Book 48I forget why I picked up The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain, but I was sold by the combination of "Lana Turner film" and "banned in Boston" proclaimed on the back cover. This was the summary:
"An amoral young drifter. A beautiful, sullen woman, An inconvenient husband. And a problem that has only one, grisly solution - a solution which creates problems which can never be solved..."
This was a good read in that the tension builds and then subsides and then builds even bigger again. My problem, as usual, is that none of the characters are particularly sympathetic. I didn't have anyone to root for. Cain did a great job is writing the "should I turn on her/did she turn on me" aspect. There is some interesting commentary on human nature. There is a difference between lust and love. A difference between love and trust. And if you are going to plan a murder with someone, you'd damn well better trust her.
OK, that last part was just me.
Cain packed an awful lot into a short novel. I'd read him again.
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