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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
Very heavy
Graphic brutal murders of women described in clinical detail
Language
Some
Strong language throughout
Sexual Content
A lot
Sexual sadism; sex and violence intertwined throughout
Substance Use
Barely any
Some alcohol use
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
A completely amoral psychopathic narrator who feels nothing; among the most disturbing perspectives in American literature
What this book is about
Lou Ford, a polite, well-liked deputy sheriff in a small Texas town, narrates his serial killing of women with the flat, reasonable voice of a man discussing the weather. Thompson's landmark 1952 noir novel invented the unreliable psychopathic narrator and remains one of the most disturbing books ever written, precisely because Lou is so calm and ordinary about everything. A masterpiece of noir literature and a pioneering study in literary sociopathy.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Graphic brutal murders of women
Sexual sadism as a central theme
Completely amoral narrator with no redemption
Reader Verification
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