Product Description

The story of a bank robbery and its aftermath, of cross and double-cross, told with the unflinching eye of America's greatest crimewriter, THE GETAWAY is a Dante-esque tour of the underworld, a place where no motive is pure and no tie is too sacred to be betrayed in a nightmarish split second.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #725430 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

About the Author
B Anadarko, Oklahoma, 1906, d. 1977. Author of 29 novels and 2 screenplays (both for Stanley Kubrick - THE KILLING and PATHS OF GLORY). Films based on his novels include COUP DE TORCHON (POP.1280), SERIE NOIRE (A HELL OF A WOMAN), THE GETAWAY, THE KILLER INSIDE ME, THE GRIFTERS and AFTER DARK, MY SWEET.

Customer Reviews

Tough and Terrific
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 and calculating. There is no happiness just greed, pursuit and 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!!!
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, and 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, and Ali McGraw is a classic crime film. The remake in 1994, is of poor quality, and might as well be passed up. Instead read another of Thompson's novels, such as The Killer Inside Me" or "After Dark My Sweet", all classic noir worth adding to your library.

One of the most entertaining and ultimately disturbing novels you'll ever encounter
The Getaway shows that you can write a "page-turner" that is credible and challenging. Thompson's prose style is sparse but extremely readable, and he gets right into his characters head and exposes the violence and 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 and morally 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 (all 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, and that these morally bankrupt people are living in this hellish society of their own creation.