Library Journal's Reader's Shelf

From Library Journal Trashy Pulp Spun into Literary Gold

The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Mildred Pierce, and Selected Stories By Cain, James M. Introduction by Polito, Robert Author Polito, Robert 2003-07 - Everyman's Library 9780375414381 Check Our Catalog These three classics from the master of the noir novel, along with five otherwise unavailable short stories, are electric with the taut narrative voice, the suspense, and the explosive violence and eroticism that were James M. Cain's indelible hallmarks. The Postman Always Rings Twice," Cain's first novel--tried for obscenity in Boston, the inspiration for Camus's The Stranger--is the fever-pitched tale of a drifter who stumbles into a job, into an obsessional passion, and into a murder. Double Indemnity--which followed "Postman so quickly, Cain's readers hardly had a chance to catch their breath--is a tersely narrated story of a blind, excessive love, duplicity, and, of course, murder. Mildred Pierce, a work of acute psychological observation and devastating emotional violence, is the tale of a woman with a taste for shiftless men and an unreasoned devotion to her monstrous daughter. All three novels were immortalized in classic Hollywood films. Also included here are five masterful stories--"Pastorale," "The Baby in the Icebox," "Dead Man," "Brush Fire," "The Girl in the Storm"--that have been out of print for decades. …More

Woman in the Dark By Hammett, Dashiell Editor Stone, Jeff 1989-07 - Vintage Books 9780679722656 Check Our Catalog A young, frightened, foreign woman appears at the door of an isolated house. The man and woman inside take her in. Other strangers appear in pursuit of the girl. Menace is in the air. Originally published in 1933, Hammett's Woman in the Dark shows the author at the peak of his narrative powers. With an introduction by Robert B. Parker, the author of the celebrated Spenser novels.…More

Dangerous Women By Penzler, Otto 2005-01 - Warner Books 9780446614573 Check Our Catalog From some of the most acclaimed mystery and suspense authors today come new stories for this anthology compiled by the legendary editor Otto Penzler, owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in New York and founder of the Mysterious Press and Otto Penzler books. …More

Chandler: Stories and Early Novels: Pulp Stories / The Big Sleep /Farewell, My Lovely / The High Window By Chandler, Raymond Editor McShane, Frank Editor MacShane, Frank 1995-10 - Library of America 9781883011079 Check Our Catalog Stories and Early Novels includes every story that Chandler did not later incorporate into a novel - thirteen in all. Drawn from the pages of Black Mask and Dime Detective, these stories show how Chandler adapted the violent conventions of the pulp magazines - with their brisk exposition and rapid-fire dialogue - to his own emerging vision of 20th-century America. Raymond Chandler: Stories and Early Novels contains a newly researched chronology of Chandler's life, explanatory notes, and an essay on the texts. …More

Hardboiled: An Anthology of American Crime Stories By Pronzini, Bill Editor Adrian, Jack 1997-05 - Oxford University Press, USA 9780195103533 Check Our Catalog Compellingly and compulsively readable, this collection includes 36 superbly suspenseful stories which chronicle the evolution of this quintessentially American art form, from its earliest beginnings in the 1920s to the arrival of the tough digest formats in the 1950s to the present-day hard-boiled stories by such writers as James Ellroy. Contributors include Ed Gorman, Jim Thompson, Evan Hunter (better known as Ed McBain), and others. …More

The Colorado Kid By King, Stephen 2010-12 - PS Publishing 9781848631267 Check Our Catalog On an island off the coast of Maine, a man is found dead. There's no identification on the body. Only the dogged work of a pair of local newspapermen and a graduate student in forensics turns up any clues. But that's just the beginning of the mystery. Because the more they learn about the man and the baffling circumstances of his death, the less they understand. Was it an impossible crime? Or something stranger still...? No one but Stephen King could tell this story about the darkness at the heart of the unknown and our compulsion to investigate the unexplained. With echoes of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon and the work of Graham Greene, one of the world's great storytellers presents a surprising tale that explores the nature of mystery itself... …More