Hard Boiled

Hard-boiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. Derived from the romantic tradition which emphasized the emotions of apprehension, awe, horror and terror, hardboiled fiction deviates from that tradition in the detective's cynical attitude towards those emotions. The attitude is conveyed through the detectives inner monologue describing to the audience what he is doing and feeling.

The genre's typical protagonist is a detective, who witnesses daily the violence of organized crime tha
...more

Most Read This Week Tagged "Hard Boiled"

Gray Dawn (Easy Rawlins, #17)
The Furies (Charlie Parker, #20)
A Man Named Doll (The Doll Series, #1)
Ozark Dogs
The Enchanters
Widespread Panic
Moon Lake
Lowdown Road
Il Francese
One-Shot Harry
The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1)
The Maltese Falcon
Farewell, My Lovely (Philip Marlowe, #2)
The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe, #6)
Red Harvest (The Continental Op #1)
The Lady in the Lake (Philip Marlowe, #4)
The High Window (Philip Marlowe, #3)
The Thin Man
The Little Sister (Philip Marlowe, #5)
L.A. Confidential (L.A. Quartet, #3)
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Killing Floor (Jack Reacher, #1)
The Big Nowhere (L.A. Quartet, #2)
Trouble Is My Business (Philip Marlowe, #8)
The Black Dahlia (L.A. Quartet, #1)
The Big Sleep by Raymond ChandlerThe Maltese Falcon by Dashiell HammettA Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice BurroughsTarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice BurroughsThe Best of H.P. Lovecraft by H.P. Lovecraft
Best of the Pulps
383 books — 206 voters

Blacksad by Juan Díaz CanalesFatale, Vol. 1 by Ed BrubakerBatman by Jeph LoebAmerican Vampire, Vol. 1 by Scott SnyderCriminal, Vol. 1 by Ed Brubaker
Crime Comics & Graphic Novels
231 books — 66 voters

The Hunter by Richard StarkThe Man With The Getaway Face by Richard StarkThe Outfit by Richard StarkThe Mourner by Richard StarkThe Score by Richard Stark
Richard Stark's Parker
27 books — 7 voters


Raymond Chandler
I'm part Chinese, part Hawaiian, part Filipino, and part nigger. You'd hate to be me ...more
Raymond Chandler, Playback

Raymond Chandler
It’s a nice town.’ She said sharply, a little breathlessly. ‘You can’t judge-‘ ‘Okey, it’s a nice town. So is Chicago. You could live there a long time and not see a Tommy-gun. Sure, it’s a nice town. It’s probably no crookeder than Los Angeles. But you can only buy a piece of a big city. You can buy a town this size all complete, with the original box and tissue paper. That’s the difference. And that makes me want out.
Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely

More quotes...
MidnightReader Jeff Funk's MIDNIGHT READER Forbidden Book Buzz syndicate lives on @12AMpulpBUZZ, @CRIMEpulpBUZZ…more
6 members, last active 14 years ago
Hardboiled American Crime and Worldwide Noir Fiction Started somewhat as a reaction to the British cozy mystery of the Agatha Christie style (think M…more
198 members, last active 19 days ago
Hard Boiled Books Group A place to discuss and share Hard Boiled books. Hard-boiled books are a subgenre of crime ficti…more
3 members, last active one year ago
ThreeCrow Publishing Welcome to the Three Crow Books community! We’re here to discuss books published on threecrowboo…more
2 members, last active 5 months ago