Nothing More Than Murder [Paperback]

Jim Thompson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 1991

Sometimes a man and woman love and hate each other in equal measure that they can neither stay together nor break apart. Some marriages can only end in murder and some murders only make the ties of love and hatred stronger. This book proves just that.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Full of atmosphere, this has a fabuloulsy old-school feel. But there's nothing cosy about this sharp vision of corrupt small-town life.' -- Andrea Henry DAILY MIRROR 'Thompson is both a brilliant and entirely uncompromising writer, and, here, in place of sentiment and salvation is the real and unflinching, bitter unraveling of the American dream.' GLASGOW HERALD 'The plot twists come thick and fast, right up until the end, in an acceleration of incident and revelation. Nothing More Than Murder isn't simply noir; it is nightmare.' -- Paul Kane WWW.NEWMYSTERYREADER.COM --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Sometimes a man and woman love and hate each other in equal measure that they can neither stay together nor break apart. Some marriages can only end in murder and some murders only make the ties of love and hatred stronger. This book proves just that.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (March 13, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679733094
• ISBN-13: 978-0679733096
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #733,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Details of movie theater trade most intriguing, September 8, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Bloomington, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nothing More Than Murder (Paperback)

Thompson's tale of fraud, murder, and adultery is unremarkable (compared to Thompson's other works) except in it's presentation of the politics of a small town. Most of all, the presentation of Joe Wilmer's job as an owner of a first-run movie theater and his dealings with the union is fascinating. This is a novel that could have only been written by Jim Thompson.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reviewed By Alan Gerrard, April 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Nothing More Than Murder (Paperback)

This novel is Jim Thompson at his best. A tale of small town fraud, murder, lies and adultery. Joe Wilmot is a part-owner of a small movie house with a passion for conning his employees and talking down the unions. He is a man with it all sewn up, an arrogant man with a deadly fraud in mind. But the final twist in the form of his mistress and a tenacious insurance investigator called Appleton, brings this powerful tale of suspense to a shuddering, disturbing conclusion. Very similar in places to Double Indeminity, but still Thompson at his best.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Touch confusing at times but scary, March 25, 2006

By 

Peter (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nothing More Than Murder (Paperback)

I find that Jim Thompson's novels sometimes have confusing dialogue that throws the reader off trying to work out what was meant.

Originally I thought that this was just a case of the author not being clear enough but the more I read Thompson, the more I get the feeling that he intentionally sought to avoid clarity as this leads the reader to think about the dialogue themselves and with the elements of fear prevalent throughout his books, it is hoped that the reader adds to the fear by their opinions on what was said.

In this book (one of Thompson's earliest), he goes a little bit too indepth into the workings of the 1940's cinema houses but it is an interesting read. As with a lot of his work, the book boils down to the element of lack of trust between two people who (supposedly) love each other.

This is a scary novel and well worth reading.