The Kill-Off

As he did to magnificent effect a few years earlier in The Criminal, Jim Thompson utilizes the unusual technique of multiple character first person narration in The Kill-Off. This fascinating book consists of 12 chapters and each chapter is narrated by a different individual. The Kill-Off's considerable strength lies in Thompson's remarkable ability to reveal each narrator's internal life using realistic dialogue and vivid introspection. Thompson is not satisfied in just demonstrating these characters' superficial warts and blemishes. No, Thompson goes far beyond just that. He skillfully reveals the gaping wounds in the psyches of his characters so as to allow the reader an unobstructed view into their claustrophobic and often hideous lives. The novel's plot revolves around the death of a town's resident busybody. Of course the purpose of plot in a book such as this is merely to serve as a lattice on which the various character sketches can be hung. Consequently the danger is that too much plot will get in the way. And that's what makes The Kill-Off only a very good novel as compared to The Criminal which is a great novel. The plot of The Criminal is an extremely rudimentary one. This has the advantage of allowing the reader to get to know the characters without worrying too much about the plausibility of specific events and plot devices. The plot of the Kill-Off is a somewhat more complicated one and as such diverts the reader's attention from the book's main strength, its wonderfully and richly drawn cast of characters. Jim Thompson's unique ability to brazenly and unapologetically reveal the ugly side of human existence is very much at work in this little known and underappreciated book. Well worth reading.

Like so many of Jim Thompson's wonderful novels, 'The Kill-Off' is a very well-observed critique of downtrodden rural America where everyone has a secret, a bleak outlook for the future, a tendency to drink too much, and where the images of Norman Rockwell don't fit in. And folks are nasty, gossipy, and simply use each other for their own pitiful gains. But of course 'The Kill-Off' also contains the key hallmark of a Thompson novel - murder. In 'The Kill-Off' we have some anonymous town with several interwoven lives becoming unstiched by malicious gossip being spread by a depressed, home-bound housewife. As the story unfolds, as told from different characters' perspectives, we slowly begin to understand what's going on and a sense of doom (murder) builds nicely. Yes, there is a murder but the reader doesn't know the perpetrator until the very end. Jim Thompson does an excellent job with the characterizations, and the story is cleverly structured. However 'The Kill-Off' does not rank about the author's classics; it is merely very good (for him, excellent for most everyone else). Bottom line: a must read for Jim Thompson fans

THE KILL-OFF is somewhat of a departure from the typical Thompson crime noir novel. The plot centers on a number of characters a small resort town. Luanne Devore is the town gossip and has alienated/angered most of her neighbors. She becomes convinced that someone is going to murder her. Will she be murdered? And if so, who will do it? Each chapter is told from the view point of a different character, and the story-telling style varies accordingly. As a result, some of the chapters are better written and more interesting than others. The book packs in a remarkable number of well-developed characters and side stories. Although the story of Luanne is central, I found myself caught up in the other stories as well. Unfortunately, the ending seems a bit rushed, and the resolution is not entirely satisfactory.I've read about 16 Thompson novels, and THE KILL-OFF is one of the most enjoyable I've read. It's not as carefully crafted and plotted as his best works, but I still really liked it a great deal. Highly recommended.

Thompson tries to get inside the heads of around a dozen characters here; for the most part he does so very convincingly. It is, however, hard to tell a story from twelve different points of view, so the plot kind of gets lost in the shuffle. Since plot was never Thompson's strong suit, this really isn't too much of a loss. By the end of the book, you'll have almost forgotten the mystery, but you'll remember some of the characters for a long time.

Sort of Thompson's version of the Peyton Place/small town soap opera stories that were popular in his day. Which means, of course, that it's pretty twisted. The book's structure is intriguing -- it's told in a series of monologues by the characters, most all of which reveal themselves to be petty, weak, malicious, self-deluding, or insane. (The monologue of the docotor's boy, a psychopath, is a highlight.) The plot ultimately seems a little beside the point, and things end rather abruptly, but that's par for the course for Thompson. Not his top rank work, but certainly belongs in the second tier.