About this ebook
For the love of a beautiful waitress, a meat salesman will turn butcher in this crime thriller by "one of the greats of American noir" ( The Guardian).
Clay Lockwood. is a top distributing executive with Grant's Meats, and the contract with the Portico restaurant chain is only the latest in a long line of boardroom coups. He arrives at the Portico for lunch, and eats his fill of his company's beef, but leaves with an entirely different hunger gnawing at his gut—a volcanic passion that will tear him apart. Lockwood is mesmerized by hostess Sally Alexis, a magician's wife. She rebuffs his first pass, but calls him up later.... Although Sally's marriage is miserable, she won't leave her husband in order to secure an inheritance for her little boy. And as the lovers get closer, Lockwood becomes an amateur illusionist himself, focusing on one very particular deadly trick—how to make a magician disappear.
"James M. Cain is one novelist who has something to teach just about any writer, and delight just about any reader." —Anne Rice, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Interview with a Vampire
Clay Lockwood. is a top distributing executive with Grant's Meats, and the contract with the Portico restaurant chain is only the latest in a long line of boardroom coups. He arrives at the Portico for lunch, and eats his fill of his company's beef, but leaves with an entirely different hunger gnawing at his gut—a volcanic passion that will tear him apart. Lockwood is mesmerized by hostess Sally Alexis, a magician's wife. She rebuffs his first pass, but calls him up later.... Although Sally's marriage is miserable, she won't leave her husband in order to secure an inheritance for her little boy. And as the lovers get closer, Lockwood becomes an amateur illusionist himself, focusing on one very particular deadly trick—how to make a magician disappear.
"James M. Cain is one novelist who has something to teach just about any writer, and delight just about any reader." —Anne Rice, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Interview with a Vampire
For the love of a beautiful waitress, a meat salesman will turn butcher in this crime thriller by "one of the greats of American noir" ( The Guardian).
Clay Lockwood. is a top distributing executive with Grant's Meats, and the contract with the Portico restaurant chain is only the latest in a lo...
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About the author
James M. Cain (1892–1977) was one of the most important authors in the history of crime fiction. Born in Maryland, he became a journalist after giving up on a childhood dream of singing opera. After two decades writing for newspapers in Baltimore, New York, and the army—and a brief stint as the managing editor of the New Yorker—Cain moved to Hollywood in the early 1930s. While writing for the movies, he turned to fiction, penning the novella The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934). This tightly wound tale of passion, murder, and greed became one of the most controversial bestsellers of its day, and remains one of the foremost examples of American noir writing. It set the tone for Cain's next few novels, including Serenade (1937), Mildred Pierce (1941), Double Indemnity (1943), and The Butterfly (1947). Several of his books became equally successful noir films, particularly the classic 1940s adaptations of Mildred Pierce and Double Indemnity. Cain moved back to Maryland in 1948. Though he wrote prolifically until his death, Cain remains most famous for his early work.
James M. Cain (1892–1977) was one of the most important authors in the history of crime fiction. Born in Maryland, he became a journalist after giving up on a childhood dream of singing opera. After two decades writing for newspapers in Baltimore, New York, and the army—and a brief stint as the m...
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