To read my Blog, please click here.

Sign up here to receive blogs, notifications and other communications via email.

My latest book is entitled PAROLE.  It’s the story of two prisoners  — one black and the other white — who are paroled from San Quentin on the same day and sent back to L.A. on the same bus. On the inside they hated each other; on the outside their lives quickly become entangled as each tries to reclaim what he left behind.  The book is a crime thriller in the tradition of Elmore Leonard.  If it were a movie, it would probably be classified as an action/comedy/thriller.

Midwest Book Review had this to say about the book:

“Parole creates a winning romp through crime, redemption, and life. It incorporates a zany tinge of humor and many dramatic moments to both entertain and enlighten leisure readers…  This creates a memorable read, indeed, which will appeal to and hold many surprises for readers anticipating the ordinary course of a parolee’s life, only to discover a focus that goes beyond predictable dilemmas. These elements create a tale that is hard to put down and satisfyingly original: a standout in its genre.” 

Ken Bruen, author of the award-winning Jack Taylor series, called PAROLE  “… a joy to read.”

Read more about PAROLE here or on Amazon.

*****

Last year I published  a legal thriller entitled THE DEVIL’S CHAPLAIN.

THE DEVIL’S CHAPLAIN tells the story of a young attorney, Charlotte Ambler, who volunteers to represent a death row inmate, a once-prominent biologist named Christopher Ritter, who asserts his innocence but doesn’t regard his life as worth saving. Charlotte fights to save him in spite of himself as the clock ticks toward the execution date. In this gripping tale of deception and self-deception, betrayal and violence, lawyer and client find common ground in their quest for justice and human values.

Award-winning crime writer Ken Bruen (author of the Jack Taylor series) had this to say about THE DEVIL’S CHAPLAIN:

“Brilliant!… It is one of the finest depictions of evil I have ever read and is a superb depiction of manipulation…. It is also a highly entertaining mystery with a heroine as compelling as she is gutsy.”

Diane Donovan, writing for Midwest Book Review, wrote:

“Readers of legal thrillers who like cases that are not cut-and-dried but filled with satisfying twists and much food for thought will find The Devil’s Chaplain a powerfully-wrought inspection of not just legal processes, but social issues revolving around murder, redemption, punishment, and resolve. It’s a thoroughly engrossing inspection that’s hard to put down: a riveting story that hinges on clues so elusive that the tension is exquisitely drawn.”

You can read the full review here.

***  **** ***

Bruce Hartman has worked as a pianist, bookseller and attorney. He lives with his wife in Philadelphia.  The Devil’s Chaplain is his eighth novel.  His seventh novel was Potlatch, a satirical comedy set in Philadelphia, which is the second book in a projected “Philadelphia Trilogy” begun by A Butterfly in Philadelphia.  Lisa McCombs, writing for Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews said, “Get ready for a hilarious ride in Potlatch…  One of the most amusing reads ever to be published.”

Bruce Hartman’s first novel, Perfectly Healthy Man Drops Dead, won the Salvo Press Mystery Novel Award and was published in 2008.  His second book,  The Rules of Dreaming, was published by Swallow Tail Press in May 2013 and was awarded the Kirkus Star for Books of Exceptional Merit.  At the end of the year, Kirkus Reviews selected it as one of the “Top 100” Indie Books of 2013.  Another new mystery, The Muse of Violence, inspired by Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (also known as Ten Little Indians) was published by Swallow Tail Press in October 2013.

The Philosophical Detective, was published in June 2014, along with a free preview volume entitled Murder Considered As One Of The Fine Arts, which is Part One of The Philosophical Detective.

A Butterfly in Philadelphia, published in paperback in April 2015, was described by Jack Magnus of Readers Favorite Book Reviews as “one of those strange comic masterpieces that you’re quite lucky to run across once in a very great while.”

Another new book was published in November 2015: A comic dystopia on internet privacy and freedom entitled, Big Data Is Watching You!

Like my page!  
See my author profile on !