Hardcore Noir
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What is Hardboiled Fiction?
Hardboiled fiction is distinguished by an unsentimental portrayal of crime,sex and violence. The name comes from a colloquial phrase of understatement. For an egg, to be hardboiled is to be comparatively tough. The hardboiled detective epitomized by Hammet's Sam Spade and Chandler's Philip Marlowe not only solves mysteries, like his "softer" counterparts, he (and often these days, she) confronts danger and engages in violence on a regular basis. The hardboiled detective is characteristically cool, confident and beligerent. Spade and Marlowe
Hardboiled and Packing Heat
The Maltese Falcon
Amazon Price: $10.15 (as of 07/10/2009) 
The Thin Man
Amazon Price: $10.15 (as of 07/10/2009)
The Big Sleep
Amazon Price: $10.98 (as of 07/10/2009)
The Long Goodbye
Amazon Price: $10.98 (as of 07/10/2009)
Farewell, My Lovely
Amazon Price: $11.16 (as of 07/10/2009)
Hardboiled sites
- Black Mask Magazine
- An archive of fiction and stuff from the old pulp.
- The Raymond Chandler Website
- This site is all about Raymond Chandler's life and work.
- The Thrilling Detective Website
- Part webzine, part information site. A good place to start if you into hardboiled fiction.
Noir Fiction
Noir fiction is an important part of the hardboiled school of fiction. Unlike, hardboiled detective stories, noir rarely features a protagonist who is a detective. Rather, the protagonist is usually someone else related to the crime. The protagonist can be a detective or law enforcement officer, but only if he is also a criminal. Noir writers exhibit a clean, direct, bare-bones writing style and no-holds-barred realism. Important writers of noir include: James M. Cain, Cornell Woolrich, Jim Thompson, David Goodis and Charles William. Classic Noir Fiction
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Release Date: 05/14/1989
Amazon Price: $9.37 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $11.95
Used Price: $1.01
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Double Indemnity
Release Date: 05/14/1989
Amazon Price: $10.15 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $12.95
Used Price: $0.99
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The Grifters
Release Date: 10/03/1990
Amazon Price: $11.01 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $12.95
Used Price: $3.19
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I Married a Dead Man (Crime, Penguin)
Amazon Price: (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $5.99
Used Price: $4.68
The Moon in the Gutter (Midnight Classics)
Amazon Price: $11.39 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $11.99
Used Price: $5.45
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Mickey Spillane
In Memoriam -- 1918-2006
Mickey Spillane was born in New York, but raised in New Jersey. He began his writing career in the 1930s but it wasn't until he burst on the scene with his hardnosed private detective, Mike Hammer in I, the Jury ( a novel reportedly written in just 9 days) that he became a household name.There is no doubt as to his influence on the hardboiled school of writing. Several of his books were sucessfully adapted to the screen and actor, Stacy Keach, even starred in a hit T.V. show based on the Mike Hammer books.
Books by Mickey Spillane
I, the Jury
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Used Price: $9.99
One Lonely Night
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Used Price: $2.49
The Snake
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Vengeance Is Mine
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The Deep (A Corgi Book)
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Other Great Hardboiled Titles
The Black Dahlia
Amazon Price: $7.50 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $7.50
Used Price: $0.01
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Stray Dogs
Release Date: 11/11/2003
Amazon Price: (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $11.95
Used Price: $0.01
Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins Mysteries)
Amazon Price: $10.98 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $14.00
Used Price: $1.95
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Miami Blues
Release Date: 08/10/2004
Amazon Price: $10.36 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $12.95
Used Price: $3.68
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Cape Fear (Formerly Titled the Executioners)
Release Date: 04/25/2006
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 07/10/2009)
List Price: $7.99
Used Price: $0.01
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Black Mask on Ebay
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Resources
- Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Books
- Publisher of top hardboiled novels and reprints.
- NoirBlog
- news on noir and neo-noir in film, literature, and graphic novels
- The Hardboiled Era: A Checklist
- The appendix to Hardboiled America, by Geoffrey O'Brien (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981).
- NoirNovels.com
- A unique repository for all things noir.
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