Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson

Well, there are a couple different things I've read about this book.

1. Reviews along the lines of "Nobody writes through the mind of a sick bastard like Jim Thompson."

2. Reviews that say something about a dopey small-town sherriff who bumbles his way through things.

I think I was expecting something like a Confederacy of Dunces by Cormac McCarthy. But I was a little disappointed. If you're thinking about reading this book, give it until at least page 57. That's where the real tone of the book begins. The author takes you for a little bit of a ride, but that's about where you get on solid ground.

Overall, the book set up an expectation that it didn't maintain throughout. The plot twists around quite a bit, but the twists were more quirky than dark or engaging.

The main thing people seem to be saying about this author is that he is a master of black humor, which I didn't find to be true in this book. And that's not because I don't find murder and whatnot funny. Murder can be hilarious. Have you ever see a clown murder someone, or a sped-up video clip of someone being murdered to the Benny Hill theme? Good stuff. But the murder in this book is mostly part of a plan to bang a couple different ladies. It's more like a hillbilly Three's Company than anything else, climbing out the window to bang some other lady and shit like that.