Hard Man by Allan Guthrie

[BrianLindenmuth]

Hard Man is a simple story of a man who misses his mom, loves his dog and finds Jesus.

Over the course of 8 blood soaked chapters that all take their names from movies, Hard Man unfolds with a savage intensity. The movie titles used will cleverly act as epigraphs for the chapters.


Hard Man is divided pretty clearly into two parts. It’s during the first part that we will be introduced to the Baxter clan and their situation with Wallace. Their opening gambit to scare Wallace fails miserably and they decide to attempt to enlist the help of Pearce. Pearce, a character from Guthrie’s debut novel Two-Way Split, is as the title suggests a hard man. But he is also a man who is, by his very nature, more reactive then proactive so he refuses the job. The full dysfunctionality of the Baxter's will slowly become evident as we witness their machinations to not only get rid of Wallace but to make further attempts to enlist the aid of Pearce.


It will be one of these further attempts that sets into motion the final full throated berserker yell that is the second part. Read more.

Also as a reminder the current contest is for Hard Man. Click here for more details.