His Name Was Death [Paperback]

Fredric Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2004

The title comes from Revelations 6:8, which in the King James Version says, "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him."
Hook is that each section starts with "His name was" or "Her name was." The book begins, "Her name was Joyce Dugan, and at four o'clock on this February afternoon she had no remote thought that within the hour before closing time she was about to commit an act that would instigate a chain of murders." The last section, just a couple of pages long, begins, "His name was Death, and he waited for ____."
After Dugan, the focus moves around a few other people, primarily her boss, Darius Conn, who runs a print shop. The year before he'd killed his wife and gotten away with it, and now he's feeling bold and very confident. He's got a plan, and no-one's going to get in his way.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Blackmask.com (August 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596541156
• ISBN-13: 978-1596541153
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,766,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murder leads to murder leads to murder..., October 12, 2002

By 

Steven R. Harbin (Southeastern USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HIS NAME WAS DEATH (Paperback)

Quiet reclusive printer Darius Conn is the last person anyone would suspect of being a murderer. He is mild mannered, private, and respectable. However, as usual in a Fredric Brown noir mystery novel, things aren't always what they seem. Conn has some murderous secrets. For one thing he has gotten away with the murder of his wife, and life looks good from this point on. The formerly honest businessman has turned to counterfeiting, but a couple of mistakes on his part lead to the necessity for another murder, then another...

One of Brown's most thrilling novels, in my opinion. Not every thing Brown wrote was great, but at his best none could match him. This is one of his best.

Five Stars.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 'Wheels in wheels' plot that is sure to delight, February 9, 2009

By 

Jeff (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: His Name Was Death (Paperback)

Brown's short novel, His Name Was Death, is a masterpiece of concentric, convoluted plotting. It starts with a simple exchange of cars and a cashed check, which then spirals into multiple linked and inescapable homicides.

Each chapter starts from the viewpoint of a different character at first. There is a smooth mix of dialog internal to the narrating character in each chapter along with completely believable conversation. Often, there is great irony between what is going on in the conversation versus what is going through the internal mental dialog.

The novel resolves itself quickly, and satisfyingly. The setting Santa Monica is described very accurately. Brown has mid century LA down cold as he spins his tale.

You will not be disappointed if you make an effort to find this fine work.

3.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't live up to the hype, September 12, 2010

By 

Baron Von Cool - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: His Name Was Death (Paperback)

I read a lot of noir and everybody says how great His Name Was Death is. It doesn't live up to the hype. The stream-of-consciousness style of writing, total absence of chapters, out-of-nowhere twist ending and the overall lack of action conspire against it being considered a classic. It just wasn't tough, sexy or bleak enough to be a good noir. Frankly, I had a difficult time slogging through it. I much prefer the work of Jim Thompson, David Goodis, Gil Brewer, Charles Williams, Charles Willeford, etc. If you are going to buy it anyway, for goodness sake don't get the Black Mask edition because they do a terrible job on their reprints, riddled with typos, formatting errors, etc. Instead, get the 1991 Vintage Crime/Black Lizard edition with the cool B&W cover like I did. At least it will look good sitting on your shelf!