Wild Town (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

Rating:
Summary: More enjoyable than the rating might indicate
Review: I was torn in rating this book. I am not especially familiar with the genre, so I am not sure how it compares with other novels of its type. However, it was quite entertaining and an extremely quick read, and overall I liked it - I simply couldn't see rating it any higher, in terms of the writing itself.

So, the negatives first. It seems as if it were written in a hurry. Some parts are polished enough, others seem quite raw. There are some inconsistencies (though only one that really bothered me), and a "dirty trick" or two used to keep you from catching on to the plot twists too quickly.

I can't really give a plot synopsis without throwing in spoilers, as the story takes twists and turns at every chapter. The main characters, of course, are not what they seem at first (and you expect this from the beginning). But they are also aware that their circumstances are not what they seem, and in their respective ways are trapped by their own cunning and distrust.

This book really shines in its character development, most of all. The reader sees each character from many different angles, gets to recognize their hidden strengths and flaws, and while they are very different the reader can sympathize with (if not like) almost all of them. This provides no rest, however; the plot twists relentlessly, and each character is all too human and seems fully capable of betrayal for their own reasons.

Tolstoy it's not. But this novel is suspenseful, never boring, and will hold your attention for the day or two it takes to finish it.

Rating:
Summary: One of his most normal books
Review: Jim Thompson continues to hurt the boundaries of noir fiction. IN this book a man is hired to protect an oil baron in his hotel from somebody. That somebody changes throughout the book leavign you guessing until the final chapter. Of course like any good mystery writer Jim Thompson gives away the person in the first few pages of meeting that person but convinces you that he was only giving you a red herring. The book is normal for Jim THompson since the main character isn't completely psychotic, nor narrating and when the final chapter comes the whole narrative is neatly wrapped up without ambiguity, still it is an enjoyable read and worth recommending

Rating:
Summary: Noir at the edges
Review: This was my intorduction to Jim Thompson. The cover said it was like Dasheil Hammet and Raymond Chadler. It was like neither. Sure it was noirish in the sense the hero (antihero i guess) was a murderer with a police record a mile long, but the sinister story was pretty bland. He didn't seem to care about the mystery very much either, which made me likewise almost not care. The ending was okay, there was a slight tiwst that caught me off guard, which i liked. But having to slosh through 250 pages of stagnant story almost made it not worth it. The character of the police chief was very well done. If he's in other books by thompson, I'll read them.

I think the biggest problem was that it felt like Thompson was just trying to fill up pages sometimes, like he said to himself, "Well, i need to fill up five pages in this chapter somehow," so he just made the hero walk around the hotel for five pages, not doing a whole bunch.

I guess overall, characters were pretty good, plot was slow and boring.