$21.00

A short story in the October 1, 1923 issue of "Black Mask" magazine introduced Hammett's character, the Continental Op, a nameless detective who tells his tale in the first person and would become the prototype for every hardboiled detective in noir fiction. That short story - "Arson Plus" - was wildly popular with readers and Hammett would go on to write over 30 more Continental Op short stories which became the basis for his first two novels, "Red Harvest" and "The Dain Curse". Both were originally serialized in "Black Mask".

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$14.99

1929 - 1930: The September, 1929 issue of "Black Mask" magazine published the first chapter of a new serialized Hammett novel and Sam Spade was introduced to the world. The archetypal cynical private eye, Hammett's character is now probably indelibly associated with Humphrey Bogart, who played Spade in the iconic 1941 film directed by John Huston which co-starred Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet.

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1934 - Still acclaimed as one of the best works of crime fiction of the 20th century, James M. Cain's novel of the consequences of an illicit love affair has been adapted for motion pictures seven times. The third filming (1946) starring Lana Turner and John Garfield is a film noir classic.

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1937 - Edward Anderson's novel of a young convict on the run was made into the 1948 film noir classic "They Live by Night", starring Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell.

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1934 / 1952 - This new edition of two long-out-of-print novels by one of noir's masters received a rapturous response from literary critics upon the 2006 republication. Set in New York City, "Brain Guy" tells the tale of a rent collector turned criminal mastermind. The post-war "Plunder" is aptly titled: two AWOL American soldiers pillage and plunder their way through Manila, Philippines.

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1954 / 1955 - Two more of Benjamin Appel's novels cement his reputation as one of noir's best writers. Appel authored over forty books and hundreds of short stories, many of which cry out for film adaptations.

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One of the quintessential authors of noir fiction, Raymond Chandler introduced the private investigator Philip Marlowe to the world in his 1939 debut novel. Two movie adaptations of "The Big Sleep": the 1946 Howard Hawks film starring Humphrey Bogart and the 1978 film starring another film noir icon, Robert Mitchum. Over the next two decades, Chandler delivered six more novels and a collection of short stories featuring Philip Marlowe, ensuring the Los Angeles detective's place in the pantheon of noir heroes. Chandler's Marlowe novel, "Farewell, My Lovely" (1940) was filmed as "Murder, My Sweet" and is screened at the 2025 Noir City Film Festival on Friday, January 31 @ 9:15 pm.

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1933 - 1958: Twenty-five short stories by one of noir's grand masters culled from magazines such as "Black Mask", Dime Detective", "The Saturday Evening Post", and "The Atlantic Monthly".

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1939 - A hitchhiking musician is blackmailed by a scheming seductress into an impersonation plot with unpredictable consequences. The movie version was filmed in 1945 and is screened on Wednesday, January 29 @ 7:00 pm at the 2025 Noir City Film Festival.

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1942 - Nazi spies pursue a Spanish Civil War veteran in this nail-biter by Dorothy B. Hughes who ranks with Raymond Chandler and Patricia Highsmith as a master of mid-century noir. Filmed in 1943 starring John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, Patricia Morison, and Walter Slezak. Other novels by Hughes include "In a Lonely Place" (1947) - filmed in 1950 by director Nicholas Ray and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame and "Ride the Pink Horse" (1946) - filmed in 1947 by actor/director Robert Montgomery who also starred in it.

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A collection of short stories by one of the most prolific crime writers of the golden age of noir. Elizabeth Sanxay Holding was hailed by Raymond Chandler as "the top suspense writer of them all". Her novel, "The Blank Wall" - filmed in 1949 as "This Reckless Moment" and starring James Mason and Joan Bennett - is screened at the 2025 Noir City Film Festival on Thursday, January 30 @ 7:00 pm.

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$12.95

Written during the early 1950s, these four Woolrich novellas prove that nobody could ratchet up tension and suspense like Cornell Woolrich! Dozens of films from his prolific output of novels and short stories have been adapted for the screen: His novel "The Black Curtain" was filmed as "Street of Chance" (1942) starring Burgess Meredith. His novel "Phantom Lady" became the first film (1944) produced by Alfred Hitchcock protégé Joan Harrison and is screened at the 2025 Noir City Film Festival on Thursday, January 30 @ 9:00 pm. His short story "It Had to Be Murder" was adapted into the 1954 Hitchcock classic "Rear Window" starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly. His "Night Has a Thousand Eyes" became the 1948 film starring Edward G. Robinson.

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Woolrich's last novel - left unfinished at his death in 1968 and completed by celebrated crime novelist, Lawrence Block. Hailed as "the most important mystery novel of the year, a truly bravura performance by Woolrich and Block" upon its release in 1988, this lost gem is finally back in print!

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1941 / 1949 - A noteworthy screenwriter as well as a novelist, Burnett and co-writer John Huston adapted his "High Sierra" into the 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart. The film's success led to Huston transitioning from screenwriter to director. Burnett then adapted "The Asphalt Jungle" into the 1950 film directed by Huston and starring that other film noir icon, Sterling Hayden. In 1955, Warner Bros. released another screen treatment of "High Sierra" starring Jack Palance, Shelley Winters, Lee Marvin, and Lon Chaney Jr. under the title "I Died a Thousand Times".

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1947 - After a decade of churning out hundreds of short stories for the pulp magazines of the era, Fredric Brown won the 1948 Edgar Award for this, his first full-length novel. A page-turning tour through the seamy Chicago underworld, it is one of noir's masterpieces.

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$17.20

1952 / 1950 - Two more of Fredric Brown's works highlight his exceptional talent. "The Screaming Mimi" was adapted into the 1958 film "Screaming Mimi" starring Anita Ekberg and Gypsy Rose Lee. (Currently undergoing somewhat of a rediscovery, Fredric Brown remains one of the very few authors to achieve equal prominence as both a novelist and a short story writer in both mystery and science fiction genres with many of his works coming back into print. "What Mad Universe" and "Martians Go Home" are noteworthy examples of his science fiction novels.)

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1947 / 1950 / 1950 - Beginning with "I, the Jury", Spillane's first three novels introduced Spillane's most famous character, the hardboiled detective with a permanent chip on his shoulder, Mike Hammer. Spillane's novels are among the most successful noir books ever published. Motion picture adaptations include the 1953 3-D film of "I, the Jury" starring Biff Elliot ("So raw... so big... so full of naked fury... it had to be filmed in 3-D!") and the 1957 film of "My Gun Is Quick" starring Robert Bray.

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$14.20

1950 - Bruno Fischer was one of the most successful noir authors of the 1950s (the Golden Age of Noir Fiction). Readers of the time had never before encountered a novel so rife with psychological horror, but this, Fischer's first title for Gold Medal Books, was a runaway success selling almost two million copies.

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1952 - Cops staking out a bank robber's hideout find they've bitten off more than they can chew. "The Night Watch" was the source (along with Bill Ballinger's "Rafferty") of the 1954 noir classic film "Pushover" starring Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak in her first credited role.

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1952 - Jim Thompson's tale of blackmail and revenge has been acclaimed as "one of the most blistering and uncompromising crime novels ever written". In 1976, the novel was the basis for the neo-noir film starring Stacy Keach as the sociopathic deputy sheriff.

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1958 - A professional thief and his wife go on the run after a bank robbery goes horribly wrong. The twists and turns of their escape lead them (almost literally) to hell. The novel has been adapted into films twice: in 1972 (starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw) and in 1994 (starring Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger). Both films changed the novel's ending which critics had singled out for raves upon the book's first publication.

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1963 - There is arguably no better fictional treatment of sociopathic con artists than this chilling masterpiece. The 1990 film produced by Martin Scorsese and starring John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, and Annette Bening, is hailed as one of the best neo-noir films ever made.

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1955 - The first of Patricia Highsmith's five stellar novels featuring Tom Ripley, a high-functioning sociopath who justifies his crimes with the best of intentions. One of the most memorable anti-heroes in noir fiction, Ripley manages to get readers rooting for his success, no matter how heinous his deceits, frauds, and murders. Two motion picture adaptations: the 1960 French film "Plein soleil" ("Purple Noon") starring Alain Delon as Ripley, and the 1999 film (same title as the book) starring Matt Damon in the title role and co-starring Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow.

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1970 - In this second of the five Ripley novels, Ripley emerges in the south of France with a wealthy wife, a beautiful estate, and a penchant for enhancing his art collection by any means necessary. Adapted to the 2005 film of the same name directed by Roger Spottiswoode and starring Barry Pepper and Willem Defoe.

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1974 - The third of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels finds Tom Ripley in comfortable married middle age - but with all his amoral criminal talents still intact. Two neo-noir film adaptations: the 1977 film "The American Friend" starring Dennis Hopper and the 2002 film (same title as the book) starring John Malkovich.

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