Lorenz Heller’s NIGHT NEVER ENDS uses the classic noir novel set-up: down on his luck photographer Luke Fogarty takes a job at a struggling photography studio run by George and Belle Buckner. George and Belle are not happily married. George drinks too much, is a terrible photographer, and is gradually running the business into the ground. Belle is his beautiful, long-suffering wife, and when Luke goes to work for them, sparks fly immediately between the two of them. Most of the time, you’d think you knew where this story was going, and most of the time you’d be right.
But not in this case. NIGHT NEVER ENDS, which was published originally as a paperback original by Lion Books in 1954 under the pseudonym Frederick Lorenz, takes a different tack. There are some lurid secrets in the background of these characters, and Heller reveals them pretty early on, which ratchets up the tension between them. Although several crimes take place in this book, it’s not really a crime novel. It’s more of a mainstream domestic drama, but it’s so well-written it kept me up later than usual, flipping the pages to find out what was going to happen.
Stark House has just reprinted this one as half of a double volume with Heller’s THREE MUST DIE!, which I read and reviewed a couple of weeks ago. I think I liked NIGHT NEVER ENDS even more. Heller’s characters are always well-developed and interesting, and he had a great touch with memorable lines that do a fine job of capturing the setting and the era. This latest double volume from Stark House gets a high recommendation from me. You can find it on Amazon in e-book and paperback editions.
No comments:
Post a Comment