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Title: Double Indemnity by James M. Cain ISBN: 0-679-72322-6 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 14 May, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.06 (31 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: big crime, little book
Comment: 'Double Indemnity' by James Cain is about a big time insurance fraud involving murder. The story takes place in 1920s Los Angeles with the criminals being an insurance agent and a beautiful, wealthy wife. Sounds trite? In a sense it is, but the actual crime is very clever. And James Cain milks the suspense wonderfully. Unfortunately the books is very short, with the author skipping out on the details (background) of the main characters and their motivation for the dirty deed. At times the book felt like a Reader's Digest version of a full novel.
Yet 'Double Indemnity' is a fine read. Not on par with the author's best ('Mildred Pierce', 'The Postman Always Rings Twice') but still among the better in the genre.
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent Crime Noir Novella
Comment: Walter Huff is a pretty decent and basically honest insurance salesman, until he meets Phyllis Nirdlinger, the wife of a successful California businessman. Phyllis isn't the most attractive woman, but she's a true seductress. Huff immediately knows that Phyllis will be trouble, but he can't resist her, and she quickly involves him in a plot to kill her husband. Things become even more complicated when Phyllis' step-daughter, Lola, enters the scene and bonds with Huff.
James M. Cain is one of the indisputable greats of crime noir novels, and he also wrote the terrific "The Postman Always Rings Twice." The plot is fast-moving, and I love Cain's stattaco writing style. He also includes so much great detail, such as the "blood red curtains" in Phyllis' living room. Further, Cain makes the action very believable and doesn't overlook any plot holes, which is not always the case in this genre. I really liked this book.
Having said that, I think that the movie (1944, directed by the peerless Billy Wilder) is even better than the book. I know that's blasphemous, but the movie is one of the all-time great American movies. Read the book and don't miss the movie either!
Rating: 4
Summary: Historically Correct - Based on 1920's murder
Comment: In many of the reviews for Double Indemnity, you will find it called a novel or a fiction piece. In reality, James Cain wrote Double Indemnity about the 1920's murder case of Ruth Snyder and Judd Gray, who together killed Snyder's wealthy husband. Billy Wilder made it into a film and a broadway play. Richard Schiekel also wrote a mystery based on the story. Snyder's trip to the electric chair was one of the most famous executions of the century, because a photographer strapped a camera to his ankle and photographed Ruth Snyder in the chair as the current surged through her body. It then was published on the front of The New York Daily News and became a most famous photo of the decade.
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Title: The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain ISBN: 0679723250 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 14 May, 1989 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett ISBN: 0679722645 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 17 July, 1989 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain ISBN: 0679723218 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 14 May, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler ISBN: 0394758285 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 July, 1988 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler ISBN: 0394758277 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 July, 1988 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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