In a Lonely Place
Book description
'Puts Chandler to shame ... Hughes is the master we keep turning to'Sara Paretsky
After the war, cynical veteran Dix Steele has moved to L.A., a city terrified by a strangler preying on young women. Bumping into an old friend, now a detective working on the case, Dix is thrilled…
Why read it?
2 authors picked In a Lonely Place as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Dorothy B. Hughes’ In A Lonely Place is arguably the best crime novel ever written.
Published in 1947, the story centers on Dix Steele, an ex-airman in postwar Los Angeles who, when he’s not passing himself off as a writer, is stalking and strangling women around the city.
Full of self-hatred and misogyny, the suggestively named Dix is perhaps the most unlikeable protagonist you’ll ever come across, but the novel is so hard-boiled, and such a masterclass in plot and character, you won’t be able to put it down.
Side note: while the 1950 film made from Hughes’ novel differs…
From Ward's list on WWII era reads no crime fiction fan should miss.
Unlike contemporary thrillers that portray killers as inhuman two-dimensional monsters, Hughes portrays Dix Steele as a human being gone horribly wrong. We see how his actions arise from feelings that most people experience as difficult and uncomfortable but that he experiences as intolerable, torturing, and unresolvable.
The novels of Jim Thompson and Patricia Highsmith are obvious descendants of this one. All three writers have insight and descriptive power that allow you to see, feel and inhabit some disturbing forms of human psychopathology. Hughes' female characters are strong, clear-eyed, and wise. They're the drivers of the story, not the victims. All…
From Andrew's list on the golden age of American crime and noir.
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