The Killer is Dying

This is by no means a traditional crime novel, although there is a criminal--a contract killer named Christian--at the heart of the book. The killer is dying and he has taken one last assignment. His target is an unassuming man who works in the office of an insurance company in Phoenix. Christian sc......more

My second read by the author and once again I'm struck by just how much I like noir when it's Sallis' noir. And this book is difficult to like, or at the very least difficult to recommend, due to its overwhelmingly bleak nature. Then again what would one expect from a title like that. The other narr......more

The Killer Is Dying, an unsatisfying bit of hard-boiled noir by James Sallis, is all atmosphere and no terra firma. The story of a hit man who has a terminal illness, it departs from the usual mystery by being written in a highly literary style, with multiple narrators and a lot of interior monologu......more

Meandering, medetative and unselfconciously modern. I can't think of any more words beginning with M to describe this but it was brilliant. Just the kind of terse, punchy prose that I love. Thin on plot and big on story/background but you never feel like you're being lead around the houses. Everythi......more