This roman noir novella by James M. Cain has been one of the more fast-paced, slick and beautifully choreographed stories I have had the breathless pleasure of reading.
“I had killed a man, for money and a woman. I didn’t have the money and I didn’t have the woman.”
Insurance agent Walter Huff has been in this dubious business for so long, he admits to have stopped caring. That sad truth is the partial reason behind the gruesome events that follow. Of course, charming femme fatale Phyllis Nirdlinger, who consults him about accident insurance for her husband, is the other.
I will not talk too much about this story - that would completely undercut the tone set by the book: fast, with no room for slow musings; surprising, with no patience for needless melodrama; and cool, with no need for benign mercy.
From the misplaced devotion of Huff, through the devious wile of Phyllis, to the inadequate attempts of Lola, and finally to the brilliant mind of Keyes, the tension in this story was created as much by the exceptional writing as it was by the murder itself.
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