Patrick Hoffman – Cannonball Read 17

Going to San Francisco

The White Van by Patrick Hoffman

July 30, 2025 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR17 Bingo: red cover And so I now come full circle to Patrick Hoffman’s catalog. Hoffman is a quality over quantity writer. Every 3-4 years, we are gifted with a new book of his that functions as a soup-to-nuts examination of how criminal justice works in America. A massive drug shipment in Every Man a Menace. Corporate espionage in Clean Hands. The war against white supremacists in Friends Helping Friends, which came out this year and is one of the best things I’ve read in 2025. […]

Amigos

Friends Helping Friends by Patrick Hoffman

March 24, 2025 by Jake Leave a Comment

My mother recently asked me what “noir” means in the context in which I often use it: reading and watching. I tried to explain to her that noir isn’t the same as classic mystery or hardboiled in that there’s an event that happens that permanently changes the behaviors of all persons, drawing them into difficult circumstances. But that felt like a weak definition to me. So I’ll roll with Megan Abbott’s classic definition in this interview with LitHub… In noir, everyone is fallen, and right […]

Damages

Clean Hands by Patrick Hoffman

June 15, 2020 by Jake Leave a Comment

Patrick Hoffman’s Every Man A Menace was one of the best things I read last year; a layered, eagle’s eye view of a major drug transaction from street level to boss level. I couldn’t put it down and when I heard he was coming out with one that covered corporate espionage in New York City, I wasn’t going to hesitate getting my hands on a copy of it. Clean Hands doesn’t hit those high notes but it’s pretty good in its own right. While its formatted differently […]

War and Drugs

Every Man A Menace by Patrick Hoffman

August 31, 2019 by Jake Leave a Comment

Patrick Hoffman’s Every Man a Menace is everything I want from a crime novel: suspenseful, dialogue that cuts yet isn’t cute, and an attempt at a realistic plot. It has all of those things and more. Writers can take note. A beloved work from the guys at The Watch podcast, where I’ve gotten many a good recommendation, this book never takes its foot off the gas. But not in a pulpy, cheap thrills kind of way. These characters are real, the circumstances are legit, and the atmosphere claustrophobic. […]

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Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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