Customer Reviews

Private Heat: An Art Hardin Mystery (Art Hardin Mysteries)

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I haven't read a lot of mystery novels, but when I happened to run into Robert Bailey while he was speaking at a local bookstore, I decided to buy his first book and give it a shot. He was a genuinely nice guy, and you could tell that he really, really liked what he had written. That sold me right there.

It took me a couple of chapters to get into the book, but after that I was completely hooked. Art Hardin, the main character, is very believable detective, and I liked the fact that he's a family man and not the typical gumshoe that you see in the movies. I loved that he kept getting arrested, and I loved that he was always on top of every situation. The story moves along at a whirlwind pace, the action unfolding in a way that keeps you wanting more and more right up until the end. This book is addictive! The characters are real, the author has a great sense of humor, and the plot is both well thought out and well presented. I laughed out loud a few times while reading the book, which was a surprise.

I might be a bit partial, because the book is set in my home town. As a matter of fact, Art's office is located a mile and a half from my house! Robert Bailey has depicted the adventures of a detective in Grand Rapids in a way that I would have never imagined possible, and it was a thrill to see so many of the places with which I'm familiar in print.

This novel will appeal to readers of all types. I know that for certain, because I myself am more into SF and dark fantasy than anything else, and I loved this book. I'll be recommending it to others, and I can't wait for the second book in the series, which, according to Mr. Bailey, is set to be published soon.

Great job!!

It's tough to find a contemporary first book by an author--and a mystery, at that--as compelling and entertaining as PRIVATE HEAT by Robert Bailey. What a pleasant surprise. A gut-wrencher one moment, the reader laughs out loud the next. On top of it all, Bailey's experience as a private investigator lends the book a believability that pulls the reader right into the action.

The plot moves along quickly, as Bailey masterfully builds his characters. The reader cannot help but identify with the not-quite-smug protagonist, Art Hardin, and his sidekick, as well as the entire Hardin family--especially his wife, Wendy. Throw in his dead partner's widow, who holds the business pursestrings, and a few cops who don't take to a PI who continually gets ahead of them , and Bailey has woven a great setting for a dynamite murder case.

PRIVATE HEAT is loaded with the irony that underscores real life. In one scene, Hardin's wonderful "rotor"-tailed dog careens across a vehicle's hood to catch a frisbee while the cops, called to check out a shooting at Hardin's house, cheer him on.

Bailey's polished, well-turned phrases give the book impact. It's a damned good read, and the last page is the best. But don't cheat. You'll miss out on a great ride if you do.

Note: I hear the next book in the series, DYING EMBERS, is due out any time now.

Authenticity is hard to come by in the world of fiction, but this first novel offers plenty.

The back of the dust jacket says the author is a military veteran as well an experienced private investigator. I have no doubt of this, for as I read 'Private Heat', it was obvious to me that Mr. Bailey has personally experienced the events which enabled him to craft and plot this excellent story.

His first hand experience not only allows him to accurately portray the technical details of a detective story, but, he is also able to strike the elusive and delicate balance between fiction and reality.

IE, "Private Heat" is not a 'true crime' novel, but it's entertaining and REAL at the same time.

"Private Heat" offers excellent dialogue and a well crafted plot. Highly recommended. Collectors should grab their own first printing of Mr. Baileys first novel while they still can. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

I read Private Heat on a friend's recommendation and I'm glad I did. The book is well plotted, moves quickly, and is, quite frankly, hard to put down. I read several first novels each year, and an author's lack of experience is usually easy to spot. Not so in this case. The protagonist is believable (imagine, a private eye with a family instead of a harem). The bad guys are believable (a carefully constructed scam). The supporting characters are believable. The action quickly moves from one believable situation to the next. A good novel creates the willing suspension of disbelief, and this book does just that. I look forward to Robert Bailey's next novel, as Private Heat will surely lead to a string of successes.

Rejoice! The hard-boiled school of mystery fiction is alive and well and roiling over in...Grand Rapids, Michigan? Yep. That's the beat of Art Hardin, tough, smart, wise-cracking PI who takes the kind of unglamorous, gritty cases that pay the rent and put food on the table. Insurance fraud, industrial theft, maybe the odd missing person or philandering spouse are the usual bills of fare.

But not this time. For what begins as an ostensibly simple, straightforward two-day assignment involving protecting a divorcing woman from her potentially violent, soon-to-be ex(who happens to be a vice squad cop), rapidly mushrooms into something very much bigger, nastier and a whole lot deadlier.

In "Private Heat," author Robert Bailey reveals himself to be a writer of exceptional talent and a master storyteller of uncommon skill. He has managed to create a cast of fascinating, 3-dimensional characters with whom the reader immediately identifies, an intriguing plot-line of Chandleresque complexity, and does it all with dead-on, wry social observation, pithy dialogue and occasional side splitting humor.

It's a great read that I recommend wholeheartedly. Can't wait to start "Dying Embers!"

Like a good old-fashioned detective story? You know, the kind with a likable Private Eye who reluctantly takes a case, then gets himself into a jam? Do you like the old masters, like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler? Then PRIVATE HEAT is for you.

PRIVATE HEAT is fast paced, and well written. Robert Bailey writes with a realism that shows he has walked the walk as a Private Eye himself. He writes with authority to create a credible story with enough red herrings and plot twists to keep even the most seasoned mystery/thriller reader at the edge of his/her seat. It is also a good example of a book that takes the reader to a new place, in this case Grand Rapids, and shows him around. He also presents us with Art Hardin, a wise cracking PI who seems as real as if he and his wife Wendy could be neighbors of the reader. Hardin is as hard-boiled as he needs to be, when the occasion arises.

Overall, a good book by a good author. I'll be sure to read the rest in the series.

This book was recommended to me by a friend. The book starts off simple enough. You're introduced to the main character Art Hardin, private detective, tough as nails and to the point. Quickly an easy assignment for Art gets complicated. I was always caught off guard for what happened next. It was exciting and fun. Along the way you meet his wife, one of the few people Art fears, and his family. Great characters, the police he interacts with and work mates. Very exciting page turner! When I finished I couldn't wait to get his next book Dying Embers. You won't be disappointed!

This book was recommended to me by a local independent bookseller who understands my tastes better than a computer program, and who also reads what's in his shop. Even so, I was a trifle leery at first because it's often the case that just because an author was once FBI or CIA or whatever, and can tell some great war stories, doesn't mean that same author can also spin a yarn with story arc, character development, breakneck pacing, and good dialogue. But Robert Bailey CAN do all of these things. Holy cow, can this guy tell a story! The surprises start coming early on and the action is constant. Keep your wits about you when you read this book, because if you think the author is about to throw a left jab, odds are he's gonna catch you with a right hook. One of the things I found fascinating is that with all the action going on, our hero, PI Art Hardin, still finds time to be a family man. And I fell in love with his sons, probably because Bailey captured to perfection the father-son relationships, as well as the brother-brother relationships. He does it in few words, too, creating perfect line sketches of some secondary and tertiary characters that blossom in the reader's mind into full blown portraits. That's a rare gift, and one that added enormously to my enjoyment of this book. I didn't even pause to write a review when I finished the book, I ran right out and got the next book in the series. And yes, it's terrific as well!

In this debut novel of a new series, the author has created a multi faceted private investigator, an intriguing cast of characters, and a complex ever changing mystery. Art Hardin is the middle-aged part owner of Ladin Associates, a detective agency. After the sudden death of his partner and the man the company was named for, his newly widowed wife Marg sold Art Hardin her half of the business and then stuck around to take care of the books, the phone and run her own small accounting firm out of the office. Marg pays a third of the rent and Art takes care of everything else as well as dealing with her at times shrew like personality.

A former counterintelligence officer for the Defense Intelligence Service, he has had a few clashed with the local government. As a result of being sued for false arrest by Art some time ago, the county government hired the premier attorney firm of Van Pelham and Timmer. The case was ultimately won by Art despite being thoroughly trashed by attorneys representing the firm. Therefore, it is a bit of a surprise when Martin Van Pelham wants to meet with Art and wants to hire him.

Martin Van Pelham wants and needs someone who won't be intimated by the local law enforcement community. His niece is going through a messy divorce with her soon to be ex-husband, a city police officer. He has a history of assaulting her and the simple solution of serving him with divorce papers and a restraining order while she leaves town won't work. Martin Van Pelham grudgingly explains that his nice is the one "Karen Terisa" featured prominently in lurid detail in the local media as being deeply involved in a sex and money laundering scandal that resulted in the finding of her boss dead in a trunk of a car parked at the airport. The money is missing and she knows where it is among other things. At the same time, her soon to be ex is part of a very suddenly made public undercover squad cited in numerous civil suits regarding assault, battery and other less than savory things.

Martin Van Pelham wants Art to guard her and keep her safe from everyone for not more than two days so that he can get his niece into the witness protection program. Art has some financial consideration issues as well as making sure that the firm will pay for his defense should anything go wrong. Then he agrees to do the job and before he has cashed the check, he has walked right into a puzzle house of mirrors where nothing is as it seems and more than one party wants him dead.

Combining dirty cops, crooked feds, and scummy clients, this very enjoyable novel soon turns into a wild ride. Told in first person format, this novel sets up numerous secondary but very important characters in addition to Art Hardin for future books. Within a matter of pages the supporting cast becomes quite familiar as old friends while the overriding mystery becomes more and more complex.

While that is all good, the author also does one small thing, which lowered the book one level in my estimation. I slowly became somewhat annoyed buy his refusal to use the same name for the same person through out the book. Instead, sometimes he uses the first name, sometimes the last, and at other times, apparently the person suddenly sprouted a nickname hence not seen before. The naming issue became annoying, as occasionally I had to flip back to the first part of the book to make sure he was still referring to the same person.

One constant is the fact that action is the primary component of the book. Unlike many novels that are heavily action oriented as this one certainly is, character development and plot are not given short shrift. The book moves forward at a steady fast pace despite Art Hardin's occasional and very amusing wise guy humor. Not a word is wasted in the telling of the tale and the author spins a very complex tale in deed. As the pages fly by, the reader is quickly pulled into the author's world where the real world we all have to deal with does not exist. Simply good stuff.


Book Facts:


Private Heat (An Art Hardin Mystery)
By Robert Bailey
M. Evans and Company, Inc.
2002
ISBN # 0-87131-970-5
Hardback
$21.95 US



Kevin R. Tipple © 2004

Like a good old-fashioned detective story? You know, the kind with a likable Private Eye who reluctantly takes a case, then gets himself into a jam? Do you like the old masters, like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler? Then PRIVATE HEAT is for you.

PRIVATE HEAT is fast paced, and well written. Robert Bailey writes with a realism that shows he has walked the walk as a Private Eye himself. He writes with authority to create a credible story with enough red herrings and plot twists to keep even the most seasoned mystery/thriller reader at the edge of his/her seat. It is also a good example of a book that takes the reader to a new place, in this case Grand Rapids, and shows him around. He also presents us with Art Hardin, a wise cracking PI who seems as real as if he and his wife Wendy could be neighbors of the reader. Hardin is also as hard-boiled as he needs to be, when the occasion arises.

Overall, a good book by a good author. I'll be sure to read the rest in the series.