Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1154568 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-01
• Released on: 1999-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From Library Journal
Thompson throws readers a curve in these two titles. Written in his signature tough-guy style, The Kill-Off (1957) is about a murder before it actually happens as protagonist Luane Devore is waiting to be knocked off by any number of likely assassins from among her friends and relatives. Published posthumously in 1985, The Rip-Off has a comedic tilt as Britt Rainstar's life is turned upside down after meeting the luscious Manuela Aloe. Thompson is always a fun ride.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
(1906 - 1977) James Meyers Thompson was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma. He began writing fiction at a very young age, selling his first story to True Detective when he was only fourteen. Thompson eventually wrote twenty-nine novels, all but three of which were published as paperback originals. Thompson also wrote two screenplays (for the Stanley Kubrick films "The Killing" and "Paths of Glory"). An outstanding crime writer, the world of his fiction is rife with violence and corruption. In examining the underbelly of human experience and American society in particular, Thompson's work at its best is both philosophical and experimental. Several of his novels have been filmed by American and French directors, resulting in classic noir including The Killer Inside Me (1952), After Dark My Sweet (1955), and The Grifters (1963).

Customer Reviews

worth a read
-Rip Off is worth a read, especially for the Jim Thompson enthusiast. Last thing Thompson wrote before he died. The first chapter just tugs you right in. Forget about putting it down. The protagonist is great. Any man who thinks he was meant for bigger and better will associate with him. Ok- so here's the question...I read the New Black Mask Quarterly #1 in 1985 which included the First few chapters of Rip Off. However it said that Thompson died before he could arrange the typescript. That's the problem. You can really tell that Jim Thompson couldn't go back to put his finishing touches on the story. But read it anyway. Its still better than anything Robert B. Parker ever wrote. amen

Probably Thompson's worst
I'm a huge Jim Thompson fan, but I did not enjoy this book at all. Britt Rainstar is the protagonist. As is typical of a Thompson character, Rainstar owes lots of money and is in lots of trouble. Enter Manuela Aloe, a sexy and wealthy woman who takes a liking to Rainstar and hires him to write pamphlets for her company. Aloe is tough and when she finds out that Rainstar is married, mysterious things start to happen to him, including being threatened by a man in a skeleton costume. Is Aloe the one behind all of it? The plot could have been quite interesting, but instead is filled with unbelievable coincidences and characters. None of it really makes much sense and I didn't care what happened to Rainstar. This was Thompson's last book, and was published after his death. One can't help but wonder whether it was actually finished at the time of his death. A real disappointment. If you haven't read Thompson before, start with "The Killer In Me," "The Grifters," or any one of his other classics.

Thompson's last work... and not recommended.
Ripoff was released after the great Jim Thompson had passed away, and you can tell. Great writers know what books to release and what books to throw in the trunk, and this is one of the latter. This book is written in a comic style, but it's not funny in the slightest. There is nothing hard-boiled about it either, and neither the characters or the plot is interesting or innovative. Please, put this book down, and pick up any of Thompson's classic works.