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RARA-AVIS: The Top 100

Hardboiled and Noir Characters

In April 2002 Joe Dante and Mark Blumenthal took a poll tosee what what hardboiled and noir characters were the favourites ofpeople on the mailing list. The top 100 ended up having 111 entriesbecause of ties. Mark Blumenthal said:

"Here is our selection of the 100 (actually 111) best hard boiledcharacters. Although there are several many of us would not considerhard boiled, most of our ballots had a large majority of characterswho made it into the top 111.... We had over 50 write-ins so thevoters could hardly be considered intimidated. I think being able tosee who others voted for led to more interest. I doubt we would havecome close to the 73 voters we had if we had not had everybodyreveal for whom he or she voted. Of those authors who had morethan three characters in the best 111, Dashiell Hammett had sixcharacters, and Walter Mosley, George Pelecanos, Jim Thompson,Charles Willeford, and James Ellroy had four apiece. Of thosecharacters that debuted in the '90s Easy Rawlins and Harry Boschreceived the most votes."

(The number at the end of each entry is how many votes werecast for that character.)

1. Philip Marlowe (series, Raymond Chandler)- 562. Sam Spade (The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett) - 513. The Continental Op (series, Dashiell Hammett) - 434. Lew Archer (series, Ross Macdonald) - 365T. Matthew Scudder (series, Lawrence Block) -335T. Parker (series, Richard Stark) - 337. Travis McGee (series, John D. MacDonald) - 318. Easy Rawlins (series, Walter Mosley) - 299. Harry aka Hieronymus Bosch (series, Michael Connelly) -28

10. Hoke Moseley (series, Charles Willeford) - 2511. Lou Ford (The Killer Inside Me and Wild Town, JimThompson) - 2312. Mike Hammer (series, Mickey Spillane) - 1913. Matt Helm (series, Donald Hamilton) - 1814T. Dave Robicheaux (series, James Lee Burke) - 1614T. Nick Stefanos (series, George Pelecanos) - 1614T. Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones (series, ChesterHimes) - 1614T. C. W. Shugrue (series, James Crumley) - 16

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14T. Hap Collins and Leonard Pine (Hap and Leonard series,Joe R. Lansdale) - 1614T. Nameless (series, Bill Pronzini) - 1614T. John Rebus (series, Ian Rankin) - 1614T. Mouse (Easy Rawlins series, Walter Mosley) - 1622. Spenser (series, Robert Parker) - 1523. Eddie Coyle (The Friends of Eddie Coyle, George V.Higgins) - 1424. Brigid O'Shaughnessy (The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell

Hammett) - 1325. V.I. Warshawski (series, Sara Paretsky) - 1226T. Dudley Smith (L.A. Quartet and Clandestine, JamesEllroy) - 1126T. Paul Pine (Halo series, Howard Browne) - 1126T. Dimitri Karras (series, George Pelecanos) - 1126T. Arkady Renko (series, Martin Cruz Smith) - 1130T. Hanson (Night Dogs and Sympathy for the Devil, KentAnderson) - 1030T. Burke (series, Andrew Vachss) - 1030T. Ned Beaumont (The Glass Key, Dashiell Hammett) - 1030T. Artie Wu and Quincy Durant (series, Ross Thomas) -1030T. Tom Ripley (series, Patricia Highsmith) - 1030T. Hawk (Spenser series, Robert Parker) - 1036T. Amos Walker (series, Loren D. Estleman) - 936T. Kinsey Millhone (series, Sue Grafton) - 936T. Steve Carella (87th Precinct series, Ed McBain) - 936T. George Smiley (series, John Le Carre) - 936T. James Bond (series, Ian Fleming) - 941T. Jack Reacher (series, Lee Child) - 841T. Earl Drake (Operation series, Dan J. Marlowe) - 6

41T. Bill Crane (series, Jonathan Latimer) - 841T. Keller (Hit Man andHit List, Lawrence Block) - 841T. Frank Chambers (The Postman Always Rings Twice,James M. Cain) - 841T. Frederick J. Frenger, Jr. (Miami Blues, Charles Willeford)- 841T. Dan Kearny (DKA series, Joe Gores) - 841T. Hannibal Lecter (series, Thomas Harris) - 841T. Batman (comics/novels series, various authors) 841T. Chili Palmer (Get Shorty andBe Cool, Elmore Leonard)- 8

51T. Martin Beck (series, Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo) - 751T. Lucas Davenport (Prey series, John Sandford) - 751T. Doc McCoy (The Getaway, Jim Thompson) - 751T. Peter Bondurant (Underworld USA trilogy, James Ellroy)- 751T. Harry Lime (The Third Man, Graham Greene) - 751T. Buzz Meeks (The Big Nowhere, James Ellroy) - 751T. Dan Turner (Hollywood Detective series, Robert LeslieBellem) - 7

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51T. Milo Milodragovitch (series, James Crumley) - 751T. Lew Griffin (series, James Sallis) - 751T. Mario Balzic (series, K.C. Constantine) - 761T. Charlie Resnick (series, John Harvey) - 661T. Jack Carter (series, Ted Lewis) - 661T. Clete Purcell (Dave Robicheaux series, James Lee Burke)-661T. Max Latin (short stories, Norbert Davis) - 661T. Lloyd Hopkins (series, James Ellroy) - 6

61T. Joe Friday (Dragnet series, various authors) - 661T. Shell Scott (series, Richard S. Prather) -661T. Nate Heller (series, Max Alan Collins) - 661T. Nick Corey (POP. 1280 - Jim Thompson) 661T. Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man, DashiellHammett) - 671T. Marcus Clay (series, George Pelecanos) - 571T. Socrates Fortlow (series, Walter Mosley) - 571T. Richard Bone (Cutter and Bone, Newton Thornburg) - 571T. Detective Sergeant Department of Unexplained Deaths(Factory series, Derek Raymond) - 571T. Elvis Cole (series, Robert Crais) - 571T. Walter Huff (Double Indemnity, James M Cain) - 571T. James Figueras (The Burnt Orange Heresy, CharlesWilleford) - 571T. Casper Gutman (The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett)- 571T. Mike Shayne (series, "Brett Halliday" Dresser, manyothers) - 571T. Frank Clemons (trilogy, Thomas Cook) - 571T. Sharon McCone (series, Marcia Muller) - 5

71T. Race Williams/Terry Mack (series, Carroll John Daly) - 571T. John Shaft (series, Ernest Tidyman) - 571T. Dave Brandstetter (series, Joseph Hansen) - 571T. Jack Liffey (series, John Shannon) - 571T. Perry Mason (series, Erle Stanley Gardner) - 587T. Bernie Gunther (series, Philip Kerr) - 487T. Joe Gall (series, Philip Atlee) - 487T. Jonathan Hemlock (The Eiger Sanction and The LooSanction, Trevanian) - 487T. Kells (Fast One, Paul Cain) - 487T. Joe Pike (Elvis Cole series, Robert Crais) - 4

87T. Fast Eddie Felson (The Hustler and The Color Of Money,Walter Tevis) - 487T. Bob Lee Swagger (series, Steven Hunter) - 487T. Cora Papadakis (The Postman Always Rings Twice ,James M. Cain)87T. Roy Dillon (The Grifters, Jim Thompson) - 487T. Eva Wylie (Bucket Nut, Liza Cody) - 487T. Ed and Am Hunter (Fredric Brown) - 487T. Skink a.k.a. The Governor (recurring character, Carl

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Hiassen) - 487T. Derek Strange (series, George Pelecanos) -487T. Lionel Essrog (Motherless Brooklyn, Jonathan Lethem) -487T. Charlie Arglist (The Ice Harvest, Scott Phillips) - 487T. Richard Hudson (The Woman Chaser, Charles Willeford)- 487T. Ernest Stickney (Stickand Swag, Elmore Leonard) - 487T. John Marshall Tanner (series, Stephen Greenleaf) - 4

87T. Marion "Doc" Ford (series, Randy Wayne White) - 487T. Jay Gatsby (The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald) - 487T. Dick Tracy (newspaper strip, Chester Gould) - 487T. Mick Ballou (series, Lawrence Block) - 487T. Quiller (series, Adam Hall) - 487T. Deputy Detective Carl Houseman (series, DonaldHarstad) - 487T. Maigret (series, Georges Simenon) - 4

Last updated: 25 June 2006 20:46:07 EDT