* Pocket-47Jude Hardin. Oceanview (Midpoint, dist.), $24.95 (240p) ISBN 978-1-60809-011-2Hardin 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. (May)

"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."--Tess Gerritsen, New York Times best-selling author of Ice Cold

"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."--J.D. Rhoades, author of Breaking Cover

"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

"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 Shaken "In a genre that is about voice, Jude Hardin has created a P.I. with a philosophy and sly cynical wit all his own."--Erica Orloff, author of The Roofer