by Cornell Woolrich
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Anxiety Squared, 2008-10-01
The author is recommended by many as a master of noir fiction. The novel seemed to drag along with too much repetitive internal dialogue. I've read better.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Marshall's tension almost unbearably becomes the reader's own, 2008-01-16
Cornell Woolrich is perhaps best known for his novel REAR WINDOW, famously adapted to film by Alfred Hitchcock. But he created an amazing and enviable body of work that ultimately earned him the title "The Father of Noir Fiction." Indeed, he is often ranked with Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler.
FRIGHT is not one of Woolrich's better known works; published under the pen name "George Hopley," it has been out of print for over five decades. Many of the incidents that occur in this book appear to be written less as chapters and more as vignettes that seem to cut away unexpectedly, revealing what is to occur only later, if at all. It's difficult to tell if Woolrich was utilizing a stylistic tool or simply engaging in whimsy. Yet, taken as a whole, this is as stunning and as suspenseful a work as you might ever read.
Written in 1950, FRIGHT is set in 1915. The social mores, inventions and language that had evolved and devolved between the beginning and the middle of the 20th century seem even more remote and out of place in our current era. Constants remain, however, as is demonstrated when we meet Preston Marshall, a young man who is working for a brokerage firm but who seeks higher status. When he meets and becomes engaged to a young woman named Marjorie Worth, the attainment of his quest seems assured. Marshall, we are informed by our omnipresent narrator, loves Worth, yet there is almost immediately an issue raised as to her motivation. Still, he courts her and proposes, and she accepts.
During one unfortunate evening, however, Marshall goes out for a night of drinking and some weeks later is confronted by a young woman who begins to blackmail him. What starts as one payment becomes several, culminating in a demand made on the day of Marshall and Worth's wedding. Marshall strangles his tormentor, but his problems are just beginning. Unable to tell his new wife what he has done, he fears discovery of his act and accepts employment far from New York.
Yet Marshall feels that every glance is accusatory, every inquiry into his business an investigation. Certain that he is being pursued by the authorities, Marshall reacts badly to each and every occurrence, with the result that his sins are heinously multiplied, and his life --- with a woman who loves him far more than he deserves --- collapses under the weight of them.
Woolrich does an amazing job of transforming Marshall's anxiety and guilt into print, to the extent that Marshall's tension almost unbearably becomes the reader's own. The tragedies that slowly unfold as the result of one bad act portend what is almost certain to be an ominous ending. FRIGHT may well be Hard Case Crime's darkest release to date. It is almost inconceivable that this twisted morality tale has remained out of print for so long.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Literary noir, 2007-12-08
Noir is a term most often associated with films, but it may also be appropriately applied to books. Among the classic mystery writers, there are few who are more noirish than Cornell Woolrich. With his tales of men and women caught up in the quirks of fate, where every turn to break free from doom leads just further down that path, Woolrich's writing epitomizes what noir is all about.
In Fright, the hapless character is Prescott Marshall, who, at least in the beginning of the novel, has everything going his way. He has a decent job with good prospects and is about to marry a beautiful woman who he not only loves but also belongs to a wealthy family. Left on his own for a night, he gets completely drunk and has a one-night stand with a woman who he promptly forgets as soon as he sobers up. Unfortunately, Lorna hasn't forgotten him, and she starts blackmailing him, with the threat of endangering his upcoming marriage.
Prescott thinks he has bought her off, but on his wedding day, she arrives to extort a bit more money. Prescott snaps, beats her to death and stashes her body in his closet as he goes off to his wedding. From the ceremony, he goes directly to his honeymoon and when an opportunity presents itself, he takes new wife Marjorie to another town, never returning to dispose of the body.
Guilt gnaws at him, hanging over everything that happens in his life, and it gets nothing but worse when a stranger appears at his office. Is this man a cop out to find proof that Prescott is a murderer? Certainly, to the increasingly paranoid protagonist, there can be no other explanation.
As in the best noir stories, even when the main character is a killer, it is still possible to find him sympathetic, and Prescott is definitely in that category. Fright is an example of what made Woolrich one of the all-time great mystery writers; even if it is not perfect, it is still pretty good. It may be a little pulpy, and the concluding twist, while nice is a little predictable (then again, it may have been less so back when it was first published in 1950). Little flaws aside, this is still a small gem that is worth reading.
0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
 Hugely Disappointing, 2007-10-24
I'm a big fan of noir in general, and Woolrich specifically, but this particular novel would have been better left un-read. I'm assuming it is one of his earlier works, written along the way to acquiring the craftmanship that makes the bulk of his work so worthwhile. Melodramatic in the extreme, the story and characters are terrifically unappealing. Give it a pass.
1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
 Predictable and disappointing, 2007-10-04
This is definitely lesser Woolrich. Although written in 1950 (under the George Hopley pseudonym), it inexplicably takes place in 1915. It feels very padded...I'd guess that he was paid by the word for this one...and it's all too obvious how it's going to turn out. This might have been effective as an 80 page novella, but stretched to over 250 pages, it becomes quite tedious. Yes, there are several good scenes, but not enough for me to recommend it, so it's no surprise as to why it's been out of print for so long. The cover, however, is great.
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