating pair of gamblers in a card game 20 years ago.
Hardman does find the ledger after many twists and turns. He is almost killed.
Two quotes: Hardman and Evans: "We're alike up to there. Then it splits. I'm going towards forty-three a bit too fast to suit me. I'm slow and pudgy and I get a sunburn the first time I stand in the sun more than ten minutes. He's a bit past thirty and somewhere between 6 foot 6 inches and 6 foot 7 inches and the last time I saw him on the scales at the S&W cafeteria downtown on Peach tree the needle at 270 and some ounces. He also midnight down in the coal mine black."
Hardman on his life: "Now we do odd jobs. Anything that pays. Anything that stops this side of killing. Or mugging for booze money. Or robbing banks."
There is a disclaimer by the publisher, stating that the book was written in 1974 and reflects cultural attitudes and language of the period.
This was a kindle unlimited book.
March 4, 2019
Down the Mean Streets of Atlanta
Pick up any one of the dozen Jim Hardman novels that Ralph Dennis put out in the early Seventies and you'll get pretty much the same thing: tough, hard-edged, stripped-down crime fiction that moves at high speed. Hardman and his partner, former NFL hero Hump Evans do investigative work when it comes along. Between them, there's no PI license, no office, no secretary. Striking for the era, although not so much these days, Hardman and Hump are like a black and white Starsky and Hutch. Hardman's a fat former cop and Hump is the guy you want having you up in a jam.
This one has the guys paying off a blackmailer and trying to find a killer of an old guy who was once one of the most feared hustlers in Atlanta. These short crime novels are terrific reads.
Pick up any one of the dozen Jim Hardman novels that Ralph Dennis put out in the early Seventies and you'll get pretty much the same thing: tough, hard-edged, stripped-down crime fiction that moves at high speed. Hardman and his partner, former NFL hero Hump Evans do investigative work when it comes along. Between them, there's no PI license, no office, no secretary. Striking for the era, although not so much these days, Hardman and Hump are like a black and white Starsky and Hutch. Hardman's a fat former cop and Hump is the guy you want having you up in a jam.
This one has the guys paying off a blackmailer and trying to find a killer of an old guy who was once one of the most feared hustlers in Atlanta. These short crime novels are terrific reads.
September 2, 2019
Another well written pulp action novel from Ralph Dennis.
Hardman and Hump are once again working for "The Man". This time looking for who killed a mutual friend and is now blackmailing The Man. As usual, there are going to be some bodies pile up.
Hardman and Hump are once again working for "The Man". This time looking for who killed a mutual friend and is now blackmailing The Man. As usual, there are going to be some bodies pile up.
September 3, 2022
I have been away from the series for a while, mostly because the books do not exist anywhere in my state's library system, and it takes extra steps to receive them through interstate library loans. But I am glad I made the effort, since this is one of Dennis' best.
The usual characters are all present -- Jim Hardman and his partner Hump Evans, Marcy (Jim's girlfriend), Art Maloney from the Atlanta police department, and The Man, a memorable local crime boss.
The plot is taut, original and meticulous in its details and the characters specific to this story (Tony Mitchell, Regina Clark, Mort Heppler, James Falco and even the corpse, John Kent) are all well crafted.
Hardman is like other PIs in that when he gets his teeth into something, he keeps at it. He is courageous (though aware of the dangers) and his word is good. But he is unlike so many other PIs in the genre. (1) He is a pudgy 42 years old, not buff nor a magnet for women; (2) He likes a drink, but rarely to excess; (3) He is monogamous, and does not have the hookups so common to other male PIs. (4) While he is white, he has a Black partner, and he and Hump seem to be the first such team in the history of PI stories. (5) He has no PI license, though I cannot remember how typical that is for the protagonists in other series.
This is my fifth of the twelve Hardman books and every time I report on goodreads I can't resist saying that Ralph Dennis should have been famous. He was as good as the best of the writers in this field.
The usual characters are all present -- Jim Hardman and his partner Hump Evans, Marcy (Jim's girlfriend), Art Maloney from the Atlanta police department, and The Man, a memorable local crime boss.
The plot is taut, original and meticulous in its details and the characters specific to this story (Tony Mitchell, Regina Clark, Mort Heppler, James Falco and even the corpse, John Kent) are all well crafted.
Hardman is like other PIs in that when he gets his teeth into something, he keeps at it. He is courageous (though aware of the dangers) and his word is good. But he is unlike so many other PIs in the genre. (1) He is a pudgy 42 years old, not buff nor a magnet for women; (2) He likes a drink, but rarely to excess; (3) He is monogamous, and does not have the hookups so common to other male PIs. (4) While he is white, he has a Black partner, and he and Hump seem to be the first such team in the history of PI stories. (5) He has no PI license, though I cannot remember how typical that is for the protagonists in other series.
This is my fifth of the twelve Hardman books and every time I report on goodreads I can't resist saying that Ralph Dennis should have been famous. He was as good as the best of the writers in this field.
October 1, 2021
Hardman #7! I am both happy and sad that I am now into the latter half of Ralph Dennis’s hugely entertaining Hardman series—happy that I got to read it and sad that there are only six more of those gems left.
The seventh episode finds the white ex-cop Hardman being summoned by the Man—the black mob-boss with whom Hardman has worked in the past—on a wintry Sunday morning. Hardman heeds the summons once he gets to know that it is related to the brutal murder of an ex-gambler to whom Hardman owes one. The murderer also possesses a ledger belonging to the Man with details of his financial transactions—coded, of course—which was being kept by the murdered man, and is blackmailing the boss. Hardman, along with his black associate and ex-football star Hump Evans, immediately is on the murderer’s trail, which is strewn with quite a few bodies and many crooked characters ready to generate yet more.
The main characters, very well established now, are a lot of fun to watch in action as always. Totally unlike the fat Mr. Hardman, none of the novels I’ve read so far in this series have any flab—pruned to the point of skinniness with miserly prose and all the more delightful for it.
Working for the Man is yet another breakneck ride through the underworld of 1970s Atlanta, thrillingly piloted by the unsung master of pulp fiction!
The seventh episode finds the white ex-cop Hardman being summoned by the Man—the black mob-boss with whom Hardman has worked in the past—on a wintry Sunday morning. Hardman heeds the summons once he gets to know that it is related to the brutal murder of an ex-gambler to whom Hardman owes one. The murderer also possesses a ledger belonging to the Man with details of his financial transactions—coded, of course—which was being kept by the murdered man, and is blackmailing the boss. Hardman, along with his black associate and ex-football star Hump Evans, immediately is on the murderer’s trail, which is strewn with quite a few bodies and many crooked characters ready to generate yet more.
The main characters, very well established now, are a lot of fun to watch in action as always. Totally unlike the fat Mr. Hardman, none of the novels I’ve read so far in this series have any flab—pruned to the point of skinniness with miserly prose and all the more delightful for it.
Working for the Man is yet another breakneck ride through the underworld of 1970s Atlanta, thrillingly piloted by the unsung master of pulp fiction!
August 24, 2024
The cover of this old paperback would lead one to believe it's just another lurid men's adventure caper like the rest of them published at the time. Instead it's a series of excellent detective novels, set in Atlanta in the early 70s, back when ordering a Beck's beer in a bar was considered hoity toity. I found a handful of these old paperbacks in a charity thrift sale and happily took them home with me. From the setting and the era I couldn't help but picture Joe Don Baker as Jim Hardman. It would be that kind of movie. In this one, published in 1974, Hardman is hired by "The Man" to find a blackmailer who has a set of incriminating ledgers on The Man's various underworld enterprises. Hardman's partner is Hump Evans, an ex-football player who is handy to have around when things turn violent. The Man is a black gangster and one of the most powerful "godfathers" in Atlanta. I'm looking forward to reading the others. Good stuff!
May 25, 2020
Hardman #7 Good Read
Hardman episode 7- Hardman and Hump Evans are hired by the black Godfather to find his ledger that was stolen when someone killed his accounts manager who was Hardmans friend. The hiring is not an ask, but a forceful command.
Hardman episode 7- Hardman and Hump Evans are hired by the black Godfather to find his ledger that was stolen when someone killed his accounts manager who was Hardmans friend. The hiring is not an ask, but a forceful command.
March 3, 2019
Another good book
I love this series about Hard man and Jump if you like good old detective books and lots of action you will love these
I love this series about Hard man and Jump if you like good old detective books and lots of action you will love these
February 24, 2020
Have yet to be let down by this series. Rough and tumble dirtbags beating each other up-to-date what's not to love?
February 10, 2024
One of the better ones!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews