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Bruce Hartman

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://brucehartmanbooks.com

Twitter

@BHart_man

Genre

Fiction, Mystery, Humor and Comedy

Influences

Jorge Luis Borges, Elmore Leonard, Ken Bruen, Kurt Vonnegut, George Or ...more

Member Since

October 2012

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Bruce Hartman has worked as a pianist, bookseller and attorney. The author of twelve novels, he divides his time between Pennsylvania and Colorado. He has been writing fiction for many years.

Bruce Hartman's first western, LEGEND OF LOST BASIN, was published in September 2024. Kirkus Reviews called it, "A riveting addition to the Western genre... Skillful storytelling and rich characterizations make this a must-read for fans of Westerns or those who just like good storytelling.," The book aims to transcend the western genre into the area of literary fiction. It was Finalist for the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America for Best Traditional Western Novel in 2025. It was also awarded the Peacemaker Award by Western Fictioneers for Be Bruce Hartman has worked as a pianist, bookseller and attorney. The author of twelve novels, he divides his time between Pennsylvania and Colorado. He has been writing fiction for many years.

Bruce Hartman's first western, LEGEND OF LOST BASIN, was published in September 2024. Kirkus Reviews called it, "A riveting addition to the Western genre... Skillful storytelling and rich characterizations make this a must-read for fans of Westerns or those who just like good storytelling.," The book aims to transcend the western genre into the area of literary fiction. It was Finalist for the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America for Best Traditional Western Novel in 2025. It was also awarded the Peacemaker Award by Western Fictioneers for Best First Western Novel.

His second western to be published was THE DIVIDE, the second book in the Lost West Trilogy.

Prior to those westerns, his most recent book was THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE'S LAST CASE, the third and final book of the Philosphical Detective Trilogy. The previous books are THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE, published in 2014, and THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE RETURNS, published in 2020. All three novels feature the iconic Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrestling with an extraordinary series of crimes and the equally baffling conundrums of literature and philosophy, including Zeno's paradoxes, the mind/body problem, and the mysteries of destiny, memory, personal identity and artistic creation. Kirkus Reviews called THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE "a suspenseful, pitch-perfect novel.. an intelligent, original detective novel." Midwest Book Review rated THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE RETURNS as "...highly recommended for classic detective story enthusiasts who look for complexity and intellectual challenges in their characters and stories."

Bruce Hartman's previous book, PAROLE, is a crime thriller in the tradition of Elmore Leonard about an unlikely pair of parolees from San Quentin struggling against the odds to recover their lives and fortunes in L.A. If it were a movie, it would probably be classified as an action/comedy/thriller. It has recently become available as an audiobook on Audible.

His first novel, PERFECTLY HEALTHY MAN DROPS DEAD, won the Salvo Press Mystery Novel Award and was published by Salvo Press in 2008. In 2018 it was reissued by Swallow Tail Press in a revised Tenth Anniversary Edition (both paperback and ebook).

Bruce Hartman's second book, THE RULES OF DREAMING, published by Swallow Tail Press in 2013, was awarded Kirkus Star for Books of Exceptional Merit. Kirkus Reviews called it "a mind-bending marriage of ambitious literary theory and classic murder mystery" and selected it as one of its "Top 100 Indie Books of 2013." Another mystery, THE MUSE OF VIOLENCE, was also published in 2013.

Bruce Hartman's seventh novel, POTLATCH: A Comedy, is a satirical comedy set in Philadelphia. Readers' Favorite Book Reviews called it "one of the most amusing reads ever to be published."

POTLATCH is the second entry in a projected trilogy which began with A BUTTERFLY IN PHILADELPHIA. Readers' Favorite Book Reviews called BUTTERFLY "one of the strange comic masterpieces that you're quite lucky to run across once in a very great while."

POTLATCH followed another comic novel, BIG DATA IS WATCHING YOU!, a satirical techno-dystopia set in a future in which the all-powerful force of Big Data rules humanity through the Internet of Things and the corporate power of the FANGs. It is the story of how one defiant customer foils the conspiracy to delete humanity from Google Earth. A slightly revised version of this book has also been published under the title, I AM NOT A ROBOT!

Bruce Hartman's eighth novel, a legal thriller entitled THE DEVIL'S CHAPLAIN, was published in 2018. This book tells the story of a young attorney, Charlotte Ambler, who volunteers to represent a death row inmate, a once-prominent biologist named Christopher Ritter, ...more

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Bruce Hartman's Blog

THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE on sale for 99 cents

From December 5 through December 11, THE PHILOSOPHICAL DETECTIVE ebook will be on sale on Amazon for 99 cents.

Kirkus Reviews called The Philosophical Detective “...a suspenseful, pitch-perfect novel with an unlikely lead detective: a fictionalized version of iconic Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)..... An intelligent, original detective novel.”

Take this opportunity to check out this Read more of this blog post »

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Published on December 05, 2020 13:01

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Bruce Hartman’s books

Average rating: 3.64 · 990 ratings · 174 reviews · 17 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Rules of Dreaming 3.33 avg rating — 355 ratings — published 2013 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Philosophical Detective 3.86 avg rating — 185 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Muse of Violence 3.22 avg rating — 130 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Devil's Chaplain 4.13 avg rating — 47 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Big Data Is Watching You! 3.98 avg rating — 42 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Potlatch: A Comedy 3.57 avg rating — 46 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Philosophical Detective Returns 4.33 avg rating — 36 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Perfectly Healthy Man Drops Dead 4.07 avg rating — 28 ratings — published 2008 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Butterfly in Philadelphia 3.77 avg rating — 30 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Parole 3.77 avg rating — 30 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Bruce Hartman rated a book it was amazing The Divide (The Lost West Trilogy Book 2) by Bruce Hartman (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 17, 2025 01:52PM · 1 like · like
Bruce Hartman rated a book it was amazing Legend of Lost Basin (The Lost West Trilogy) by Bruce Hartman (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Quotes by Bruce Hartman (?)

“The man has read all the books,” Borges said, “even written a few, and yet he is a buffoon and a moral pygmy. How can that be? Is literature just a game, like playing cards, that can be played equally well by a scoundrel or a saint?”
― Bruce Hartman, The Philosophical Detective

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“he came from Argentina and had been known to write reviews of nonexistent books; he was obsessed with labyrinths and—most unusual in a blind man—he had a deathly fear of mirrors. The”
― Bruce Hartman, The Philosophical Detective

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“Borges stirred the metal straw around in his cup and went on: “If two brothers, starting on the day they were born, read all the same books in the same order, they would have the same ethics. In a moral sense they would be the same man. You or I, depending on the syllabus, might be Howard Vaughan. Cain might be Abel.”
― Bruce Hartman, The Philosophical Detective

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Crazy Challenge C...: 2016 Listopia Challenge	352	250	Oct 21, 2025 08:40PM

Bruce’s Quotes

“The imagination places the world of the future either far above us, or far below, or in a relation of metempsychosis to ourselves. We dream of traveling through the universe—but is not the universe within ourselves? The depths of our spirit are unknown to us—the mysterious way leads inwards. Eternity with its worlds—the past and future—is in ourselves or nowhere. The external world is the world of shadows—it throws its shadow into the realm of light. At present this realm certainly seems to us so dark inside, lonely, shapeless. But how entirely different it will seem to us—when this gloom is past, and the body of shadows has moved away. We will experience greater enjoyment than ever, for our spirit has been deprived.”
― Novalis, Philosophical Writings

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Bruce’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-4) post a comment »

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message 4: by Christine

Sep 20, 2013 02:28PM

Thanks for being my friend

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message 3: by Bruce

Aug 16, 2013 10:03AM

Kris -- Sorry it took me so long to respond. I've been on vacation to a place where, believe it or not, there was no internet connection! I'm delighted to be your friend. All the best, Bruce

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message 2: by Bruce

Aug 16, 2013 10:02AM

Kris wrote: "Bruce, thank you so much for the friend request. :)"

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message 1: by Kris

Jul 25, 2013 02:58PM