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South Of Heaven Audiobook
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(3.00) - 293 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Orphaned by a tragic accident at sixteen, Tommy Burwell's been scraping out a meager existence working dead-end jobs for years. When he and fellow nomad Four Trey Whitey get jobs working with dynamite, making way for a new pipeline across the deserted plains of Far West Texas, disaster ensues. In a matter of days, Tommy is brutally beaten and witness to an act of cold-blooded murder the law can't be bothered to investigate.
When Carol, a knockout beauty, shows up looking to follow the caravan of workers, Tommy falls for her almost immediately. There aren't any jobs for women on the pipeline, but Carol knows a few things she could do for the workers to keep afloat -- an arrangement that Tommy can't bear for long. As Tommy's about to find out, when you're South of Heaven, you're far from grace - -and sometimes the only way out is down.
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"Taking place in the 1920s, South of Heaven is a part of Texas, another term for hell. It's where the homeless, the drunks, and the ex-cons get work laying gas pipeline. Stephen King called Jim Thompson "A genuine maniac of the human underside." How true it is."
— Phillip (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Like Clint Eastwood’s pictures, it’s the stuff for rednecks, truckers, failures, psychopaths, and professors…one of the finest American writers and the most frightening, Thompson is the one on best terms with the devil.”
— The New Republic
South Of Heaven Listener Reviews
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" It feels like a rough draft and isn't the the equal of The Grifters or The Getaway, but I can evidently get behind a novel about down-and-outers jungling up in work camps to dig pipelines in West Texas, especially when you tack on a little revenge violence. "
— Chris, 11/22/2013 -
" This story of vengeance and hard-living building pipelines in West Texas, is yet another great Jim Thompson story... But one with a comparatively happy ending. "
— Ashley, 9/20/2013 -
" Great story about West Texas oilmen in the 1920s. The third act pretty much falls apart, but it's still a worthy read. "
— Krotpong, 6/12/2013 -
" Not my favourite book. The topic of the pipeline building was a little above my head in places and made me lose interest quickly. I also found that halfway through the book I wondered what the point was. Maybe it would have made a better short story. "
— Jenn, 4/10/2013 -
" The first half of this novel stands with Thompson's best - but toward the end it loses focus (and includes at least one serious error), almost as if the author lost interest and was in a hurry to get it over with. Worth reading, but don't judge Thompson by it until you've read some of his best. "
— Edward, 12/10/2012 -
" A weird little book, part heist story & part social novel (as if Thompson were channeling Steinbeck). "
— Elizabeth, 9/23/2012 -
" Gee Whiz the dialogue is dated.... "
— Patrick, 9/13/2012 -
" OK, next to "Bad Boy" truth maybe stranger than fiction, but fiction reads better. "
— Margaret, 7/17/2012 -
" never thought i'd say this about a jim thompson book, but... this book was boring. "
— Ben, 7/9/2012
About Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson (1906–1977) 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. He eventually wrote twenty-nine novels, all but three of which were published as paperback originals, and two screenplays, for the Stanley Kubrick films The Killing and Paths of Glory. An outstanding crime writer, he created a world of fiction rife with violence and corruption. In examining the underbelly of human experience and American society in particular, he was both philosophical and experimental. Several of his novels have been filmed by American and French directors, resulting in classic noir such as The Killer inside Me, After Dark My Sweet, and The Grifters.
About Brian Troxell
Brian Troxell is an audiobook narrator and Atlanta-based actor and voice talent who can be seen and heard on television, film, radio, podcasts, and the live stage. He is a regular cast member of the Sketchworks sketch comedy troupe and performs regularly with the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company. He can also be heard as a cast member of the Harry Strange Radio Drama.