THREE OF A KINDJames M. CainKnopf ($2.50).
It is popularly supposed that people go right on reading the thrillers of James M. Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice, Serenade) through five-alarm fires and the sudden inheritance of large blocks of stock. This is very nearly true. Cain's appeal is partly sheer narrative skilland partly the fact that he is one of the world's most vivid tellers of dingy stories.
His latest exhibition consists of three long short taleshissing with suspense and detonating in surprise endingson a guaranteed, all-weather theme: what happens (lust at first...
To continue reading: or Log-In