Best of
Noir

1958

The Getaway


Jim Thompson - 1958
    But when for the first time in Doc's long criminal career, his shot doesn't hit the mark, everything begins to fall apart. And Doc begins to realize that the perfect bank robbery isn't complete without the perfect getaway to back it up.THE GETAWAY is the classic story of a bank robbery gone horribly wrong, where the smallest mistakes have catastrophic consequences, and shifting loyalties lead to betrayals and chaos. The basis for the classic Steve McQueen film of the same name, as well as a 1994 remake with Alec Baldwin, Thompson's novel set the bar for every heist story that followed--but as Thompson's proved time and again, nobody's ever done it better than the master.

The Black Mass of Brother Springer


Charles Willeford - 1958
    Dover's final official act is to ordain Springer and send him off to serve as pastor of an all-Black church in Jacksonville, Florida. Springer soon becomes entangled in the city's growing civil rights movement . . . and with the church deacon's earthy young wife, Merita. The Washington post calls this darkly humorous novel by Charles Willeford, one of the great crime writers of the 20th century, "his masterpiece." This new edition is introduced by James Sallis and contains Willeford's previously unpublished play based on the novel.

Soft Touch


John D. MacDonald - 1958
    Once Jerry had a beautiful bride and a good salary at her old man's successful business - that was before his wife turned into a lush. Before the business started to go to pieces. And before the lazy afternoon when Vince Biskay, an old army buddy, rings his doorbell and makes an intriguing proposition. Vince promises to bring excitement into Jerry's life - and money - but this is a plan that leaves only death and destruction in its wake.

All the Way


Charles Williams - 1958
    

The Pub Crawler


Maurice Procter - 1958
    He is asked to go undercover in a festering slum and is ordered not to set foot in police headquarters again until a thoroughly distasteful mission has been accomplished. So Bill becomes a plainclothes spy, and things take an even more complicated turn than anyone could have expected when he becomes involved with two girls while investigating the murder of a pub landlord and the theft of a valuable coin collection. - See more at: http://www.themurderroom.com/books/p/...