Author Thompson's Book
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A Swell-Looking Babe
A SWELL-LOOKING BABE is a novel written by Jim Thompson in 1954.
Dusty must take care of his stepfather now that his stepmother has died. He hates the poor man who lost his job as a teacher some years ago for having signed a liberal petition for free speech. Dusty had to accept to work as an hotel employee at night instead of going to the university. He also unconsciously hates his stepfather because he had developed incestuous thoughts while his step...
After Dark, My Sweet
AFTER DARK, MY SWEET is a novel written by Jim Thompson in 1955.
Kid Collins has escaped from a mental hospital. On his way south, he meets Fay, an alcoholic widow, and the no good Uncle Bud who proposed he take part in the kidnapping of the little Charles Vandermeer. Kid, desperately wanting to be loved by Fay, accepts but soon becomes suspicious. Will he be cheated by his partners or does his paranoia make him feel that way ?
Another masterpiece ...
Bad Boy
BAD BOY is the first part of Jim Thompson's autobiography he wrote in 1953.
This is the story of Jim Thompson's childhood in Oklahoma and Texas. The family follows Jim's father who was a lawyer, a politician and a businessman active in the oil business at a stretch. Jim, always moving, never had the time to make friends at school. Jim learned to smoke with his grandfather and took a job as a bellboy in a grand hotel. A few months later, due to his dri...
Child of Rage
CHILD OF RAGE, the last novel of Jim Thompson, has been first published in 1972.
Allen is an 18 years old black boy brought up by his white mother alone. Blaming Allen for her situation, she uses to molest him sexually. The boy, who's got a very high I.Q., has become angry and terribly cynical over the years. In his new school, he meets a family of the black NYC bourgeoisie and imagines a scheme in order to take revenge on the members of this family f...
Thompson booklist
Cropper's Cabin
CROPPER'S CABIN is a novel written by Jim Thompson in 1952.
Oklahoma. Tommy Carver is 19 years old and lives with his no-good father and Mary, a prostitute his father brought home one day in order to have someone taking care of him. Tommy has a love affair with the half-breed indian daughter of the rich landowner who rents land acres to his father. The young boy does have a dream : to study and to leave his father impregnated with racist clichés. One ...
Heed the Thunder
HEED THE THUNDER is the second novel of Jim Thompson, published in 1946.
Verdon, Nebraska. The beginning of the 20th century. The Fargo family is an important member of the local society. Lincoln Fargo, the patriarch, has come to this farmer land after having fought the confederates during the Civil War. He become an important farmer over the years but his children must cope now with new problems such as the arrival of the railway company in the count...
Ironside
IRONSIDE has been first published in 1967.
One of Robert Dacier's partner has been arrested for murder. Dacier and his colleagues will try to prove him innocent and discover that a serial killer is on the loose in San Francisco, providing his own idea of justice....
Nothing More than Murder
NOTHING MORE THAN MURDER is a book published by Jim Thompson in 1950.
Joe Wilmot is a small businessman who owns with his wife Elizabeth the only movie theater in town. They don't get along well. Joe is seen by his wife kissing Carol, a young woman who stays at their house in order to help Elizabeth. Carol is not pretty but Joe is attracted by her. Elizabeth agrees to disappear if Joe gives her $25,000. The three of them decide to murder an unknown wo...
Now and on Earth
NOW AND ON EARTH is the first book of Jim Thompson written in 1942.
James Dillon, a gifted writer, must leave for San Diego with his family composed of his mother, his sister, his wife and three children. He works as an employee in the aircraft industry, does his best at his job and tries to write short stories and a new novel at night. But he also has to cope with a sister who becomes pregnant, after a wild night in Tijuana, with a little 4 years old...
Pop. 1280
POP. 1280 is a novel published in 1964. The book inspired the french director Bertrand Tavernier for his movie COUP DE TORCHON in 1981.
Texas, just before WWI. Sherif Nick Corey is despised by the people of Potts County although he avoids trouble and never arrests anyone. He hates his wife as much as she hates him and must tolerate her half-witted brother who's a peeping Tom. Little by little, Nick is imagining a plot that could eliminate all the peop...
Jim Thompson list of books
Recoil
RECOIL is a book written in 1953 by Jim Thompson.
Thanks to Doc who has accepted to hire him, Pat Cosgrove can get out of the prison he's serving a 15 years term in for armed robbery. Pat will spend the next weeks trying to discover the reason why Doc wants to help him. He soon realizes that everybody seems to know why even his new girlfriend, doc's secretary, who, in spite of her love, refuses to speak to him. Pat will even hire a private detective w...
Roughneck
ROUGHNECK is the second part of the autobiography of Jim Thompson. Published in 1954.
The book is a survey of the life of the american writer between the early thirties and 1942, the year he published NOW AND ON EARTH, his first novel. Ten years of journeys through Texas, Oklahoma and California in order to earn a few dollars to survive. With a wife and three children in charge, Jim Thompson had to accept jobs as a bellboy, a blue collar in a San Dieg...
Savage Night
SAVAGE NIGHT is a book written by Jim Thompson in 1953.
Carl Bigelow is asked by the N.Y. mob boss to eliminate Jake Winroy, who must testify in an important trial, without making it look like a hit. So Carl, dealing with his T.B. and his student look, arrives in Peardale and takes a room in Winroy's guest house. He seduces Jake's wife, Fay, a beautiful ex-night club singer who soon understands Carl's intentions. But as the hit must not take place bef...
Texas by the Tail
TEXAS BY THE TAIL is a novel written in 1965.
Texas. Mitch Corley is a gambler operating in the big cities of Texas. Dices don't have any more secrets for him. If only his wife wouldn't harass him for money, he would be happy with his new partner, the gorgeous Red. Red is not aware of Mitch's difficulties and is persuaded that their money is in a bank's safe.
But we are in Texas and for every problem, there is a solution. First of all, it is absolu...
The Alcoholics
THE ALCOHOLICS is a book written by Jim Thompson in 1953.
El Healtho is a clinic for alcoholics run by Doc Murphy who is more interested in finding a way to cure his patients than in dragging new rich clients. He must quickly find $15,000 if he wants to keep the clinic open. There could be a solution if only he could disregard his ethics for a moment, he only has to accept to host for the rest of his life in his clinic the degenerated son of a rich ca...
The Criminal
THE CRIMINAL is a book written by Jim Thompson in 1953.
14 chapters and 9 different points of view. A teenage girl has been raped and murdered and the main suspect is Bobby, a teenager living next to the victim's house. A lawyer tries to help Bobby who, harrassed by the prosecutor Clinton, has signed a confession in order to be left in peace. Meanwhile, his mother struggles against depression, his father has a hard time with his boss and the local new...
Jim Thompson novels
The Getaway
THE GETAWAY is a novel published in 1957.
Doc MacCoy and his wife Carol have just committed an armed robbery in a bank of a little Texas town. Doc has also shot Rudy, his paranoid partner, and left him for dead. Now they just have to cross the country in order to join California and then Mexico. But the police is still after the couple since they must kill again and again all those who cross their path. And Rudy, miraculously saved by a bucket, is beh...
The Golden Gizmo
THE GOLDEN GIZMO is a novel written by Jim Thompson in 1954.
Los Angeles. Todd Kent is unhappily married to Elaine, a dominative and alcoholic woman. His job consists in trying to buy at a low price from naive people golden objects he delivers to Milt, a small businessman. One evening, Todd remarks that he has involuntarily stolen a golden watch from his last client Mr. Alvarado. The next day, he finds his wife Elaine strangled in their hotel room and...
The Grifters
THE GRIFTERS is a novel published in 1963. The book inspired the director Stephen Frears in 1990.
Los Angeles. Roy Dillon is a professional con man who's on the verge of making important decisions. What will he do with his life? Will he go on hustling on a more important scale in the company of Moira, his no-good girlfriend who seems still not to be aware of his activities or will he accept the promotion he's just been offered in the company he's work...
The Kill-Off
THE KILL-OFF is a novel written by Jim Thompson in 1957.
Twelve chapters, twelve different points of view. Who will finally kill Luane Devore, an aging woman stuck in his house and spreading by phone rumors about the private life of the people living in this small town of the North East coast of the U.S....
The Killer Inside Me
THE KILLER INSIDE ME is a book written by Jim Thompson in 1952. The book is primarily a journey through a killer's mind trying to justify his actions.
Central City, Texas. Lou Ford is a sheriff's deputy who wouldn't hurt a fly. He likes to tell dull philosophical clichés and is appreciated by his boss and the town's population. But Lou is totally psychotic, refraining from an urge to hit and kill women who remind him of his nurse, his father's mistre...
The Transgressors
THE TRANSGRESSORS is a novel written in 1961 by Jim Thompson.
Tom Lord is sheriff's deputy in a little Texas boom town. Coming from an honorable family, he had to accept this job when his father died and is living now with Joyce, a prostitute. One day, he accidentally kills Aaron McBride during a fight. McBride's wife will come all the way from Fort Worth in order to discover the truth about Aaron's death and avenge him. And McBride's associates, big ...
Jim Thompson information
Wild Town
WILD TOWN is a novel first published in 1957 by Jim Thompson.
A little boom town in Texas. Bugs McKenna, an ex-con, has just arrived and is already jailed in the local prison. He's offered by Lou Ford, the sheriff, a job as an hotel detective at the Hanlon's. But why? Things get worst as Bugs is falling in love with Amy, Lou Ford's girlfriend, and as the hotel accountant is found dead after a fall from the eighth floor. Furthermore, somebody begins to...
