en-US Tue, 21 Jun 2016 18:03:21 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 25663544
Murder at the 42nd Street Library follows Ambler and his partners in crime-solving as they track down a killer, shining a light on the dark deeds and secret relationships that are hidden deep inside the famous flagship building at the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue.

In their search for the reasons behind the murder, Ambler and his crew uncover sinister, and profoundly disturbing, relationships among the scholars studying in the iconic library. Included among the players are a celebrated mystery writer who has donated his papers to the library’s crime fiction collection; that writer’s long-missing daughter, a prominent New York society woman with a hidden past, and more than one of Ambler’s colleagues at the library. Shocking revelations lead to the traumatic events that follow―the reading room will never be the same.]]> 307 Con Lehane 1250009960 Con 0 2.88 2016
author: Con Lehane
name: Con
average rating: 2.88
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/06/21
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]]> 11318
Trouble is my business --
Finger man --
Goldfish --
Red wind]]> 224 Raymond Chandler Con 0 to-read 4.06 1950
author: Raymond Chandler
name: Con
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1950
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> 166915 The Library of America’s adventurous two-volume collection taps deep roots in the American literary imagination, exploring themes of crime, guilt, deception, obsessive passion, murder, and the disintegrating psyche. With visionary and often subversive force they create a dark and violent mythology out of the most commonplace elements of modern life.

James M. Cain’s pioneering novel of murder and adultery along the California highway, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934), shocked contemporaries with its laconic toughness and fierce sexuality.

Horace McCoy’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1935) uses truncated rhythms and a unique narrative structure to turn its account of a Hollywood dance marathon into an unforgettable evocation of social chaos and personal desperation.

In Thieves Like Us (1937), Edward Anderson vividly brings to life the dusty roads and back-country hideouts where a fugitive band of Oklahoma outlaws plays out its destiny.

The Big Clock (1946), an ingenious novel of pursuit and evasion by the poet Kenneth Fearing, is set by contrast in the dense and neurotic inner world of a giant publishing corporation under the thumb of a warped and ultimately murderous chief executive.

William Lindsay Gresham’s controversial Nightmare Alley (1946), a ferocious psychological portrait of a charismatic carnival hustler, creates an unforgettable atmosphere of duplicity, corruption, and self-destruction.

I Married a Dead Man (1948), a tale of switched identity set in the anxious suburbs, is perhaps the most striking novel of Cornell Woolrich, who found in the techniques of the gothic thriller the means to express an overpowering sense of personal doom.

Disturbing, poetic, anarchic, punctuated by terrifying bursts of rage and paranoia and powerfully evocative of the lost and desperate sidestreets of American life, these are underground classics now made widely and permanently available.]]> 990 Robert Polito 1883011469 Con 0 to-read 4.37 1997
author: Robert Polito
name: Con
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1997
rating: 0
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date added: 2014/03/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> 122751
“‘The cat sat on the mat�� is not the beginning of a story, but ‘the cat sat on the dog’s mat�� is.�� �� John Le Carré

Nothing is more inspiring for a beginning writer than listening to masters of the craft talk about the writing life. But if you can’t get Vladimir Nabokov, Virginia Woolf, and Gabriel García Márquez together at the Algonquin, The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop gives you the next best thing. Stephen Koch, former chair of Columbia University’s graduate creative writing program, presents a unique guide to the craft of fiction. Along with his own lucid observations and commonsense techniques, he weaves together wisdom, advice, and inspiring commentary from some of our greatest writers. Taking you from the moment of inspiration (keep a notebook with you at all times), to writing a first draft (do it quickly! you can always revise later), to figuring out a plot (plot always serves the story, not vice versa), Koch is a benevolent mentor, glad to dispense sound advice when you need it most. The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop belongs on every writer’s shelf, to be picked up and pored over for those moments when the muse needs a little help finding her way.]]> 246 Stephen Koch 0375755586 Con 5 4.27 2003
author: Stephen Koch
name: Con
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2003
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/03/08
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]]> 30002
Is she the victim of a family curse? She believes so and has been reminded of the curse many times. The short, squat, utterly unsentimental Continental Op, the best private detective around, has his doubts and finds himself confronting something infinitely more dangerous.

It's the Continental Op's most bizarre case.

Librarian's note #1: this entry relates to the novel 'The Dain Curse.' Collections, and other stories by Hammett can be found elsewhere on ŷ������.

Librarian's note #2: the two serialized novels are: 1. The Cleansing of Poisonville (which later became Red Harvest), and 2. The Dain Curse.

Librarian's note #3: there are a total of 28 Continental Op short stories plus one incomplete; they can be found by searching GR for: 'a Continental Op Short Story.' They are: 1. Arson Plus, 2. Crooked Souls, 3. Slippery Fingers, 4. It, 5. Bodies Piled Up, 6. The Tenth Clew, 7. Night Shots, 8. Zigzags of Treachery, 9. One Hour, 10. The House on Turk Street, 11. The Girl with the Silver Eyes, 12. Women, Politics & Murder, 13. The Golden Horseshoe, 14. Who Killed Bob Teal? 15. Mike or Alec or Rufus, 16. The Whosis Kid, 17. The Scorched Face, 18. Corkscrew, 19. Dead Yellow Women, 20. The Gutting of Couffignal, 21. Creeping Siamese, 22. The Big Knock-Over, 23. $106,000 Blood Money, 24. The Main Death, 25. This King Business, 26. Fly Paper, 27. The Farewell Murder, 28. Death and Company and, 29. Three Dimes (unfinished).]]> 256 Dashiell Hammett 0752851802 Con 5 3.82 1929
author: Dashiell Hammett
name: Con
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1929
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/03/06
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]]> 648640
Lew Archer follows the clues from the canyon sanctuaries of the mega-rich to jazz joints where you get beaten up between sets.

Welcome to the first Lew Archer, private investigator - a roving conscience who walks the treacherous frontier between criminal guilt and human sin. You are sure to find that Ross Macdonald's "The Moving Target" blends sex, greed, and family hatred into an explosively readable crime novel.]]> 246 Ross Macdonald 037570146X Con 5 3.80 1949
author: Ross Macdonald
name: Con
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1949
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/03/06
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]]> 298920
Nonexistent, that is, until a dazzling woman walks into the bar with a strange request and a rumor about Jack’s talent for finding things. Odds are he won’t be able to climb off his barstool long enough to get involved with his radiant new client, but when he surprises himself by getting hired, Jack has little idea of what he’s getting into.

Stark, violent, sharp, and funny, The Guards is an exceptional novel, one that leaves you stunned and breathless, flipping back to the beginning in a mad dash to find Jack Taylor and enter his world all over again. It’s an unforgettable story that’s gritty, absorbing, and saturated with the rough-edged rhythms of the Galway streets. Praised by authors and critics around the globe, The Guards heralds the arrival of an essential new novelist in contemporary crime fiction.��]]> 304 Ken Bruen 0863223230 Con 5 3.85 2001
author: Ken Bruen
name: Con
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2001
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/03/06
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]]> 37100 263 Walter Mosley Con 5 3.88 1990
author: Walter Mosley
name: Con
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1990
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/03/06
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]]> 2052
Librarian's note: this is an alternate cover edition.]]> 231 Raymond Chandler 0394758285 Con 5 3.96 1939
author: Raymond Chandler
name: Con
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1939
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/03/06
shelves:
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]]> 2054 379 Raymond Chandler 0394757688 Con 5 4.19 1953
author: Raymond Chandler
name: Con
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1953
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/03/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 29999 213 Dashiell Hammett Con 5 3.89 1930
author: Dashiell Hammett
name: Con
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1930
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/03/06
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]]> 2050 Alternative cover edition of ISBN 9780394758275

Marlowe's about to give up on a completely routine case when he finds himself in the wrong place at the right time to get caught up in a murder that leads to a ring of jewel thieves, another murder, a fortune-teller, a couple more murders, and more corruption than your average graveyard.]]> 292 Raymond Chandler Con 5 4.12 1940
author: Raymond Chandler
name: Con
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1940
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/03/06
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]]> 25807 The Stranger - is the fever-pitched tale of a drifter who stumbles into a job, into an erotic obsession, and into a murder.]]> 116 James M. Cain 0752861743 Con 5 3.79 1934
author: James M. Cain
name: Con
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1934
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/03/06
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]]> 30005
The Op was in Personville, derogatory nickname aside, as the result of a letter to the Continental Detective Agency in San Francisco from Donald Willsson, publisher of the local paper, asking for an agent to visit. No other information. As soon as the OP arrives, the body count begins and it starts with his client!

'Red Harvest' is more than a superb crime novel; it is a classic exploration of corruption and violence in America and one of the greats of 20th century literature.

Librarian's note #1: this entry relates to the novel 'Red Harvest.' Collections, and other Hammett stories can be found elsewhere on ŷ������.

Librarian's note #2: the two serialized novels are: 1. The Cleansing of Poisonville (which later became Red Harvest), and 2. The Dain Curse.

Librarian's note #3: there are a total of 28 Continental Op short stories plus one incomplete; they can be found by searching GR for: 'a Continental Op Short Story.' They are: 1. Arson Plus, 2. Crooked Souls, 3. Slippery Fingers, 4. It, 5. Bodies Piled Up, 6. The Tenth Clew, 7. Night Shots, 8. Zigzags of Treachery, 9. One Hour, 10. The House on Turk Street, 11. The Girl with the Silver Eyes, 12. Women, Politics & Murder, 13. The Golden Horseshoe, 14. Who Killed Bob Teal? 15. Mike or Alec or Rufus, 16. The Whosis Kid, 17. The Scorched Face, 18. Corkscrew, 19. Dead Yellow Women, 20. The Gutting of Couffignal, 21. Creeping Siamese, 22. The Big Knock-Over, 23. $106,000 Blood Money, 24. The Main Death, 25. This King Business, 26. Fly Paper, 27. The Farewell Murder, 28. Death and Company and, 29. Three Dimes (unfinished).]]> 215 Dashiell Hammett 0752852612 Con 5 3.98 1927
author: Dashiell Hammett
name: Con
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1927
rating: 5
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]]> 80616 The Thin Man is a murder mystery that doubles as a sophisticated comedy of manners.]]> 201 Dashiell Hammett 0679722637 Con 5 3.92 1934
author: Dashiell Hammett
name: Con
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1934
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/03/06
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]]> 776159 266 Raymond Chandler 0394758250 Con 5 4.06 1943
author: Raymond Chandler
name: Con
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1943
rating: 5
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date added: 2014/03/06
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review:

]]> 21704 348 James Ellroy 0446698873 Con 4 3.77 1987
author: James Ellroy
name: Con
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1987
rating: 4
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date added: 2014/03/06
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]]> 77013 As I Lay Dying is Faulkner’s harrowing account of the Bundren family’s odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Narrated in turn by each of the family members -- including Addie herself -- as well as others; the novel ranges in mood, from dark comedy to the deepest pathos. Considered one of the most influential novels in American fiction in structure, style, and drama, As I Lay Dying is a true 20th-century classic.

This edition reproduces the corrected text of As I Lay Dying as established in 1985 by Noel Polk.]]> 288 William Faulkner Con 3 3.71 1930
author: William Faulkner
name: Con
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1930
rating: 3
read at: 2014/01/20
date added: 2014/03/06
shelves:
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What was amazing was Faulkner's dialogue, which was absolutely convincing. Ace Atkins said he used to sit on park benches listening to Mississippi folks talk. I believe that because it was so convincing. you believe, without a doubt, you're listening to those backwoods delta folks talk, not only how they say it but what they say. Why I wouldn't give this five stars, as I would give most anything by Faulkner, is because the characters, portrayed as truly as one could portray a character, are really, for me, unlikeable. I didn't like them; consequently, I didn't care much about them. I think you gotta care to really love a book. Heathcliffe in Wuthering Heights might not have been likeable but I cared mightily.
]]> 48467 This is an alternate-cover edition for ISBN 9780374530631)

The American short story master Flannery O'Connor's haunting first novel of faith, false prophets, and redemptive wisdom.

Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor's astonishing and haunting first novel, is a classic of twentieth-century literature. It is the story of Hazel Motes, a twenty-two-year-old caught in an unending struggle against his inborn, desperate fate. He falls under the spell of a "blind" street preacher named Asa Hawks and his degenerate fifteen-year-old daughter, Sabbath Lily. In an ironic, malicious gesture of his own non-faith, and to prove himself a greater cynic than Hawks, Motes founds the Church Without Christ, but is still thwarted in his efforts to lose God. He meets Enoch Emery, a young man with "wise blood," who leads him to a mummified holy child and whose crazy maneuvers are a manifestation of Motes's existential struggles.

This tale of redemption, retribution, false prophets, blindness, blindings, and wisdom gives us one of the most riveting characters in American fiction.]]> 256 Flannery O'Connor 0374530637 Con 2 3.84 1952
author: Flannery O'Connor
name: Con
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1952
rating: 2
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date added: 2014/01/08
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]]> 12995 The Hamlet, the first novel of Faulkner's Snopes trilogy, is both an ironic take on classical tragedy and a mordant commentary on the grand pretensions of the antebellum South and the depths of its decay in the aftermath of war and Reconstruction. It tells of the advent and the rise of the Snopes family in Frenchman's Bend, a small town built on the ruins of a once-stately plantation. Flem Snopes -- wily, energetic, a man of shady origins -- quickly comes to dominate the town and its people with his cunning and guile.]]> 409 William Faulkner 0679736530 Con 5 ]]> 3.87 1940
author: William Faulkner
name: Con
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1940
rating: 5
read at: 2013/02/13
date added: 2013/12/08
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It read like the novel was composed of a few distinct short stories.

]]> 58544 The Hamlet, the first book of the series chronicling the advent and rise of the grasping Snopes family in mythical Yoknapatawpha County, is a work that Cleanth Brooks called "one of the richest novels in the Faulkner canon." It recounts how the wily, cunning Flem Snopes dominates the rural community of Frenchman's Bend - and claims the voluptuous Eula Varner as his bride. The Town, the second novel, records Flem's ruthless struggle to take over the county seat of Jefferson, Mississippi. Finally, The Mansion tells of Mink Snopes, whose archaic sense of honor brings about the downfall of his cousin Flem. "For all his concerns with the South, Faulkner was actually seeking out the nature of man," noted Ralph Ellison. "Thus we must turn to him for that continuity of moral purpose which made for the greatness of our classics."]]> 1072 William Faulkner 0679600922 Con 5 the-unvanquished 4.37 1959
author: William Faulkner
name: Con
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1959
rating: 5
read at: 2013/12/08
date added: 2013/12/08
shelves: the-unvanquished
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]]> 128770 254 William Faulkner 0679736522 Con 5 3.76 1938
author: William Faulkner
name: Con
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1938
rating: 5
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]]> 16041845 ��
But things really get complicated when Ellie's agrees to help out an old Army buddy with his search for his missing brother. Ellie finds herself entangled in a conspiracy that may or may not involve a sinister biotech company, eco-terrorists, an art-obsessed Chinese billionaire, and lots of cats—a conspiracy that will take her on a wild chase through some of China's most beautiful and most surreal places.]]> 371 Lisa Brackmann 1616952342 Con 0 to-read 3.63 2013
author: Lisa Brackmann
name: Con
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2013/04/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> 12581 Eudora Welty was one of the twentieth century's greatest literary figures. For as long as students have been studying her fiction as literature, writers have been looking to her to answer the profound questions of what makes a story good, a novel successful, a writer an artist. On Writing presents the answers in seven concise chapters discussing the subjects most important to the narrative craft, and which every fiction writer should know, such as place, voice, memory, and language. But even more important is what Welty calls “the mystery�� of fiction writing—how the writer assembles language and ideas to create a work of art.

Originally part of her larger work The Eye of the Story but never before published in a stand-alone volume, On Writing is a handbook every fiction writer, whether novice or master, should keep within arm's reach. Like The Elements of Style, On Writing is concise and fundamental, authoritative and timeless—as was Eudora Welty herself.]]> 106 Eudora Welty 0679642706 Con 5 4.03 2002
author: Eudora Welty
name: Con
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2002
rating: 5
read at: 2013/03/29
date added: 2013/03/29
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]]> 9596460
Compelled by curiosity, Lizzie takes up her own furtive pursuit of the truth. Haunted by dreams of her lost friend and titillated by her own new power as the center of the disappearance, Lizzie uncovers secret after secret and begins to wonder if she knew anything at all about her best friend.]]> 246 Megan Abbott 0316097799 Con 5 3.34 2011
author: Megan Abbott
name: Con
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2012/06/26
date added: 2012/06/26
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]]> 228 200 Charles Willeford 1596542225 Con 5 4.13 1962
author: Charles Willeford
name: Con
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1962
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 20353 He Holed Up With a Helpless Lush

Prowling the grimy streets of San Francisco low-life, Helen is a beautiful, sensuous drunk - and a pathetically easy pick-up. Harry just wants to help, but before long he and Helen are both adrift in a sea of alcohol - until Harry conceives the ultimate crime...]]> 191 Charles Willeford 1596542241 Con 5 4.01 1955
author: Charles Willeford
name: Con
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1955
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 591354 In a Lonely Place tightens the suspense with taut, hard-boiled prose and stunningly undoes the conventional noir plot.]]> 250 Dorothy B. Hughes 1558614559 Con 5 4.08 1947
author: Dorothy B. Hughes
name: Con
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1947
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 854593
Madox wasn't all bad.����He was just half-bad.����But trap a man like Madox in a dead-end job in a stultifying small town, introduce him to a femme fatale like the Harshaw woman, and give him a shot at a fast fifteen thousand dollars--in a bank just begging to be knocked over--and his better nature doesn't stand a chance.

Merciless in its suspense, flawless in its grasp of the ways in which ordinary people hurtle over the edge, The Hot Spot is a superb example of fifties roman noir .]]> 190 Charles Williams 0679733299 Con 5 4.03 1953
author: Charles Williams
name: Con
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1953
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 2051 384 Raymond Chandler 0394757653 Con 5 4.15 1944
author: Raymond Chandler
name: Con
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1944
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 42589
Shoot the Piano Player is a bittersweet and nerve-racking exploration of different kinds of loyalty: the kind a man owes his family, no matter how bad that family is; the kind a man owes a woman; and, ultimately, the loyalty he owes himself. The result is a moody thriller that, like the best hard-boiled fiction, carries a moral depth charge.]]> 158 David Goodis 0679732543 Con 5 4.03 1956
author: David Goodis
name: Con
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1956
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 565816 A Rage in��Harlem is a��ripping introduction to Coffin Ed Johnson and Grave Digger Jones, patrolling New York City’s roughest streets in Chester Himes’s groundbreaking Harlem Detectives series.��
��
For love of fine, wily Imabelle, hapless Jackson surrenders his life savings to a con man who knows the secret of turning ten-dollar bills into hundreds—and then he steals from his boss, only to lose the stolen money at a craps table. Luckily for him, he can turn to his savvy twin brother, Goldy, who earns a living—disguised as a Sister of Mercy—by selling tickets to Heaven in Harlem.�� With Goldy on his side, Jackson is ready for payback.]]> 151 Chester Himes 0679720405 Con 5 3.90 1957
author: Chester Himes
name: Con
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1957
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 246692 160 Jim Thompson 0679733116 Con 5 3.80 1954
author: Jim Thompson
name: Con
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1954
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 222
Larry Dolman is a rather literal minded ex-cop who now works private security. Eddie Miller is an airline pilot who's studying to get his real estate license. Don Luchessi is a silver salesman who's separated from his wife but too Catholic to get a divorce. Hank Norton is a drug company rep who gets four times as many dames as any of the other guys. They are all regular guys who like to drink, play cards, meet broads, and shoot a little pool. But when a friendly bet goes horribly awry, they find themselves with two dead bodies on their hands and a homicidal husband in the wings—and acting more like hardened criminals than upstanding citizens.]]> 272 Charles Willeford 1400032512 Con 5 3.77 1993
author: Charles Willeford
name: Con
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1993
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 46430 Journey Into Fear is a classic suspense tale from one of the founders of the genre.]]> 288 Eric Ambler 0375726721 Con 5 3.93 1940
author: Eric Ambler
name: Con
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1940
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 307439 313 George P. Pelecanos 1852427388 Con 5 4.04 1996
author: George P. Pelecanos
name: Con
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1996
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 82121 216 George V. Higgins 1841192627 Con 5 4.05 1971
author: George V. Higgins
name: Con
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1971
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 46429 304 Eric Ambler 0375726713 Con 5 3.93 1939
author: Eric Ambler
name: Con
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1939
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 15677 Strangers on a Train, galvanized the reading public. Here we encounter Guy Haines and Charles Anthony Bruno, passengers on the same train. But while Guy is a successful architect in the midst of a divorce, Bruno turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who manipulates Guy into swapping murders with him. “Some people are better off dead,�� Bruno remarks, “like your wife and my father, for instance.�� As Bruno carries out his twisted plan, Guy is trapped in Highsmith’s perilous world, where, under the right circumstances, anybody is capable of murder.

The inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1951 film, Strangers on a Train launched Highsmith on a prolific career of noir fiction, proving her a master at depicting the unsettling forces that tremble beneath the surface of everyday contemporary life.]]> 281 Patricia Highsmith 0393321983 Con 5 3.79 1950
author: Patricia Highsmith
name: Con
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1950
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 30007 Dashiell Hammett's tour de force of crime fiction combines a bulletproof plot, authentically corrupt characters, and writing of telegraphic crispness.]]> 214 Dashiell Hammett 0752851330 Con 5 3.96 1931
author: Dashiell Hammett
name: Con
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1931
rating: 5
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]]> 56616 Double Indemnity gives us an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches. First published in 1935, this novel reaffirmed James M. Cain as a virtuoso of the roman noir.

Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for clients who might be in trouble, and his instinct led him to Phyllis Nirdlinger. Phyllis wanted to buy an accident policy on her husband. Then she wanted her husband to have an accident. Walter wanted Phyllis. To get her, he would arrange the perfect murder and betray everything he had ever lived for.]]> 115 James M. Cain 0679723226 Con 5 4.07 1936
author: James M. Cain
name: Con
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1936
rating: 5
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]]> 592676
Yet, hidden behind three gaudy clown paintings in Roy's pallid hotel room, sits fifty-two thousand dollars--the money Roy makes from his short cons, his "grifting." For years, Roy has effortlessly maintained control over his house-of-cards life--until the simplest con goes wrong, and he finds himself critically injured and at the mercy of the most dangerous woman he ever met: his own mother.

THE GRIFTERS, one of the best novels ever written about the art of the con, is an ingeniously crafted story of deception and betrayal that was the basis for Stephen Frears' and Martin Scorsese's critically-acclaimed film of the same name.]]> 189 Jim Thompson 0679732489 Con 5 4.01 1963
author: Jim Thompson
name: Con
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1963
rating: 5
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]]> 298663
But behind the platitudes and glad-handing lurks a monster the likes of which few have seen. An urge that has already claimed multiple lives, and cost Lou his brother Mike, a self-sacrificing construction worker who fell to his death on the job in what was anything but an accident. A murder that Lou is determined to avenge--and if innocent people have to die in the process, well, that's perfectly all right with him.

In The Killer Inside Me, Thompson goes where few novelists have dared to go, giving us a pitch-black glimpse into the mind of the American Serial Killer years before Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, and Brett Easton Ellis's American Psycho, in the novel that will forever be known as the master performance of one of the greatest crime novelists of all time.]]> 244 Jim Thompson 0679733973 Con 5 3.88 1952
author: Jim Thompson
name: Con
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1952
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 118149 192 Jim Thompson 0752851845 Con 5 4.10 1964
author: Jim Thompson
name: Con
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1964
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 523795 244 James Crumley 0394759893 Con 5 4.06 1978
author: James Crumley
name: Con
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1978
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 867623 The Chill a distraught young man hires Archer to track down his runaway bride. But no sooner has he found Dolly Kincaid than Archer finds himself entangled in two murders, one twenty years old, the other so recent that the blood is still wet. What ensues is a detective novel of nerve-racking suspense, desperately believable characters, and one of the most intricate plots ever spun by an American crime writer.]]> 288 Ross Macdonald 0679768076 Con 5 4.09 1964
author: Ross Macdonald
name: Con
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1964
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/02/29
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]]> 371023 The Galton Case displays MacDonald at the pinnacle of his form.]]> 242 Ross Macdonald 0679768645 Con 5 4.09 1959
author: Ross Macdonald
name: Con
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1959
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2012/02/29
shelves:
review:

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