Customer Reviews
Stunning crime yarn - By: Chris Wood, 19 Jun 2008 
Read this is if you want a slick, absorbing, surprisingly brutal tale of robbery & betrayal.
This is the first Jim Thompson book I read, & I inhaled it as soon as possible. He is a first rate story teller & I recommend this strongly if you enjoy good crime stories. Fantastic stuff.
One of the most entertaining and ultimately disturbing novels you'll ever encounter - By: C. Mcsloy, 12 Feb 2007 The Getaway shows that you can write a "page-turner" that is credible & challlenging. Thompson's prose style is sparse but extremely readable, & he gets right into his characters head & exposes the violence & vulnerability of the human animal in a way the many writers who hold him in high regard (Stephen King for one) can only enviously wish for.
What lifts this above the level of cracking genre fiction is the sureal & morallly philosophical coda. Doc overcomes much hardship to make it to a Mexican resort long talked about by his consorts as some sort of criminal Mecca. However, he soon finds that despite the idylic settings, it's residents (alll criminals on the lam) find their ill-gained spoils quickly eaten up by the uber criminal who runs the resort. Thompson paints this Mexican hideaway in a similar way that Steinbeck portrayed the Jode's California, a cruel place where it is impossible to break even. While reading it I was left with the conclusion that this was some sort of surreal afterlife, & that these morallly bankrupt people are living in this hellish society of their own creation.
Tough and Terrific - By: , 21 Oct 2002 This is my first taste of Jim Thompson. I have heard of his work but never read him before. The book came in a bookset of ten others. It's hard not to compare the book with the orginal film starring Steve McQueen. But there's so much more life in the book that soon you'll dismiss the film as throwaway. The characters are tough, ruthless & calculating. There is no happiness just greed, pursuit & mistrust. This is one of those books you can read in a flash but will take a good while to forget. You'll ponder the ending then perhaps want to read the book again. Downbeat but well recommended.
A classic novel, of crime, double cross, and murder!!! - By: , 27 Apr 1998 An excellent crime/noir novel, about a bank robbery that went bad. There are no heros here, Thompson's characters, are two faced, manipulators, liars, & killers. It was a fast paced read, which held together well. Although the ending is a bit unusual, (with hints of cannibalism, in a Mexican town used as a hideout for fugitives), it is still a believable finale. I agree with another reviewer, as far as the film versions of this novel are concerned, the 1970 classic directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Steve McQueen, & Ali McGraw is a classic crime film. The remake in 1994, is of poor quality, & might as well be passed up. Instead read another of Thompson's novels, such as The Killer Inside Me" or "After Dark My Sweet", alll classic noir worth adding to your library.
