The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain is a fast-paced noir thriller charged with sex, passion and murder. The narrator, Frank Chambers, is a drifter ex-con who through happenstance lands a job at a diner owned by Nick aka “The Greek.” He decides to stick around because Nick’s wife, Cora, catches his eye. “Except for the shape, she really wasn’t any raving beauty, but she had a sulky look to her, and her lips stuck out in a way that made me want to mash them in for her.” Cora is an unhappy and self-loathing woman who does not love her husband and just as soon as he arrives, she and Frank begin a torrid affair. Before long they are conspiring to kill. When their first attempt to off Nick fails, they stage another, and successfully. But the law is onto them and the narrative veers toward an ironic and clever twist. In fact, a few twists. The last third of the book is filled with some surprising reveals and turns.

The Postman Always Rings Twice, Cain’s first novel–the subject of an obscenity trial in Boston, the inspiration for Camus’s The Stranger–is the fever-pitched tale of a drifter who stumbles into a job, into an erotic obsession, and into murder.

This is a short novel. And it’s fast. Each scene deliberate and telling, gearing toward the climax. The dialogue is fantastic and colorful. I felt like I was watch a 1940s movie, one where Katherine Hepburn just delivers those lines at a rapid pace, so fast you can hardly hear what she’s saying. The dialogue is like that. These characters don’t have conversations so much as they have verbal intercourse. The words are blunt and strangely melodic.

I was looking to read this book for quite some time but I think it’s out of print at the moment. No bookstores carry it. (Though there are some copies on Amazon.) But the local library comes through again! Love that place. Better yet, the book is actually an anthology with three of his novels and five short stories. I will be reading more.

Recommended. A quick read…and light too, but heavy with subtext and commentary.