Rating: 
Summary: Noir Classic, A Bit Tame by Today's Standards
Review: "A Hell of a Woman" is somewhat similar to another Jim Thompson classic, "The Killer Inside Me" in that it is a story of murder and mayhem told in the first person through the eyes of the killer. Like "Killer," Frank Dillon, the protagonist here, has deep rooted issues involving women. In fact, the woman of the title could be any of several he describes, including his hell-on-wheels wife. The plot is right out of classic noir, as Dillon hatches an elaborate double murder scheme in order to make a huge score, win the girl he loves and escape his small town life and cruddy job as a salesman working for an abusive boss. Things go awry, as they usually do in these tales, and Dillon has to resort to further violence in a vain attempt to keep his plans from unravelling. The frank sexuality, gritty violence an unrepentant nature of the central character were probably quite a shock to readers when this book was first published in the early 1950s. It will, however, seem fairly tame to modern readers. A quick read at 185 pages, it is the novel equivilent of film noir from the era of its publication, and can be enjoyed the same way those films are today.
Rating:
Summary: Noir Classic, A Bit Tame by Today's Standards
Review: "A Hell of a Woman" is somewhat similar to another Jim Thompson classic, "The Killer Inside Me" in that it is a story of murder and mayhem told in the first person through the eyes of the killer. Like "Killer," Frank Dillon, the protagonist here, has deep rooted issues involving women. In fact, the woman of the title could be any of several he describes, including his hell-on-wheels wife. The plot is right out of classic noir, as Dillon hatches an elaborate double murder scheme in order to make a huge score, win the girl he loves and escape his small town life and cruddy job as a salesman working for an abusive boss. Things go awry, as they usually do in these tales, and Dillon has to resort to further violence in a vain attempt to keep his plans from unravelling. The frank sexuality, gritty violence an unrepentant nature of the central character were probably quite a shock to readers when this book was first published in the early 1950s. It will, however, seem fairly tame to modern readers. A quick read at 185 pages, it is the novel equivilent of film noir from the era of its publication, and can be enjoyed the same way those films are today.
Rating:
Summary: so unlucky with love...
Review: 'A Hell of a Woman" clearly falls right into Jim Thompson's turf: where a somewhat psychotic loser falls in love with Ms Wrong, then getting himself in deep trouble, and finally realizes that once again he hasn't moved forward in life at all (..but rather is worse off than when he started). Like is famous/notorious "The Killer Inside Me", Jim Thompson makes clever us of first-person narration including little slivers of where our 'loser' tells us his inner thoughts. Very chilling. Bottom line: good story, well-written, fine characterizations. No complaints.
Rating:
Summary: Crime and Punishment
Review: Frank Dillon is working outside sales in the rain when a flash of lightening illuminates a woman in a window and thus begins one of Thompson's wildest novels.
Dillon in A Hell of a Woman sees his whole life as having been squandered on one worthless woman after another, so much so that all women become a blur. But just as they are crowding into one person, Frank is turning into two; halfway through the book he creates a new persona, and by the end he's speaking out of both sides of his mouth.
The text at the end splits into lines of alternating type one italic and the other regular print, so that we actually read
two stories at once. One is a fantasty version of events and the other is what is really happening. I read
the last two pages seperating out the italics and the print and reading them seperately and I understood the ending better. Thompson has made a killer duet or killer in stereo with this novel and it is one wild ride.
Rating: 
Summary: Jim Thompson ain't so hot.
Review: I read a couple of Jim Thompson's books recently and my opinion is that he is a mediocre writer. If you've read Catcher in the Rye and loved it you might like Thompson. He is a VERY poor man's Salinger. The stories are about really screwed up white trash trying to get through life. The good thing about these is they're short. Call me a peasant but I didn't like Catcher either !
Rating: 
Summary: Better than Cain
Review: I think this is one of Thompson's best books. He may use the basic Cain formula, but he takes us a lot further inside the mind of his narrator; in fact, a little too far for comfort.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it! The book that made me a Jim Thompson fan!
Review: I'd heard high-praise for Mr. Thompson's books--from Stephen King to James Ellroy--but it wasn't until I read A Hell of a Woman that I became a believer. It's not only dark, like you'd expect, but alive! The book gets inside your head and won't leave, even after you've finished the last page. Images you will never shake! Read it!
Rating: 
Summary: By the Numbers
Review: It has all the elements that make a great noir classic, the babe with the femme fatale, the murder, the creepy main character, but it is not much more than your average crime novel and with Jim Thompson you expect more for your money than rehashed "Postman Always Rings Twice" materia
Rating:
Summary: a hard & fast suspense jewel
Review: Jim Thompson & Larry Brown have at least one thing in common...happy endings and classic good guys are almost impossible to find in their books. In the hit or miss world of Jim Thompson novels this one certainly hits...hard! Hell Of A Woman is an ugly story that features characters with few, if any, redeeming qualities. This has surpassed The Killer Inside as my favorite Thompson novel. The suspense and surprise twists that books like The Alcoholics lack can be found here in spades. Thompson seems a little too at home in this setting of paranoia, sex & crime. Its one shortcoming is typical of Thompson stories...it does occasionally come unwravelled, though not often enough to matter. I honestly didn't know how this one was going to turn out. You have the general idea of what's going down, but you can never be sure who's going to fall and who's going to get away with it. Thompson is a master of this hard-boiled genre and this is surely a highlight in an up and down career. Curl up around an ashtray and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: a hard & fast suspense jewel
Review: Jim Thompson & Larry Brown have at least one thing in common...happy endings and classic good guys are almost impossible to find in their books. In the hit or miss world of Jim Thompson novels this one certainly hits...hard! Hell Of A Woman is an ugly story that features characters with few, if any, redeeming qualities. This has surpassed The Killer Inside as my favorite Thompson novel. The suspense and surprise twists that books like The Alcoholics lack can be found here in spades. Thompson seems a little too at home in this setting of paranoia, sex & crime. Its one shortcoming is typical of Thompson stories...it does occasionally come unwravelled, though not often enough to matter. I honestly didn't know how this one was going to turn out. You have the general idea of what's going down, but you can never be sure who's going to fall and who's going to get away with it. Thompson is a master of this hard-boiled genre and this is surely a highlight in an up and down career. Curl up around an ashtray and enjoy!
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