Hard Town - Hardcover

by Adam Plantinga (Author)

From the author of the USA Today bestseller The Ascent, a retired Detroit cop must unravel the mystery of a small desert town.

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, but it's one that Argento is content to live. Then Kristin Reed shows up, begging Argento to find her missing husband and son.

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. Finally, there's a man with no name with 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.

Fenton, Arizona 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.

Author Biography

Adam Plantinga is a patrol sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department whose first two nonfiction books-- 400 Things Cops Know and Police Craft-- have become his calling cards to the world of thrillers. 400 Things was nominated for an Agatha, a Macavity, and was deemed "the new Bible for crime writers" by the Wall Street Journal. Adam's fiction debut, The Ascent, was published in 2024 and became a USA Today bestseller.