Fast One [Paperback]

Paul Cain (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett Popular Library; 1st THUS edition (1978)
• ISBN-10: 0445045264
• ISBN-13: 978-0445045262
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,964,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate hard-boiled crime novel., August 16, 1997

By 

burglar "burglar" (Newport Beach, Ca. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fast One (Paperback)

It's a crime that this book is currently out of print. If Paul Cain had published more novels (this was his only one, though he wrote many fine short stories), he might well be as famous as Hammett and Chandler. One reviewer, years ago, wrote that reading Fast One was like traveling to Antarctica -- once you arrived, there was no where else to go. In other words, this novel is truly the hardest, toughest, bleakest and bloodiest of the hard-boiled genre. It defines the outer edges of tough-guy fiction. Spare, terse and without redeeming social value, it is a remarkable work. I highly recommend it. Do whatever you can to find a copy, but you can't have mine

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tougher than a twenty minute egg, September 10, 1997

By 

A. Stribling (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fast One (Paperback)

Every fan of Chandler and Hammet owes it to themselves to DEMAND that their local mystery store carry this book. From the tough as nails dialog to the bleak ending, bitter as a bucket of limes, this is the penultimate hardboiled novel. Fast One makes Grafton, Cornwall, et al look like lukewarm consommé at a spinsterish tearoom. The literary equivalent to a baseball bat baptism

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True beginning of the noir genre, December 10, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (excelsior) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fast One (Paperback)

A keen dive into L.A. noir, before anyone else, and a likely influence to Hammett's Red Harvest and its subsequent manifestations, from Yojimbo to A Few Dollars More to film Last Man Standing. Not the same story, however. Great voice- hear the word "homeboy" used correctly in context from nearly seventy years ago. Ellroy's White Jazz is possibly the only evolutionary offspring.