Passion Play [Hardcover]

Richard Matheson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is an apparently early, minor work from a major writer: Matheson, of course, is the author of such genre classics as Hell House and I Am Legend. When struggling young artist Ray Thompson quits his job at Douglas Aircraft to peddle his homemade lamps door-to-door in Venice and Santa Monica, Calif., and meets determined sexpot Clarice Moore, we're deep in James M. Cain country, and we just know that bad things are about to happen. Matheson's torrid, florid prose doesn't help: he writes about "that hot, raw desire that comes from God knows where and God knows when, that has no meaning and makes no actual sense and gets everybody into trouble at one time or another," sounding like Jim Thompson on Viagra. Sure enough, when Ray goes back to collect for his lamps, he gets into a fight with a man who may be Clarice's husband. And when this guyAor somebody elseAwinds up beaten to death, Ray is the leading suspect. Meanwhile, even Ray's own loving wife, HelenAwho not only supports him by working in a bank but also cooks him bacon and eggs for breakfast and does all the choresAis beginning to have her doubts. Readers might have some fun casting the period B movie this could well have been (Gloria Grahame as Clarice? Robert Mitchum as Ray?). Overall, though, this novel is of interest primarily to Matheson completists and scholars. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Cemetery Dance Publications (July 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587670011
• ISBN-13: 978-1587670015
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,031,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Long Time Coming!, September 3, 2000

By 

William A. Griffith (Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passion Play (Hardcover)

Nearly 50 years ago,Richard matheson wrote this novel and ever since,it's languished in storage waiting to be brought to life in print. Well,Now it has!It's classic Matheson all the way with an ever struggling hero striving to control his life and just barely suceeding!It's hard to understand why this great book was put onto the back burner for almost half a century!From the opening pages,it grabs you and you find yourself reading without break well into the wee hours of the night-unwilling to miss a word or wait til the next day to finish!The hero of the book is an everyday guy-a totally ordinary door to door salesman trying to make a living selling lamps that he makes himself.All goes well until he stops at a beautiful blondes house-and then the story runs away and your hooked!From the hum-drum to jumping right into murder and mystery,this is definitely a book you won't want to lay down!It's a crime that it's been held back from the world for so many decades!If you like Matheson-buy this book! If you've never Heard of Matheson-buy it anyway and see why he's one of the great writers you'll never forget!

3.0 out of 5 stars Average Noir Fare, December 21, 2004

By 

D. Williams (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Passion Play (Hardcover)

Although I've enjoyed Matheson's other work, this is an early effort and it shows some of the roughness in technique that his later work thankfully lacks. Even as the novel progresses, the style improves. I actually found the plot compelling enough. I got ahead of the story early and thought that the ending was going to be more convoluted than it turned out to be. Overall it's a fun read, and I'd recommend it for Matheson fans or curious noir fans.