Hard Case Crime's Charles Ardai at BEAT to a PULP

Charles Ardai is co-founder and editor of the acclaimed Hard Case Crime imprint, which since 2004 has been publishing paperback crime novels in the style of the pulp paperbacks of the 1940s and 50s. Nominated five times in its first five years for the Edgar Allan Poe Award and described by Neal Pollack in The Stranger as "the best new American publisher to appear in the past decade," Hard Case Crime has published books by authors such as Stephen King, Mickey Spillane, Pete Hamill, Donald E. Westlake, Ed McBain, Madison Smartt Bell, and Lawrence Block, and won praise from authors ranging from Jonathan Lethem to J.K. Rowling. Ardai is also himself an award-winning author whose work has received the Edgar and Shamus Awards and been selected for anthologies such as The Year's Best Horror Stories and Best Mystery Stories of the Year. The first two novels he wrote for Hard Case Crime, under the pseudonym "Richard Aleas," are in development as feature films at Universal, with Jonathan Levine attached to direct. Ardai is also a writer and producer on the TV series Haven, which was inspired by the novel Stephen King wrote for Hard Case Crime.

We're very honored to have Mr. Ardai at BEAT to a PULP this week with "The Shadow Line."

BEAT to a PULP: ROUND TWO Is Out!

Smoke 'em if you got 'em, then set your jaw and steel your stance, 'cause BEAT to a PULP: Round Two is here! It's all meat, no filler in this red-raw-and-oozing collection of twenty-nine tales of pure pulp action. You'll find aliens, gangsters, drifters, mountain men, private dicks, gun molls, loners, misfits, drunks, thugs, booze-hounds, and more, all brawling in the pages of Round Two. And that's just for starters.

Seething with left-hooks, uppercuts, kidney shots, and gut-punches aplenty, this powerhouse compilation doles out the genres, from hardboiled crime, western, and noir to sci-fi, fantasy, literary, horror, and more.

Round Two covers all-new ground with offerings from a gang of tried-and-true heavyweights and inspired up-and-comers, all savvy purveyors of pulp at the top of their game. Haymakers include a Hemingway pastiche by famed mystery author Bill Pronzini, a stunning Chandler homage by Hard Case Crime kingpin Charles Ardai, a post-war tale with a twist from James Reasoner, a zombie-horror nightmare by Bill Crider, and even more blows to the temple from such hotshots as Glenn Gray, Patricia Abbott, Chris F. Holm, Vicki Hendricks, Sean Chercover, the legendary Vin Packer, and more, more, more!

Feel up to it? Then climb back in the ring. No lines, no waiting if you order your copy of BEAT to a PULP: Round Two NOW through CreateSpace and Amazon. Kindle eBook to follow shortly.