Reviews

I wanted to really like this book, especially after the clerk at the used store told me how much she loves Thompson but I just couldn't do it. I enjoy Thompson's style for the most part but the character Dolly annoyed me, I know he was a low life but Thompson gave really no reason for me to care what happened to Dolly which is good because the end was awkward, almost painful. Quick breezy read though, giving me just enough that I'll try another Thompson novel.

jakewritesbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

Jim Thompson books make me think of the title of a popular DMX cd: They're Dark and Hell is Hot. This nasty little noir ranks in the top echelon of his work, with the pitch bleakness of life turned up to eleven with the knob ripped off. I'm done recommending Thompson's novels to others. I find them entertaining and perhaps that says a lot more about me and how I view the human condition.

jatridle's review against another edition

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4.0

It's been awhile since I've read this one. But psycho-salesman Frank Dillon sticks with me as one of my favorite first-person narrators of all time, as twisted as he is. In fact, I remember liking his voice even better than Lou Ford's in The Killer Inside Me, though I seem to be in the minority in that regard.

neven's review against another edition

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4.0

This is my second Thompson book, and when I thought 'The Grifters' was an odd piece of business, I clearly had no idea what Thompson was capable of. This pulp study of a deranged mind often reads like a twelve-year old's violent fantasy; in the end it all works surprisingly well, but you'd be forgiven for dropping the book forty pages in with a confused sigh. Stick with it. It's going to be something quite different.

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