The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson

(pb; 1952)

From the back cover:

"Lou Ford is the deputy sheriff of a small town in Texas. The worst thing people can say against him is that he's a little slow and a little boring. But, then, most people don't know about the sickness -- the sickness that almost got Lou put away when he was younger. The sickness that is about to surface again."

Review:

Killer is a brisk paced, often chilling first-person account, seen from the point of view of the murder-minded Lou Ford. This account takes place during Ford's latest round of assault, robbery and killing. Harsh, gets-under-your-skin stuff that made this reader want to be a little less trusting than usual when dealing with someone who seems exceptionally kind or easy-going.

Check this out.

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Two film versions resulted from this novel. Both versions kept the book's title.

The first version was released stateside in October 1976. Burt Kennedy directed the film, from a screenplay by Ed Mann and Robert Chamblee.

Stacy Keach played Lou Ford. Susan Tyrell played Joyce Lakeland. Tisha Sterling played Amy Stanton. Keenan Wynn played Chester Conway. Don Stroud played Elmer. Charles McGraw played Howard Hendricks. John Dehner played Bob Maples. John Carradine played Dr. Smith. Royal Dano played Father.

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The second version was released stateside on June 8, 2010. Michael Winterbottom directed, from a script by he co-authored with John Curran.

Casey Affleck played Lou Ford. Kate Hudson played Amy Stanton. Jessica Alba played Joyce Lakeland. Ned Beatty played Chester Conway. Elias Koteas played Joe Rothman. Tom Bower played Sheriff Bob Maples. Simon Baker played Howard Hendricks. Bill Pullman played Billy Boy Walker. Matthew Maher played Deputy Jeff Plummer.

Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane

(hb; 2003)


From the inside flap:

"Summer, 1954.

"U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels has come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Along with his partner, Chuck Aule, he sets out to find an escaped patient, a murderess named Rachel Solando, as a hurricane bears down on them.

"But nothing at Ashecliffe is what it seems.

"And neither is Teddy Daniels.

"Is he there to find a missing patient? Or has he been sent to look into rumors of Ashecliffe's radical approach to psychiatry? An approach that may include drug experimentation, hideous surgical trials, and lethal countermoves in the shadow war against Soviet brainwashing. . .

"Or is there another, more personal reason why he has come there?

"As the investigation deepens, the questions only mount:

"How has a barefoot woman escaped the island from a locked room?

"Who is leaving clues in the form of cryptic codes?

"Why is there no record of a patient committed there just one year before?

"What really goes on in Ward C?

"Why is an empty lighthouse surrounded by an electrified fence and armed guards?

"The closer Teddy and Chuck get to the truth, the more elusive it becomes, and the more they begin to believe that they may never leave Shutter Island.

"Because someone is trying to drive them insane."


Review:

Twisty, sometimes spooky, psychological thriller that's a fun, burn-through afternoon read.

Some of the twists aren't unexpected, but they're necessary to the plot, to lead readers to the unexpected twists. I guessed most of the key ones, but the ending, like the novel, is still impressively written and powerful.

Atmospheric period-piece page-turner, this. Check it out.

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Appropriately enough, this has been made into a film.

Set for a February 19, 2010 stateside release, it was directed by Martin Scorsese , from a script by Laeta Kalogridis.

Leonardo DiCaprio played Teddy Daniels. Mark Ruffalo played Chuck Aule. Ben Kingsley played Dr. John Cawley. Emily Mortimer played Rachel Solandro. Michelle Williams played Dolores Chanal. Max von Sydow played Dr. Jeremiah Naehring. Jackie Earle Haley played George Noyce. Elias Koteas played Andrew Laeddis. Patricia Clarkson has an unnamed role. Ted Levine plays the Warden.

Let Me In, by John Ajvide Lindqvist

(hb; 2004, 2007: translated by Ebba Segerberg)

From the inside flap:

"It is autumn 1981 when the inconceivable comes to Blackberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. Twelve-year old Oskar is personally hoping that revenge has come at long last -- revenge for the bullying he endures at school, day after day.

"But the murder is not the most important thing on his mind. A new girl has moved in next door -- a girl who has never seen a Rubik's Cube before, but who can solve it at once. There is something wrong with her, though, something odd. And she only comes out at night. . ."

Review:

Excellent, landmark vampire-horror novel, with sympathetic characters (even Håkan Bengtsson, Eli's aging pedophilic human keeper, initially comes off a somewhat relatable creation) and an impressive narrative scope: it reads like something Stephen King might've written in his prime -- i.e., most of his published work prior to It.

Lindqvist has conceived and delivered a warm, original work that should appeal to fans of King, Clive Barker and Anne Rice. (I realize I'm actually echoing one of the blurbs that graced the cover of the book, but its story, tones and characters constantly reminded me of these writers when I read this fast-paced, character-rich story.)

If you're into vampire fiction, you should read this.

This novel was originally published under the title Let the Right One In (its title references a line from a Morrissey song, "Let The Right One Slip In").

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As of October 1, 2010, two film versions will have resulted from this novel.

The first film version was released in Sweden on January 26, 2008. The film graced stateside screens on October 24, 2008.

Kåre Hedebrant played Oskar. Lina Leandersson played Eli. Per Ragnar played Håkan. Henrik Dahl played Erik. Karin Bergquist played Yvonne. Peter Carlberg played Lacke. Ika Nord played Virginia. Mikael Rahm played Jocke. Karl-Robert Lindgren played Gösta.

An uncredited Lena Nilsson, who also appeared in Murder at the Savoy and Roseanna, played a "Nurse" (or: "Håkans sjuksköterska").

Tomas Alfredson directed the film, from a script by the book's author, John Ajvide Lindqvist.

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An American remake, retitled Let Me In, is scheduled for stateside release on October 1, 2010.

Kodi Smit-McPhee played Owen (the Americanized equivalent of Oskar). Chloë Grace Moretz played Abby (the Americanized equivalent of Eli). Richard Jenkins played The Father. Elias Koteas played The Policeman. Cara Buono played Owen's Mother.

Matt Reeves directed and scripted the film.

Crash, by J.G. Ballard

(pb; 1973)

From the back cover:

"In this hallucinatory novel, the car provides the hellish tableau in which Vaughn, a 'T.V. scientist' turned 'nightmare angel of the highways,' experiments with erotic atrocities among auto crash victims, each more sinister than the last. James Ballard, his friend and fellow obsessive, tells the story of this twisted visionary as he careens rapidly toward his own demise in an intentionally orchestrated car crash with Elizabeth Taylor.

"An underground classic, Crash explores the disturbing potentialities of contemporary society's increasing dependency on technology as intermediary in human relations."

Review:

Crash is focused (even as it feverishly rambles), deliciously perverse, poetically single-minded and made me view fellow motorists in a fresh and alarming way. Because of this book, I no longer view roads and streets as mere thoroughfares. They are more than that: they are battlegrounds where our desires, psychological damage and metal meet -- or could meet, in the Ballard/Vaughn sense of the world.

I've read books written in this fervid, stream-of-consciousness vein before, but few writers have maintained that grim, brilliant edge the way Crash does.

Own, don't borrow, this.

The resulting film, released stateside on March 21, 1997, was directed by David Cronenberg.

James Spader played James Ballard. Holly Hunter played Helen Remington. Elias Koteas played Vaughn. Deborah Kara Unger played Catherine Ballard. Rosanna Arquette played Gabrielle.

Side note: Chuck Palahniuk's Rant explored a similar-yet-differentiated theme. If you like Crash, there's a good chance you'll like Rant.