Jim Thompson focuses on the dark side of life in The Grifters. All three major characters are con artists, and at first, they don’t know the others are also in the game. Their greed and perverse love permeate the novel.

After reading the Red Riding Quartet, this novel didn’t seem shockingly dark. The Grifters showcases bad people doing unforgivable acts. Which just doesn’t mean the novel isn’t dark as disturbing, just that the noir genre has evolved since Thompson wrote in the 1950s.

Thompson’s writing is fearless, and I enjoyed the twist at the end. Roy Dillon has a chance at redemption and a real job, but his past won’t relinquish him. This novel is a great choice for fans of pulp novels, and authors such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Patricia Highsmith.