Rating: 
Summary: Dancing With the Devil
Review: "The Grifters" is another of Jim Thompson's electric
charged dances with the devil. It is so hard and so brutally bleak that
it undercuts what passes for reality and gives us the real truth that
is right out there in front of us with people like Moria and Roy
and Lilly whom we would rather not see and therefore do not as we
pass them by on the street. Jim Thompson saw them though, and for that
I am so grateful. Thompson was a stunning writer and this is one of
his best books. He broke such new ground back in the fifties and
sixties and his books still resonate with passion and ultimate greed
and fear of finding it and never attaining it, not one single time,
just more grittiness, more grubbiness. Thompson writes them as
them. He is there in the snake pit along with his characters. He knows
them from the inside out. There is such fatal laughter in his words I
can almost feel the death shroud in them, for that is the grave they
dance beside, right on the lip of it. Roy is a small time con who wants
to make the big time. Lily is his mother who has all the spider traits
of a Thompson woman, hard and bitter and cold even in
Thompson's world. Moria doesn't stand a prayer. No one in Thompson's
cruel and real and terrifying world do. Roy chases his own
"golden frammis", that unobtainable dream, and Lily-well,
Lily lusts after her son sexually for sure, but money is something that
keeps better and what Lily does to him to get that next installment on
the ladder to frammis attaining is so true and so startling, even
now, that it hurts the eyes to read it, as she steps out into the City
of Angels. Medea, listen up. Thompson held me enthralled one summer as
I read all of his books in a row. His characters sometimes narrate
them apparently from hell. The violence is so unremittingly grotesque
you have to back away from it, but these are not sideshow characters
like on daytime TV talk shows. These are real people, admit it or not,
more screwd up than us perhaps, or just more willing to not hide it,
and many are insane, and Thompson got in those minds, like Lily's
and brought them to a kind of unapologizing life, and I admire them
for their terrible honesty, in their skin stripped teeth bared
claws extended grasping for whatever pleases them in their crude
motley little world where you can almost smell the sweat soiled sheets
of little cheap hotel rooms and the sick fear that sleeps so uneasily
on them, as well as see those speckled bathroom mirrors where these
pasty faced red eyed ultimate losers see their faces in the morning and
know the pain is just going to get worst. But they don't know what else
to do. Who does, ultimately? I was galvinized from the first of
his books. "The Grifters" is roman noir at its
very finest. There is such a knife edge cut to Thompson's words, such
a fever in them that they seem to be written in a runaway passion
that is a mad rushing to a hell worse than the Biblical one, like was
found in "The Getaway" that beggers any kind of
description. And the thing is, if they had to do it over again, knowing
what was in store, I think they would. For the most part, like Lou Ford
in"The Killer Inside Me" and like Lilly in
"The Grifters", these are desperate odds masquerading as
humans who are not possessing anything inside them but a larcenous need
for bloodletting as much as for money. For power and making pain
around them which makes them feel good. And the hopelessness of Roy and
Moria and Lily and of Lou Ford maybe the most demonic character ever
put to paper is that certain something that keeps all his characters (I
doubt that,if Roy lived through that ending, or was writing about it
from hell, he would even for one moment think badly of his mother,
for wouldn't he have done the same thing to her?)racing for something
that is so wonderfully ironic and mean spirited and ghoulishly give up
you can't win funny, that is there in only the grittiest of dark
alleys where somehow in poverty of mind and heart and soul there is
the shadow that is the sun that will burn dry all that frantic pain
that arcs from one sentence to another in this and all of
Thompson's books....
Rating:
Summary: Gut wrenching.
Review: Be forewarned. This novel is not for the faint of heart. If you are easily offended, do not read The Grifters. In this classic example of pulp fiction, Jim Thompson takes us on a cruel and hideous journey through a few weeks in the life of Roy Dillon, a practitioner of the short con working in Los Angeles. Thompson's writing is raw and unflinching. No holds are barred, no topic is taboo. He has created a fascinating portrayal of society's criminal netherworld in a way that is thoroughly engaging even as it dares you not to avert your eyes. Reading The Grifters is a powerful, visceral experience that stays with you.
Rating:
Summary: Gut wrenching.
Review: Be forewarned. This novel is not for the faint of heart. If you are easily offended, do not read The Grifters. In this classic example of pulp fiction, Jim Thompson takes us on a cruel and hideous journey through a few weeks in the life of Roy Dillon, a practitioner of the short con working in Los Angeles. Thompson's writing is raw and unflinching. No holds are barred, no topic is taboo. He has created a fascinating portrayal of society's criminal netherworld in a way that is thoroughly engaging even as it dares you not to avert your eyes. Reading The Grifters is a powerful, visceral experience that stays with you.
Rating: 
Summary: Oedipus in L. A.
Review: Grift is money made dishonestly as in a swindle or a confidence game. The grifters in this novel by Thompson are Lilly and Roy Dillon and Moira Langtry. Lilly and Roy are mother and son and haven't seen each other for seven years as the book opens. Moira is Roy's girlfriend, a prostitute, and a former grifter. Roy has a steady sales job and he makes the grift on the side. Lilly does her grifting for the mob, betting down the odds on long shots at the horse races so her boss won't take too big of a fall should one of those long shots come in.
This novel has beautiful description, great characterization, and even some subtle jabs at consumerism and the corrupting aspects of the modern world. Moira and her former grifter partner Cole laugh at and make fun of advertisements. Moira in a bar after ordering a sidecar feels "that the times were out of joint with themselves, and that the most emphasis was put on the least worthwhile pursuits". "She can no longer hear it. It was lost, the music which each person had inside himself, and which put him in step with things as they should be". Dillon is the name Thompson used on his Communist party Identification card. Many artists at the time were interested in Communism because of their concern for social justice for the poor and didn't know much about the larger Communist world. There is an Oedipal atmosphere that develops in Roy's love hate relationship with Lilly. This novel builds at a slow crescendo pace and the ending is a shocker.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Thompson
Review: I saw the movie version of the Grifters when it was released in 1990 and really loved it. I finally got around to reading the novel and was very impressed. The book is a very quick read, but manages to pack in a great deal of enjoyable material. The book chronicles the story of Roy Dillon, who is a second generation grifter. His mother is Lilly Dillon, who works for the mob, and one of the most ferocious women ever created for fiction. Roy works the short-con, cheating businessmen and people in bars. He meets Moira Langtry, who has a history of pulling long-term con jobs with an ex-boyfriend. She tries to convince Roy that they should team up, with disastrous results. The book is gritty, with vivid characters and a terrific ending. I've read quite a few Thompson novels and this is the best. In fact, it may be one of the best pulp novels ever written.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Thompson
Review: I saw the movie version of the Grifters when it was released in 1990 and really loved it. I finally got around to reading the novel and was very impressed. The book is a very quick read, but manages to pack in a great deal of enjoyable material. The book chronicles the story of Roy Dillon, who is a second generation grifter. His mother is Lilly Dillon, who works for the mob, and one of the most ferocious women ever created for fiction. Roy works the short-con, cheating businessmen and people in bars. He meets Moira Langtry, who has a history of pulling long-term con jobs with an ex-boyfriend. She tries to convince Roy that they should team up, with disastrous results. The book is gritty, with vivid characters and a terrific ending. I've read quite a few Thompson novels and this is the best. In fact, it may be one of the best pulp novels ever written.
Rating: 
Summary: Average Noir
Review: I'm slightly disappointed by this Jim Thompson effort. After reading many reviews on most of his books, I expected much more from his writing. Most of the reviews are glowing, so I figured that I'd have a good time reading this. I will say that this book is a fast read. I read it in a few short hours. However, my biggest problem with "The Grifters" is that it lacks dimension. With the exception of a few scenes, the characters just aren't that interesting. Also, the writing isn't as snappy as I thought it would be. After reading Chandler and some other noir stories, I expected lots of metaphors and some cool, slangy language. Having said all of this, there is still some good stuff in this book. The end of the book is especially interesting, and some of the background sketches of the characters are a lot of fun, although these sketches should have been fleshed out more.There are three main characters in the book: Roy Dillon, his mother Lilly, and Roy's sometimes girlfriend, Moira. All three are pretty much without scruples. Roy works as a salesman while he runs petty cons on the side. Lilly is a cynical, scheming woman without a trace of morality. She makes her living working the racetrack. Moira is pretty much a prostitute who lives off her body and wits. When all three of these scummy characters get together, trouble follows. Thompson also throws in an Oedipal complex for Roy and some violent scenes with Lilly. I won't go into further details because I shouldn't spoil the plot. This book is still worth reading because it does have some gritty atmosphere that any good noir tale should never be without. I'm not going to give up on Thompson just yet. I'll definitely get around to reading a few of his other books because I feel that there may be "gold in them thar hills" to be found. This is an average book that could (and should) have been much better. If you've never seen the film, watch it some time.
Rating:
Summary: low-life cons; it's a family affair
Review: Jim Thompson, known as the king of 'noir' crime novels, has a style which might not appeal to everyone. His novels consist of characters that have the look, feel and sound of B-movie gangsters. Yet his stories always contains at least one character that is either extraordinarily vile or pathetic (a hapless loser). In The Grifters we are entertained by three rotten individuals: a "nickel-dime" con artist ("grifter"), his equally crooked youthful mother, and his older girlfriend who'll do just about anything for money. It's the interplay between these characters rather than the crime themselves which are most fascinating. In effect each character tries to manipulate the other to his/her pure selfish advantage. Love? You won't find any in this book. Oh, and the ending is really g-o-o-d. Bottom line: sleazy, depressing yet utterly compelling. Amongst Thompson's finer works. (The film adaptation of The Grifters is also highly recommended.)
Rating:
Summary: low-life cons; it's a family affair
Review: Jim Thompson, known as the king of 'noir' crime novels, has a style which might not appeal to everyone. His novels consist of characters that have the look, feel and sound of B-movie gangsters. Yet his stories always contains at least one character that is either extraordinarily vile or pathetic (a hapless loser). In The Grifters we are entertained by three rotten individuals: a "nickel-dime" con artist ("grifter"), his equally crooked youthful mother, and his older girlfriend who'll do just about anything for money. It's the interplay between these characters rather than the crime themselves which are most fascinating. In effect each character tries to manipulate the other to his/her pure selfish advantage. Love? You won't find any in this book. Oh, and the ending is really g-o-o-d. Bottom line: sleazy, depressing yet utterly compelling. Amongst Thompson's finer works. (The film adaptation of The Grifters is also highly recommended.)
Rating:
Summary: The Star After Cain and Chandler
Review: Now we Americans recognize the writing of Jim Thompson and deem him a worthy successor to Cain and Chandler. When he first came out though, in the 1950s and 1960s, he was more readily admired by readers abroad. Movies of his work were not made until relatively recently. Grifters are con men and women. In this novel, Thompson has the grifters down cold. The leads are Lily and her son, Roy. They have a very high tension relationship with one another and the the latent sexuality lurking between them is not the least of it. Marching directly into the midst of this deadly duo is Moira, also a con woman, and Roy's present girlfriend. Moira gets the not so bright idea of stealing money from Lily. These are all fascinating characters, very dark and compelling with not much in the way of redeeming features. This is a great novel with the same hard boiled edginess that Cain and Chandler used. This was made into a movie with Angelica Huston as mother Lily, John Cusack as son Roy and Annette Bening as Moira. It couldn't have been cast any better as they were superb with the first rate screenplay. The movie was moved up to present day LA whereas the book was set back in the 1950s. I highly recommend both.
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