Eighth Circle, The [Hardcover]

Stanley ELLIN (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 210 pages
• Publisher: Random House; Book Club (BCE/BOMC) edition (1958)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000OB7L5W
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,799,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beware: masterpiece!, December 14, 2001

By 

X.L. (Noisy le sec, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eighth Circle (Paperback)

Stanley Ellin won the Edgar Award for best novel for this book, and it's well deserved. The only word that comes to my mind to definite this is "perfection". Perfection in writing, plotting, characterization, atmosphere. "The Eighth Circle" is probably one of the best mystery novels ever written, and one of the most deserved Edgar-winners, with Charlotte Jay's "Beat Not The Bones", Chandler's "The Long Goodbye" - to name just two. Don't miss it! Like Nat King Cole would say, it's "unforgettable"...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great private eye novel, August 19, 2005

By 

CrimeFictionBuff (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eighth Circle (Paperback)

James Ellroy says somewhere, "the last time a private eye solved a murder was never". Ellin's underrated novel takes it's title from Dante's description of hell: the eighth circle of the inferno is where the lawyers, bribers, and toadies are. The great strength of this book is the real-life description of a detective agency. The author spent months researching the reality of private eyes, so his book does not perpetuate the Chandler-based myth. As a murder mystery THE EIGHTH CIRCLE is only so-so, but the rest is simply wonderful--it really places you in New York in the late 1950's. (The greatest Ellin is probably his short stories: try THE MOMENT OF DECISION.)

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive depth and breadth of characterizations, February 13, 2011

By 

James Tetreault (North Grafton, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eighth Circle (Crime Masterworks S.) (Paperback)

I had no idea what to expect of this book. A few page in I thought it was going to be bone dry. But things picked up from there and the job Ellin does of fleshing out the various characters is excellent. Another reviewer says it's only a so-so murder mystery. But it's not a murder mystery at all. It's sort of a slice of life portrait of a real head of a detective agency and as a result of the man's occupation we see certain things. I also see this as a fascinating look at the mores of late 50's america. I could somehow see a lot of these people right alongside the characters in the film The Sweet Smell of Success, though without all the conspicuous drama. I would recommend this book to anyone.