Hard Man
available April 2007 (UK) and June 2007 (US)

Has Pearce finally found his match? The time-served Edinburgh hard man is still recovering from the loss of his mother when he’s invited by the dysfunctional Baxter family to protect their pregnant 16-year-old daughter from Wallace, her 26-year-old husband. Having found out that the baby’s not his, Wallace – a man with a reputation for violence – has sworn vengeance. Pearce declines the job: he’s no babysitter. But when Wallace starts taunting Pearce, he goes too far. Before long, Pearce is forced to confront him. Now it’s deeply personal. Time to find out who the real hard man is...

Meet The Author (short video)

Hard Man Author (Edinburgh Evening News Feature Article)

"The first half of the book rattles along at a fair old pace, with dead dogs, kneecappings and so forth, but things go into freefall for the last 100 pages or so, which are possibly the most extraordinary white-knuckle ride of violent chaos and deathly dark humour (including some astonishing scenes involving a crucifixion that will live long in the memory) I have ever come across." The Herald

"By turns hilarious and horrifying, Guthrie’s original voice grabs the reader and doesn’t let go." Kirkus (starred) Review

"The mixture of black comedy and relentless action makes this a hardboiled romp to remember." Library Journal

"If there's going to be a better crime novel in 2007, it's one that will have to do a lot to beat Hard Man." Shots Mag

"a real knuckleduster of a book" Waterstone's Books Quarterly

"an outstanding piece of crime fiction" Fantasy Book Spot

"grotesquely fascinating" Publishers Weekly

"impossible to put down" Lothian Life

"one of the most hilarious and gruesome crime novels it has ever been my pleasure to read" Good Reading Magazine

"blacker than a dog's guts." Pulp Pusher

"one of those books that makes you wonder what the writer will come up with next" Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine

"a dark, perfectly placed journey through psychoses, surreality and the twilight world of noir that is Guthrie’s twisted vision of Edinburgh" Crime Scene Scotland  

"Chandler meets Titus Andronicus on the blasted heath of Scotland's urban underclass." The Age

"Served with a severe brand of black humor that will make you gag with laughter." The Crime Time Cafe

"Be prepared for horrific violence, graphic demonstrations of man's inhumanity to man and seriously deviant behaviour. You don't want to look, but you cannot put the book down." The New Review 

"Allan Guthrie has followed up his snappy TWO-WAY SPLIT and the so-cruel KISS HER GOODBYE with a novel of violence, humor and deeply cynical pathos....Guthrie keeps his edge sharp and the reader on edge with HARD MAN." Jennifer Jordan, Crimespree Magazine

"a thoroughly engaging tale, complete with some twists that are so stealthily deployed they're pure genius." Sandra Ruttan, Spinetingler Magazine

"Hard Man is like a gory car crash. You look at the carnage. You look away, filled with horror. Then you look again. You can’t help it." Nathan Cain, Independent Crime

"HARD MAN is at once highly stylized and brutally realistic--the love-child of hardboiled fiction and crime reporting--and the experience of reading it is like none you've had." Behind The Black Mask

"evocative" -- Scotland On Sunday

"Guthrie's blithe sense of humor and inventive approach to the worst-case scenario make this a recommendation." Booklist

“Hard Man is one of those books that takes your breath away—at once viciously funny and surprisingly tender, rich on character and yet with a whiplash violence that roars off the page, relentlessly entertaining but with an unexpected emotional resonance that lingers long after its final lines. Rare indeed is the white-knuckle crime novel that can, as Guthrie's does, also illuminate, in subtle and complex ways, the preciousness of masculinity, the fitful intricacies of what it means to be a "hard man." A big book in every way, Guthrie's new novel demonstrates that among contemporary crime writers, he has few peers.” Megan Abbott, Edgar, Barry and Anthony nominated author of The Song Is You

“What Robert Aldrich and Sam Fuller did to cinema, Allan Guthrie is doing to British crime fiction, and Hard Man is a perfect example of Guthrie's godless world: violent, grotesque, hilarious and offensive in equal measure. The man is the king of Tartan Noir and I'll cut anyone who says different.” Ray Banks, author of Donkey Punch

“Blew me to hell and gone … line on line of wondrous expression … moved me in ways that hurt.” Ken Bruen, author of Cross

"Allan Guthrie is a bare-knuckle storyteller with a twinkle in his eye and a knife in his boot. Hard Man kept me grinning, wincing, and guessing right up until the wicked, wistful end. I loved it." Sean Doolittle, author of The Clean-Up

“I managed to get my hot little hands on an advance copy of Allan Guthrie's forthcoming novel Hard Man. I was knocked out by Guthrie’s Kiss Her Goodbye…which didn’t take the ‘06 Anthony for best paperback original, but should have. Hard Man is just as brilliant only blacker, uglier and really fucking funny. And did I mention Scottish? Yeah, Scottish Noir. It rocks. Mistress Christa highly recommends it. Meanwhile, go read Kiss while you’re waiting for Hard Man. You won’t be sorry.” From DEADLIER THAN THE MALE, the blog of Christa Faust, author of Hoodtown

"It's always pure pleasure to read the work of an author who is completely in tune with his own voice and who understands utterly the minds of his characters.  Allan Guthrie is such an author, and Hard Man is proof that Guthrie possesses these skills and many more.  I laughed and flinched and gasped my way to the very end.  A rich, breathless, gritty achievement." Victor Gischler, Edgar-nominated author of Shotgun Opera

“Scorched earth writing. A hurtling, high-wire ballet of hard-boiled violence. The last two-thirds of Hard Man is one screaming aria. Riveting, nasty, dark, violent and utterly compelling. I couldn’t put it down.” Denise Hamilton, Edgar-nominated author of Prisoner Of Memory

“Fantastic—humor noir! Guthrie’s skill in creating lovable maniacs, quirky animal behavior and entertaining slang far surpasses the boundaries of crime fiction with uniqueness and heart. A memorable treat!” – Vicki Hendricks, author of Cruel Poetry

"Dark, twisted, violent, and brilliant." Stuart Macbride, author of Dying Light

"The characters of Allan Guthrie's Hard Man suffer all the consequences that pluck and thick-skulled stupidity can bring upon them, and Guthrie describes it all with skill, wit, and originality: I promise this is a story you haven't read before." Thomas Perry, bestselling author of Nightlife

“Hard Man is an Edinburgh festival of lip-smacking gruesomeness and black comedy, where every light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train.” Val McDermid, multi-award winning author of The Grave Tattoo

"Allan Guthrie's tale of insanity and revenge is brimming with muscular violence, shocking as a Glasgow kiss. He stamps on all the conventions until you hear the bones snap. Strong characters, brilliantly realised, and a gripping narrative." Zoë Sharp, author of Second Shot

"Hard Man is a darkly humorous, beautifully constructed crime novel with endearingly wicked characters. It cements Allan Guthrie's reputation as one of the top new talents in the business." Jason Starr, author of The Follower

“If you’re looking at this book wondering if you should buy it, let me save you some trouble: Buy it. Because about halfway through it, when the floor completely drops out from under you, you’re going to want to call me and say, “Jesus, what did you do to me?” but you won’t be able to, because you’ll be too busy feverishly turning pages. Sure, I could throw the usual machine-gun barrage of adjectives at this book—violent, funny, smart, stark, sacreligious, utterly screwed—but again, let’s cut to the chase. Allan Guthrie’s Hard Man is already my favorite book of 2007 because, frankly, I can’t imagine what would top it.” Duane Swierczynski, author of The Blonde

"Hard Man is bursting not just with violence, energy and realism, but with heart, soul and humour.  It's the book that sees Allan Guthrie step up from being one of the most ferociously talented and talked about new crime writers to emerge in Britain in the last few years to being one of the top guys currently operating.  No contest, no argument, this is one of the best crime novels of 2007." Martyn Waites, CWA Gold Dagger-nominated author of Bone Machine.