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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
A lot
Serial strangulation murders — the act of killing described from the killer's perspective; the violence is psychological as much as physical
Language
Barely any
Period prose; mild language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Adult relationships; some references to sexuality in a period context
Substance Use
Some
Social drinking in a postwar LA setting
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The entire novel is a study in a killer's psychology — we live inside Dix's rationalizations, his escalating instability, and his terrifying disconnect from empathy
What this book is about
In postwar Los Angeles, Dix Steele — a drifting World War II veteran — befriends a police detective who is investigating a series of strangulations. From the very first pages, the reader knows what his friend doesn't: Dix is the killer. A landmark of psychological noir told from the murderer's perspective, unflinching about what violence and war can do to a human mind.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
A serial killer's perspective — we inhabit the murderer's mind throughout
Serial strangulations — psychological rather than graphically violent
Exploration of wartime psychological damage
Reader Verification
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