In a Lonely Place

Rating:
Summary: Hard-boiled and scary because of its understatement
Review: "In a Lonely Place" is a neglected classic of American crime fiction. Harder than hard-boiled, it follows the actions of a vicious serial killer in post-war Los Angeles. The antihero, Dixon Steele, maintains the appearance of an average guy while periodically venting his anger and hatred of women by raping and strangling random girls that he picks up. Through the course of the book, he plays a cat-and-mouse game with his old army buddy, now a detective, who has been assigned to solve the case.

Published in 1947, "In a Lonely Place" is different from much of today's standard serial killer fare. Unlike books such as "Hannibal" or "Red Dragon," all the violence occurs offstage, during gaps in the narration. But that doesn't make it any less scary--in fact, it ups the creepiness quotient considerably. Hughes tells her story from the point of view of the "perp" himself, with all the events filtered through Steele's eyes and thoughts. Normal in the book is what's normal to the killer whose solitary, predatory nature places him "in a lonely place" outside of the rest of humanity. His anger, his misogyny, his hatred of those richer than he, and his sense of entitlement justify his actions in his own mind. By keeping the gore offstage, the author maintains the focus on the killer's twisted mind, which is where the true horror lies.

"In a Lonely Place" was made into a movie in 1950 starring Humphrey Bogart (who else?) and Gloria Grahame. The film kept some of the elements of the book, but switched the focus to domestic violence. Dark as the film is (and it's a masterpiece of film noir), the book is even darker. If you're looking for a play-by-play novelization of the movie, this isn't it. But if you're looking for a character study of a killer's mind, then turn on the night light and dig in.

Rating:
Summary: Hard-boiled and scary because of its understatement
Review: "In a Lonely Place" is a neglected classic of American crime fiction. Harder than hard-boiled, it follows the actions of a vicious serial killer in post-war Los Angeles. The antihero, Dixon Steele, maintains the appearance of an average guy while periodically venting his anger and hatred of women by raping and strangling random girls that he picks up. Through the course of the book, he plays a cat-and-mouse game with his old army buddy, now a detective, who has been assigned to solve the case.

Published in 1947, "In a Lonely Place" is different from much of today's standard serial killer fare. Unlike books such as "Hannibal" or "Red Dragon," all the violence occurs offstage, during gaps in the narration. But that doesn't make it any less scary--in fact, it ups the creepiness quotient considerably. Hughes tells her story from the point of view of the "perp" himself, with all the events filtered through Steele's eyes and thoughts. Normal in the book is what's normal to the killer whose solitary, predatory nature places him "in a lonely place" outside of the rest of humanity. His anger, his misogyny, his hatred of those richer than he, and his sense of entitlement justify his actions in his own mind. By keeping the gore offstage, the author maintains the focus on the killer's twisted mind, which is where the true horror lies.

"In a Lonely Place" was made into a movie in 1950 starring Humphrey Bogart (who else?) and Gloria Grahame. The film kept some of the elements of the book, but switched the focus to domestic violence. Dark as the film is (and it's a masterpiece of film noir), the book is even darker. If you're looking for a play-by-play novelization of the movie, this isn't it. But if you're looking for a character study of a killer's mind, then turn on the night light and dig in.

Rating:
Summary: Creepy, and quite unlike the movie
Review: An effectively creepy and believable portrait of a rage-driven serial killer.

Quite unlike the famous (and excellent) movie based on the book, both in plot and in mood.

Rating:
Summary: Undervalued classic
Review: How is it that Dorothy B. Hughes's great suspense novels of the 1940s have fallen into oblivion? This is clearly a situation for a nervy publisher like Godine or Dalkey Archive to rectify, as the more conventional ones, like Vintage, remain clueless. And here's a good place to begin. Written in 1947, In a Lonely Place was one of the first American novels to broach the subject of a serial killer--it was instantly followed by a host of imitators in the late '40s and early '50s. (Other than the Belloc-Lowndes The Lodger, a 1912 UK novel, the theme had been long neglected.) Hughes's approach is psychological stream-of-consciousness; she traces the cat and mouse game of the sociopathic Dix Steele who, reuniting with an old war buddy turned cop, comes along for the chase to find the murderer. If you know the great Nicholas Ray film with Bogart, don't expect much resemblance--Ray took only the title and the names of most of the characters. Though like the movie, the novel is a brilliantly claustrophobic look at LA in the postwar years. The violence is offstage, the pathology on. Hughes's ability to penetrate a man's mind is remarkable and never less than credible. She wrote only a handful of books (The Fallen Sparrow, Ride the Pink Horse, and The Davidian Report are her other benchmark novels) but they deserve a closer look--they are compulsively readable, prophetic, and apparently timeless.

Rating:
Summary: Undervalued Classic II
Review: I wish to associate myself with the excellent review and comments of the esteemed reviewer from New York. A very fine book, timeless in its readability and thematic approach and yet fascinating in its description of a post-WWII City of Angels. A great enough read for me to want to track down more of Ms. Hughes' works and learn more about her life. If you are into noir, at some point you need to read this book to complete your perspective.