After Dark, My Sweet

After Dark, My Sweet is Jim Thompson at his most empathetic and character-driven, but perhaps least distinctive. William Collins is an ex-boxer and recently released mental patient (“amiable, polite, patient, but may be very dangerous if aroused,” according to his psychiatric dossier) who joins forces with an alcoholic widow and her uncle to kidnap the son of a wealthy family for ransom. The book was made into a superb 1990 film by James Foley.