Former NFL running back Andre Hardy will discuss and sign his debut crime novel, “Tear the City Down,” in conversation with novelist Mark Sarvas at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd.
The novel goes on sale Sept. 1, the day before the appearance. Vroman classifies the program as an adult event with a book signing.
Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, is issuing the book as a 432-page hardcover priced at $30.
The novel follows Coltrane Davis, a fixer for Saul Sollman, a crooked kingmaker among San Diego’s elite. Davis is pulled into the disappearance of the Los Angeles Chargers’ star running back and from there into San Diego’s underworld, the publisher said.
Hardy was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1984 and played for the Eagles, the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers. He earned his MFA through the NFL Players Trust tuition reimbursement program and has written for the Los Angeles Review of Books, the publisher said. In a 2024 Antioch University alumni profile, he said a serious athletic career “requires everything you’ve got.”
Sarvas’s three novels include “@UGMan,” published by Itna Press in June 2025.
Vroman’s has not announced an admission charge, a ticket or reservation requirement, a seating limit, or a purchase requirement for the signing line. A purchase of the book “is greatly appreciated and makes events like this possible,” the store says of its author events generally.
Need to know: Andre Hardy, in conversation with Mark Sarvas, discusses and signs “Tear the City Down” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2, at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. No admission charge has been announced. The store is open until 9 p.m. For more, call (626) 449-5320 or visit vromansbookstore.com.
