So I'm really into noir, and I would really love to have a discussion about it. Specifically, I don't mean detective stories. I prefer stuff that is told from the perspective of the criminal. Bad people getting worse, essentially. Authors that come to mind are Jim Thompson, James M. Cain, Jake Hinkson, Will Christopher Baer, Craig Clevenger and Patricia Highsmith. If you are at all into this stuff, let me know. Let's chat.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The King is Richard Stark aka Donald Westlake. Stark is the pen name. His character is Parker, an amoral thief who goes to war with the Mafia after being ripped off by one of his partners.

The novels are excellent, as is the graphic novel adaptation

https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=richard+stark

https://bookshop.org/p/books/richard-stark-s-parker-the-complete-collection-darwyn-cooke/fcc1ee0a44f0092a?ean=9798887240534&next=t

[–] spittingimage@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Stephen King is a big fan. The Parker novels were one of the inspirations for The Dark Half.

[–] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 4 points 1 month ago

Westlake used several pen names over the years. He once did a comic essay where all the 'authors' got together for a round table discussion.

[–] Maerman@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thanks for the recommendation. I have heard of the Parker books, but I haven't read any of them. I'll add the first one to my list.

[–] DagwoodIII@piefed.social 2 points 1 month ago

The books go in order, but can be enjoyed as stand alones.

Enjoy.