Rating: 
Summary: A Bit Slow At First, But Great Anyway
Review: I got this book from my parents for my fifteenth birthday (yeah, my folks are a bit strange- they also gave me a book about the Weather Underground) and, by the end of the day, I had finished it. The first 100 pages were awfuly slow, but I pulled throw and read the rest. I am not disapointed. Although this isn't my favorite first-person murder novel (that would be "Double Indemnity" by James M. Cain) it's still a aonderful read.
Rating: 
Summary: Simple, devious, and dark
Review: Long before teenage slasher flicks gave us the killer's-eye-view, Jim Thompson wrote "The Killer Inside Me," the first-person story of Lou Ford, the seemingly humble deputy of a small town in Texas. But Lou's got a couple deep, dark secrets and a past that'll curl your hair. There's no looking off-camera in "The Killer Inside Me," but rather a creepy intimacy that has you wondering whether to sympathize with the guy or not. Sure he's nuts, but he makes it all sound so *reasonable*, so matter-of-fact. Along the way, Thompson cranks up the dramatic irony as more of the locals begin to suspect and close in on Lou, building the story to a pitch that can only lead to a truly horrific act, like all good serial killer narratives inevidably do. The title of this deceptively simple work of 1950's maniac pulp is perhaps misleading-- After 240 pages there's no denying that it's us who are inside the killer.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as people praised
Review: I read the reviews then got the book and read it. Actually, it's quite illogically written. All the killings are ridiculous. A small city population under fifty thousand, the deputy sheriff is a killer? The guy doesn't look like a cop in the first place albeit a serial killer. This is the first time I've read a serial killer who just kills those familiar folks around him. The scenario becomes even more ridiculous when he kills and kills again and again, senselessly and violently, all the other to-protect-and-serve colleague are just like a bunch of helpless morons only respond to the order of a local businessman, not a mob guy, not a politician, just a filthy businessman? Are we talking about an ancient Texan community or what? To me, this book is just a time-wasting read, no matter what other people said.
Rating:
Summary: Jim Thompson is a sick god.
Review: Nobody does this stuff better. Even Peckinpah couldn't put Thompson's stuff on film and make it work. Forget Brett Easton Ellis and his American Psycho, forget whichever Baldwin was in that lame remake of The Getaway--this man is the master, and this book is a classic--not because it's shocking, which it is, but because it's as well-written and evocative as anything you're ever going to read.
Rating:
Summary: A noir classic that shouldn't be passed up!!!
Review: Jim Thompson is one of America's most famous, and prolific noir writers. I have only in the past year discovered his novels, and they were a great find. "The Killer Inside Me" is considered his all time best novel, and having read it I can see why. The story of Lou Ford, a small town Deputy Sheriff, whose seemingly benign appearance, conceals from view, the murderous psychopath lurking within the mind of Ford, ready to explode at a moments notice. What makes this novel so fascinating is that is written in the first person narative, with Ford telling the story. The reader enters the mind of a psychopath, seeing the world through his eyes. The reader will not want to put this novel down. My only criticism is that the narrator describes his own death, and to a certain exten this breaks the mood of the novel. Nevertheless I do recommend this novel to those who enjoy the noir genre. For a more recent work in this narrative style, which I feel holds together better than Thompson's book, I also recommend James Ellroy's "Killer On The Road". Read "The Killer Inside Me" first, then Ellroy's work, it makes a great comparison for plot, style, and how noir has changed over the decades.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant and terrifying novel.
Review: Lou Ford is a sherriff's deputy in a small Texas town. He's a little slow on the uptake, but basically a nice guy. Everyone loves him. And no one realizes he's murderously insane. Thompson writes rip-roaring crime fiction with an added element of psychological depth that elevates this book beyond its pulp brethren and into the realms of great American novels. Any fan of good writing who's skipped this stunning tour-de-force doesn't know what they're missing.
Rating:
Summary: An incredible character study of a psychopathic misanthrope.
Review: When I started reading this book, I wondered what the buzz was about. When we first meet the main character he seems like your normal small town sheriff. Before you know it, you're in for quite a ride. The sheriff isn't quite what he seemed to be, in fact, he's one of the most sadistic, misanthropic characters it was ever my pleasure to meet. A great read
Rating:
Summary: Thompson still offers the antidote to sunshine and love.
Review: If you haven't discovered Jim Thompson, you're in for a
treat. Thompson was an Oklahoma native whose twisted takes
on humanity still manage to shock 45 years after their
writing. The Killer inside Me is vintage Thompson, the
story of a small-town deputy with no conscience, a nasty
secret, and an even nastier taste for revenge. A few of
Thompson's devices seem a little dated - modern writers
generally employ more subtle physical description, for
example. But Thompson's flat, spare writing still fits
noir style to a tee, and adds impact to the brutality
that leaps up every few pages to jump-start your heart.
I found The Killer inside Me because I read that Val
Kilmer has bought the rights to the novel and has hired
a scriptwriter to adapt it. For Kilmer fans, the notion
of the "fifth meanest man in Hollywood" playing Deputy
Lou Ford is deliciously wicked; and, of course, the
actor's sultry blond looks are a perfect counterpoint
to the dark story. Thompson would approve.
Thompson stories have appeared on the screen before, including
a 1976 version of The Killer inside Me starring Stacy Keach.
The Grifters and After Dark, My Sweet are additional adaptations
you may have seen. These Black Lizard editions of Thompson's
novels are very inexpensively priced. If your life's been a little
too full of sunshine and love lately, here's a cheap cure
for that good-all-over feeling.
Rating:
Summary: Thompson Can Chew (and Swallow) Nails
Review: Quite often, authors find themselves blacklisted due to the content of their writings. How often have writers been labeled perverts, murderers or xenophobes by readers with easily offended sensibilities due to their fictional output? Bret Easton Ellis' face graced the dartboards of NOW offices nationwide following the release of "American Phycho." Nabokov has been dubbed a pedophile and a lout ever since the first printing of his classic, "Lolita." But readers with half a brain know that accusations such as these are utterly ridiculous.
But you still can't help but wonder about Jim Thompson.
Thompson wrote in a way that the vast majority of writers and readers, especially Americans it seems, find disdainful: He often let the good guy lose. He seemed to revel in creating dusty, creaking facades of reality in his stories, the kind where one slight step on a floorboard can send you crashing through the floor. He didn't care for happy people or happy endings. And "The Killer Inside Me," considered by most to be his masterpiece, is vintage Thompson: a twisted protagonist; a shady deal gone awry; a concealed secret; and the moment of epiphany. This is not to say that Thompson is formulaic; far from it. His sparse, simplistic prose pulls the reader into a labyrinth of shifty characters, underwritten surprises and enough (shocking) plot twists to satisfy the most jaded of suspense readers.
I haven't said much about the book, such as the plot, characterization, pacing and the like; the other reviews on this page cover it adequately. I can say that "The Killer Inside Me" is difficult, if not impossible, to put down once it has been started. And it is a refreshing change of pace juxtaposed with the American ideal of happy endings.
Rating:
Summary: Jim Thompson plumbs the psychotic imagination
Review: In "The Killer Inside Me", Jim Thompson again displays his abilities to snake down into the synapses of a psychopath. Thompson's insights into the mind of Lou Ford should be the envy of every other crime novelist. Ford makes his decisions to kill friends, lovers, and strangers (brutally) with the same amount of ease and thought that most people put into deciding to mow their lawns. Thompson doesn't try to be judgemental, preachy, or over-blown crazy; he lays out the mind of a murderer as a simple fact of a very twisted life. I've read this book several times, and never get bored with it
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