Friday, 7 October 2016

THE DEAD STAY DUMB. By James Hadley Chase


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Dillon - an incredibly evil, vicious killer, gunman without a conscience. Everywhere he goes the dead men - and women - are in profusion; whether it be his closest "pal" Roxy, his "woman", Myra, those giving him breaks, associates...ultimately he guns them down or somewhat batters them to death. His ambition has no limits and he is the ultimate cold, unconscionable savage killer. Myra, his "woman" meets a horrific end, but how does one pity her when the girl pitches tent with the man (Dillon) who ruthlessly guns her blind father down in cold blood? Yet I was not too convinced with the portrait of Dillon in the end especially when he begins to lust after the immature mentally disturbed Chrissie late in this novel...is it the same Dillon who in the first part of this work did not give a damn about women, liquor and tobacco? A brutal read quand meme, and Chase's psychological nous seems spot on most of the time, eg his initial portrayal of young "teenage tease" Myra - "for a moment her step lost its rhythmic ring...her confidence in herself had no solid foundations...she was still very young. In the company of her elders she had to force herself forward..."

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