New Releases by Jim Thompson

Frank "Dolly" Dillon has a job he hates, working sales and collections for Pay-E-Zee Stores, a wife named Joyce he can''t stand, and an account balance that barely allows him to pay the bills each month. Working door-to-door one day, trying to eke money out of folk with even less of it than he has, Dolly crosses paths with a beautiful young woman named Mona Farrell. Mona''s being forced by her aunt to do things she doesn''t like, with men she doesn''t know -- she wants out, any way she can get it. And to a man who wants nothing of what he has, Mona sure looks like something he actually does. Soon Dolly and Mona find themselves involved in a scheme of robbery, murder and mayhem that makes Dolly''s blood run cold. As Dolly''s plans begin to unravel, his mind soon follows. In A Hell of a Woman, Jim Thompson offers another arresting portrait of a deviant mind, in an ambitious crime novel that ranks among his best work.

In the rural town of Verdon, Nebraska, in the early days of the 20th century, you can''t go ten feet without running into one of the Fargos. So, Grant Fargo argues to his grandfather Lincoln, it''s perfectly all right that he''s desperately in love with his first cousin, Bella-she''s the only source of intelligent conversation for miles, and in a town like Verdon, it would be hard not to end up with a relative of one kind or another. Before it all plays out, men will be murdered, jailed, tarred and feathered or worse, and while everyone in the Fargo clan would kill for the family deeds, God might just end up with them instead. In Heed the Thunder, one of Thompson''s earlier works, Thompson''s signature style collides with a sweeping picaresque of the American prairie, in a multigenerational saga that''s one part Steinbeck, two parts Dostoyevsky, and all Jim Thompson.

Britton Rainstar never knew he could love a woman as deeply as he does Manuela Aloe and be so terrified of her at the same time. It''s not just that he thinks she''s out of his league. It''s more that the longer he stays with her, the closer to death he seems to come. A vicious dog is somehow let loose in his hotel room. He''s threatened at gunpoint by a man in a skeleton costume. And when he finally ends up in the hospital, someone pushes his wheelchair down the stairs. Nothing anything like this has ever happened to Britt before--and while Manuela''s never around when the so-called "accidents" happen, neither can Britt prove she''s behind the many threats on his life. Is a rival for Manuela''s affections trying to chase him away? Is there more to Manuela herself than meets the eye? Whatever it is, Britt better find out fast--before whoever''s after him hits their mark, and the man who never thought he''d land the ultimate girl ends up paying the ultimate price.

By the time Jim Thompson was sixteen years old, he had been a newspaper boy, a burlesque show hawker, a plumber''s helper, a comedian in two-reel pictures, a night bellboy in a luxury hotel and over a dozen other occupations. By the time he was eighteen, he was driving across America in a broken-down Ford without a penny to his name and his mother and his kid sister Freddie in tow, looking for just one more paycheck to keep them all alive. A bittersweet comedy of a hard-won American life, ROUGHNECK chronicles the many jobs, near-criminal escapades, and downright unlawful grifts of the man who would become one of crime fiction''s most enduring writers, in a larger-than-life literary memoir--or wildly entertaining tall tale--as only Thompson could tell it. Hard times have never sounded so good.

From the beginning, Jim Thompson knew he was going to catch hell no matter what he did. And during a childhood spent at the mercy of a father whose schemes put him on the wrong side of the law as often as the right, and a grandfather who knew the bad parts of town like the back of his hand, young Jim learned sin better than any writer had before. From his rabble-rousing adolescencein the American Midwest, to wasted teenage years in the seedy underbelly of the hotel industry, to Thompson''s chilling encounter with the real-life inspiration of THE KILLER INSIDE ME, BAD BOY offers a fascinating glimpse at the formative years of the man who would become one of the most famous authors of modern American Noir, in the autobiography-as-novel that follows the birth of the legend himself in the signature style Thompson made famous.

Nick Corey is a terrible sheriff on purpose. He doesn''t solve problems, enforce rules or arrest criminals. He knows that nobody in tiny Potts County actually wants to follow the law and he is perfectly content lazing about, eating five meals a day, and sleeping with all the eligible women. Still, Nick has some very complex problems to deal with. Two local pimps have been sassing him, ruining his already tattered reputation. His girlfriend Rose is being terrorized by her husband. And then, there''s his wife and her brother Lenny who won''t stop troubling Nick''s already stressed mind. Are they a little too close for a brother and a sister? With an election coming up, Nick needs to fix his problems and fast. Because the one thing Nick does know is that he will do anything to stay sheriff. Because, as it turns out, Sheriff Nick Corey is not nearly as dumb as he seems. In Pop. 1280, widely regarded as a classic of mid-20th century crime, Thompson offers up one of his best, in a tale of lust, murder, and betrayal in the Deep South that was the basis for the critically acclaimed French film Coup de Torchon.

Luane Devore''s days are numbered. All her neighbors in the declining seaside resort town of Manduwoc want her dead. Some, like her young husband Ralph and his girlfriend Danny, want the thousands of dollars she keeps hidden under the mattress she spends her days resting on. Others want her to stop her malicious gossip--some of which could ruin lives. Told from multiple perspectives, The Kill-Off tells the story of a woman not long for this earth--but who will finally take matters into their own hands, and when? THE KILL-OFF was the basis of Maggie Greenwald''s critically acclaimed film of the same name.

In trouble more often than not, guilty of assault, manslaughter, and honorably discharged from the military by the skin of his teeth, David "Bugs" McKenna can''t seem to help doing the right thing at the wrong time--or the wrong thing, every chance he gets. But when he drifts his way into Ragtown, Texas, things seem to finally be turning around for Bugs. He gets his first job in years as the hotel detective of the landmark Hanlon Hotel. But now that Bugs owes deputy sheriff Lou Ford a favor, things are likely to get ugly, fast--and odds are, it''ll have something to do with the bombshell wife of his Bugs'' new employer... In WILD TOWN, Jim Thompson returns to the characters from THE KILLER INSIDE ME that made his reputation, in a virtuoso, multi-character portrait of how one man''s life can take a turn for the worse.

Joe Wilmot can''t stand his wife Elizabeth. But he sure loves her movie theater. It''s a modest establishment in a beat-down town--but Joe has the run of the place, and inside its walls, he''s king. Without the theater, he''d be sunk. Without his leadership, the theater would close in a heartbeat. If it isn''t the life Joe imagined for himself, at the very least, it''s livable. Everything changes when Joe falls for the housemaid Carol, and the two can''t keep it a secret from Elizabeth. Elizabeth won''t leave Joe the theater unless he provides for her...but he''s put all his money into the show house. Carol and Joe''s only hope is the life insurance policies they''ve taken out on each other. If one of them were to be presumed dead, they''d have more than enough money to solve all their problems... No one knows murder better than Jim Thompson and in this incisive foray into the dark dealings of the mid-20th century movie industry, he doesn''t disappoint, in the riveting story of a love triangle gone horribly wrong, and just how far one man will go to hold on to a desperate dream.

Doc McCoy is the most skilled criminal alive. But when for the first time in Doc''s long criminal career, his shot doesn''t hit the mark, everything begins to fall apart. And Doc begins to realize that the perfect bank robbery isn''t complete without the perfect getaway to back it up. THE GETAWAY is the classic story of a bank robbery gone horribly wrong, where the smallest mistakes have catastrophic consequences, and shifting loyalties lead to betrayals and chaos. The basis for the classic Steve McQueen film of the same name, as well as a 1994 remake with Alec Baldwin, Thompson''s novel set the bar for every heist story that followed--but as Thompson''s proved time and again, nobody''s ever done it better than the master.

The classic crime novel about a kidnapping scheme gone wrong from America''s “Dimestore Dostoevsky,” the basis for the noir film of the same name (Geoffrey O''Brien, poet, critic author, former editor and chief, Library of America). William “Kid” Collins was once a respected boxer. Now he''s a drifter, on the run after escaping from a mental institution. One afternoon he meets Fay, a beautiful young widow. She is smart and decent—at least when she''s sober. Soon Collins finds himself involved in a kidnapping scheme that goes drastically wrong almost before it even begins. Because the kid they''ve picked up isn''t like other kids: he''s diabetic and without insulin, he''ll die. Not the safest situation for Collins, a man for whom stress and violence have long gone hand-in-hand. After Dark, My Sweet once again displays Jim Thompson as the undisputed master of American noir. The basis of James Foley''s critically acclaimed film of the same name, with the sweep of an epic tragedy, Thompson''s classic limns the dangerous territory of honest people all-too-easily sucked into wickedness, with no way out but down. Praise for Jim Thompson: “The best suspense writer going, bar none.” —The New York Times “My favorite crime novelist—often imitated but never duplicated.” —Stephen King “If Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Cornell Woolrich would have joined together in some ungodly union and produced a literary offspring, Jim Thompson would be it . . . His work . . . casts a dazzling light on the human condition.” —Washington Post “The master of the American groin-kick novel.” —Vanity Fair “The most hard-boiled of all the American writers of crime fiction.” —Chicago Tribune

It was supposed to be only a temporary job -- something to pay the bills until Dusty could get his feet back on the ground and raise enough money for medical school. After all, there''s nothing wrong with being a bellboy at a respectable hotel like the Manton -- that is, until she came along. Marcia Hillis. The perfect woman. Beautiful. Experienced. Older and wiser. The only woman to ever measure up to that other her -- the one whose painful rejection Dusty can''t quite put from his mind. But while Dusty has designs on Marcia, Marcia has an agenda of her own. One that threatens to pull the Manton inside-out, use Dusty up for all he''s worth and leave him reeling and on the run, the whole world at his heels. A richly-imagined crime narrative of the Oedipal and betrayal, A Swell-Looking Babe is Thompson at his very best -- a cornerstone in Thompson''s enduring legacy as the Dimestore Dostoyevsky of American fiction.

Jim Thompson''s classic The Grifters is one of the best novels ever written about the art of the con, an ingeniously crafted story of deception and betrayal that was the basis for the critically acclaimed film by Stephen Frears and Martin Scorcese. To his friends, to his coworkers, and even to his mistress Moira, Roy Dillon is an honest hardworking salesman. He lives in a cheap hotel just within his pay bracket. He goes to work every day. He has hundreds of friends and associates who could attest to his good character. Yet, hidden behind three gaudy clown paintings in Roy''s pallid hotel room, sits fifty-two thousand dollars — the money Roy makes from his short cons, his "grifting." For years, Roy has effortlessly maintained control over his house-of-cards life — until the simplest con goes wrong, and he finds himself critically injured and at the mercy of the most dangerous woman he ever met: his own mother.

War changed Clinton Brown. Permanently disfigured by a tragic military accident, he''s struggling to find satisfaction from life as a rewrite man for Pacific City''s Courier. Shame has led him to isolate himself from closest friends and even his estranged, still faithfully devoted wife, Ellen. Only the bottle keeps him company. But now Ellen has returned to Pacific City, and she''s ready to do whatever it takes to get Brown back. Even if it means exposing his deepest secret ... a painful truth Brown would do anything to stop from coming to light. He''d kill a whole lot of people just to keep this one thing quiet--and soon enough, the bodies just happen to start piling up around him... THE NOTHING MAN is Thompson at his most psychologically astute, in a deeply suspenseful and tragic portrait of one man''s journey through the dark side of the Postwar Boom.

An introduction to the physical characteristics, behavior, range, habitat and conservation status of lions. Each book is full of factual information, color photographs as well as a glossary and links to conservation organization organizations.

Jatkoa Lumienkelit-maailmanmenestykselleYlikomisario Kari Vaara on muuttanut Kate-vaimoineen Kittilästä Helsinkiin Sufia Elmin tapauksen jälkeen. Vaaran onnistui selvittää somalialaisfilmitähden murha, mutta hinta oli kova: viisi kuollutta, kaksi leskeä, seitsemän orpolasta. Ja Katen keskenmeno, josta Vaara syyttää itseään.Pakkasen saartamassa Helsingissä Kari Vaara aloittaa työnsä murharyhmässä , Helsingin poliisin väkivaltarikosyksikössä. Hän saa selvitettäväkseen sotaveteraani Arvid Lahtisen tapauksen. Epäillään, että 90-vuotias Lahtinen palveli jatkosodassa Gestapon ja Suomen valtiollisen poliisin Lappiin perustamassa keskitysleirissä. Saksa vaatii Arvidia luovutettavaksi oikeudenkäyntiin, ja Suomen sisäministeri haluaa Vaaran pitävän huolen siitä, ettei Suomi-kuva kärsi tapauksesta.Toisaalla seurapiirikaunotar Iisa Filippov löydetään hengiltä kidutettuna. Sekä hänen rakastajansa että aviomiehensä saattavat olla syyllisiä, mutta miksi itse poliisiylijohtaja Ivalo haluaa puuttua tavanomaiseen henkirikokseen? Kun Arvid Lahtinen vielä astuu jämerästi kuvaan, mennyt ja nykyinen kohtaavat tavalla, jota kukaan ei osannut odottaa.Tutustu kirjaan osoitteessa: http://lue.wsoy.fi/kylmakuolema/"u003ehttp://lue.wsoy.fi/kylmakuolema/u003eArvosteluotteita Kirjailijan ainutlaatuinen mielikuvituksen lento yhdistettynä runsaan lähdeaineiston käyttöön takaa lopputuloksen, joka ei jätä kylmäksi. Savon Sanomat Sujuvasti kirjoittava Thompson on maailmanluokan kirjailija, joka sattuu asumaan Suomessa. Satakunnan Kansa Kirjan lopussa Thompson jättää oven niin katalasti raolleen, että lisää on tulossa, ja toivottavasti pian. Juha Sihto, Aamulehti Tämän kirjan perusteella Kari Vaara sijoittuu kiistatta poliisissa toimivien romaanihahmojen eliittiin. Mauri Mäkynen, Salon Seudun Sanomat Synkkää laatua Pertti Ehrnrooth, Keskisuomalainen

"Yo sólo soy un sheriff del sur" declara Nick Corey, un tipo en apariencia lerdo y vago que no soporta a su mujer ni a su cuñado, cuya máxima es que sólo se detiene a un individuo cuando no hay más remedio, y eso siempre que sea un don nadie. Todos en Potts County -un lugar imaginario en la América profunda, con una población de 1.280 habitantes- están convencidos de su apatía y su simplicidad. Pero pronto el lector se dará cuenta de lo astuto que es Corey. Su deseo de ser reelegido para el cargo de sheriff hace que su comportamiento no tenga límites ni conozca escrúpulos. Poco a poco, la idea de deshacerse de todos aquellos que se interpongan en su camino va tomando cuerpo. El protagonista expone en primera persona los hechos sin inmutarse, pues en su paranoia llega a creerse elegido para limpiar de escoria el lugar.

It is now over one hundred years since the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles, California, and with that the beginning of the Pentecostal movement. Some sixty years later we have the beginning of the Charismatic Movement as churches in the mainline denominations started to adopt aspects of Pentecostal theology and practice. Since these beginnings the subject of prophecy has been catapulted high up the agenda for evangelicals. What is the nature of prophecy? How can the true be distinguished from the false? What is the relation between the prophecy of the old and new testaments? And especially, should we expect that the prophetic gift that was given to the New Testament churches is still to be experienced by the churches of today?

Practical, complete coverage of game design basics from design process to production This full-color, structured coursebook offers complete coverage of game design basics, focusing on design rather than computer programming. Packed with exercises, assignments, and step-by-step instructions, it starts with an overview of design theory, then progresses to design processes, and concludes with coverage of design production. Jim Thompson, Barnaby Berbank-Green, and Nic Cusworth (London, UK) are computer game designers and lecturers in animation and computer game design.

This structured course book is the perfect introduction to the exhilarating world of game design. Richly illustrated with screengrabs and artwork, the book includes step-by-step tutorials that present all aspects of designing and developing dynamic computer games. Including practical exercises and assignments.

" Je m''appelle Nick Corey. Je suis d''un patelin habité par des soûlauds, des fornicateurs, des incestueux, des feignasses et des salopiaux de tout acabit. Mon épouse me hait, ma maîtresse m''épuise et la seule femme que j''aime me snobe. Enfin, j''ai vague idée que tous les coups de pied qui se distribuent dans ce bas monde, c''est mon postère qui les reçoit. Eh bien, les gars, ça va cesser. Je ne sais pas comment, mais cet enfer va cesser. "

The Double-Goal Coach is filled with powerful coaching tools based on Jim Thompson''s Positive Coaching Alliance. These strategies reflect the "best-practices" of elite coaches and the latest research in sports psychology.Hundreds of workshops have shaped these tools for maximum effectiveness and ease of use. The lessons and activities can be used in the very next practice to make sports fun and to get the best from players. The Double-Goal Coach provides the framework for coaches and parents to transform youth sports so sports can transform youth -- allowing young athletes to enjoy sports while learning valuable life lessons.

The years that followed the bloody Great War, which divided the nation, up through the start of the twentieth century were a remarkable era of growth and prosperity for the towns and villages of Cape Ann. Swift-sailing schooners manned by hardy and able seamen from the fisheries of Gloucester ranged far out into the Atlantic. Millions of tons of granite laboriously cut from the bountiful quarries of Rockport were shipped to ports near and far. Essex shipyards, fueled by the demands of the Gloucester fisheries and the Rockport granite industries, turned out new and larger ships in even greater numbers. Tourism became a major industry, as dozens of the famous and grand North shore hotels were erected along the shores of Gloucester, Rockport, Magnolia, and Manchester-by-the-Sea. Coincidentally, the years from 1865 to the early twentieth century were a time when stereo photography and stereoscopic images, especially stereoview cards, enjoyed immense popularity. Cape Ann was fortunate to have several outstanding stereo photographers and publishers during this grand era, and they produced many excellent views of the Cape''s natural wonders, its commercial activities, and the life and times of its industrious townspeople.

This guide to food allergy relief offers information on safe effective treatments for gluten sensitivity, celiac disease, asthma and many other types of illness. With its explanations on causes of allergies and the clinical, and natural treatments available, this guide aims to alleviate fears and misconceptions surrounding food allergies, while offering practical advice.