ISO ultra-pessimistic 70s-style crime novels

My trinity of ultra-pessimistic 70s crime fiction: Newton Thornburg’s *Cutter and Bone*, George V. Higgins’ *The Friends of Eddie Coyle*, and Robert Stone’s *Dog Soldiers*…I want more of this. Basically crime fiction that has a jaded view of the world, with a political aspect going beyond the tough-guy cynicism of the original hard-boiled detective novels. I’ve read a decent amount of Higgins other work (great), and I’ve touched on Thornburg’s and Stone’s, although I’m not sure if much of Stone’s other work really fits here.

\+1 if politically inflected, particularly if written from POV of radicals/ex-radicals. Almost all the novels of Manchette would fit in this category. *Not* looking for heroic/brilliant detectives, or tidy puzzle-box mysteries. Caper novels of the kind e.g. the great Elmore Leonard wrote probably not what I’m looking for; even Stark/Westlake’s Parker novels are not quite pessimistic enough (although if you have something like either author please recommend!).

While they exhibit more in the way of procedural/deduction/cleverness/puzzle-solving, Himes’ Harlem Detectives cycle and Sjöwall/Wahlöö’s Martin Beck novels overlap aesthetically with this style: violent, pessimistic, cynical, often unheroic, with growing political consciousness. Doesn’t have to have been published (or even set) in the 70s; the Underworld USA series by James Ellroy and the Red Riding novels by David Peace would both count. Anything set outside of the United States especially welcome.

Thanks in advance!

by GlenroseScribe