Hard Town - Hardcover

by Adam Plantinga (Author)

When a plea for help sends a retired Detroit cop to the small desert town of Fenton, Arizona, he finds himself uncovering secrets that want to stay hidden, and questioning his own moral compass in this unputdownable thriller.

"Gripping, fiercely propulsive, and vividly written" --Meg Gardiner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Unsub

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, picking up odd jobs here and there, but it's one that Argento is content to live.

Then Kristin Reed shows up with her young son, Ethan, and begs Argento to help find her missing husband. Argento tells her he'd just be in the way. He's no investigator, not anymore. He's a handyman who fixes fences. But he's not one to ignore his gut feeling when something is wrong.

After Kristin and her son disappear as well, 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. And finally, there's a man with no name who seems to have an 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. But Fenton 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.

An 2026 Edgar nominee for Best Novel

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.