Synopsis/blurb.........
Dix Steele
is back in town, and 'town' is post-war LA. His best friend Brub is on the
force of the LAPD, and as the two meet in country clubs and beach bars, they
discuss the latest case: a strangler is preying on young women in the dark. Dix
listens with interest as Brub describes their top suspect, as yet unnamed. Dix
loves the dark and women in equal measure, so he knows enough to watch his
step, though when he meets the luscious Laurel Gray, something begins to crack.
The American Dream is showing its seamy underside.
It was enjoyable enough insofar as I was kept wondering
throughout whether Steele would get away home free. We know from a very early
stage that there is something screwy about him, and a lot of the narrative
allows us to see things from his perspective. He masks his emotions easily and
only briefly does he allow his guard to slip and allow his friend’s wife to
suspect he is more than he seems. Brub,
his policeman friend seems taken in initially......dinner with good ol’ Dix,
drinks with good ol’ Dix, reminiscing about their shared exploits in England
during the war.
Steele, funding his pretend lifestyle as a novelist, on someone
else’s dime, eventually allows his sickness and paranoia to overtake his
caution. Having fallen for wannabe actress Laurel Gray, his eventual downfall
is brought about in part by the sharp perceptiveness of Brub’s wife Sylvia Nicholai.
This was an interesting and enjoyable book, with an insightful
portrayal of a serial killer by Hughes. Whilst most of the violence happens
off-page, and may be considered tame by today’s standards it still retains the
capacity to chill.
As an aside, there was a noir film noir adaptation from the
book, starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame released in 1950. Brought out
on DVD approximately 10 years ago.
4 from 5
My copy of the book was borrowed from my local library in
Leighton Buzzard.
No comments:
Post a Comment