The Old Man’s Place

“Sanford is a supreme master at squeezing the last drop of terror and excitement out of a sordid, savage situation. The story sweeps along with an ugly force that will send sensitive souls in search of smelling salts.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A trio of vicious World War One veterans descend on the farm in the Adirondack mountains where one of them grew up and his father now lives alone. They embark on happily wreaking drunken havoc at the old man’s place and in the nearby town. But when a naive, mail-order bride arrives, she ignites a tinderbox of resentment, lust, and betrayal among the men that explodes in brutal depravity, bloody violence and shocking death. This hard-boiled, literary masterpiece, back in print for the first time in sixty years, includes a new introduction by Jack Mearns, author of John An Annotated Bibliography Previously published as The Hard Guys and filmed as the 1971 motion picture My Old Man’s Place .

" Sanford's The Old Man's Place is a carefully designed character study bursting with tension and intrigue. I found myself so emotionally invested in these characters and their raw, primal instincts. Nothing short of extraordinary. It's darkly wonderful and honest, well ahead of its time considering the 1935 publication date. Sanford possesses a rare skillset that rivals some of the best noir authors of all-time." Paperback Warrior "A robust tale of violence, lust, treachery and murder" Columbus Dispatch "A good, exciting story told with menacing simplicity." Baltimore Sun "A first-rate piece of swift-moving and dramatic story-telling in restrained and effective modern American prose." New York Times

"Sanford, not to be confused with contemporary thriller writer John Sandford, was a writer of hard edged noirs that bristle with tension and the threat of violence, when that is unleashed it’s brutal and shocking. A stark portrait of humanity at its lowest ebb and a menacing atmosphere pervades the novel. This is ice cold, easily as brutal as the best passages of Cain or Hemingway." Crimetime UK

"In an era of brutal fiction, The Old Man's Place will take a prize for brutality. Sanford writes well. He has a talent for it. He is vivid, realistic, skillful, dramatic." Cleveland Plain Dealer View Less