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.