Savage Night by Jim Thompson (1953)

A hit man watches his plan and his life fall apart.

Mystery Review: Savage Night presents a typical Jim Thompson protagonist: he takes foolish risks, has little forethought but an evil temper, has little concern for others, and kills easily. Our anti-hero is a tubercular homunculus, and willing to kill a friend faster than a rational person would ghost them. This may be heresy, but Thompson's characters can get repetitive. They're diseased, twisted, stunted, soiled losers who fully bring retribution upon themselves. They get what they deserve despite all their constant self justification and self deception. They're not the classic noir character, an innocent who gives in to sudden and often minor temptation that then leads down a path of growing danger and desperation. But Thompson's genius is in getting readers to buy into his characters, to somehow root for them, and hope that they get out of their mess -- often with the idea that they'll give up their life of evil. But, as in Savage Night, no matter what a Thompson character tries: "It didn't make much difference. I couldn't win." Of course he doesn't deserve "to win" either. Thompson's books aren't for the suicidal, easily depressed, or those prone to serious anxiety. Bound to be exacerbated. So what's the attraction of this genre of books, noir and noir adjacent, about the seamy side of life, the sordid underbelly of society extolled by such writers as Nelson Algren, John Fante, Hubert Selby, Henry Miller, Charles Bukowski, Denis Johnson, even Françoise Villon and Jean Genet. Tales of the lives of petty criminals, hookers, junkies, and alcoholics, often with an emphasis on twisted sex and violence. There must be a certain sorry voyeurism in watching the lives of those who are often unfortunate, unfulfilled, and ultimately unhappy. Shouldn't readers prefer to focus on something more positive. Perhaps the genre is considered somehow more real, daring, gritty. A slice of life many of us never get to see. Maybe there's something such writers can teach us, but beyond a few hours of uneasy entertainment, I'm unsure what Savage Night taught me.  [3½★]