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The Killer Inside Me Audiobook
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(3.00) - 6,198 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
In The Killer Inside Me, America's "Dimestore Dostoevsky" Jim Thompson goes where few novelists have dared to go, giving us a pitch-black glimpse into the mind of the American Serial Killer years before Charles Manson and Brett Easton Ellis's American Psycho, in the novel that will forever be known as the master performance of one of the greatest crime novelists of all time.
Everyone in the small town of Central City, Texas loves Lou Ford. A deputy sheriff, Lou's known to the small-time criminals, the real-estate entrepreneurs, and all of his coworkers — the low-lifes, the big-timers, and everyone in-between — as the nicest guy around. He may not be the brightest or the most interesting man in town, but nevertheless, he's the kind of officer you're happy to have keeping your streets safe. The sort of man you might even wish your daughter would end up with someday.
But behind the platitudes and glad-handing lurks a monster the likes of which few have seen. An urge that has already claimed multiple lives, and cost Lou his brother Mike, a self-sacrificing construction worker fell to his death on the job in what was anything but an accident. A murder that Lou is determined to avenge — and if innocent people have to die in the process, well, that's perfectly all right with him.
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"Excellent addition to my current noir novel obsession. Interestingly, as happens so often with me as I am such a huge movie fan, I read this novel after I saw the film. Now often, I will pick up a book after seeing a movie because I loved the film--in this case, it was IN SPITE of the film. I had always intended to read Thompson, and had not gotten around to it. I saw the film of this amazing novel and was sickened by it. I was drawn to it for it's subject matter, the good things I had heard about it and it's noir connections. I ended up sickened to the point of almost turning the film off, it's sexualized violence making me physically ill. I enjoyed Casey Affleck's performance and violence against women is a big part of the story---but it was the filmmaker's disgusting camera work and obvious enjoyment of the violence that truly put me off. I was expecting to find that this was probably a big part of this book but was relieved (and once again sickened) that most of this was the filmmaker's choice--most of what is in the film is in the book--but the way it is presented is way less graphic and lustful than Michael Winterbottom's film to an extreme degree. So it makes sure I won't be watching that freakshow's films anymore, while at the same time letting me enjoy Thompson's dark world. And it is dark--being inside the mind of a madman who is also a police officer and is very aware of his own evil. The writing is absorbing, funny at times and very twisted. Despite having seen the film, I was surprised in many parts, (the film completely messes with the timeline in this book) and impressed. I really enjoyed Thompson's loping style and dark sense of humor. In true noir fashion, the book is shaded heavily by human frailty, the relationships between men and women and the scars both physical and emotional that are left by life itself, even in a tiny West Texas town. I also have Population 1280 which I plan on reading next, and we shall see if Thompson's style holds me in thrall in that book as it did in this one."
— Belinda (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Probably the most chilling and believable first-person story of a criminally warped mind I have ever encountered.”
— Stanley Kubrick
Awards
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A Crime Reads Pick of Books with the Most Likable Antiheroes in Noir
The Killer Inside Me Listener Reviews
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" Brilliant book. Very, very brutal and disturbing, incredibly well-written. Easily matches my personal favourite crime writer, Simenon for its combination of a gripping plot, insight into a twisted psyche and writing of a high calibre. I'm not certain why I'm doing this exploration of the classic crime genre at present (last year this time I was delving into the Gothic canon) but it's certainly brought to light several exceptionally talented writers. "
— Jayaprakash, 2/17/2014 -
" Brilliant, creepy, un put downable. A real classic. "
— Erica, 2/14/2014 -
" The Killer Inside me is a chilling first person tale told by a sociopathic killer. As the killer commits each murder, the reader is privy to the killer's thoughts, reasoning, and the justification for each kill. This exploration of the inner mind of a man who kills without feeling is disturbing and fascinating in equal measure. "
— Bree, 2/5/2014 -
" Chilling. Film material so not as successful as a novel for me. But definitely worth spending time on. "
— Pamela, 2/2/2014 -
" Jim Thompson is an utterly entertaining and unsettling author. This is the first of his works that I've read, but it certainly won't be the last. Three-and-a-half stars. Now I have to find "Pop. 1280" ... "
— Greg, 1/13/2014 -
" not quite as dark as i'd hoped... not bad though. "
— Kevin, 1/11/2014 -
" Well, this is a genuinely perverse book. Thompson is so intent on conjuring up his phantasmagoria, he doesn't even bother to tie up the loose ends that most pulp authors live for. Which I like, weirdly enough. It keeps the book from succumbing to formula. He dips into a dark family secret at the beginning of the book, and in any other writer's hands this would culminate in a thunderous reveal, but Thompson alludes to it and then just throws it away. What a relief: I don't want a soap opera, I want a work that seems to surprise even the author himself. Thompson has as severe a case of tunnel vision as his psychopathic narrator. The whole thing is just a hopeless, mean, fatalistic mess. "
— Jason, 1/9/2014 -
" Pretty impressive. (Last year they made a movie as well.) "
— Pixel, 1/6/2014 -
" This is a great book. Am I crazy? Because a part of me was rooting for the cold-blooded murderer. Anyway, it's a quick read, like all of Thompson's stuff and better than most of his stuff as well. "
— Ryan, 12/28/2013 -
" Exact same as the movie so kinda disappointing, but cant fault the book for that. Fast ass read though. "
— Andy, 12/22/2013 -
" This is a disturbing book. I've never read anything quite like it. It make you hurt, and yet yearn for the protagonist's redemption. It make you uncomfortable, but it makes you think, and you can't ask for anything more from a binding and a sheaf of typed page. "
— Mathew, 12/12/2013 -
" One of the VERY few books that I've ever abandoned. "
— Veronica, 9/3/2013 -
" Incredible 1950's era thriller about a sociopath; cult classic. "
— Charlotte, 8/26/2013 -
" Book 62/150 "
— Morgue, 7/28/2013 -
" Before Ripley, Hannibal Lechter, Anthony Perkins in Pscho, Thompson showed the mind of a psychopath "
— Guy, 3/8/2013 -
" Kinda liked... After American Psycho this felt a little bit flat. Then again I might be a little bit desensitised. "
— Steven, 12/21/2012 -
" a lot like american psycho, only written 40 years before and way cooler. "
— Sean, 12/6/2012 -
" I read this in a day and a half, couldn't put it down. "
— Alice, 10/26/2012 -
" Extraordinarily creepy. "
— Peter, 9/12/2012 -
" Amazing serial killer exploitation book, really pushing the envelope for when it was written. Much better than the movie! "
— Lee, 8/21/2012 -
" great work! loved all the characters. I'm now looking to read more noir novels. "
— Robert, 4/24/2012 -
" Dark, disturbing novel into the mind of a serial killer. "
— Barb, 2/11/2012 -
" Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson describes the obsession of a small-town deputy sheriff. He is beloved by the community for his uncommon ability to calm violent prisoners. Told in the first-person, we soon learn of the narrator's dark past and even more foreboding future. "
— Eric_W, 12/7/2011 -
" Interesting. Jim Thompson seemed to be years ahead of himself. Writing about a serial killer long before they were "trendy". But parts of it are a bit slow moving. "
— Tashie, 11/13/2011
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 Kevin T. Collins
Kevin T. Collins, an Audie Award–winning audiobook narrator, is an actor, singer, recording artist, and director who can be seen off Broadway, on television, and in films.