Mercy Gunderson

Created by Lori Armstrong Pseudonyms include Lorelei James One-quarter Minneconjou Sioux MERCY GUNDERSON is a former U.S. Army Black Ops sniper who lost an eye in Iraq, and has returned Stateside to lick her wounds and run the family ranch in South Dakota, in the series debut, No Mercy (2010). But things don't work out so … Continue reading Mercy Gunderson

Brad Dolan

Created by William Fuller "The name's Dolan...I like to eat to live, drink to relax and sleep because I'm a sackhound. Somehow, though, something always seems to go wrong." Hard-boiled adventurer, smuggler and wanderer BRAD DOLAN is a sort of pre-Travis McGee Travis McGee and certainly no stranger to trouble. Or violence. Or babes. He … Continue reading Brad Dolan

Kimitsuka Kimihiko & Siesta (The Detective is Already Dead)

Created by written by Nigojū (text) and Umibōzu (art) “Is there a detective on this plane?" Four years ago, during an attempted airplane hijacking, Japanese high school student and trouble magnet KIMITSUKA KIMIHIKO became, at her insistence, the assistant to the beautiful and enigmatic girl detective SIESTA (which wasn't even her real name). They ended up traveling … Continue reading Kimitsuka Kimihiko & Siesta (The Detective is Already Dead)

Thorn

Created by James W. Hall (1947--) Arguably the greatest of Travis McGee's wayward literary children, THORN isn't really a P.I. (or even a "salvage consultant"), although he does occasionally take money to "look into" things. He's more of an "avenger," dark and brooding division. He makes his home in Key Largo, Florida, far from the … Continue reading Thorn

Cass Neary

Created by Elizabeth Hand (1957--) CASS NEARY was a great photographer. "For a fraction of a second," she ruefully confesses, in her acclaimed debut, Generation Loss (2007). But back in the day (the seventies, in her case), she was the "it" girl of photography, gleefully snapping gritty, iconic shots of New York's burgeoning punk rock scene, … Continue reading Cass Neary

Greg Salem

Created by S.W. Lauden GREG SALEM is pushing forty, but he figures he got it all sussed: he'll roll East Los Angeles by day for the LAPD, and rock the town as "Fred Despair," singing for legendary hardcore punk band, Bad Citizen Corporation, by night. But that all hit a huge brick wall when a buddy … Continue reading Greg Salem

Doc Adams

Created by Rick Boyer (1943--) A hard-boiled dentist? I shit thee not... CHARLIE "DOC" ADAMS is a Concord, Massachusetts-based oral surgeon who keeps getting drawn into investigations. Most are pretty hard-boiled (in the first, Billingsgate Shoals, he defeats a pursuing black hat by dropping a broken chunk of cast iron pipe down an enclosed exterior … Continue reading Doc Adams

Peter Ash

Created by Nick Petrie Maybe someone should send Jack Reacher a box of condoms -- or at least a book telling him where all his babies are. Because the way his bastard sons and daughters are starting to pop up on Amazon, I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't time to clue him in. But … Continue reading Peter Ash

Harvey Ace

Created by Merle Horwitz Lord, he was born a gamblin' man... Compulsive, obsessively neat, and a smart-dressed man to boot, HARVEY ACE is a retired private eye who'd be more than content to just spend the rest of his life playing the ponies and taking it easy. Unfortunately, it's not that simple, as amply demonstrated … Continue reading Harvey Ace

Hap Collins & Leonard Pine

Created by Joe R. Lansdale "Too many guns is not like too many guitars." -- Hap Collins in Dead Aim Years ago my pal Keith, insisted I read these. And I'm glad he did. Man, are they great! I don't even know why they're trying to market them as. Horror? Suspense? Voodoo hoodoo crime fiction? Country … Continue reading Hap Collins & Leonard Pine