Clearly I'm not the target audience for this book. I found it difficult to get involved. The action is definitely swift and over the top. It will likely appeal to fans of Fast & the Furious and the like. I like action/suspense/mystery, I just want a bit more character development.

This author takes you on a roller coaster ride in The Hard Stuff. Very well written, I could not put the book down until the very end.

My snappy description of The Hard Stuff by David Gordon, in three words is compulsive, humorous and action-packed. This is the second book to feature Joe Brody, following on from The Bouncer. The story begins with a brief recap of that first novel, so The Hard Stuff can be read as a standalone.

Book synopsis:
Ex-black-ops-specialist-turned-strip-club-bouncer Joe Brody has a new qualification to add to his resume: an alliance of New York City's mob bosses has deemed him its "sheriff." In the straight world, when you “see
something” you “say something” to the law. In the bent world, they call Joe.

Still reeling from a particularly difficult operation, and having plummeted back into the drug and alcohol addiction that got him kicked out of the military as a result, Joe has just managed to detox at the clinic of a Chinese herbalist when the mob bosses phone: they need Joe to help them swindle a group of opioid dealers (of all things). But these are no typical drug-ferrying gangsters. Little Maria, the head of the Dominican mob, has discovered that her new heroin suppliers belong to an Al Qaeda splinter group, and that they're planning to use their drug funds to back their terrorist agenda. With Joe in command, the mob coalition must pull off an intricate heist that will begin in Manhattan's diamond district. At stake is not only their business, but the state of the world.

For readers who like a liberal dose of humor mixed with gritty crime, The Hard Stuff is a brilliant, action-packed thriller from a fresh virtuoso of the crime caper genre.

My musings:
I found this a good story, and throughout this well-written tale, there was little time to pause for breath as non-stop action propelled the narrative from the start.

David Gordon delivers a strong protagonist in Joe Brody, who is well-defined in his role. The novel is gritty, but I struggled a little to find a connection with him. As I never really cared for the main character, I wasn't, therefore, totally committed to the events of the story, although it is too extreme to say I was disinterested. The plot requires only minimum suspension of disbelief and there's an abundance of action, cleverness, pace, and humour in the execution of the various thefts. Brody is attempting to kick his dope habit and resist his growing attraction to Federal Agent Donna Zamora - an attraction that added more fizz to the story.

Gripping and edgy, The Hard Stuff touched on topics such as friendship, loyalty, betrayal, marital disharmony, extended family,unrealised sexual chemistry, organised crime, and terrorism. I appreciated the well-crafted outcome, but unfortunately, there was just the one missing ingredient.

Verdict:
Recommended to those looking for a hard-boiled, amusing, and action-packed read.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Grove Atlantic via NetGalley at my request, and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2020 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2020/01/2020-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

Published by Grove Atlantic/Mysterious Press on July 2, 2019

This is the second book to feature Joe Brody, following The Bouncer. The story begins with Joe helping his boss, Gio Caprisi, clean up a loose ends from the first novel, a cleaning job that leaves a trail of dead bodies (not Joe’s fault, really). That chapter recaps the first novel so The Hard Stuff can easily be read as a standalone. I nevertheless recommend reading The Bouncer first, because it is — like The Hard Stuff — a fun book.

Joe’s efforts in the early pages invite the attention of an attractive FBI agent named Donna, who can’t decide whether to arrest Joe or take him to bed. She was in the same quandary by the end of The Bouncer. Joe knows what he wants to do, but since a hookup seems unlikely, he instead goes to bed with his Russian friend Yalena, another returning character from the first book. Yalena cracks safes and, like Joe, has a talent for killing people. Odd, then, that they are both such likable characters.

The plot, as in the first novel, has Joe thwarting terrorists. He has to do something redemptive, after all, or readers might not want to give him their time. The terrorists have come to the US to sell a large quantity of drugs that they stole overseas. They want to be paid in diamonds. That doesn’t make much sense, but never mind. The book is fun; it doesn’t need to make sense.

Joe’s mission is to steal a bunch of diamonds, use them to buy the drugs, then steal back the diamonds, all to thwart the terrorists. It might be easier just to steal the drugs and/or kill the terrorists, but that wouldn’t be as entertaining.

Crime fans always enjoy a well-planned jewel heist. That caper is followed by various armed confrontations, chase scenes, fights, and light-hearted mayhem. Joe’s relationships with Yalena and Donna add a touch of sex and potential romance, while action and snappy dialog keep the story moving at a suitable pace. Collateral characters, including Joe’s mobbed-up mom and his cross-dressing boss, contribute to the fun. The two novels in this series push all the right buttons for crime fiction fans, making The Hard Stuff easy to recommend.

RECOMMENDED

This novel is outstanding! It is the second in a series but works just as well as a stand-alone since the author does a great job of giving the reader all the information needed without overwhelming the story. This exciting novel is everything an action thriller should be. It is fun, exciting, riveting and interesting. I can’t wait to read the next Joe the Bouncer book which I’m certain will be a page turner you can’t put down, just like this one.

Synopsis/blurb.....

Ex-black-ops-specialist-turned-strip-club-bouncer Joe Brody has a new qualification to add to his resume: an alliance of New York City's mob bosses has deemed him its "sheriff." In the straight world, when you "see something" you "say something" to the law. In the bent world, they call Joe.

Still reeling from a particularly difficult operation, and having plummeted back into the drug and alcohol addiction that got him kicked out of the military, Joe has just managed to detox at the clinic of a Chinese herbalist when the mob bosses phone: they need Joe to help them swindle a group of opioid dealers (of all things). But these are no typical drug-ferrying gangsters.
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My take.....

On the face of it, this has all the elements that appeal to me in a book....... a New York setting, outlaws/criminal sorts, a bouncer with a past and a skill set, an alliance of wrong-doers, a plan for a diamond heist, with a few million dollars worth of Persian heroin thrown in, the involvement of some Al-Qaeda types, a former Russian gymnast turned thief, and a history between the main man Joe and a female FBI agent - Donna - their paths crossing during the course of the novel.

It reads well. No awkward clunky passages or descriptions. Most of the characters are familiar from the Gordon's earlier book, The Bouncer. The plot is a bit of a stretch but not one that requires too much suspension of disbelief. There's action, pace, humour, some cleverness in the execution of various thefts and a well worked outcome. There's just a missing ingredient.

I don't think I ever really cared for the main character and because of that my investment in the book and events was less than whole-hearted. Too harsh to say I was dis-interested just maybe a sort of read where you're wondering what's for tea and what are we doing tonight and do I need to take the kids anywhere later?

On display we have friendship, loyalty, trust and trust issues, betrayal, marital disharmony, extended family, love, fleeting elements of unrealised sexual chemistry, law enforcement, organised crime, terrorists on a fund-raising campaign and a band of villains trying to get away with it.

I've read worse, but I didn't love it.

3 from 5

David Gordon's first Joe Brody book - The Bouncer was read earlier this year.

Read - July, 2019
Published - 2019
Page count - 320
Source - review copy via Net Galley and also via Edelweiss - Above the Treeline site
Format - ePub read on laptop

https://col2910.blogspot.com/2019/08/david-gordon-hard-stuff-2019.html

The Hard Stuff is the second book to feature Joe Brody, but David Gordon gave me enough information about the lifelong friendship between Gio Caprisi and Joe Brody to not feel lost. Joe grew up to be a special ops soldier. Gio became a mob boss. Joe comes home from Afghanistan, drug addicted and suffering PTSD. Gio offers his Joe a job as Bouncer at a strip club, and additional duties as a "fixer." Mr Gordon has created true anti-heroes in both men, but Joe especially. Joe is flawed but loyal, complex and layered. The action in The hard Stuff comes at you fast and consistently. I thoroughly enjoyed suspending disbelief and surrendering to this exceptional action thriller. The highlight of the book for me was a complicated diamond theft. It was so beautifully drawn and executed I could visualize it easily. so, pacing is fast, action is constant, there's a bit of romance, adult language and situations, and the specter of drugs and addiction. I will be seeking out book one, The Bouncer.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

Action action action! Joe Brody is a vet with issues who is now working as a bouncer and is deeply tied up with criminals. Lots of criminals. Little Maria, the head of the Dominican mob, stands out as a bad "guy" but there's just so much going on here that it overwhelmed the story. There's drugs, Al-Queda, a heist, and so on. Oddly, this might make a better movie than it made a read. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This might not have been for me but fans of the gritty action forward genre will probably embrace Joe Brody.

It's so rare to find a true action novel with characters who actually think, and reflect, and express insights about one another. Just to reassure the hard-core action-only fans, the depth in The Hard Stuff never slows down the propulsive caper energy. But it has more to offer.

At the heart of this book and its predecessor, The Bouncer, is a loyal, lifelong friendship between Gio Caprisi and Joe Brody, two schoolmates from Catholic school. Joe grew up to be a special ops soldier. Gio becomes a mob boss. After Joe, drug-addicted and PTSD-racked, comes home from Afghanistan, Gio throws his buddy a lifeline: a job as Bouncer at a strip club, and additional duties as a fixer, using his Army-acquired skills.

This is the first book I've read by David Gordon, but he has four non-fiction and 5 other fiction books out there, and I know I'll be looking up some of them

The title of this one (The Hard Stuff) alluded to the two of the biggest plot drivers -- drugs and diamonds. It may also refer to some of the knotty relationship challenges encountered by Gio, Joe, and even some of the minor characters, such as Liam Madigan, an Irish mobster who discovers a heartbreaking betrayal.

The heist scenes were tightly plotted, the pyrotechnics seemed over-the-top and yet perfectly plausible, the humor was dark and subtle. So far, so good. But how often in an action story do you come upon a passage such as this:

"Yet weren't criminals, in some sense, romantics? Even if they themselves would puke at the idea? Even if most of the ones Liam actually knew, having grown up around them, were dumb, brutal bastards, thick as planks or mental. They were playing with fate, rolling the dice on their own freedom, betting their lives that it would come out all right, while knowing, in the long run, the odds still ran against the as in gambling or love."

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance readers copy.

THE HARD STUFF: A Joe the Bouncer Thriller
David Gordon
Mysterious Press
ISBN 978-0-8021-2976-7
Hardcover
Thriller

One of my reading joys is the occasional discovery of a new caper novel. David Gordon in 2018 introduced with the novel THE BOUNCER a new character and series which puts a new twist or two on the classic crime sub-genre. The sophomore installment in the series, THE HARD STUFF, meets and exceeds the standard established by its predecessor by shuffling things around, taking a couple of established characters off of the board, and adding a couple of new ones while setting a plot or two up for further resolution down the road.

THE HARD STUFF features a series of improbable but believable capers connected by the interactions of a group of characters who for the most part are mad, bad, and dangerous to know. Joe Brody --- Joe the Bouncer --- is at the tip of the spear, an ex-Black Ops specialist who is bent but not broken by his wartime experiences. His wartime experiences have honed and sharpened his deadly skill set but have left him psychologically damaged and substance addicted. Brody is publicly employed as a security guard, or bouncer, at Club Rendevous, a striptease establishment in Queens. His actual work, however, is far more interesting. Joe, as a result of the events which are documented in THE BOUNCER, was elevated by the council of New York’s mob bosses to the position of sheriff. While the mob organizations operate on the wrong side of the law, it is well aware that it is everyone’s interests to thwart any terrorist plots which cross its path. The main driver in THE HARD STUFF concerns such a scheme which involves selling dope for diamonds in order to finance the attack. Joe, who has a mind like a steel trap (as is demonstrated by his extremely literate taste in reading) creates a scheme to thwart the terrorists by stealing some diamonds, trading the diamonds to the terrorist for drugs, and then stealing the diamonds back while wiping out the terrorists. It’s a little complex, but it sets up a pair of prolonged action scenes, each of which would be worth the price of admission on their own. The same can be said of the introductory movement in THE HARD STUFF, during which Joe and a group of cohorts travel into a rural area of New Jersey to violently take care a bit of unfinished business hanging over from THE BOUNCER. In between all of this Joe finds a way to pick the addict monkey off of his back and resolve a couple of other issues as well. The interplay among the other primary and secondary characters provides for action and laughs in equal measure, even as Gordon demonstrates --- once again --- that New York, for all of its gigantic geographic spread and large and varied population demographics, is just one big small town where the degrees of separation are low if they exist at all. It’s a dark book, but fun, too, and it will pick you up and carry you from the first page to last as well as creating anticipation for whatever will come next.

Gordon is The Man. THE HARD STUFF is shot through with an insider’s knowledge of the streets it is set on, making one wonder how much of the book is true crime described as fiction. The characters and situations you’ll find here will rattle around in your head long after you’ve finished reading. We hopefully won’t have to wait long for the next installment.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2019, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.

A well paced, crime story. This is my first read by this author but it won’t be my last. The Hard Stuff is an engaging read, with a thrilling storyline and well delivered characters.

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Twisting inexorably, like the increasing pressure of a vise, the plot winds tighter and tighter. I kept finding myself holding my breath. The fight scenes are vivid and almost hurt to read. But you can't stop!

Poor descriptions of gratuitous situational violence is combined with mostly sophomoric writing. Not worth any more of my time, sorry.

I can't even tell what this is supposed to be about except there are criminals, fights, drugs, and more fights/beatings.

David Gordon created a fast-paced storyline of criminal dealings and violence to hit the streets of New York. The main character was well-defined in his role as bouncer/gangster. Throughout this well-written tale, non-stop action propelled the narrative from beginning to end. There was little time to take a breath.

The underworld is alive and doing quite well in the city of New York. Thieves, mobsters and thugs ply their trade in lieu of receiving a W-2 at the beginning of the year. No discrimination, gender makes no difference; it's every man and woman for themself. Anyone looking for an action-packed crime drama... look no further.

I offer my thanks to NetGalley and Grove Pacific/Mysterious Press for the release of this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Joe Brody is an ex-black ops specialist whose PTSD from his military service is barely in check, just like his drug habit. He's a bouncer in a mob-owned step club whose special talents are often called on by his employer, who appreciated the important role Joe played in foiling a terrorist plot . . Now his bosses need his help to dwindle and then destroy a group of opioid dealers who happen to belong to an all Qaeda splinter group planning to use their drug profits to finance their terrorist agenda. The intricate heist that Joe and a coalition of mobsters pull off with great brio makes for a great plot; who knew that what's left of the criminal underworld had such strong feelings of patriotism ? With their ; sheriff" leading the operation through Manhattan's crowded streets in a scene that made for a movie, the denouement races to a thundering climax. Joe Brody is a complex and appealing protagonist who deserves as few more outings - here's hoping Gordon gives them to him.