James Cain
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An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one, grisly solution — a solution that only creates other problems that no one can ever solve.
First published in 1934 and banned in Boston for its explosive mixture of violence and eroticism, The Postman Always Rings Twice is a classic of the roman noir. It established James M. Cain as a major novelist with an unsparing
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Tautly narrated and excruciatingly suspenseful, Double Indemnity gives us an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches. First published in 1936, this novel reaffirmed James M. Cain as a virtuoso of the roman noir.
Performed by James Naughton
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In Mildred Pierce, noir master James M. Cain creates a novel of acute social observation and devasting emotional violence, with a heroine whose ambitions and sufferings are never less than recognizable.
Mildred Pierce had gorgeous legs, a way with a skillet, and a bone-deep core of toughness. She used those attributes to survive a divorce and poverty and to claw her way out of the lower middle class. But Mildred also had two weaknesses:...
Mildred Pierce had gorgeous legs, a way with a skillet, and a bone-deep core of toughness. She used those attributes to survive a divorce and poverty and to claw her way out of the lower middle class. But Mildred also had two weaknesses:...
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Hard Case Crime book volume HCC-109
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Following her husband's death in a suspicious car accident, beautiful young widow Joan Medford is forced to take a job serving drinks in a cocktail lounge to make ends meet and to have a chance of regaining custody of her young son. At the job she encounters two men who take an interest in her, a handsome young schemer who makes her blood race and a wealthy but unwell older man who rewards her for her attentions with a $50,000 tip and an unconventional...
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The bestselling sensation—and one of the most outstanding crime novels of the 20th century—that was banned in Boston for its explosive mixture of violence and eroticism, and acknowledged by Albert Camus as the model for The Stranger. The basis for the acclaimed 1946 film.
An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one grisly solution—a...
An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one grisly solution—a...
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A naïve young man follows a fallen woman to a Nevada mining town and risks his life to win her: "Entertaining . . . Cain [has a] flair for realistic detail." —The New York Times
Early in the Civil War, the Confederacy sends Roger Duval to Sacramento to keep an eye on the situation in California in hopes of turning the Western territory toward the Southern cause. It's a plush assignment, well out of the line of fire, but he...
Early in the Civil War, the Confederacy sends Roger Duval to Sacramento to keep an eye on the situation in California in hopes of turning the Western territory toward the Southern cause. It's a plush assignment, well out of the line of fire, but he...
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An ambitious Reno salesman. A wealthy would-be divorcée. An insurance policy. It's a toxic combination in this noir thriller by an MWA Grand Master . . .
If Las Vegas is a city of lovers, in Reno, the business is divorce. Six weeks in Reno can erase the darkest marriages, and the only question is how to pass the time—craps or roulette? Jane Delavan is a roulette woman, a stately beauty from back East who is too classy for the motel...
If Las Vegas is a city of lovers, in Reno, the business is divorce. Six weeks in Reno can erase the darkest marriages, and the only question is how to pass the time—craps or roulette? Jane Delavan is a roulette woman, a stately beauty from back East who is too classy for the motel...
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ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME • James M. Cain, virtuoso of the roman noir, gives us a tautly narrated and excruciatingly suspenseful story in Double Indemnity, an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches.
Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for...
Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with an unfailing instinct for...
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From the author of Double Indemnity, a tale of an ambitious young waitress whose fairy-tale romance may have an unhappy ending . . .
Carrie Selden is not at all like the woman you've read about in the papers. Though she spent time in an orphanage, she isn't an orphan. She didn't finish high school until she was nineteen, not because she struggled to make the grade but because she was waitressing tomake the money she needed. ....
Carrie Selden is not at all like the woman you've read about in the papers. Though she spent time in an orphanage, she isn't an orphan. She didn't finish high school until she was nineteen, not because she struggled to make the grade but because she was waitressing tomake the money she needed. ....
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For the love of a beautiful waitress, a meat salesman will turn butcher in this crime thriller by "one of the greats of American noir" (The Guardian).
Clay Lockwood. is a top distributing executive with Grant's Meats, and the contract with the Portico restaurant chain is only the latest in a long line of boardroom coups. He arrives at the Portico for lunch, and eats his fill of his company's beef, but leaves with an entirely different...
Clay Lockwood. is a top distributing executive with Grant's Meats, and the contract with the Portico restaurant chain is only the latest in a long line of boardroom coups. He arrives at the Portico for lunch, and eats his fill of his company's beef, but leaves with an entirely different...
11) The Institute
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An academic looking for money finds a seductive woman—and trouble—in this suspenseful tale by the Edgar Award–winning crime writer.
Professor Lloyd Palmer loves a good biography. His fantasy is to start an institute to teach young scholars the biographical arts, and it will take old money to make his dreams come true. In the Washington area, the oldest money is found not in the District, but in Delaware, a land of wealth so astonishing...
Professor Lloyd Palmer loves a good biography. His fantasy is to start an institute to teach young scholars the biographical arts, and it will take old money to make his dreams come true. In the Washington area, the oldest money is found not in the District, but in Delaware, a land of wealth so astonishing...
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A collection of hardboiled crime fiction from the author of Double Indemnity, "one of the greats of American noir" (The Guardian).
They call him Lucky—but he's never had a lucky day in his life. A nineteen-year-old hobo just starting to ride the rails, he is hiding in the coal car when the railroad detective comes through. They get into a scuffle, and Lucky's hand finds a railroad spike. . . .
"Dead Man" is just...
They call him Lucky—but he's never had a lucky day in his life. A nineteen-year-old hobo just starting to ride the rails, he is hiding in the coal car when the railroad detective comes through. They get into a scuffle, and Lucky's hand finds a railroad spike. . . .
"Dead Man" is just...
13) Mignon
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A money-hungry ex-soldier in Civil War New Orleans is seduced into a web of treason and temptation in this novel by "one of the greats of American noir" (The Guardian).
The Union has captured New Orleans, and Bill Cresap has come to reap the profits. A school friend has a line on some easy money, and Cresap is eager to make his fortune. But when he lands in the Crescent City, still nursing a leg wound from Chancellorsville, he finds...
The Union has captured New Orleans, and Bill Cresap has come to reap the profits. A school friend has a line on some easy money, and Cresap is eager to make his fortune. But when he lands in the Crescent City, still nursing a leg wound from Chancellorsville, he finds...
14) Galatea
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A down-on-his-luck boxing trainer finds a woman worth fighting for in this "assured" novel by an MWA Grand Master Award winner (Kirkus Reviews).
It took some doing, but Duke Webster is out of prison. Val Valenty arranged the parole, and now the onetime prizefighter and boxing coach is his puppet, breaking his back on Valenty's farm in exchange for a pittance. But Valenty is about to find out that boxing men never take orders without...
It took some doing, but Duke Webster is out of prison. Val Valenty arranged the parole, and now the onetime prizefighter and boxing coach is his puppet, breaking his back on Valenty's farm in exchange for a pittance. But Valenty is about to find out that boxing men never take orders without...
15) Sinful Woman
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In this novel by "one of the greats of American noir," a starlet comes to Reno to start a new life—and end her old one forever (The Guardian).
Sylvia Shoreham's Hollywood dreams came true long ago. Critically beloved for her beauty, talent, and style, she was on her way to international stardom when a bad contract committed her to seven years of trashy comedies and half-baked melodramas. Her marriage to her producer husband has...
Sylvia Shoreham's Hollywood dreams came true long ago. Critically beloved for her beauty, talent, and style, she was on her way to international stardom when a bad contract committed her to seven years of trashy comedies and half-baked melodramas. Her marriage to her producer husband has...
16) Cloud Nine
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A twisted tale of heinous crimes and hidden motives by the legendary author of Double Indemnity.
Graham meets Sonya outside of his real estate office. She is sixteen, beautiful, and drops a bombshell—she's there because Graham's half-brother, Burl, raped her, leaving her frightened, pregnant, and very much alone.
All she wants is the $1,111 it will cost to hide out for the next few months in a convalescent home before she gives...
Graham meets Sonya outside of his real estate office. She is sixteen, beautiful, and drops a bombshell—she's there because Graham's half-brother, Burl, raped her, leaving her frightened, pregnant, and very much alone.
All she wants is the $1,111 it will cost to hide out for the next few months in a convalescent home before she gives...
17) Rainbow's End
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"Vintage Cain . . . it's all here—the big money, the unusual circumstances, the spare, tight style, and the staccato dialogue." —The Miami Herald
Since his father died, every Saturday night has been the same for Dave and his mother. She starts to talk, weaving aimless, weird fantasies about get-rich-quick schemes that never amount to anything. But when, finally, she is silent, Dave becomes afraid. Because his mother has a...
Since his father died, every Saturday night has been the same for Dave and his mother. She starts to talk, weaving aimless, weird fantasies about get-rich-quick schemes that never amount to anything. But when, finally, she is silent, Dave becomes afraid. Because his mother has a...
18) The Moth
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A novel of a privileged young man's twisting, troubled journey through Depression-era America: "A great book by a great author." —Los Angeles Daily News
Jack Dillon has been a golden child since birth. Blessed with blond locks, glittering eyes, and a perfect voice, he is the most popular child singer in Baltimore. But when puberty robs him of his voice and the stock market wipes out his family fortune, Jack is forced to rebuild....
Jack Dillon has been a golden child since birth. Blessed with blond locks, glittering eyes, and a perfect voice, he is the most popular child singer in Baltimore. But when puberty robs him of his voice and the stock market wipes out his family fortune, Jack is forced to rebuild....
20) Serenade
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"A rising opera star's life is as turbulent as the on-stage roles he plays in this emotion-swept musical drama based on a James M. Cain novel and filmed almost entirely in Mexico. As the young vocalist who emerges from the obscurity of the vineyards, Mario Lana impressively hoists the lead role onto his wide shoulders. In a dazzling display of the power that made him a sensation of the musical screen, the renowned tenor signs Ave Maria, excerpts from...