Hard Town

By: Adam Plantinga

Narrated by: Charles Halford

When a plea for help sends a retired Detroit cop to the small desert town of Fenton, Arizona, he finds himself uncovering secrets that want to stay hidden and questioning his own moral compass in this "gripping, fiercely propulsive, and vividly written" thriller (Meg Gardiner).

After surviving a deadly prison break, ex-Detroit cop Kurt Argento is ready for some quiet. Still working through his grief over the passing of his wife, Argento finds himself house-sitting for a friend with his loyal companion, Hudson, a Chow Chow-Shepard mix. It's a simple life, picking up odd jobs here and there, but it's one that Argento is content to live. Then Kristin Reed shows up with her young son, Ethan, and begs Argento to help find her missing husband.

Argento tells her he'd just be in the way. He's no investigator, not anymore. He's a handyman who fixes fences. But he's not one to ignore his gut feeling when something is wrong. After Kristin and her son disappear as well, Argento starts to notice that Fenton, Arizona is more than meets the eye. First there's the large, overly equipped public safety team complete with specialized tactics and sophisticated weaponry. Then there's the unusual financial boosting of failing small businesses by the U.S. government. And finally, there's a man with no name who seems to have an unprecedented control over the town. Argento finds himself unraveling not just the truth behind the disappearance of a family, but a conspiracy that's taken a whole town to cover up.

But Fenton is going to push him further than he’s ever had to go. And along the way, he may just lose a part of himself. Because justice isn't as black and white as Argento would like to believe.

Critic reviews

PRAISE FOR THE ASCENT

Hard town

Excellent book, characters are amazing and story keeps you glued. Will be a movie soon for sure!

Violent, predictable and felt like it was made to be a movie script

Difficult to express my reaction to this book. It seemed to be shooting (pun intended) to express the worst human behaviors possible. Sad thing is, when you get this, it’s predictable and loses the mystery.

As good as previous

He didn’t phone it in.
As good as The Ascent.
Looking forward to many more by the author.

Well that was depressing

The ending left one depressed. Not sure if the good guy won. Not an uplifting story.

EXCELLENT

I loved it! I can’t wait to listen to where he goes with the next book. The narrator was excellent also.