Rarely do I gush about an author of so-called "genre" fiction... since I never read it. But I love Lauren Bacall and watched the movie "The Big Sleep" and thought the dialogue was great so I grabbed a Chandler book to check out his stuff. I was blown away by his evocative descriptions of people and places. Never have I had that feeling of "being there" like when I read Chandler. And since I always feel like I was born in the wrong time, I'm so happy that I found someone who can take me back just by his lush descriptions.

Reading Chandler is a joy and a treat. The clever dialouge, snappy comebacks, the slang, all the dead bodies. I'm in agreement with the other reviews that said "Red Wind" is the best story in this book, but all four stories are superior works of fiction. God bless this author!

Some of the stories are better than others. I liked the last one of the four, "Red Wind" the best. Chandler wrote amazingly vivid descriptions of people's minute physical actions, their appearances, and physical surroundings. He painted visually georgeous portraits of crooks, lowlifes, and detectives. His plots were complex, too. The Lady in the Lake is also a beautiful book. Very high body count in his books and vivid corpses, too. It's no wonder he's still popular. Certainly no movie could do his work justice.

Perfect starting point for those wanting to find out who the hell this Chandler guy was. Way ahead of his time, and over the head of the "cat detective" set, these stories a pure gold. The John Dalmas character is essentially a raw Philip Marlowe, but the knight errant is still there, in an unrefined form. Bay City Blues, Mandarin's Jade, The Lady in the Lake...stories and attitudes that Tarrantino can only dream of ripping off. Read it now before La-La Land turns it into the next Demi Moore vehicle

This volume is bursting at the seams with Chandler's writings and it is an astonishing value even at the retail price. It even comes wrapped in plastic!!! Alas I do have one complaint, you can buy Double Indemnity on it's own in a seperate volume that is very much in print. The editors at LOA must be aware of this. If so, they must also be aware that "The Blue Dahlia" is no longer in print and has not been since 1976. Wouldn't it have made more since to eliminate "Double Indemnity" since it is readily available in another volume and replace it with "Blue Dahlia"? Couldn't an argument be made that in addition to it's scarcity "The Blue Dahlia" is also a better representation of Chandler's screenwriting talent because it his only produced solo effort and the fact that it garnered him an Oscar nomination?

Bottom line: LOA has redeemed itself for it's blatant lies on the Dust Jacket of "Stories and Early Novels" (see my review "Incomplete and Misleading")By the way, no one has ever explained why they neglected to include Chandler's last complete Marlowe story, "The Pencil".
I will be writing other reviews of Chandler collections undwe the clever title of "The Simple Art of Editing" and let me assure you that they do not hold up as well as this LOA masterpiece.

Contained in this volume are the last four (of seven) Marlowe novels, the Double Indemnity script co-written with Billy Wilder (including lines that were cut), his famous essay on "The Simple Art of Murder", one on "Writers in Hollywood", another titled "Twelve Notes on the Mystery Story", and finally "Notes (very brief, please) on English and American Style". Couple these with thoroughly entertaining and sometimes revealing letters to friends and fans, and you can't miss.

In one of these letters he even discusses fellow hardboiled writer Ross Macdonald's (here called John, as he hadn't changed his name yet) The Moving Target, which cribbed some ideas from The Big Sleep and Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man.

The novels themselves? Classic Chandler - enough said. If you'd like to know why you should expect the best in hardboiled detective fiction, well, read 'em all, or at least one. (If you're planning on that course of action, try the first in the series, The Big Sleep, included in a similar volume called Stories and Early Novels: Pulp Stories/The Big Sleep/Farewell, My Lovely/The High Window.)

Bottom line, this is required reading for anyone who won't read just anything but at the same time doesn't limit themself to Anna Karenina.

Raymond Chandler learned his craft, initially, by writing short stories for the famous hardboiled magazine, "Black Mask." When it came time to move on, Chandler "cannibalized" many of those early stories to create his first four novels, combining plot elements and scenes while expanding and amplifying their passages. During his lifetime, he never allowed the republication of the stories.

"Killer In The Rain" presents them, along with an excellent foreword by Phillip Durham in which he discusses Chandler's ability to heighten a description, deepen a mood, to prolong the tension in a situation through these reworkings; or, as Durham puts it, "to see, to sense, and to say." If you want to read these tales for their "story value," though, you're best served by skipping this Foreword until after you've read them.

The stories, true to the genre, are invariably violent, even brutal, particularly in their resolutions. ("The rule was," Chandler once wrote, "when in doubt, have someone come through the door with a gun in his hand.") Yet, even at this early stage in his career, as these stories illustrate, both Chandler's singular style and thematic sense were already largely in place.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys good literature. It contains short stories written for the pulp magazine Black Mask, and provides a fascinating insight into how Chandler created his novels, many of which are based on the short stories within this book. Even if you've never read Chandler before then these stories would provide a fine introduction to the incredible style of writing he created.

This series of short stories is my favorite Chandler work. He doesn't overindulge in "shamus-speak", the plots are tight and Chandler does a fine job putting you in the detective's place, as in what the hell do I do now? These stories were pieced together to help create Chandler's later novels, thus were left out of other short story collections, but I think they are terrific. It's sure fun to imagine Robert Mitchum playing the detective, too.

"Nothing made it my business except curiosity. But strictly speaking, I hadn't had any business in a month."(21) For Phillip Marlowe, the irresistibly aloof private detective who stars in Chandler's impressive detective novel, Farewell, My Lovely, crime is not something he seems able or willing to avoid. Hitting the streets of Los Angeles in the midst of the American gambling craze of the 1930's, Marlowe finds himself an inextricable player in a search for knowledge of past and present crimes and criminals.
Though he appears, on the surface, to be little more than a nosy, bumbling "private dick," his successful unraveling of a closely interwoven crowd of crooks proves, as one suspect cop observes, that Marlowe "played...smart....You must got something we wasn't told about." (228) Keeping his cards in his hand for most of the noel, Chandler shows that both he and Marlowe are "smart," leading the reader on a circuitous trail that shakes out only in the novel's final pages.
The story begins with a happenstance encounter between Marlowe and an ex-con called "Moose" Malloy. Marlowe cannot resist pursuing the suspicious-looking hulk of a man and soon finds himself both running after and from a variety of shady characters. In the course of his private investigations, Marlowe survives several near brushes with death, getting "sapped" by thugs near the novel's start, pumped full of opium in a suspicious hospital-like place, and stealthily boarding a closely guarded gambling boat to confront an infamous mobster in the middle of the night. In the end, Marlowe succeeds at untangling the web of murders and crimes that keep him running throughout the novel, but not before giving the reader the run-around as well. Chandler's smart, articulate prose lends itself well to the captivating story and intriguing characters that combine to make this a must-read for fans of detective fiction.

Chandler is the greatest writer of detective fiction and a great author period. To ignore these books is to ignore much of what is great about American literature.

Earlier anthologies of Raymond Chandler's works mostly center upon what have come to be known as his 'big four' or earliest novels -- The Big Sleep, Farewell My Lovely, The High Window, The Lady In The Lake -- or upon his later, and admittedly (with the possible exception of The Little Sister) 'inferior' works. Chandler's earlier short stories ( many of which he "cannibalized," to use his word, for the material in his subsequent novels) are normally treated as a separate genre altogether.

This particular collection, rightly, combines Chandler's first three novels with the best of his earlier short stories, recognizing the thematic unity in those works. (Good as it is, "The Lady In The Lake" demands to be treated separately from Chandler's earlier efforts.)

Chances are, if you're reading this, you've read most, if not all, of Chandler's Phillip Marlowe novels. You may as well have read many, if not all, of the short stories presented here. But have you read these novels, and these short stories, TOGETHER in this context? Likely not. But you deserve to.

In the short stories, for example, there are protagonists named John Evans, Ted Carmody and Tony Resick (the last two of which, interestingly, inhabit locations which were most likely Los Angeles' Hotel Mayfair, with which Chandler had more than a nodding familiarity). And when, in Chandler's writings, did they meld themselves into what would be his penultimate creation, Phillip Marlowe?

And at which point did Chandler begin to write, as fellow writer Ross McDonald termed it, "like a slumming angel . . ."? The answers to both questions may well lie here, in this collection.

Pick up this collection! Read it! Discover the material anew!

Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe detective stories, while never dull, can sometimes have almost hysterical, over-the-top plots which become terribly confusing to decipher. Fortunately the cracking dialogue and bizarre characters compensate nicely. In The High Window the author takes a breather, and delivers a story which is relatively simple ... and enjoyable to read.

Like in many Marlowe stories, our naughty private eye is hired by a rich recluse. This time the recluse is a rich widow who believes her trashy daughter-in-law has stolen a rare coin inherited from her deceased hubby. As Marlowe investigates we understand that the daughter-in-law keeps some rather nasty company, and before long Marlowe is tangled in multiple homicide situation. Of course in the end it is all resolved in a surprisingly uncontrived way (..at least by Raymond Chandler standards).

My only real complaint, or rather disappointment, is the general absence of Marlowe's normally razor-sharp sarcasm. In other books Marlowe can be extremely brutish with the ladies, and the ladies all fall in love with him. In The High Window we do not see this side of Marlowe, and so he seems somewhat two-dimensional in this story.

Bottom line: most definitely not a Chandler classic, but certainly a very enjoyable read. Recommended.

I decided to give this Raymond Chandler novel a shot after a vexing round of midterm examinations. If I didn't read something light and entertaining, my head would have exploded! I'd never read noir before, but I found this book to be pretty representative of what one pictures when one thinks of noir: seedy characters and snappy dialogue in a big, dark city teeming with danger. Chandler apparently gave new life to this genre when he wrote a few (an unfortunate few) crime novels starring Phillip Marlowe, a private detective who has since become immortalized in film and T.V. Chandler didn't even start writing these books until he was in his late 50's. Thank goodness he did write them, because this book is a real hoot!

The High Window finds Marlowe on the trail of a missing coin called the Brasher doubloon. Within a few pages we begin to see an endless parade of seedy and suspicious characters, such as Mrs. Murdock, a port-drinking hothead who hires Marlowe to find the coin. Other characters include a scummy nightclub owner, a couple of dirty dames, and a cast of supporting characters both wicked and wise. At the center of it all is Marlowe, doggedly pursuing the truth through all the deceits and danger. I really can't go into the story because doing so would probably ruin the suspense for anyone who hasn't read the book. Just be prepared to see some wacky characters and great scenes.

This book wouldn't be worth mentioning at all if it weren't for the dialogue. The language in this book is so clever and snappy that it literally makes the story. You'll howl out loud at some of the smart quips Marlowe tosses off as he tries to track down the doubloon. Another interesting aspect of the book is that everything occurs in the present tense. There is almost no history to know or anything in the future to worry about. This makes the story scream along at a fast pace; so fast that you won't want to put the book down. I never really thought I'd care for crime noir, but this book makes me want to read more! Recommended.

Raymond Chandler has written some excellent crime/mystery novels, and this is no exception. The High Window was Chandler's third novel with Philip Marlowe. But don't worry if you haven't read the first two (The Big Sleep & Farewell, My Lovely) because The High Window could easily have been the first book.

This novel works for several reasons. First, it is very easy to read. This is a 'page-turner' in every sense of the term. Secondly, the story is interesting and always has your attention. Chandler unveils the story in a way that makes you want to keep reading. Finally, the characters are almost always well done. Of course, Philip Marlowe is a great character, an old tough guy with some great dialogue. Although the book was published in the early 1940's, it does not feel like it at all.

To those unaquainted with Chandler, the closest thing I could compare it to would be the 1974 movie CHINATOWN, written by Robert Towne. That's the style of it. It's different from Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.

Give it a shot. Chances are it will grab you and you'll read it quickly.

This well written novel is a true axample of Raymond Chandler's abilities. It is a suspensful book with a great deal of mystery, it keeps you on your toes and on the edge of your seat. This book stays with the classic tough guy image found so often in Film Noire stories. "If I have to get tough with you, fellow, you'll know it." Lieutenant Degarmo to Detective Marlowe chapter 4, page 30, from The Lady in the Lake. I recomend this novel and give it four stars.

A Raymond Chandler whodunit, written in first person point of view, of tough guy detective Philip Marlowe. Lady in the Lake is notable for its sophisticated characterization and dialogue. It paints a portrait of the seedy, corrupt underbelly of Los Angeles society and is full of puns and humbling frankness. Marlowe is searching for a missing wife and discovers a different woman's corpse in a mountain lake. From there the waters get deeper. The book has interesting surprises, troublesome cops and Los Angeles lowlifes who crawl out from bungalows to blink at the sun. "Police business is a hell of a problem. It's a good deal like politics. It asks for the highest type of men, and there's nothing in it to attract the highest type of men. So we have to work with what we get - and we get things like this." Captain Webber to Marlowe, Chapter 27, Page 186, from Lady in the Lake.

'The Lady in the Lake' by Raymond Chandler is one of those mystery novels you either love or hate: a murder mystery becomes more and more twisted as a super sleuth, in this case Chandler's Philip Marlowe character, almost magically answers all questions to the amazement of the reader. Regardless, this novel is certainly well-written ... complete with crackling dialogue and interesting characters.

The story is very complicated. Yes, a corpse of a young woman is found in a lake. But there are actually multiple interwoven murders involved, tainted with adultery, drug usage, and greed. Philipe Marlowe is hired not to solve any murder but to actually find the missing wife of a rich businessman. He certainly gets knee-deep into problems and, of course in the end, gets out unscathed.

Bottom line: a tightly written mystery that almost defies belief. Great reading enjoyment.

This is a very readable book that gives the viewpoints of the two detectives. It has no index; but you should not read it as a sole source. After the arrest of OJ, they both agreed "the overwhelming physical evidence makes this case appear more solid than any they had ever seen before" in their entire careers (p.193). Was this too good to be true?

They interviewed the General Manager of Mezzaluna Trattoria, who had "admonished Goldman to use caution in his relationship with Nicole Brown", but didn't state the reason - another overlooked clue? They say both victims frequented the Mark Stevens Gym, but don't explain the implications (p.59).

They talk about the blood sample freely given by OJ - about 8.5cc according to the preliminary hearing. When the amount became controversial, the testimony was later changed to 6.5cc! Could a 20+ year experienced nurse make this mistake?

Vannatter picked up the two blood samples from the Coroner and carried them to the Scientific Investigation Division; but this was "unusual for a lead detective" (p.126). Could another irregularity have occurred? Steven Singular's "Legacy of Deception" says that "all the blood evidence is suspect". He also tells who planted the glove. Were the socks also planted? If a guilty OJ could get rid of the bloody clothes, shoes, and knives then the glove and socks would have disappeared as well.

Dominique Brown pointed to a "black low-cut pair of shoes" as seen on OJ in Easter 1994; these are the Bruno Magli shoes with the Silga soles (p.215). No pictures of these shoes are given. Is this because they don't match any of those publicized photos?

The prosecution claimed that the attack was quick and deadly, with little blood on the killer. If so, wouldn't that mean that the blood found at OJ's house had to be planted? The 25 to 30 stab wounds say it wasn't a short, quick fight. The stab wounds on Ron Goldman's right front and right back imply both a left-handed and a right-handed killers. This corresponds to the two different knife wounds noted in Nicole's autopsy: a single-edged hunting knife, and a double-edged stiletto. You can read it for yourself.

While there is lots of self-serving, cover-our-ass, if-anybody screwed-up-it-wasn't-us stuff in this book, it is still a must read for anyone interested in the trial of the century. Learn how big a hurry Marcia Clark was to get the case only to ignore some of the most telling evidence. No doubt Clark's book will lay the blame at someone elses perverbial briefcase...I will never know. This is the last of the genre for me. Read it for the cops view and American Tragedy for the Defense angle...then read something worthwhile.

This book isn't hard to stomach because of bad writing style or anything in that vein. It is hard to stomach because it describes, in detail, all the extremely incriminating evidence WHICH POINTED TO NO ONE BUT SIMPSON that was found by the detectives in this case and the Los Angeles Police Department which, inexplicably, was not raised by the prosecutors EVEN ONCE during the trial. This book proves Simpson's guilt beyond ALL doubt, showing that had ALL this evidence been displayed before the jury in the criminal joke (it's an insult to courtrooms and the hallways of justice throughout this world to call it a trial) then Simpson would have undoubtedly been convicted. But most of all, "Evidence Dismissed," like Vincent Bugliosi's "Outrage" proves once and for all that the TRUE blame for the loss of this case can be laid at the feet of the prosecution.

Chandler wrote but 7 novels and most critics and readers divide them into two groups, the first four beginning with The Big Sleep and ending with The Lady in the Lake. These were the books that, if you hadn't already read Hammett, introduced the hardboiled thriller and the Southern California noir scene of the 30s and 40s to the general public. Most readers tend to feel that these were Chandler's best books.

He wrote three more, however, The Little Sister in the late 40s, The Long Goodbye in the early 50s, and Playback a few years later. The Little Sister is generally fairly favorably viewed, and there are many critics and readers who feel that The Long Goodbye is Chandler's masterpiece. It is his longest, most subtle, most introspective, and, to me, his most compelling. Many people consider it a major part of American literature and I think it might well be the best thriller ever written.

Playback, written after Chandler had moved to LaJolla, his beloved wife had died, and his alcoholism had become semi-acute, is a disaster. The writing is flat and uninspired, the metaphors and similes that once flowed so brilliantly are forced and trite ("he was an impervious as the square root of minus five"), and Marlowe is clearly just going through the motions.

If you've read all the others and loved them, I probably can't dissuade you from reading this one. If you liked the grotesquely bad Poodle Springs Murders started by Chandler and finished by Robert Parker, then you'll probably find this one acceptable also. If you barely made your way through Poodle Springs, you'll feel the same about Playback -- and wish that Chandler's last book had been the brilliant Long Goodbye.

Why do I love Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels so much? I love them for Marlowe's edgy, wisecracking comments that drive its recipients mad. I love the gorgeous, incendiary women who linger just a bit on this side of evil. I love the twisty and turny plots and Marlowe's dogged search for the truth. In a world full of liars and crooks one can always depend upon Philip Marlowe's steely honesty and integrity. He is never in it for the money.

"Playback" has all of these elements but, unfortunately, in far lesser quantities than in Chandler's other Philip Marlowe books. In "Playback" Marlowe is assigned to follow this woman without knowing why and to report back on what he finds out about her. All the typical plot devices are there, but the results are far less than scintillating and are sometimes rather dull. If I were to pick out, however, my favorite part of the book it would be Marlowe's conversation with an elderly and infirm man who is staying at a hotel where Marlowe is holed up. Their discussion about the belief in God is incredibly sharp and extremely relevant to a man of Marlowe's profession.

All in all, despite its shortcomings, "Playback," while not top Chandler, is still Philip Marlowe and that can never be bad.

If not my very favorite author, Raymond Chandler is up in the top five. Which is why I loath to rate this book as I do.

The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye were masterworks in Noir literature. The imagery in The Lady in the Lake and Farwell, My Lovely drew you in.

Playback, sadly, is but a shadow of the greats it followed. Shallow images, a not quite transparent plot, and well established characters acting, well, out of character. Marlowe burns a few bridges in this final novel (I've read Poodle Springs, and that wasn't Marlowe), and I think Chandler knew the end was near.

Whenever I get the urge to slip back into Marlowe's trenchcoat (and those urges come often), I still read the series all the way through. But this book is like a ride home from Disneyland: It's a necessary part of the journey, but the one you look forward to the least.

It's hard to believe that this book was the product of the same author that presented us with the Berlin Noir trilogy. For me, an interesting concept was delivered in a pedestrian, though adequately researched, manner and in completing the book, I found myself unsatisfied. Whereas the each of the BN trilogy pieces featured a pace and level of intrigue which maintained interest, THE GRID was predictable throughout in story line and character development. Also was disturbed by a reliance on needlessly coarse language and (shabby) titillation in an effort to keep the story moving. Language and titllation is good stuff but not when used as a crutch. Will I read another Philip Kerr novel? Probably, but not until I more carefully read other people's reviews. And then maybe I'll borrow someone else's copy. Jon Hill

This is an airplane book, but if you read it in either of Norman Foster's recently designed airports (London's Stansted or Hong Kong) you'll probably conclude that the thinly disguised swipe at the modernist architect is not just disappointingly shallow but grossly unfair too. There are some great scenes here as the malevolent building devises increasingly ingenious ways to dispatch the hapless humans, but for me the premise was spoilt by the stereotyped characters and the lengthy passages of "computerspeak" which do nothing but expose the author's lack of research. I'd try the author's A Philosophical Investigation first for a better taste of his work.

A new, high tech building is ready for occupancy, but as its self replicating computer system, Abraham, is exposed to a child's hunt-and-kill computer game, it recreates itself in a deadly manner. Self awareness follows self replication, and the people trapped inside The Grid become enemies in Abraham's game to hunt and destroy them, following the programming code from the computer game that was incorporated into its system functions. The now self aware building begins killing the humans trapped inside one by one, using whatever it has available; elevators, bathroom cleaning systems, pool cleaning systems, etc. A gory and inventive tale of horror and survival, against an enemy that cannot be rationalized with. This is a great read for a night spent in any modern high rise, hotel or apartment or office. Enjoy.

My apologies in advance, but this is an "on the one hand/on the other hand" review. On the one hand, for anyone who loves Raymond Chandler and Philip Marlowe, as I do, it is great to have a new story featuring the "Galahad of the Gutter", even if Chandler only wrote the first three chapters. And Robert B. Parker ( of Spenser fame) does a competent job of completing the story.

On the other hand, despite the exception of Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man, I think that the modern trend of giving private eyes buddies and girlfriends has been a catastrophic development for the hard boiled novel. The very essence of these novels, epitomized in The Maltese Falcon, Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer series and the other Philip Marlowe stories, is the independence and accompanying vulnerability of the detectives. So this Marlowe story, which finds him married to a wealthy heiress and comfortably ensconced in Poodle Springs (a thinly veiled Pal Springs), is disappointing evidence that even a master of the genre was drifting in this direction when he died.

The mystery here is vintage Chandler, with blackmail, pornography, polygamy and the like and when the focus turns to Marlowe working on the case it is quite good. But the scenes between him and his wife, particularly the tensions between them as a result of his insistence on a return to detecting, bring the story to a screeching halt every time it builds up a head of steam.

The result is a very mixed bag and an extremely tentative recommendation--an airplane book.

GRADE: C

Chandler died in 1959 leaving behind the opening chapters of this Philip Marlowe PI novel which Parker has completed. Here, Marlowe has a rich wife (shades of Hammett's Nick & Nora Charles) and has moved from L.A. to the big-buck community of Poodle Springs, where he is hired by the area crime boss to track down a missing local who has run out on a gambling debt. The plot evolves with murder, blackmail, and a little bigamy for good measure. Though there's more talk than action and Marlowe's usual hard edges are rounded off a bit, there is still deep intrigue and lots of snappy dialogue. Completing a story started by another is difficult, especially when it involves an estalished character, but Parker has done an impressive and admirable job in adapting to Chandler's style and sense of humor. All one can say when reading this novel is, "Marlowe, it's good to have you back."--Michael Rogers

Poodle Springs is a Philip Marlowe mystery that starts with four chapters Raymond Chandler wrote before his death in 1959. Thirty years later Robert B. Parker finishes the work left by Chandler. Parker is an accomplished mystery author himself and breathes life back into Philip Marlowe so we can follow one more case.

Yet Parker is not Chandler and there are places in the book where I kept feeling that he wasn't getting Marlowe just right. Probably I was looking for these non-Chandleresque moments and they are actually intriguing. Marlowe fans can read the book with this additional level of interest: did Parker capture the essence of Philip Marlowe in this scene or not?

All that aside this is a well-paced and entertaining mystery. There is a side plot as the book opens right after Marlowe's marriage to an heiress. The tension is between the independent and honest detective and his pampered wife who can't understand each other. He gets along better with her house boy, and she can't understand why he won't sit back and let her daddy take care of them.

The main plot is pure Marlowe with a sleazy pornographer/blackmailer leading a double life and mixed up in a murder. Marlowe keeps discovering bodies which puts him in trouble with the cops. Yet he can't quite figure out who is the murderer until it is almost too late.

If you haven't read Raymond Chandler this is not the place to start. Although this is a minor addition to the Marlowe corpus, it will be a welcome addition to those who have read the other works and desire more Marlowe. It reads quickly and never lets you down.