The Hard Stuff

By David Gordon

The hotly anticipated sequel to David Gordon's The Bouncer.

For readers who like high-calibre humour mixed with their hard crime, here's a brilliant, pyrotechnic thriller from a fresh virtuoso of the crime caper genre.

Ex-black-ops-specialist-turned-strip-club-bouncer Joe Brody has a new qualification to add to his resume: he's the 'sheriff' for an alliance of New York City's mob bosses. In the straight world, you call the cops – in the underworld, you call Joe.

He's detoxing – too much of the hard stuff – at the clinic of a Chinese herbalist when the call comes in: the bosses need Joe to help them with – ironically – a high-end heroin problem.

A new drug dealer is in town and the bosses think they might be an Al Quaeda splinter group, trading dope for diamonds to fund a major-league terrorist atrocity. And that would just be bad for business.

Joe has a plan. He's a man who knows how to take down a terrorist cell. But first he needs a hit of the hard stuff – diamonds, this time – and lots of them...

Praise for The Bouncer:

'Clever plotting and a light-hearted tone add charm to this lively caper despite its multiple violent deaths... Lots of fun' SUNDAY TIMES

'The Bouncer will toss you over his shoulder like King Kong and carry you away' MAX ALLAN COLLINS

'David Gordon brings an outstanding new voice to the contemporary crime novel' ROBERT CRAIS

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Dec 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781838933135

David Gordon

David Gordon was born in New York City. He attended Sarah Lawrence College and holds an MA in English and Comparative Literature and an MFA in Writing, both from Columbia University, and has worked in film, fashion, publishing, and pornography. His first novel, The Serialist, won the VCU/Cabell First Novel Award and was a finalist for an Edgar Award. His work has also appeared in The Paris Review, Purple, and Fence among other publications.

Reviews for The Hard Stuff

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“If you felt the law was not there for you, then you might not be all that inclined to obey it. The rules of the game become meaningless when you realize the game is rigged.”This book picks up right after the first one, with Joe the Bouncer tying up a loose end from the gun heist debacle. (Chapter 1 pretty much summarizes the first book, if you haven’t read it).The diamond heist is brilliant! The costumes, ambulance, and baby - just brilliant! And the whole book is another fun ride with Joe and his crew trying to outwit the authorities, and stay alive at the same time! I'm hoping there is another Joe the Bouncer book in the making!Great ending too, with Joe and Gio on a boat - "So the two friends sat in silence, floating on the surface of the ocean, watching the first specks of dawn begin to gather, like motes on the far rim of the world. Meanwhile, in the water around them, the sharks were closing in."