Reviews

Savage Night by Jim Thompson

southsequence's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

4.0

dantastic's review against another edition

3.0

Carl Bigelow comes to Peardale to go to college. Or that's his story, at any rate. In reality, he's Charles "Little" Bigger, a tuberculotic hitman, tasked with killing a witness before a case goes to trial. Too bad Bigelow gets entangled with the man's wife...

No two ways about it; there's a lot of weird stuff going on in this one. You've got a five-foot hitman with tuberculosis, an odd cleaning woman

Spoiler

with one normal leg and one stumpy one with a baby foot

, and more dysfunction than you can shake a stick at.

While it's definitely a second tier Thompson, it's still a good read. Bigelow's descent into madness is well done. Has Thompson ever told a story where the narrator isn't unreliable? The supporting cast drove the story along, specifically wondering which of them, if any, were working for The Man. There were a ton of twists at the end that I didn't really see coming. Bigelow's final fate wasn't all that surprising. This IS Jim Thompson we're talking about.

Not my favorite Jim Thompson but not a bad read either. I wouldn't start my Jim Thompson reading with this one though.

mrcreighton's review against another edition

4.0

He never wrote a cheery book, but this is Thompson at his bleakest and most savage, and featuring the strangest climax in all of noir, a sustained piece of virtuoso weirdness that runs counter to the grim realism that has come before and must surely have informed the writing of many a coat-tail dragging hepcat. Chuck Pahaluniuk, I am looking at you.

rocketiza's review against another edition

3.0

Brutal, noiry writing that is about as good as you're going to get aside from Chandler. Suck it Hammett.

excuseforjuice's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

writermattphillips's review against another edition

4.0

"You've met The Man. Everyone has." Meet Jim Thompson... so good man.

kurtwombat's review against another edition

4.0

SAVAGE NIGHT is Jim Thompson on simmer. Some dishes are best cooked on low. However, for much of the first half of this book I kept wanting to check if the heat was on at all. All the usual elements are there: depraved souls grasping at the scraps of the good life while mired in desperation. The usual wondering of who is up to what and just what are they capable of is muted by characters drawn without much gusto and a story that seems to meander. The main character spends this part of the book waiting for instructions for a job he doesn’t want—but nothing else seems to be happening either. But then the last third of the book kicks in. As if everyone smells blood in the air there is agitation and the characters come alive and start to move. Suddenly Thompson has the book by the throat and squeezes out a brilliant ending. I was startled that after pushing through much of the book hoping it would end soon to find that I had one of my favorite Thompson endings before my eyes. Maybe one of my favorite endings period. It is reminiscent of another Thompson favorite THE GETAWAY but is better in a way that is almost mystical--certainly surreal. The ending deserves a better beginning—but stay with it.

whether's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

3.25

timtom's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

4.0

jaydeereading's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0