Pocket-47

For those of you who might have missed it, my debut thriller was released by Oceanview Publishing May 2. Visit my website to read an excerpt. It's available in bookstores and through all the major online retailers (hardcover and ebook).

Pocket-47

Rule #2 in private investigator Nicholas Colt’s Philosophy of Life: If you have a good Tuesday, Wednesday is likely to be a bitch.

Welcome to Wednesday.

Fifteen-year-old Brittney Ryan has taken to the streets. Colt is hired to find her and bring her home.

Piece of cake, he thinks. A surprise visit to the forbidden boyfriend should put this one in the scrapbook.

But something more sinister is behind Brittney’s disappearance, and Colt soon finds himself in an ever-widening maze of deceit, betrayal, and murder.

And, when he learns what the mysterious phrase Pocket-47 means, he is haunted even more by the plane crash that killed his family and rock band twenty years ago--a crash he now realizes might not have been an accident.

Colt is determined to save Brittney and untangle the threads of his own tortured past.

Unfortunately, one of the most heinous and violent criminals in modern history has other ideas.

Which might be okay, because…

Rule #1 in Nicholas Colt’s Philosophy of Life: Screw the rules. Let’s jam.

Praise for Pocket-47:

POCKET-47 sucked me in and held me enthralled. Author Jude Hardin keeps the pace frantic, the thrills non-stop, but best of all is his hero, the wonderfully ironic Nicholas Colt. This is a character I'm eager to follow through many adventures to come.
—Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of ICE COLD.

Nicolas Colt is a PI who cares about people. And, his creator, Jude Hardin, makes us care about Nicolas Colt. Colt is tough, smart and persistent, characteristics he shares with most other private eyes in crime fiction. But he’s a believable character as well - and that’s something many writers seem to have trouble bringing off. Not Hardin. Pocket-47 is a thoroughly engaging, nonstop slay ride. Read it.
—Leighton Gage, author of DYING GASP

In a genre that is about voice, Jude Hardin has created a P.I. with a philosophy and sly cynical wit all his own. Plenty of bad guys and action . . . but front and center is new hero, Nicholas Colt.
—Erica Orloff, author of THE ROOFER

Jude Hardin is a terrific writer and Nicholas Colt is a great character, tough, vulnerable, but with a courageous heart. He's perfectly capable of holding his own in the pantheon of great PI's--Spenser, Elvis Cole, Travis McGee, and now Nicholas Colt.
—Mark Terry, author of THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS

Jude Hardin’s POCKET 47 is a tough, gritty slice of Florida Noir that keeps you guessing all the way to the finish. His washed up rock-star-turned-scuffling-PI Nicholas Colt is a dark but righteous avenger who’s right up there alongside Travis McGee and Dave Robicheaux in the pantheon of bad-ass antiheroes. Check it out--you’ll be glad you did.
—J.D. Rhoades, author of BREAKING COVER

The best PI debut I've read in years, fit to share shelf space with the best of Ross Macdonald, Sue Grafton, and Robert B. Parker. Pocket 47 is so hot you may burn your hands reading. Highly recommended.
—J.A. Konrath, author of the Jack Daniels mysteries

Pocket-47
Jude Hardin. Oceanview (Midpoint, dist.), $24.95 (240p) ISBN 978-1-60809-011-2
Hardin gets everything right in his powerhouse thriller debut, which introduces rock star–turned–PI Nicholas Colt. The sole survivor of a plane crash that killed everyone in his band as well as his wife and baby daughter 20-some years earlier, Colt now works out of an SUV in north Florida. Strapped for cash, he agrees to help 23-year-old Leitha Ryan track down her missing 15-year-old sister, Brittney. Leitha is reluctant to involve the police out of fear that they will return Brittney to foster care. What appears to be a straightforward case proves to be anything but. Colt uncovers several murders as it becomes clear that Brittney disappeared in order to hide from someone who wants to kill her. The violence, while sometimes extreme, is never gratuitous, and Hardin crafts a well-constructed plot and conjures up a flawed protagonist who's more than capable of carrying a series.
—Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

Meet Nicholas Colt, a PI with an intriguing past. Once guitarist for the renowned band Colt .45, he's the sole survivor of a small-plane crash that killed his wife, daughter, and the rest of the band. After that, he renounced music and set up shop as a detective in his Airstream trailor near a lake in north Florida. When orphaned Leitha Ryan hires him to find her runaway 15-year-old sister, Brittney (eschewing police for fear of losing Brittney to foster care), the trail leads to a white-supremacy sect and connects to Colt's earlier life through SWAT sniper and former SEAL Roy Massengill, who once worked for the band. Pocket-47, Colt learns, is a pilot's expression that can mean not only an unexplained glitch but also sabotage. Colt is a physical, no-holds-barred PI, reminiscent of Robert B. Parker's Spenser and Lee Child's Jack Reacher, and his debut is action-packed. With a hefty toll of dead bodies, some described in cringe-inducing detail, this is crime fiction at its rawest. Hard-boiled connoisseurs should make Colt's acquaintance now.
—Booklist

Pocket-47 by Jude Hardin (Oceanview, $24.95) is an outstanding debut that introduces likable private Detective Nicholas Colt, a former rock and blues musician. Colt, who operates out of a 1964 Airstream trailer, is a refreshingly unconventional private eye in a variety of ways, but the bottom line is: he gets the job done. He's hired by Leitha Ryan to investigate the disappearance of Brittany, her 15-year-old sister. Colt proceeds in the best "Rockford Files" manner, getting unexpected results that lead to violent confrontations. A secondary subplot emerges with a direct relation to an earlier tragedy in Colt's life - the death of his wife, young child and other band members in a terrible plane crash many years earlier. The author deftly raises the tension level in the final chapters, reaching a powerful, action-packed conclusion. Hopefully, there will be more books following Colt's tough cases.

Hardin's entertaining tale features very strong characterization and a carefully crafted, fast-moving plot. Pocket-47 is easily one of the year's best first crime novels.
—Ray Walsh, Lansing State Journal

Have you heard the news? Jacksonville is no longer the murder capital of Florida. Miami has finally claimed its rightful place. But don't unlock the bunker doors and start cavorting in the street yet, we're still a close No. 2 and could easily regain our crown.

In his debut crime novel, "Pocket 47," author Jude Hardin explores the evil that wallows in our city's sick underbelly. In doing so, Hardin has crafted a character who may be the best that has ever roamed our environs.

Nicholas Colt is a luckless former blues guitarist turned down-and-out private eye. He lives in an Airstream travel-trailer on a lake in the pine barrens near Hallows Cove on the river south of town. Once at the top of the charts in the music world, Colt was the lone survivor of a plane crash that took his family and his band. Laden with existential guilt, he lives his life by his own set of rules.

"Rule No. 3 from Nicholas Colt's Philosophy of Life: Love will break your heart, and lust will break your bank account. ... Rule No. 7: If you pull the trigger, it's always best if a bullet comes out. Rule No. 216: Things twenty years ago weren't all that [expletive deleted] great either."

His seemingly ordinary quest for a missing Stanton student leads to horrific murder, tough pimps, killer cops, crooked businessmen, slimy rich folks and fanatical religious sects (Our neighbors all).

The character is great, the ever-churning plot is believable and fast-paced and the locale ... well, Hardin takes some liberties with the geography (he seems fascinated with Green Cove Springs and Clay County).

But don't let the deficiencies distract, this is a worthy addition to the private eye pantheon. You will find yourself hoping Hardin has a series in the works.
Besides, he owes us a bunch more rules.
—Tim O'Connell, The Florida Times-Union

Nicholas Colt is a former blues guitarist-turned private investigator only half a step ahead of the repo man when he is hired by Leitha Ryan to find her sister Brittney, a 15-year-old runaway. Colt accepts the case, hoping for an easy few days of work for an actual paying client. Things quickly become complicated when Colt discovers the secret behind Brittney's disappearance, one which not only puts Brittney and Leitha in danger but also places Colt directly in the line of fire.

In this thoroughly enjoyable debut novel Jude Hardin has put a fresh spin on the typical hard-nosed detective novel. Hardin writes with a casual ease, skillfully spinning his tale with a nice pace that keeps the reader engaged. But it is through his character Nicholas Colt that Hardin hooks the reader and takes them along as Colt's personal and professional life collide. Colt is tough but Hardin infuses him with an underlying sense of hope, warmth and wry humor under the hard surface that pulls the reader in and keeps them engaged from start to finish and delighted to be along for the ride.
Reviewed by Barbara Cothern
—Portland Book Review

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dana King on June 14, 2011 at 10:48pm

Congratulations, Jude! I did miss the original release date, so thanks for the reminder. POCKET 47 is now downloaded to my Kindle. I'm looking forward to it.