Jim Thompson – Page 4 – Cannonball Read 17

Crying Out My Safe Word

King Blood by Jim Thompson

January 14, 2019 by Jake Leave a Comment

I am an unrequited fan of Jim Thompson’s novels. If he’s not my favorite writer of all time, he’s one of them. I usually read books for good, well-plotted stories with richly developed characters. Rarely do I read them for metaphysics. Such is not the case with Thompson’s work. Famously dubbed the “dimestore Dostoevsky”, Thompson’s unrelenting nihilism and views of the corruption of human nature weirdly fit my own despite my cheery demeanor. I believe we’re all mere steps away from chaos and those who […]

Anyone who deprived her of something she wanted deserved what he got.

April 4, 2018 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

Going into this post, I am not sure how many novels this will include. But I will review each of them in turn. My audiobook service has a bunch of his novels, and I am about the move and they are so light and short, it could be a lot. But I am starting with…. The Grifters – 1963 – 3 Stars Yes, this is the one the movie is based on. But I guess since that movie came out in 1990, who knows […]

The Long Con

August 27, 2016 by jeverett15 Leave a Comment

This is going to be pretty brief because I read this novel and then went on a two-week vacation, so it’s not exactly fresh in my mind. Jim Thompson is an acknowledged master of noir fiction, and this novel, filmed in 1990 starring John Cusack and Anjelica Huston, is perhaps his best known. The book centers on Roy Dillon, a young con artist who works the short grifts for quick money but has nevertheless built up quite a stash doing so. However, a con gone […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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