Hard epilogue

All Kinds of Ugly, the 13th and final (for now) book in the recently-reissued 1970's Hardman action series, was a terrific end to the series I've been reading for the past year or so. Thanks to Brash Books, this long-out-of-print series by the late Ralph Dennis is now available to a new generation of thriller fans and All Kinds of Ugly ends it on a high note.

In some ways, the most recent book is the best in the series, because it's deeper, more serious and introspective, and willing to take on deeper, more melancholy themes than the other entries.  The prose is richer and more descriptive, too.  

However, in some ways, this tale of unofficial P.I. Jim Hardman searching for an old millionaire's missing grandson in London is not as good as the others because it's mostly missing the fun banter between Hardman and his friend and associate Hump Evans and a lot of the action and danger we're used to enjoying.

But those elements not being a big part of this book doesn't mean it's somehow flawed, but simply that the story being told this time out is a bit different. It's not the usual fun team up between Hardman and Hump as they solve a case in around 1970's Atlanta.  This is Hardman on his own in London as he's simultaneously attempting to get over some personal problems.  It's a dark, more serious P.I. story that actually would make for a nice, moody film.  I'm just glad we also have all those lighter, more fun Hardman adventures, too (Atlanta Deathwatch is the first book).

This most recent Hardman novel was completed by author and Brash books head Lee Goldberg, who found an unpublished non-Hardman novel that (as he convincingly demonstrates in an afterword) most likely began life as a Hardman book that Dennis then altered into a standalone novel with different characters but then abandoned. Goldberg then skillfully converted the book back into a Hardman, and a very good one.

And though the book feels like a natural end to the series, I wouldn't mind seeing more of Jim Hardman and Hump Evans (who, though largely absent this time, still has a couple of memorable scenes). After all, though Jim seems to be moving on to bigger and better things as the book closes, an occasional trip back into the muck of gritty P.I. work might not be out of the question. Might be a fun thing for Mr. Goldberg or one of his colleagues to think about.

But, if things are over, these 13 Hardman novels have been a great ride.