The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

You have probably heard a book described as one "you couldn't put down." Mostly that just means that the reader did not want to put it down because it was so good, not that he actually didn't put it down. Well, this is a book that I literally did not put down. I started while eating my breakfast and didn't stop until I had finished it. Of course, it is only 114 pages long. But still.

This is a noir story in the tradition of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, but it is written from the viewpoint of the amoral murderer, rather than from the viewpoint of the detective. The narrator is a young drifter, who becomes romantically involved with a sullenly sexy young wife who is physically repulsed by her older Greek husband. The situation seems to the two lovers to have only one solution, but it takes them two tries to accomplish their bloody goal. And that is only the beginning of the story.

This is a really creepy book--the only thing I can think to compare it to is the Ripley books by Patricia Highsmith, also about an amoral murderer. And it is absolutely riveting. I can't figure how Cain did this, writing about such despicable characters. While I was reading, the characters seemed absolutely alive to me. I completely surrendered myself to this book.

I know that a respected movie was made from this book, but I have not seen it. I will see if Netflix has it.

Dashiell Hammett said about this book, "A good, swift, violent story." (This was on the back of the copy I bought.) This is #98 on the Modern Library Top 100.