The Lenient Beast [Paperback]

Fredric Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

Logical add-on to the old phrase about a busybody never resting. Fred Brown's Lenient Beast is a five-part narrative telling of the perfect crime. The killer is driven not out of lust, greed or any of the usual sobs, rather 'cause he cares so much for all of us. First published 1956.

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘A mass-murderer is eliminated in a fitting manner and so nicely calculated are the narrative surprises that not another word should be said concerning the plot …’ – Anthony Boucher, The New York Times Book Review --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Born in 1906, Fredric Brown was an American science fiction and mystery writer. In early life he attended the University of Cincinnati and Hanover College, Indiana, before working as a newspaperman and magazine writer in the Midwest. His first foray into the mystery genre was The Fabulous Clipjoint (1947) which won the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for outstanding first mystery novel. As an author he wrote more than thirty novels and over three hundred short stories, and is noted for a bold use of narrative experimentation, as exemplified in The Lenient Beast (1956) Many of his books employ the threat of the supernatural or occult before concluding with a logical explanation, and he is renowned for both original plots and ingenious endings. In the 1950s he moved to Tucson and wrote for television and film, continuing to submit many short stories that regularly appeared in mystery anthologies. A cultured man and omnivorous reader, Brown had a lifelong interest in the flute, chess, poker, and the works of Lewis Carroll. He died in 1972. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: blackmask.com (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596542330
• ISBN-13: 978-1596542334
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,319,820 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You've never read a detective novel quite like this one..., July 10, 1998

By 

deadmanjones (Stockport, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lenient Beast (Paperback)

This novel of serial killings garners its strength from the bluntness and crispness of Brown's narrative; this is a detective novel with no moody lighting, no one-liners and no super cool hero. Each chapter presents a different view point, yet each latches onto the previous chapter to create a stifling tale of a week in a small town in the US south with a killer on the lose. This is the literary equivalent of Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth or Mystery Train - this is Pynchon rather than Spillane.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent mystery novel., December 19, 1999

By 

Alban F. Kaff (Jersey City, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lenient Beast (Paperback)

Fredric Brown's masterful mystery novel (which I read in one sitting) is a skillfully written tale featuring multiple first person perspectives. Fully developed characters and absoultely dead-on, realistic dialog kept me engaged throughout. Brown touches on a range of human issues such as interracial marriage, anti-semitism and alchoholism in a truthful manner and weaves this into a murder mystery laden with psychological torment, a la Jim Thompson. This is simply one of the best books I've read in a long time.