The Out Is Death

Rating:
Summary: No time for crime.
Review: Abe Dalton was a first rate safecracker in his day. But that was then. Now he is a sick old man who has just been released from ten years behind bars. He has only one desire and that is to not die in prison. His good friend Dan Port wants to see to it that Abe gets to live out his remaining days in peace.
Unfortunately, a menacing punk by the name of Dicky Corday has other ideas. He's hellbent on forcing Abe to pull off yet another job. Rounding out the cast of characters is Letty, Dicky's long suffering and much abused girlfriend.
As Dan feverishly works to move heaven and earth in order to prevent Dicky from bringing harm to Abe and Letty, the reader is engulfed with a sense of inevitability. A palpable feeling that the ending is not going to be a happy one.
There's plenty of dialogue in this novel and, interestingly, it at times takes on a rat-ta-tat-tat rhythm similar to what one would find in a David Mamet screenplay.
The Out is Death is a classic example of pulp fiction. It is an interesting read but it doesn't have the intensely gripping quality of Jim Thompson's The Grifters or David Goodis' Shoot the Piano Player. Two great noir novels whose subject matter and underlying theme are quite similar to this one's.
The Out is Death is good, not great. A solid 3 stars.