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In a Lonely Place (Penguin Modern Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
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.
About the Author
Dorothy B. Hughes (1904-93) was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and lived most of her life in New Mexico. A journalist and a poet, she began publishing hard-boiled crime novels in 1940, three of which were made into successful films: The Fallen Sparrow (1943), Ride the Pink Horse (1947) and In a Lonely Place (1950). In her later years, Hughes reviewed crime novels for the LA Times, the New York Herald Tribune and other papers. She was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Told in the first person by Dix Steele a sociopathic, misogynistic killer. This is pure American hard-boiled story writing. If you have read and enjoyed either 'The Killer Inside Me' or the Ripley novels by Patricia Highsmith, then this will be right up your street.
This may have had resonance amongst a traumatised post war American G.I. generation. Indeed, the question is never posed but would we today suggest that Dix's mental state was exacerbated by PTSD? After all his first victim, the adored 'Brucie', was killed in wartime not before.
Told in a short, factual reportage style. The tension is ratcheted by Dix's desire to take risks. The main risk being to ingratiate himself with an Army buddy who is now a police detective with the LAPD and who happens to be investigating the series of murders of young women.
Interesting to read a woman author's insight into a man's mind who regards all women as 'liars and whores'. This is not gore-fest but instead a compelling insight into a man trapped in a very lonely place indeed.
This may have had resonance amongst a traumatised post war American G.I. generation. Indeed, the question is never posed but would we today suggest that Dix's mental state was exacerbated by PTSD? After all his first victim, the adored 'Brucie', was killed in wartime not before.
Told in a short, factual reportage style. The tension is ratcheted by Dix's desire to take risks. The main risk being to ingratiate himself with an Army buddy who is now a police detective with the LAPD and who happens to be investigating the series of murders of young women.
Interesting to read a woman author's insight into a man's mind who regards all women as 'liars and whores'. This is not gore-fest but instead a compelling insight into a man trapped in a very lonely place indeed.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I read this book then watched the film (with Humphrey Bogart). I enjoyed both, but the book was better - it was much darker. Noirish - which I like - and satisfying. It is written in the first person perspective so has that unique perspective of the main protanganist. A good read.
Format:Paperback
Dorothy B Hughes writes literary hardboiled noir taking on and matching Chandler, Hammett, Cain and Thompson at their game. In a Lonely Place is atmospheric, taut, tense and dark. Although written in the third person, the story is told exclusively from the point of view of Dix Steele, a misogynist with a murderous psychosis, and Hughes does well at capturing his corrupted rationalities. This is not however at the expense of the other characters, who are still well realised and rounded. The pacing is nicely done, with the gradual unfolding of Steele's back story and the investigation of the murders, yet there is no flab, the story being tightly told. There's also no violence, with Hughes able to create drama and tension without directly portraying any of the crimes or their aftermath. For my tastes, the story is a little too melodramatic in places and I whilst I enjoyed it and recognised all its merits, I was never fully captivated and swept along by the story. Nevertheless, a very solid piece of hardboiled noir.
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