Hard Rain Falling
Hard Rain Falling is a 1966 crime novel written by Don Carpenter. The novel was Carpenter's first published book, and follows the adventures of Jack Levitt, an orphaned teenager living off his wits in the fleabag hotels and seedy pool halls of Portland, Oregon.
Upon its release the book was heralded as a readable, grim, and masterful debut. "…a first novel... of remarkable quality, written with authority, detachment and an almost uncanny, deadpan intelligence," wrote Martin Seymour-Smith in The Spectator, adding "I have seldom come across a new novel in which such compelling readability coexists with such absolute seriousness of purpose and keenness of psychological insight." Kirkus said that as a book "it's stringent, it's strong, and intensely alive."
In 2009, the book was re-published by New York Review Books as part of their Classics series, prompting positive reviews by The Washington Post and The Independent.
