Amazon.com
When smalltime insurance salesman Walter Huff meets seductive Phyllis Nirdlinger, the wife of one of his wealthy clients, it takes him only minutes to determine that she wants to get rid of her husband--and not much longer to decide to help her do it. Walter knows that accident insurance pays double indemnity on railroad mishaps, so he and Phyllis plot frantically to get Nirdlinger on--and off--a train without arousing the suspicions of the police, the insurance company, Nirdlinger's dishy daughter, her mysterious boyfriend, or Nirdlinger himself. This brief but complex novel is a perfect example of the ordinary-guy-gone-disastrously-wrong story that Cain always pulls off brilliantly.
From AudioFile
Do you love the 1944 film noir classic with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck? If so, pick up this excellent reading of James M. Cain's 1936 novel. Cain's taut no-nonsense prose is skillfully mirrored by James Naughton's delivery, which offers little in the way of showy effects. Like Cain, Naughton lets the facts of the case keep us riveted. His work is a reminder that an understated performance can be every bit as dramatic as a more energetic reading. While the central aspect of the story, the insurance scam, is essentially the same as in the film, fans will enjoy comparing the many differences between this original novel and the movie. J.P.M. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine--
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