James M Cain: 21 books

A collection of stories, both early and late, that show how Mystery Writers of America Grand Master James M. Cain made his name There is a hungry tiger loose in the house, and that is not good news for anyone. A jealous husband let the animal out of his cage hoping he would eat his wife alive,...

From a famous tough-guy writer, a collection of shockingly funny stories Ever since she got married, Doris has regretted giving up her singing career. After years of domestic drudgery, she decides to take one last crack at becoming an opera singer, even if it means sacrificing everything for...

All three books are written with an enduring view of the dark corners of the American psyche. Cain hammered high art out of the crude matter of betrayal, bloodshed, and perversity.

An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one grisly solution--a solution that only creates other problems that no one can ever solve. First published in 1934 and banned in Boston for its explosive mixture of violence and eroticism,...

In Mildred Pierce, noir master James M. Cain creates a novel of acute social observation and devasting emotional violence, with a heroine whose ambitions and sufferings are never less than recognizable. Mildred Pierce had gorgeous legs, a way with a skillet, and a bone-deep core of toughness....

Seventeen hardboiled crime stories from the “poet of the tabloid murder” and author of Double Indemnity (Edmund Wilson). They call him Lucky—but he has never had a lucky day in his life. A nineteen-year-old hobo just starting to ride the rails, he is hiding in the coal car when the railroad...

James M. Cain, virtuoso of the roman noir, gives us a tautly narrated and excruciatingly suspenseful story in Double Indemnity, an X-ray view of guilt, of duplicity, and of the kind of obsessive, loveless love that devastates everything it touches. Walter Huff was an insurance salesman with...

A Confederate spy risks his life to win the heart of a fallen woman Early in the Civil War, the Confederacy sends Roger Duval to Sacramento, to keep an eye on the situation in California in hopes of turning the Western territory towards the Southern cause. It’s a plush assignment, well out...

Following her husband's death in a suspicious car accident, beautiful young widow Joan Medford is forced to take a job serving drinks in a cocktail lounge to make ends meet and to have a chance of regaining custody of her young son. At the job she encounters two men who take an interest in...

One man sells his soul to save an innocent—who turns out not to be so innocent after all Graham meets Sonya outside of his real estate office. She is sixteen, beautiful, and showing just the right amount of leg. He’s ruminating on those legs when she drops the bombshell—she’s there...

A novel of a privileged young man’s twisting, troubled journey through Depression-era America, by the author of Mildred Pierce. From birth, Jack Dillon is a golden child. Blessed with blond locks, glittering eyes, and a perfect voice, he is the most popular child singer in Baltimore. But...

While searching for her father, a runaway stumbles into a deadly mess At thirteen, Mandy was too old for spanking when her stepfather first took her over his knee. She’s didn’t mind the pain, but hated the look in his eye and his lingering hand. By the time she’s fifteen, this young spitfire...

A starlet comes to Reno to start a new life—and end her old one forever Sylvia Shoreham’s Hollywood dreams came true long ago. Critically beloved for her beauty, talent, and style, she was on her way to international stardom when a bad contract committed her to seven years of trashy comedies...

A salesman, a would-be divorcée, and an insurance policy turn toxic in Reno Vegas is a city of lovers, but in Reno, the business is divorce. Six weeks in Reno can erase the darkest marriages, and the only question is how to pass the time—craps or roulette? Jane Delavan is a roulette woman,...