“BRADY’S BAD FUCKED.”
The opening line of THE HACKMAN BLUES is an exceptional
summary for the whole book. When Brady is asked to help
a man find his missing daughter it sets him on a twisted
path. The man is connected, a criminal, and the reader begins
to suspect his interest in his little girl isn’t healthy.
Brady has connections of his own, a business partner he
knows from when they served time together. As the story
unfolds they find the girl, but come up with a scheme to
make a lot of money in the process. Saying more would be
unfair: You’ll have to read it to find out what happens.
This was an amazing read. Forget the plotline of the story:
Brady is a bipolar gay ex-con. This is the real story. With
Brady we climb to the heights when things are good and we
spiral to the lows when he’s off his meds. Bruen paints
a horrifically real portrait of a person who is, in many
respects, their own worst enemy.
This was a book that was extremely controversial when it
was written. Published in 1997, even some authors called
for this book to be banned. Of course, that made it that
much more enticing, and it’s a worthy read, a milestone
in our history in a way. Fans of Bruen and fans of hardboiled
noir fiction will not want to miss this book. It keeps you
turning the pages breathlessly to the end.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Sandra Ruttan's debut novel, Suspicious Circumstances, was released
in January 2007. Her short fiction has appeared in Out of
the Gutter, Demolition, Mouth Full
of Bullets, Crimespree Magazine, The
Cynic and Spinetingler. For more information
visit her website.
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2007 SPINETINGLER Magazine - All rights reserved
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