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southsequence's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
tittypete's review against another edition
5.0
A door to door salesman rescues a young horny girl from an old lady who was pimping her out. The old lady has a bunch of money so he kills her and her German/Swedish handyman. Then his gay boss starts sniffing around and everything goes fucking bananas. I'm not totally sure what happens in the end but it seems everybody dies or goes to prison? Also the young horny girl has huge tits and this is brought up often. Bless us.
dantastic's review against another edition
4.0
Down on his luck salesman Frank Dillon meets a girl named Mona who's being abused and practically put on the street corner by her elderly aunt. When Dillon finds out the aunt has over a hundred thousand dollars hidden in the house, he plans to kill her and run off with Mona. Unfortunately, this book was written by Jim Thompson...
Nobody writes noir tales about the wheels coming off an already shaky plan like old Mr. Cheerful himself, Jim Thompson. A Hell of a Woman is a tale very nearly from the James M. Cain mold. Man meets woman, bumps off someone in order to be with her, then quickly descends into madness.
Frank Dillon coming unglued is a testament to Jim Thompson's skill as a writer. As things start coming unraveled, Frank's cracking is very believable. The way his personality splits into two parts was very well done and quite jarring toward the end.
That's about all I can say without giving too much away. This is definitely an upper tier Jim Thompson book. It's an easy four stars.
Nobody writes noir tales about the wheels coming off an already shaky plan like old Mr. Cheerful himself, Jim Thompson. A Hell of a Woman is a tale very nearly from the James M. Cain mold. Man meets woman, bumps off someone in order to be with her, then quickly descends into madness.
Frank Dillon coming unglued is a testament to Jim Thompson's skill as a writer. As things start coming unraveled, Frank's cracking is very believable. The way his personality splits into two parts was very well done and quite jarring toward the end.
That's about all I can say without giving too much away. This is definitely an upper tier Jim Thompson book. It's an easy four stars.
kurtwombat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
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
5.0
This is pure delicious Thompson. He pulls you in with a protagonist to pity--Dillon who spares no chances to tell you how mean the world has been to him. Then he meets a sweet gal equally under life's thumb. Maybe he can save her...and himself at the same time. Quickly though you begin to figure his intentions ain't so pure and his luck not so much the result of a cruel world as it is the residue of his character. But you still humor the idea of redemption--the girl at least is worth saving. Thompson keeps pulling the thread--unravelling hope for this guy. And then the fall as if pushed out the back of a moving truck. The story slides across hard asphalt, Dillon is dumber, blinder and crueler than we feared, sliding off the road to a hard stop in the bushes. As he so often does, Thompson supplies a great ending. In this case two-- and you are then left wondering who the title actually refers to.
princemyshkin97's review against another edition
4.0
Like if Notes from Underground was written by Raymond Chandler, which is exactly why I loved it so much. Even Chandler couldn’t write anything as dark and twisted as this though; hard to believe something as deviant and depraved as this was written in 1959, especially with that surreal ending. 4.5/5
rbriese7's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
paulataua's review against another edition
3.0