Nameless Detective

Summary

Follow the investigations of the veteran San Francisco private eye destined to remain “Nameless” in a series that delivers a contemporary take on classic hard-boiled detective fiction.

He's the detective as Everyman. Middle-aged, out of shape, content with a cold beer and one of his beloved pulp magazines. He’s Nameless. But he’s not simply another not-so-pretty face. He’s a tenacious investigator, as dedicated to his profession as Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Op, and just as shrewd - but softer-boiled. Set in late 20th-century San Francisco, this long-running series pays homage to the whole gumshoe genre as Nameless tracks crooks, scammers, schemers, betrayers, blackmailers, people gone missing...and, oh yeah, murderers.

Nick Sullivan’s style is straightforward and matter-of-fact, the perfect complement to these (mostly) bloodless crimes. Sullivan adopts a hard-boiled approach to narration, perfectly capturing Pronzini’s writing, while making Nameless and assorted characters - clients, colleagues, and perps -come alive as well-defined, complicated humans. Plus, as one listener observes: “Nick Sullivan has a great voice; he’s easy on the ears.”

Bill Pronzini has taken a crack at just about every genre: mystery, noir-ish thrillers, adventure novels, spy capers, westerns, historicals, and, of course, his masterful, long-running Nameless private detective series. He's also ghosted several Brett Halliday short stories as Michael Shayne and is the co-author with Marcia Muller of 1001 Midnights: The Aficionado’s Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction. He was the very first president of the Private Eye Writers of America, and he's received three Shamus Awards from them, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award.