Brash Books is an American crime fiction imprint founded in 2014 by authors Lee Goldberg and Joel Goldman. The main focus of Brash Books is to republish award-winning and critically acclaimed novels, primarily from the 1970s, '80s and '90s, which had fallen out of print. The imprint also publishes new crime fiction and suspense novels.
The imprint launched in September 2014 with 29 reprints, including the Nero Award-winning Sleeping Dog by Dick Lochte, Edgar Award finalist Lover Man by Dallas Murphy, and the new novel Treasure Coast by Tom Kakonis. The company has since published other books, such as Mark Smith's Death of the Detective, a National Book Award finalist, Barbara Neely's Blanche on the Lam, (recipient of the Agatha and Anthony Award), Max Allan Collins' novel Road to Perdition in a new, expanded edition (incorporating material from his original graphic novel, elements from his novelization of the feature screenplay, and new material), and Carolyn Weston's Poor, Poor Ophelia, which inspired the television series The Streets of San Francisco. Brash has published 80 novels as of late 2016. Brash's titles are available as paperbacks through the Ingram Content Group.
Goldberg and Goldman, longtime friends, hatched the idea for Brash Books after a discussion at the 2013 Bouchercon convention in Albany, New York. When Goldberg mentioned to Goldman that he wanted to find a way to republish some of his favorite out-of-print titles, Goldman, a former lawyer, offered to help him create the business. The company's name was inspired by their slogan, "We publish the best crime novels in existence", which Goldberg describes as "a brash claim, but we believe our novels back it up." Goldberg serves as the publisher's book scout and handles most of its social media, while Goldman deals with financial and legal matters.
Other authors published by Brash include top ten New York Times bestselling authors Robin Burcell and Phoef Sutton, and Edgar Award nominees Noreen Ayers, Bill Crider, and Jack Lynch