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A Fine Dark Line Hardcover – January 8, 2003

by Joe R. Lansdale (Author)

4.6 861 ratings

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Young Stanley Mitchell, Jr., enters the underworld of his 1958 East Texas home when he discovers a cache of love letters by a murdered girl, comes to understand how love affects the lives of those closest to him, and experiences his first encounters with blues music, racism, and lost dreams. 20,000 first printing.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The atmosphere is as thick as an East Texas summer day in Edgar-winner Lansdale's (The Bottoms) engaging, multilayered regional mystery, which harks back to 1958. Thirteen-year-old Stanley Mitchel, Jr., has enough on his hands just growing up in Dewmont, Tex., when he literally stumbles on a buried cache of love letters. Stanley pursues the identity of the two lovers with help from the projectionist at his family's drive-in, an aged black man who quotes Sherlock Holmes and doesn't mince words about the world's injustices. As the truth of a gruesome 20-year-old double murder comes to light in the sleepy town, so do the facts of life, death, men, women and race for young Stanley. Unfortunately, this wealth of experience sometimes strains credulity. For instance, Stanley, his sister, Callie, and friend Richard witness a secret burial, see a local phantom, are chased by a murderer and barely miss being hit by a train-all in one night. As the older and wiser Stanley says of the past, "More had happened to my family in one summer than had happened in my entire life." The "down-home" dialect is occasionally overdone, too, with more ripe sayings than Ross Perot on caffeine. But Lansdale clearly knows and loves his subject and enlivens his haunting coming-of-age tale with touches of folklore and humor.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Lansdale makes a rich stew of memory and mystery in the voice of Stanley Mitchel Jr., who is 13 in 1958 and is writing down, in midlife, what he recalls. His parents own the drive-in in Dewmont, Texas; his dad calls his mom "Gal"; his sister, Callie, is turn-your-head pretty and feisty besides. Stanley finds in the burnt ruins behind the drive-in a cache of love letters. Stanley--innocent enough at the beginning of the story to still believe in Santa Claus--is fascinated by the letters and soon learns that the fire marked the deaths of two young women, long ago. Those deaths ripple through the pages, as Stanley struggles with knowledge of good and evil: his friend Richard's abusive dad; the black cook's stalker boyfriend; the drive-in projectionist who faces twin demons of age and alcohol. Stanley's mother, father, and sister are vivid, glowing personages. Stanley doesn't unravel everything, but race and power, and what people do to each other in the name of desire and religion, coalesce to a mighty climax. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mysterious Press; First Edition (January 8, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0892967293
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0892967292
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.14 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.33 x 1.13 x 9.33 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,071,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #45,494 in Suspense Thrillers
- #501,224 in Literature & Fiction (Books)

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4.6 861 ratings

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Joe R. Lansdale
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Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over thirty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in eighteen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies.
Lansdale has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others.
A major motion picture based on Lansdale's crime thriller Cold in July was released in May 2014, starring Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Sam Shepard (Black Hawk Down), and Don Johnson (Miami Vice). His novella Bubba Hotep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror." He is currently co-producing a TV series, "Hap and Leonard" for the Sundance Channel and films including The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero.
Lansdale is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.
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Wayne C. Rogers

ANOTHER WINNER FOR THIS GREAT AMERICAN WRITER!!!

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2003

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In Joe R. Lansdale's newest novel, A FINE DARK LINE, the reader is carried back to the summer of 1958 when thirteen-year-old Stanley Mitchell, Jr. and his family move to Dewmont, Texas to take over the ownership of the town's only drive-in movie theater. This is the summer that Stanley will lose his childhood innocence and learn that there's no Santa Claus, what sex is really about, the ugly truth concerning racism, and the painful reality about death, murder and the human monsters that hide behind the masks of one's next-door neighbors. It's also the summer that young Stanley begins to learn about the power of friendship, family, love, and the unrelenting courage that's needed in the face of horror. Stanley's journey into adulthood begins when he finds a half-buried metal box filled with old love letters near a burnt-down house in the woods behind the drive-in theater where he and his family now live. The letters belonged to a young girl who was gruesomely murdered almost two decades before. The fact that the crime was never solved triggers Stanley's curiosity. With the help of his older sister, Caldonia, and his new friends Richard Chapman and old Buster Lighthorse Smith, he begins to slowly, but persistently, dig into the past, not knowing that what he discovers will change his life forever. Brilliantly written by one of America's top authors, A FINE DARK LINE carries us back to when comic books were a nickel, Tarzan movies played on TV in the mornings, and a young boy could believe that the fictional John Carter of Mars actually existed. This was a time when anything seemed possible, and small-town life during the hot, sweltering summer months was slow and relaxed, and the local teenagers flocked to the drive-in theater at night to see the newest movies and to make out in their cars. Mr. Lansdale is able to capture the pure ambience of these forgotten memories with a simplicity of words that draws the reader into the story as if he/she was walking the streets of Dewmont with Stanley and his dog, Nub. Each of the main and supporting characters are fully developed individuals that you either love or hate, and one can't help finding themselves laughing out loud as Stanley learns about the "birds and the bees" from Caldonia and Buster, or feeling the soul-wrenching emptiness as he experiences first hand from the Mitchell's housekeeper, Rosy Mae, how terrible men can be toward the women they love. This is not only a journey for Stanley, but one for the reader as well. You'll come away with a little more knowledge of what it means to be a human being in all of its mixed-up aspects. Like Mr. Lansdale's previous award-winning novel, THE BOTTOMS, this book is what I would call a "life experience," and it's one I would highly recommend to any person wishing more than a casual read. Entertaining, thought provoking, and nostalgic, A FINE DARK LINE is a true masterpiece from one of America's most gifted writers.

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Douglas Hahner

Champion Joe has done it again

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2003

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While this book is very good and very well written, it almost feels like the family from the Bottoms picked up and moved to a drive-in. Don't get me wrong there are big differences between the families, but this is another coming of age story by Champion Joe that involves gruesome murders.
I guess you could call this a sequel in tone to the Bottoms. Once again our hero is a young lad spending his time investigating a couple of grisly murders. What sets this book apart from the Bottoms is that this family is a little more affluent, and live in a nicer town. Also aside from the basic premise of a young man solving murders the stories and characters are completely different.
I enjoyed the fact that the father in A Fine Dark Line is not a perfect man. He has a temper that can go off at any second. He has no qualms about "slapping a teenager smart," or beating on a man who abuses both Stanley's and his own family.
I liked that we actually witnessed the hero, Stanley Jr., getting smarter as the book progressed. I felt the writing style got a little better as the book went on, and since it was written in the first person from Stanley Jr.'s point-of-view, I thought the writing style reflected the protagonist getting smarter.
My one complaint is that this book lacked much of that famous Lansdale dialog. You know the kind. The dialog scenes that would have you belly laughing. Those kinds of dialog.
To be kind, there is a great dialog near the end of the book between Stanley Jr. and one of his family's tormentors. I won't say any more.
"The worm has spoken."

One person found this helpful

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Lourdes (ChaptersWeLove)

Classic Coming of Age Story, Loved It!

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2022

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This is my first book by Lansdale and I can assure you it won't be the last. I love this coming of age, mystery story it gave me a Stand by Me feel and I loved it.

The story takes places in Dewmont, Texas in the late 1950s. We follow Stanley Mitchell a very naïve 13 year old boy and his love Nub. The family purchased a home that came with a drive in movie theater and Stanley helps out with some of the duties. One day Stanley was wandering in the back of the theater near the woods when he found a box that had some love letters, and after reading a few he decided to investigate the mystery surrounding these letters. With the help of Buster a man of color that worked in the theater, he finds out a girl died during a fire and also, that another girl was murdered that same night so he spends the summer trying to find out how and why these young girls died.

Besides Stanley and Buster we get other side characters in the story that I really enjoyed, they all had their own sad story and make them even more likeable and lets not forget Nub the dog, yes I'm a sucker for good dogs. Stanley had an older sister and they bicker a bit but adding her to the story was a nice touch. In my opinion every character we were introduced to had their part in the story and I just like them all.
This book had a slow start but after about a hundred pages it started to pick up and I just couldn't put it down until I finished it. I definitely got Stand by Me vibes, I love a good coming of age story and being that this story took place in the late 50s I can see why Stanley was portrait as a very naïve young boy it fits perfectly, I know this could be a turn off for some but I love Stanley so much, he was so pure I loved getting to see him grow.

if you like a good coming of age classic, likeable characters, murder mystery, and friendships this is the book for you.

One person found this helpful

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FKW

A Reader’s Dream

Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2024

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Powerful storyline with the discussion of sensitive topics (racism, sexual assault, murder, etc) packaged in a beautifully written coming of age story. Though the ending was not objectively “happy”, it was satisfying, in a brutal and honest way. ‘‘Twas a reminder, that childhood carries a baggage that can be horrifying.

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andrea pellegrini

Ottimo libro.

Reviewed in Italy on October 3, 2015

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È il primo libro di lansdale che leggo e lo ho trovato molto interessante. Consigliato a tutti è veramente un'ottima lettura.

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Rob Kitchin

wonderful, poignant and riveting read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 7, 2015

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A Fine Dark Line is a coming of age tale set over the summer of 1958 in town of Dewmont, East Texas, and if I read a better book this year it’ll be an exceptional tale. I’m a long time fan of Joe Lansdale. His writing is consistently good and he regularly hits it out of the park. This is one of those occasions. The story is told as a reminiscence, the text effectively the script of a porch-told tale. The voice is pitch perfect and Lansdale drops the reader into the world of an innocent thirteen year old boy living in a liberal family in a socially and racially divided society as he learns of the world’s various vices, some of its terrors, and how to survive them. The characterisation is excellent, especially Stanley, his older sister, Callie, the black housekeeper Rosy Mae, and the projectionist and former cop, Buster Lighthorse Smith, and there’s a clear sense of character development as the story unfolds. Where the tale really excels is the sense of place and time, and the plot. The initial hook is strong and Lansdale then reveals a number of monsters, each of whom is a credible murderer and threatens Stanley and his family. The result is a taut, tense mystery that is vividly told and keeps the reader engaged and guessing until the final page. I thought it was a wonderful, poignant and riveting read.

One person found this helpful

Peter J.

Niet gekregen

Reviewed in Germany on December 7, 2019

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Ik heb dit boek nooit gekregen

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cupcake

oh wow

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 1, 2014

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An amazing book what can I Say . Absolute genius wonderful wonderful characters totally love Nub the dog. Highly recommend this book and I very nearly gave it a 5 I loved it

P. Rowley-brooke

A WARM MURDER MYSTERY

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2015

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A wonderful story set in the summer of 1958 about 13 year old Stanley whose father owns the drive-in movie theatre in a small Texas town. It's a part coming of age and part murder mystery both past and present where Stanley and 16 year old sister Callie try and solve an age old mystery that involves the premier family in the town. Pretty Callie is involved with a number of local boys but under the watchful eyes of her father who though not violent to his own family commits violence towards anyone who threatens them. Unfortunately Stanley's friend Richard is beaten often and he appears often almost as a counterbalance to the other ongoing issue of civil rights. Buster, the aged coloured projectionist, provides Stanley with much material as he leads the boy to a Sherlock Holmes style conclusion. The characterisation is rich but mostly the main characters are allowed to grow as the story unfolds and you can almost feel the heat of summer as Stanley works his way to a denouement that surprises even him.

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