I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are mine.
This is the fifth book in the Hardman series. It is a standalone book with no cliffhanger ending. All the books in this series are standalones and could be read in any order. However, I highly recommend that you start with the first book in the series – Atlanta Deathwatch. In the first book you get an introduction to the characters and enjoy their growth through the series.
Here, Hump receives an sex film in the mail depicting his former girlfriend with a former pro football player, Ed Cross. When Hump then visits his former girlfriend’s home, he finds a bloody mess so he calls Hardman for help. Everyone believes that the former girlfriend has been murdered and as the cops investigate the crime scene, the former girlfriend shows up – very much alive. So who was murdered? Turns out Ed Cross was the victim and he sent similar sex films to several other men recently – so all the recipients [including Hump] are possible suspects. On top of that, Cross was writing a tell-all book [actually recording his thoughts on tape which were then transformed into a book by an actual writer] – so now there might be more suspects who may have wanted to keep Cross quiet. Hump and Hardman have to narrow the field to the actual perpetrator after it becomes clear that the police are very interested in Hump for the murder.
This is another excellent entry in this series. This book was written in the seventies, so be warned, if you are sensitive to these things, the vernacular and belief systems are from that era [for example – words used to describe women and races or attitudes related to domestic violence and race discrimination]. What I love about this series is the cleverly plotted mysteries with main characters who are realistic and flawed. Yet, these are two guys who you would enjoy passing the time listening to their adventures over a beer or two. At the end of the book is an afterword written by Ben Jones, who played Cooter in the 70’s TV series Dukes of Hazzard. Jones describes his relationship with the author and some of his memories – it was an interesting heartfelt tribute.
Shawn Compton has narrated all the books in the series. To me, he is absolutely the voice of Hardman and Hump. Another outstanding job!