pickThe Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain (1934)
Premise: A drifter arrives at a California service station, setting off a dark chain of events.
Review: This classic is noir fiction at its absolute best: atmospheric, hard-boiled, and no-holds-barred
Cont.
pickIn this atmospheric noir novel set in Mexico in the 1970s, Maite is a dissatisfied secretary who livens up her life with romance comics, lies, and the occasional petty theft, while Elvis is a member of the Hawks, hired thugs trained to violently disrupt student protests. As they both become embroiled in the search for a missing young woman, Maite and Elvis each seek escape through music and glimpses of beauty in a tedious and often violent world.
#DynamicDs #Detective #OldSchool The tagged book is a collection of stories , The Maltese Falcon brought us Sam Spade , The Big Sleep , Phillip Marlowe .
Humphrey Bogart played both of those roles , & as you can see from the cover , Robert Mitchum played Marlowe in a remake . Good stuff !
so-soClassic noir novel about a drifter who falls in love with the wife of a restaurant owner, and they plot to murder him. Fast-paced, choppy sentences, quick read. There is definitely some sexism & racism mixed in here that speaks to its 1930s publication. Glad to read the well-known story though, and it definitely kept me turning the pages. I wish I could have seen a bit of depth in the character of Cora. We see her only through the drifter‘s eyes.
pick34/100 This wasn't the conclusion that I wanted, but I guess it is the ending that best suits the story. In the end, there's no justice, for anyone, people die, the studio covers more scandals, and everyone shrugs and goes about their business as if it's all supposed to be this way. 3.75/5 #Read2025 #SeriesLove2025
pick33/100 The mystery deepens as our writer "hero" foolishly falls in love with the actress hired to replace the other actress. Plenty of secrets come out, dirty tricks, sexual assaults, perversions, scandals the studio is willing to kill to keep quiet. Charlie, the writer, is too drunk most of the time to realize the real danger he is involved in. 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ #Read2025 #SeriesLove2025
pick32/100 A very dark and gritty story of late 1940s Hollywood. A young starlet is found dead, and the studio rushes to cover up the scandal. A screenwriter, with writer's block, becomes involved because he knows the studio's story isn't true. It's very dark, there aren't any really likeable characters, even the MMC is a coward you folds under studio pressure to keep quiet. 4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ #Read2025 #SeriesLove2025
so-soI love the first half of this story, with the spy mystery vibe and the incredible color schemes. The conclusion to this tale is just not as good as the first half, although the ending is appropriate. I‘m not sure why I feel this way, but the energy and forward momentum subside in this half. It feels like the story winds down to its somber conclusion. The end is pretty melancholic, so maybe it has to be this way. Still worth reading!
pickI've read a couple Criminal stories here and there, but this will be my first proper read through, in anticipation of the upcoming TV series. Leo has a reputation of being an expert thief, but the first to hit the bricks at a sign of trouble. When someone from his past reemerges, he takes a job he knows he shouldn't, and, predictably, it doesn't go well, but modern master Brubaker keeps things interesting.
bailed
Bookish Pair: For another classic piece of noir literature, Dashiell Hammett‘s The Maltese Falcon (1930).
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 2d