Down Among the Jocks by Ralph Dennis
Before Spenser & Hawk, Elvis Cole & Joe Pike, and Hap & Leonard, there was Jim Hardman & Hump Evans, author Ralph Dennis’ legendary 1970s PI team. They’re back in the fifth adventure in the beloved and acclaimed series that influenced generations of crime writers.
Retired pro football star Ed Cross did most of his scoring between bed posts with other player’s women, including Hump’s ex-girlfriend. That was bad enough. But, just to rub it in, Cross sends Hump an x-rated birthday skin flick of him celebrating in bed with two women. Hump goes looking for blood… and finds it. Cross is murdered and Hump becomes the prime suspect. Hardman works to clear Hump and discovers there’s plenty of murderous hate for Cross out there…from the top of the sports world to the pits of Atlanta’s illegal gambling scene… and revealing it could get them both killed.
This new edition includes an Afterword from Ben Jones, the Dukes of Hazzard actor and former U.S. Congressman from Georgia.
Books by Ralph Dennis
Hoop Noir
Two gritty, fast-moving novels set in the world of basketball by legendary crime writer Ralph Dennis.
Tales of a Sad, Fat Wordman
This collection of some of Ralph's early short stories and poetry, framed with excerpts from articles about him and by essays from authors who knew him well.
Dust in the Heart
There's a killer stalking children in a small, North Carolina town...and the only one who can stop him is the local Sheriff, a man crippled physically and emotionally by a war that he's still fighting within himself. The haunting, powerful new thriller by Ralph Dennis, author of the legendary Hardman series of crime novels
All Kinds of Ugly
The recently discovered, long-lost, 13th and final Hardman adventure sends the unlicensed PI to London to find a missing man...where he becomes embroiled in an ugly case of embezzlement and murder.
Reviews For Down Among the Jocks
Dennis wrote with assurance. His prose was muscular, swift, and highly readable.
First, let me give the Hardman series my highest recommendation. And DOWN AMONG THE JOCKS, the fifth Hardman novel, is pretty darn great.
Among the best series books around.
Some of the finest paperback originals I have ever read were part of Ralph Dennis' HARDMAN series. The books were well-written, hard-hitting, unsentimental, but still full of heart.
