Scan barcode
A review by sydsnot71
The Killing by Lionel White
4.0
The Killing, originally published as Clean Break, is a noir heist. Johnny Clay, recently released from prison after four years, has a plan. It's a big plan. It's a two million dollars in cash plan. And he's pulled together a group of guys to help him carry it out. But these aren't the usual criminals. He wants them clean.
There's a stenographer, a bar man, a cashier and a cop. Guys who, as Johnny himself says when talking to his girl, Fay:
"These men, the ones who are in on the deal with me—none of them are professional crooks. They all have jobs, they all live seemingly decent, normal lives. But they all have money problems and they all have larceny in them."
Crooks, Johnny knows, are all rats. Use these guys, all of whom need money for something and the police will never track them down. He calls his plan 'fool proof', which knells with the same sound of doom that the word 'unsinkable' did with the Titanic.
Johnny should know there are always complications. In this case on of his guys, George Peatty, has a wife called Sherry. Sherry isn't happy.
"As crazy as George Peatty was about his wife, he was not completely blinded to her character or to her habits. He knew that she was bored and discontented. He knew that he himself, somehow along the way, had failed as a husband and failed as a man."
And he's right. Sherry isn't happy. So, when George in an attempt to make her happy blabs a little about the caper he's involved in Sherry gets involved and goes to tell Val Cannon. She's attracted to Cannon. They've slept together after she fell for him. And she fell for him because:
"The man’s overwhelming casualness had first piqued her and then acted almost as a challenge."
And that puts the first spanner in the works.
The book is a really good, pared down story. The characters are three-dimensional. Each has their own motives for doing what they're doing. Each of them reacts to the changes and complications differently.
The book builds up to the heist itself, its carrying out and the ending is great. And not necessarily what you'd expect. Lionel's writing has that tang of noir. I think this book stands comparison with the noir greats, although Johnny doesn't quite have the charisma of a Sam Spade or a Marlowe. It comes with all the tropes of noir. There's betrayal, femme fatales, violence, smart talk, and a lot of tension.
Worth a read. I've read this as the first book in my Kubrickathon. So, I'm looking forward to watching the film adaptation next week.
There's a stenographer, a bar man, a cashier and a cop. Guys who, as Johnny himself says when talking to his girl, Fay:
"These men, the ones who are in on the deal with me—none of them are professional crooks. They all have jobs, they all live seemingly decent, normal lives. But they all have money problems and they all have larceny in them."
Crooks, Johnny knows, are all rats. Use these guys, all of whom need money for something and the police will never track them down. He calls his plan 'fool proof', which knells with the same sound of doom that the word 'unsinkable' did with the Titanic.
Johnny should know there are always complications. In this case on of his guys, George Peatty, has a wife called Sherry. Sherry isn't happy.
"As crazy as George Peatty was about his wife, he was not completely blinded to her character or to her habits. He knew that she was bored and discontented. He knew that he himself, somehow along the way, had failed as a husband and failed as a man."
And he's right. Sherry isn't happy. So, when George in an attempt to make her happy blabs a little about the caper he's involved in Sherry gets involved and goes to tell Val Cannon. She's attracted to Cannon. They've slept together after she fell for him. And she fell for him because:
"The man’s overwhelming casualness had first piqued her and then acted almost as a challenge."
And that puts the first spanner in the works.
The book is a really good, pared down story. The characters are three-dimensional. Each has their own motives for doing what they're doing. Each of them reacts to the changes and complications differently.
The book builds up to the heist itself, its carrying out and the ending is great. And not necessarily what you'd expect. Lionel's writing has that tang of noir. I think this book stands comparison with the noir greats, although Johnny doesn't quite have the charisma of a Sam Spade or a Marlowe. It comes with all the tropes of noir. There's betrayal, femme fatales, violence, smart talk, and a lot of tension.
Worth a read. I've read this as the first book in my Kubrickathon. So, I'm looking forward to watching the film adaptation next week.