The Killer Inside Me

A psychopath narrates the events as those around him who've trusted him their whole lives start to understand what he is. He murders, he lies, he puts on a terrific act, but it all starts to catch up to him. And this is no Dexter Morgan. This is a killer who is really disturbing, and who is obviously shaped by awful events in his childhood.

The way the book is written you can see the cracks forming in his facade, and the lies he tells himself to stop himself from seeing them. You witness the way he tries to manipulate those around him, when it works and when it doesn't. Although it's not very fun to experience these things with the guy, it's very well written. Because it's so subtle it feels true. And the book ends in a way that you show more could interpret a few ways. Maybe he paid his dues, or maybe he won. As the psychopath might say, it all depends on where you're standing.

I wouldn't recommend this book unless you're interested in this kind of mental illness, or interested in very realistically disturbing protagonists. I'm glad I read it, but it's a difficult thing to read. It gets four stars from me because it does what it does so well. show less

The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson is the story of a crime as seen through the eyes of the perpetrator. His depravity is laid out for the reader to absorb and as the lies and bloodshed escalate, we are drawn deeper into how the mind of a sociopath works. Lou Ford is a fascinating character and author Jim Thompson has captured his twisted personality perfectly.

Before the book is through he is responsible for a number of deaths, some directly and some by association. This is a deeply damaged misogynist who kills men who are in his way, but he beats women to death for pure pleasure. Lou Ford has spent many years suppressing his violent wants and needs but when he meets prostitute Joyce Lakeland, he unleashes his inner feelings and allows show more his sickness to see the light of day. Although he tries to explain and justify his crimes, the reader can feel his pleasure and pride in his vicious murders.

The Killer Inside Me is both creative and original, and has been imitated many times since it’s original publication in 1952. Jim Thompson has created an unforgettable character in Lou Ford with his good ol’ boy mask that isn’t quite able to hide the monster underneath. show less

The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson A great book!

I just loved the understated monologue about killing people and the matter of factness about the necessity to do so. I also really liked how the main protagonist Deputy Ford, never got it quite right.What is it about a book that can capture the atmosphere and essence of small town life so well. I almost felt like I was there. I just loved the myopic ineluctable journey to the very end of things.I kinda understand that this was one of the earliest examples of the genre but I never let that spoil it for me.Bloody good read.

Harsh and unflinching. A brutal and chilling book, not just for the violence and murders but because of the cheerful daily microaggressions Lou Ford plasters onto the town folk while you reside in his warped mind.

I thought this would be pulpy noir but it's deeper and darker than that.

I found it well-done and probably ahead of its time sitting in the mind of a sociopathic killer. A lot of popular fiction/film/tv in the last 50 years probably owes a big debt to this book.

My favorite of Jim Thompson's nasty little noir novels. Maybe beyond noir. Best peek into the mind of a sociopath I know of. Lou Ford is the Texas Sheriff we love to hate. He doesn't give a shit if he kills to get what he wants or to save his skin. Absolutely incapable of remorse. At the same time we really want him to get away with it. That's why we like being in his head.

Jim Thompson's novels are so grim, so nasty, so spare. You'll finish this in one sitting, I'll guarantee it. That these brilliant little pieces of dark art were cheap filthy cult dime novels for so long is a shame. I even think Jim Thompson was a better writer than Hemingway, so there!

On the surface this is a sharply drawn pulp story about a man with a violent undercurrent. Thompson shows off his deftness in crafting a near perfect genre piece complete with Freudian origin discoveries, gritty and poetic flourishes of monologue, and even a femme fatale. What makes this novel so much more than pulp is that much like the main character, there is a great deal going on under the surface. Even more interesting is that knowing what is going on doesn't detract from the tension in the story or any of its many ideas, it merely compounds them.

"Actually, well, logically, and you can't do away with logic, there 'wasn't' anything. Existence and proof are inseparables. You have to have the second to have the first." pg. 157

So says show more the main character near the end of the story, leaving the reader with a glimpse of where Thompson positioned him in relation to competing characters. This theme of re-contextualized ideas is certainly a strong point of access for much of what is going on. As one character says near the end: "A weed is a plant out of place." That weed could be viewed as our main character in relationship with the people in his small town, with morality, with law enforcement, with the truth, with reality, or even with the sum of himself. It could even be the main character as the story's supernatural narrator in relationship to the reader. All of these branches on the theme of re-contextualized ideas could lead to hours of discussion.

This is a rich and impressive novel. I will certainly be returning to Thompson's other works.

Highly recommended. show less

On the surface this is a sharply drawn pulp story about a man with a violent undercurrent. Thompson shows off his deftness in crafting a near perfect genre piece complete with Freudian origin discoveries, gritty and poetic flourishes of monologue, and even a femme fatale. What makes this novel so much more than pulp is that much like the main character, there is a great deal going on under the surface. Even more interesting is that knowing what is going on doesn't detract from the tension in the story or any of its many ideas, it merely compounds them.

"Actually, well, logically, and you can't do away with logic, there 'wasn't' anything. Existence and proof are inseparables. You have to have the second to have the first." pg. 157

So says show more the main character near the end of the story, leaving the reader with a glimpse of where Thompson positioned him in relation to competing characters. This theme of re-contextualized ideas is certainly a strong point of access for much of what is going on. As one character says near the end: "A weed is a plant out of place." That weed could be viewed as our main character in relationship with the people in his small town, with morality, with law enforcement, with the truth, with reality, or even with the sum of himself. It could even be the main character as the story's supernatural narrator in relationship to the reader. All of these branches on the theme of re-contextualized ideas could lead to hours of discussion.

This is a rich and impressive novel. I will certainly be returning to Thompson's other works.

Highly recommended. show less