hardboiled
 

"...down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective in this kind of story must be such a man. He is the hero, he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world..."--The Simple Art of Murder
Having read and greatly enjoyed Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, James Ellroy, and Walter Mosley, I would like to read more hardboiled detective (or related) but I'm unsure who else is of the same high quality, so I thought I'd take suggestions just like the recent Science Fiction thread

Paul Auster.Ghosts.
The best detective story I've read , so far.

the single most HARD-BOILED detective stories out there, and they may blow yr fucking mind, are from ANDREW VACHSS

check his work out. He really does look like this


His stories are the most hardboiled shit I have ever run accross and he writes from experience,

Andrew Vachss is an attorney who represents children and youth exclusively, with 30 years experience in child protective work. He has been a federal investigator in sexually transmitted diseases, a social services caseworker, and a labor organizer. He also directed a maximum security prison for "aggressive-violent" youth.

he said HARDBOILED! Try Charlie Huston's NYC books. Alan Guthrie's latest A Hard Man is friggin brutal (the 500 mushroom tea). James Crumley wrote a few in the 80's like the Mexican Tree Duck (while I like it, I wouldn't point you to his recent stuff right off). Jason Starr writes some tough stuff. And of course Ken Bruen. These are contemporary. If you like that noir feel there's always Willeford and Thompson. Anything in the Hard Case crime series...although some of the reprints from the 40's feel like they're reprints.
oh yeah and what Rob said about Vachss.

i thought this was about the brilliant movie.

307 on screen deaths!