Reviews

After Dark, My Sweet by Jim Thompson

jdelloso's review

adventurous dark tense fast-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

4.25

dantastic's review against another edition

4.0

Kid Collins is a former boxer fresh out of the mental institution when he runs into alcoholic Fay Anderson and Uncle Bud, a two bit con man. Fay and Bud conspire to kidnap a wealthy couple's son and pin it on Collins. Too bad Collins is much craftier than he appears and paranoid to boot...

While I didn't enjoy After Dark, My Sweet as much as some of the other Thompson books I've read, it was still pretty good. Once again, Thompson's use of the unreliable narrator set me on edge. Collin's paranoia and hidden capacity for violence were well done, scarily so, much like Pop. 1280. I have a feeling Thompson was even crazier than his biography indicates. His writing is so far beyond that of his contemporaries it's scary.

While it wasn't the best crime story I've ever read, it's still a powerful read. Crime fans should pick it up.

rocketiza's review against another edition

3.0

meh

writermattphillips's review against another edition

3.0

Unreliable is beautiful. Read it and you'll see what I mean.

kurtwombat's review against another edition

4.0

Every Thompson book is my favorite while I'm reading it but this one managed to stay near the top when I was done. A trio of hard boiled characters each desperate in their own way hoping for the quick score that will "fix" everything. Except they are incapable of playing nice together. The unfolding of who is playing who for a sucker and how is true Thompson. While devious and unfeeling, you understand completely how each character comes to the conclusions that they do. The delicious trick lies in having good deeds and evil deeds moving along the same street toward the same fate. The dame, the pug and the crooked ex-cop spiral together into the dark.

waedawson's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, and Child abuse

tommooney's review against another edition

4.0

This is vintage Jim Thompson. Grim, violent and full of reprehensible scumbags. It's a cruel book, where there's no-one to root for. And yet it's completely compelling and sickeningly fascinating. The writing is ace.

Now I feel like I need a good shower.

bundy23's review

4.0

You know exactly what you're getting when you're reading Jim Thompson, horrible people doing horrible things to an innocent, usually while at the same time attempting to screw over their horrible associates... and that's pretty much exactly what happens here. I find that he can be very hit & miss but luckily this one was a hit, even if the end didn't make a lot of sense and definitely wasn't what I was hoping for.

innae's review against another edition

2.0

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12050545

I picked this book off Mt TBR at the end of 2016, in the hopes that the small size would mean I could get the book finished quickly to help with my GoodReads challenge. Alas, this book was not an easy/quick read. It was difficult for the writing style, and also because the topic really didn't grab me. I am glad to be done with it.

tommyro's review

4.0

Nobody does American noir better than Jim Thompson. He captures the dark underside of the soul.