内容简介
Dick Sherman, a principal in a small publishing firm, is startled by the arrival of a beautiful woman who offers to sell him a heretofore unknown manu* of a deceased Hemingwayesque novelist. Not long after, Sherman is beaten senseless by thugs who trash his apartment. Then he's reunited with a former lover, who has become the hottest star in Hollywood. Welcome to vintage noir, where the women are all beautiful--and deadly--the thugs menacing, the literary agents are former gangsters, the hero is intrepid, and everyone is scamming everyone else. Written by the screenwriter of The Manchurian Candidate, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and The Seven Year Itch, this classic pulp thriller last saw print nearly 50 years ago. Today, it's dated yet charming; everyone smokes, ice buckets are always full, a good suit costs $100, and a copy of the Daily News costs a nickel. But the thugs are menacing, and the literary agent-gangster has a head that resembles a blunt instrument. Think Thin Man films with Mickey Spillane-ish hard cases standing in for the suave uptown types.