Cape Fear: A Novel

This tidy novel by John D. MacDonald would probably be lost today in the tidal wave of 20th-century thrillers and mysteries, if it weren't for the 1962 movie version with Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck (and the 1991 remake by Martin Scorsese, which I have not seen). While the book has a bit less action than the movie, it does develop the characters in much more interesting ways. The Sam of the book, for example, is more human and less steely jawed than Gregory Peck's portrayal, while his wife has more of a take-charge attitude than Polly Bergen displayed. We also learn more about the villain than the 1962 movie revealed. The plot and various details of the setting are quite different from the 1962 movie. The setting is not specific (and has nothing to do with the Cape Fear River). The climax and the events leading up to it are especially unlike the movie (a nice surprise). One other aspect of the book I need to comment on: MacDonald's portrayal of law practice is a little off the mark. First, in a conversation with one of his law partners, Sam is told that he's the token honest man in the firm, that every law firm has one, and that most lawyers are continually bending the rules. In reality, most lawyers are very particular about the rules; the rule-benders and corner-cutters are the minority. Second, at one point Sam calls his partner to "ask" if he can take a week off. Law-firm partners (especially in a small firm like Sam's) are all "bosses"; they don't need to ask each other for permission to take time off. (They may ask another partner if s/he wouldn't mind covering a matter while they're gone, but that's not what Sam was doing.) In any event, those are minor quibbles.

'Cape Fear' by John MacDonald equates to so many mystery novels found on supermarket shelves nowadays. That is, there is a formulaic plot, some honest to goodness suspense, and one getting the sense of reading the book before (, or perhaps seeing it on television). Although the book is set in the 1950s and has a dated feel to it, I still found it suspenseful and the story largely credible. So what about the story? Well it is only roughly similar to the film adaptations. We have and "Ozzie & Harriet"-type of family who are stalked by a crazed psychopath and sexual predator. It seems that "Ozzie" was instrumental in sending Mr Psycho to the clink because he witnessed him raping a teenager. Fast forward fifteen years and we have our wholesome family, now with a nubile fifteen year old daughter, scared witless. But in the end they do collect their wits in order to survive (...sorry, no spoilers). Bottom line: a reasonably good read that probably would have gone out of print if not due to the legacy of the film adaptations.

This is a good read and MacDonald has an easy to read prose style. This is an enjoyable but not gripping book. I liked it but it is not a grab you by the shirt collar suspense book.

CAPE FEAR (formerly THE EXECUTIONERS, which was somewhat of a spoiler title and better changed) is one of prolific author John D. MacDonald's many classic thrillers. MacDonald, who brought the world Travis McGee, has written a short, taut frightening tale of a homicidal stalker. In 1943 while overseas, JAG Lieutenant Sam Bowden stopped the rape of an Aussie Sheila and helped to convict one Sergeant Max Cady, sending him up for life at Leavenworth. But now it's 1957, Bowden is comfortably practicing law in the Hudson Valley and environs, and Max Cady's sentence has been commuted. Cady smashes Bowden's idyllic Eisenhower-era life to bits by beginning the slow and deliberate hunt of his wife and children, while Sam's beloved legal system is paralyzed by its own sense of fairness. A phenomenally frightening book which was made into 1962's terrifying film CAPE FEAR starring Gregory Peck (as Bowden) and Robert Mitchum (as Cady), and 1991's remake starring Nick Nolte and Robert DeNiro, CAPE FEAR is one of those rare books that makes you shiver---and the Peck/Mitchum version particularly is even more effective, one of the best book-to-film translations ever. Well worth reading (and/or seeing) CAPE FEAR lives all the way up to its name.

Cape Fear is a great book. I think it is the best I've ever written. In this story, convicted rapist Max Cady is released from prison and goes after the star witness against him, a lawyer, Sam Bowden. Bowden has to defend his family from Cady before he kills them all. I would reccommend this book to anyone.