First published 2013
This collection brings together crime tales from James M. Cain, the American author who mastered stories of ordinary people trapped by desire and circumstance. Cain's protagonists find themselves caught between what they want and what they can have. A drifter meets a married woman and plots with her against her husband. An insurance salesman discovers how a routine policy can become a murder weapon. A man's small deceptions spiral into larger crimes he never intended to commit. These characters make choices that seem reasonable at the time but lead them deeper into moral quicksand. Cain writes about people who convince themselves they can beat the system, only to learn that the system has its own logic. The stories move fast and hit hard, showing how quickly a normal life can turn criminal when the right pressures align.
Genres: fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: moral-ambiguity, ordinary-people-in-extraordinary-circumstances
304 pages · Paperback · Editorial Vicens Vives