“Not your average nine-to-five job”
“To be certain, bounty hunting isn’t your average nine-to-five job. But then, I’m not your average guy. I’ve had guns pointed in my face so many times I’ve lost count. I’ve survived having the trigger pulled more than once or twice. I have been stabbed, scratched, beaten up, and hit with every imaginable (and unimaginable) weapon of choice — chains, boards, tire irons, golf club and crowbars. I’ve been tossed through windows, pushed through walls, and shoved through doors.
Does that make me a tough guy? You bet your ass.”
— from You Can Run But You Can’t Hide by Duane “Dog” Chapman
Who do you call when you’ve posted bond and the ungrateful beneficiary of your kindhearted generosity (minus your cut) decides to take a powder?
The bounty hunter, arguably “the ultimate outsider in law enforcement,” and frequently one of the most despised, has been a standard character in American fiction at least since the days of the Old West. It’s also interesting how he (or she) has morphed into the modern era. Here are a few suggestions:
- Ruby Dark by Bruce W. Most
- Jinx Almeda by Brian Michael Bendis
- Dave Barrett by Sam H. Rolfe (The Manhunter)
- Rick Deckard (Bladerunner)
- Django & Dr. Schultz by Quentin Tarrantino (Django Unchained)
- Domingo by Cindy Fazzi
- Dixie Flannigan by Chris Rogers
- C.J. Floyd by Robert O. Greer
- Elmer Fudd by Tex Avery, Tom King, etc.
- Domino Harvey “created” by Tony Scott, Richard Kelly & Steve Barancik
- Jack Keller by J. D. Rhoades
- Karl Morgen by Dietrich Kalteis
- William Munny (Unforgiven)
- Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich
- John Ruth & Major Marquis Warren by Quentin Tarrantino (The Hateful Eight)
- Streeter by Michael Stone
- Ralph “Papa” Thorson
- Dottie & Brandi Thorson by Pamela Norris (The Huntress)
- John Tiffany by Stephen Desberg & Dan Panosian
- Jack Walsh (Midnight Run)
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- The 10 Best Bounty Hunter Movies
Cindy Fazzi, author of Multo, a bounty hunter novel, picks her ten faves.
Respectfully compiled by Kevin Burton Smith. Who did I miss?
