-
Hardcase
- Narrated by: Fred Filbrich
- Series: Joe Kurtz, Book 1
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Crime Fiction
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $27.36
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Hard Freeze
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Fred Filbrich
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Kurtz, former investigator and convicted felon, is on parole. But the years he spent in Attica didn't make his old haunts any safer. Back on the streets of Buffalo, he's already marked by a local Mafia don.
-
-
Harder
- By Darwin8u on 06-26-20
By: Dan Simmons
-
The Rise of Endymion
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 29 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the stunning continuation of the epic adventure begun in Hyperion, Simmons returns us to a far future resplendent with drama and invention. On the world of Hyperion, the mysterious Time Tombs are opening. And the secrets they contain mean that nothing - nothing anywhere in the universe - will ever be the same.
-
-
Well written and narrated
- By Chaim on 06-26-09
By: Dan Simmons
-
The Abominable
- A Novel
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 29 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 1924 and the race to summit the world's highest mountain has been brought to a terrified pause by the shocking disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, high on the shoulder of Mt. Everest. By the following year, three climbers - a British poet and veteran of the Great War, a young French Chamonix guide, and an idealistic young American - find a way to take their shot at the top.
-
-
Great story, great detail
- By David Shear on 10-30-13
By: Dan Simmons
-
Song of Kali
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blood will curdle in Calcutta. In the most crime-ridden city, nightmares become real and evil is defined by frightening occurrences. When an American family finds themselves encircled by the terrors of this land, lurid events befall them and life takes on a new meaning - death. Winner of the World Fantasy Award, Song of Kali will chill the blood and frighten even the most jaded of horror fans.
-
-
Excellent, atmospheric horror
- By Jim N on 11-11-14
By: Dan Simmons
-
Carrion Comfort
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Mel Foster, Laural Merlington
- Length: 39 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Caught behind the lines of Hitler's Final Solution, Saul Laski is one of the multitudes destined to die in the notorious Chelmno extermination camp. Until he rises to meet his fate and finds himself face to face with an evil far older, and far greater, than the Nazis themselves. Compelled by the encounter to survive at all costs, so begins a journey that for Saul will span decades and cross continents, plunging into the darkest corners of 20th century history to reveal a secret society of beings who may often exist behind the world's most horrible and violent events.
-
-
Idk who needs to see this, but TRIGGER WARNING
- By The Altinutt on 11-05-19
By: Dan Simmons
-
The Terror
- A Novel
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Tom Sellwood
- Length: 28 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The men onboard HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the Terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape.
-
-
This book DRAGS on forever!
- By JENNY L. on 07-25-18
By: Dan Simmons
-
Hard Freeze
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Fred Filbrich
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joe Kurtz, former investigator and convicted felon, is on parole. But the years he spent in Attica didn't make his old haunts any safer. Back on the streets of Buffalo, he's already marked by a local Mafia don.
-
-
Harder
- By Darwin8u on 06-26-20
By: Dan Simmons
-
The Rise of Endymion
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 29 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the stunning continuation of the epic adventure begun in Hyperion, Simmons returns us to a far future resplendent with drama and invention. On the world of Hyperion, the mysterious Time Tombs are opening. And the secrets they contain mean that nothing - nothing anywhere in the universe - will ever be the same.
-
-
Well written and narrated
- By Chaim on 06-26-09
By: Dan Simmons
-
The Abominable
- A Novel
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 29 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year is 1924 and the race to summit the world's highest mountain has been brought to a terrified pause by the shocking disappearance of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, high on the shoulder of Mt. Everest. By the following year, three climbers - a British poet and veteran of the Great War, a young French Chamonix guide, and an idealistic young American - find a way to take their shot at the top.
-
-
Great story, great detail
- By David Shear on 10-30-13
By: Dan Simmons
-
Song of Kali
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blood will curdle in Calcutta. In the most crime-ridden city, nightmares become real and evil is defined by frightening occurrences. When an American family finds themselves encircled by the terrors of this land, lurid events befall them and life takes on a new meaning - death. Winner of the World Fantasy Award, Song of Kali will chill the blood and frighten even the most jaded of horror fans.
-
-
Excellent, atmospheric horror
- By Jim N on 11-11-14
By: Dan Simmons
-
Carrion Comfort
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Mel Foster, Laural Merlington
- Length: 39 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Caught behind the lines of Hitler's Final Solution, Saul Laski is one of the multitudes destined to die in the notorious Chelmno extermination camp. Until he rises to meet his fate and finds himself face to face with an evil far older, and far greater, than the Nazis themselves. Compelled by the encounter to survive at all costs, so begins a journey that for Saul will span decades and cross continents, plunging into the darkest corners of 20th century history to reveal a secret society of beings who may often exist behind the world's most horrible and violent events.
-
-
Idk who needs to see this, but TRIGGER WARNING
- By The Altinutt on 11-05-19
By: Dan Simmons
-
The Terror
- A Novel
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Tom Sellwood
- Length: 28 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The men onboard HMS Terror have every expectation of finding the Northwest Passage. When the expedition's leader, Sir John Franklin, meets a terrible death, Captain Francis Crozier takes command and leads his surviving crewmen on a last, desperate attempt to flee south across the ice. But as another winter approaches, as scurvy and starvation grow more terrible, and as the Terror on the ice stalks them southward, Crozier and his men begin to fear there is no escape.
-
-
This book DRAGS on forever!
- By JENNY L. on 07-25-18
By: Dan Simmons
-
The Fifth Heart
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 23 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1893 Sherlock Holmes and Henry James come to America together to solve the mystery of the 1885 death of Clover Adams, wife of the esteemed historian Henry Adams--a member of the Adams family that has given the United States two Presidents. Clover's suicide appears to be more than it at first seemed; the suspected foul play may involve matters of national importance.
-
-
An Abundance of Patience
- By IceDancingKaren on 06-01-15
By: Dan Simmons
-
Summer of Night
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 22 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s the summer of 1960 and in the small town of Elm Haven, Illinois, five twelve-year-old boys are forging the powerful bonds that a lifetime of change will not break. From sunset bike rides to shaded hiding places in the woods, the boys’ days are marked by all of the secrets and silences of an idyllic childhood. But amid the sun-drenched cornfields, their loyalty will be pitilessly tested.
-
-
A Strong RIval of Stephen King's Best Work
- By Mississippi Malka on 02-07-16
By: Dan Simmons
-
Ilium
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 29 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the towering heights of Olympos Mons on Mars, the mighty Zeus and his immortal family of gods, goddesses, and demigods look down upon a momentous battle, observing - and often influencing - the legendary exploits of Paris, Achilles, Hector, Odysseus, and the clashing armies of Greece and Troy. Thomas Hockenberry, former 21st-century professor and Iliad scholar, watches as well. It is Hockenberry's duty to observe and report on the Trojan War's progress to the so-called deities who saw fit to return him from the dead.
-
-
big ol' meh
- By Julia on 11-10-17
By: Dan Simmons
-
The Hollow Man
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jeremy Bremen has a secret. All his life he's been cursed with the ability to read minds. He knows the secret thoughts, fears, and desires of others as if they were his own. For years, his wife, Gail, has served as a shield between Jeremy and the burden of this terrible knowledge. But Gail is dying, her mind ebbing slowly away, leaving him vulnerable to the chaotic flood of thought that threatens to sweep away his sanity. Now Jeremy is on the run - from his mind, from his past, from himself - hoping to find peace in isolation.
-
-
Genius writing, great book
- By David Shear on 02-28-14
By: Dan Simmons
-
Black Hills
- A Novel
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Erik Davies, Michael McConnohie
- Length: 20 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Paha Sapa, a young Sioux warrior, first encounters General George Armstrong Custer as Custer lies dying on the battlefield at Little Bighorn. He believes - as do the holy men of his tribe - that the legendary general's ghost entered him at that moment and will remain with him until Sapa convinces him to leave.
-
-
Perfect example of audio over print
- By Michael on 06-18-10
By: Dan Simmons
-
The Crook Factory
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 20 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the height of World War II, the famous writer Ernest Hemingway sought permission from the U.S. government to operate a spy ring out of his house in the Cuban countryside. This much is true... It is the summer of ’42 and FBI agent Joe Lucas has come to Cuba at the behest of J. Edgar Hoover to keep an eye on Hemingway. The great writer has assembled a ragtag spy ring that he calls the “Crook Factory” to play a dangerous game of amateur espionage. But then Lucas and Hemingway, against all the odds, uncover a critical piece of intelligence - and the game turns deadly.
-
-
Really well researched spy novel
- By Brian on 07-08-11
By: Dan Simmons
-
Flashback
- By: Dan Simmons
- Narrated by: Richard Davidson, Bryan Kennedy, Joe Barrett
- Length: 21 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The United States is near total collapse. But 87% of the population doesn't care: they're addicted to flashback, a drug that allows its users to re-experience the best moments of their lives. After ex-detective Nick Bottom's wife died in a car accident, he went under the flash to be with her; he's lost his job, his teenage son, and his livelihood as a result. Nick may be a lost soul, but he's still a good cop, so he is hired to investigate the murder of a top governmental advisor's son.
-
-
Outstanding, haunting work from a master of sci fi
- By Jeffrey on 05-28-12
By: Dan Simmons
-
Mind Bullet
- By: Jeremy Robinson
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonas kills people...with his mind. He reaches out, focuses for a moment, and feels a snap of pain between his eyes. Then his target falls over dead: a hole in the center of their brains. The cause of death is unknown to all aside from Jonas, and his lone companion, Bubbles, a sarcastic AI with aspirations to be more human, or a serial killer. One of the two. Maybe both. Jonas calls his ability...mind bullet.
-
-
Another super unique and entertaining story.
- By Allan Miller on 11-24-21
By: Jeremy Robinson
-
Heart-Shaped Box
- By: Joe Hill
- Narrated by: Stephen Lang
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Judas Coyne is a collector of the macabre. But nothing he possesses is as unlikely or as dreadful as his latest discovery, a thing so terrible-strange, Jude can't help but reach for his wallet. For a thousand dollars, Jude will become the proud owner of a dead man's suit, said to be haunted by a restless spirit. But what UPS delivers to his door in a black heart-shaped box is no imaginary or metaphorical ghost. It's the real thing.
-
-
Wonderful!
- By Laura on 05-10-12
By: Joe Hill
-
Billy Summers
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Paul Sparks
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?
-
-
Absolutely amazing
- By Victor @ theAudiobookBlog dot com on 08-03-21
By: Stephen King
-
Gwendy's Button Box
- Includes Bonus Story "The Music Room"
- By: Stephen King, Richard Chizmar
- Narrated by: Maggie Siff
- Length: 2 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974, 12-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zigzag up the cliffside. At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. One day a stranger calls to Gwendy: "Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me."
-
-
Not the best King
- By Michael Ferris on 08-01-17
By: Stephen King, and others
-
Quicksilver
- Book One of The Baroque Cycle
- By: Neal Stephenson
- Narrated by: Neal Stephenson (introduction), Kevin Pariseau, Simon Prebble
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In which Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and courageous Puritan, pursues knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe -- in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.
-
-
Be aware of what you're getting into
- By David on 12-16-11
By: Neal Stephenson
Publisher's Summary
Once Joe Kurtz needed revenge - and revenge cost him 11 years in Attica prison. Now Kurtz needs a job, and the price is going to be higher. Out of prison, out of touch, Kurtz signs on with the Byron Farino, Don of a Mob family whose son Kurtz had been protecting on the inside. Farino enlists Kurtz's help to track down the Family's missing accountant - a man with too much knowledge of Family business to have on the loose.
But someone doesn't want the accountant found - and with enemies inside the Family vying for his throne, and turf warfare just around the corner, Farino needs an outsider like Kurtz to flush out who's really behind this latest affront. As the story twists and turns and the body count rises, Kurtz no longer knows who he can trust. Everyone seems to be after something, from the mob boss' sultry yet dangerous daughter, to a hit man named The Dane, an albino killer who is good with a knife, and a dwarf who is armed to the teeth and hell-bent on revenge. Kurtz has always been an ace investigator. Now he's about to discover that to get at the truth, sometimes you have to go after it - hard.
Critic Reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about Hardcase
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darwin8u
- 06-26-20
Hard
"Mistah Kurtz, he dead."
- Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Dan Simmons writes fantastic science fiction and horror, but love to jump genres. Hardcase is his first book in his (so far) three book Joe Kurtz series. Joe is a well-read (allusions in the novel to Oscar Wilde, Joseph Conrad, Epictetus, Tom Wolfe, and Shakespeare) private detective who gets sent to prison for 11-years after his partner is killed and he takes revenge on the killers. As the titles of all the books suggest, the Joe Kurtz novels put the HARD into hard-boiled. The action is fast, the plots are fairly inventive (if a bit too coincidental), but largely distracting and enjoyable. This is thriller escapism without too many regrets. The setting is in the Niagara Falls, Buffalo region. In someways, this feels like a mixture of John Wick meets the Continental Op.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- BookWorm
- 05-25-15
Another Excellent Dan Simmons Book
I've been reading Dan Simmons for years. I had read Hardcase years ago before the audio version was available and loved it. I just finished listening to the audiobook version and it was fantastic from start to finish. I've already purchased the next book in the series, Hard Freeze, and look forward to listening to that. Hardcase features an exciting story, excellent fleshed out characters and even good villains. Joe Kurtz is a no nonsense hardboiled detective. The people in the story act and talk like you'd expect real people and the narration was perfect. Hardcase reminds me very much of the style of writing and characters you'd find in a really good Elmore Leonard novel (examples include Gold Coast, Stick, Swag and Mr. Paradise). Other Dan Simmons audiobooks I've enjoyed (multiple times each) include: Flashback, Illium and Carrion Comfort. The Joe Kurtz series is new to audio and I hope he releases Joe Kurtz #3 soon.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 09-01-17
Not believable in the slightest but incredible fun
Joe Kurz is a very straight-forward ex-Private Investigator; jailed for a decade for a revenge killing he most willingly committed and whom we join as he is released back into the world of 2001 (I think) to restart life on the outside. Subsequently a *lot* of characters get involved and a surprising number of events occur in what is a pretty short story (6 hours of audio, 300ish pages). The characters are mostly the ones you expect to find in a detective story but there are some surprising gems like Pruno and Soul Dad.
This is Dan Simmons' (of Hyperion fame) foray into the hardboiled detective-noir genre. I wasn't sure what to expect from him in this genre, mostly that's why I read it, to see what he did after his science fiction triumphs. Other writers have made a good job of melding sci-fi and detective-noir (Alastair Reynolds' Century Rain for instance), but this is straight up detective story and it's very good! One of the more interesting things for me was the fact that this is set in a modern time compared to the majority of other books in this genre and I enjoyed this style of story-telling with more modern trappings. I was surprised to find some recurring themes from Hyperion here: the story of Abraham pops in ever so briefly, in a chapter packed so full of whacky references that it'll keep me going for months with side-reading (starting with the angel Mastema).
There were very few chapters that were reasonable points to pause at, I almost always needed to find out what happened next, and the final twenty chapters were just one long twisty turny crescendo. None of it is believable in the slightest, but it's an incredible amount of fun and rather unputdownable! Why this hasn't been made into a Jason Statham movie is beyond me.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- soliDEOgloria
- 02-07-15
Just more really good Dan Simmons
I've read most of his works and have not been let down yet. Hardcase has simply obligated me to buy all the Joe Kurtz "hard" to put down reads.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Daniel
- 05-04-22
its ok.
im new to detective books, but this was a little bland. the coice acting was good but the characters where 2d. it was good enough for me to try book 2.