The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

 

(pb; 1934)

From the back cover

“Nick and Nora Charles are Dashiell Hammett’s most enchanting creations, a rich, glamorous couple who solve homicides in between wisecracks and martinis. At once knowing and unabashedly romantic, The Thin Man is a murder mystery that doubles as a sophisticated comedy of manners.”

 

Review

Hammer’s final novel is a quip-clever, mile-a-minute-paced and chatter-filled murder mystery with charming (for the most part, Nick can be kind of dickish) lead characters, memorably over-the-top secondary characters, and lots of humor. This genteel, smart, and snappy novel is one of my all-time favorite books by Hammett, one worth owning.

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The film version was released stateside on May 25, 1934. W.S. Van Dyke, sometimes billed as Major W.S. Van Dyke II, directed it, from a screenplay by Albert Hackett and Francis Goodrich. Director Van Dyke would go on to direct three of the five film-only Thin Man sequels.

William Powell played Nick Charles. Myrna Loy played Nora Charles. Maureen O’Sullivan played Dorothy. Nat Pendleton played Guild. Cesar Romero played Chris.

Halloween Kills by Tim Waggoner

 

(2021: movie tie-in)

From the back cover

“Minutes after Laurie Strode, her daughter Karen, and granddaughter Allyson left masked monster Michael Myers caged and burning in Laurie’s basement. Laurie is rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, believing she finally killed her lifelong tormentor.

“But when Michael manages to free himself from Laurie trap, his ritual bloodbath resumes. As Laurie fights her pain and prepares to defend herself again him, she inspires all of Haddonfield to rise up against their unstoppable monster. But as a group of other survivors of Michael’s first rampage decide to take matters into their own hands, a vigilante mob forms that sets out to hunt Michael down. Evil dies tonight.”

Review

Kills picks up immediately after the events of the 2018 version of Halloween, with Myers being inadvertently rescued from Laurie Strode’s burning house by clueless firefighters, resulting in a two-seconds-later, continued slaughter-spree on Myers’s part. As with John Passarella’s movie tie-in Halloween, Waggoner’s sequel writing is action-tight in its brutal, occasionally unsettling kill scenes, its tone consistently dramatic and suspenseful, and he expands a little on Michael’s point-of-view (unsettling and relentlessly hunter-minded) as well as those of other characters─Waggoner, unlike most writers I’ve read, deftly head-hops between characters’ outlooks without feeling writerly or impeding the feel and flow of Halloween Kills. This latest Halloween offering, flavored with a moral about mob justice, is a fast, brutal, and intriguing read, worth owning. Followed by Halloween Ends (author: Paul Brad Logan).

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Its counterpart/source film was released stateside on October 15, 2021. Information about it and its cast and crew can be found at IMDb’s Halloween Kills page.

The Butcher's Boy by Thomas Perry

 

(pb; 1982: first book in the Butcher’s Boy series)

From the back cover

“How good is a hit man who blows his big hit? As good as dead.

“How good is the woman assigned to catch him before his killers can? As good as her next move.

“How good is The Butcher’s Boy? As good as they come.”

 

Review

Boy is a great hybrid crime thriller and police procedural, an edgy, blunt, and often action-punctuated genre novel, one that recalls the works of Richard Stark (particularly his twenty-four-book Parker series) and some of the tighter, terser works of William P. McGivern. Boy is a stunning start to what promises to be a standout series. Followed by Sleeping Dogs.

Halloween by John Passarella

 

(pb; 2018: movie tie-in)

From the back cover

“In 1978, Laurie Strode survived an encounter with Michael Myers, a masked figure who killed her friends and terrorized the town of Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night. Myers was later gunned down, apprehended and committed to Smith’s Grove State Hospital.

“For forty years, memories of that nightmarish ordeal have haunted Laurie and now Myers is back once again on Halloween, having escaped a routine transfer, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. This time, Laurie is prepared with years of survival training to protect himself, her daughter Karn and her granddaughter Allyson, a teenager separated from her family and enjoying Halloween festivities.”

 

Review

Halloween is a good and often suspenseful book-from-film adaptation of David Gordon Green’s 2018 movie─it’s fast-paced, descriptive (without being overly so) and, aside from an overuse of ellipses (“. . .”) at the ending of certain chapters, a thoroughly enjoyable, film-faithful read that gives some of the characters a bit more background. If you’re looking for a book that expands a lot on the film, this isn’t that book. It is, however, an entertaining, brutal-kill-scene-punctuated horror entry in the multiauthor Halloween movie tie-in series. Followed by Tim Waggoner’s movie tie-in novel Halloween Kills.

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The source film was released stateside on October 19, 2018. David Gordon Green directed it, from Jeff Fradley’s screenplay.

Jamie Lee Curtis reprised, for the fourth time, her role of Laurie Strode. Judy Greer played Karen, Laurie’s bitter daughter. Andi Matichak played Allyson, Karen’s daughter. Toby Huss played Ray, Karen’s husband and Allyson’s father. Will Patton played Officer Hawkins.

Nick Castle reprised his role of The Shape (he was The Shape, a.k.a. Mike Myers, in the original Halloween, 1978). James Jude Courtney also played The Shape. Haluk Bilginer played Dr.Sartain (“the new Dr. Loomis," as Laurie calls him).