A Review, by Deannalynn Arzola

Edgar Allan Poe was forced to sustain his and Virginia's life by critiquing some of his oldest and dearest friends. He positively loathed doing so, the evidence empirical in the correspondence between he and his writer friends. Elizabeth Barrett Browning quite eloquently wrote to him in a letter saved by The Poe Society, that she completely understood that Eddie was simply doing what he had to and thank heavens he was working in an environment in which he could write. I totally relate to his ambivalence, and while I have been paid to critique other writers' words, I would much rather be on the receiving end of that deal.
I did, however, read a book yesterday that I simply must discuss. "The Killer Inside Me" by Jim Thompson is a Texas crime noir novel set in 1950's West Texas. It is 231 pages; I read it in five hours. I cannot remember the last time I actually finished an entire book in one sitting. This is one of the best books I have ever read. The words did not just flow off the pages, one after another, those words, each and every one compelling me to read the next. As I was reading, I almost could not feel that the story was written in three acts. The structure of a story is always highly important to me as a reader and as a writer, however, I don't mind several different styles. In fact, some sentences tell an entire story, and a play in one act can be quite enthralling. It wasn't until I actually got to the third act, the wrap up, that I came to see the story in it's three act structure. 
The third act is where a lot of authors blow it. They may have, and usually do, as one can gather simply by watching a DVD that has alternative endings ("Hide and Seek" comes to mind) have a couple of endings in mind. Even writers like to be surprised by a good ending. Several endings, however, and a NEED to tie it all together can result in endings that seem hurried or in-concise. Thomson, however, continues through the third act of his story with the same chilling first person account, never changing his protagonist's dialogue, introspection or behavior. Words that do flow, as do Thompson's,  just make for a much easier read.
What stunned me even more than the prose and structure of the story; more fascinating than the way the story is told, is the protagonist. His name is Lou. If you want to read this book yourself, then, by all means, go to Amazon.com and buy it, because I am about to dissect this character voraciously and thoroughly.
Lou is a twenty-nine year old sheriff's deputy in small West Texas town, population- 50,000. His father, now deceased, was the town doctor, in a town where everybody knows everybody, and the population has grown with him. Lou was born in 1923, when the town could only brag a population of 5,000. Lou's father kept a very tight grip on his son, as Dr. Ford's specialty is psychiatry, and the old doc sees the characteristic traits of a sociopath in his son at a very early age. In an attempt to assist the so-called mental healing process along, Dr. Ford adopts a foster boy, about Lou's age (three and four, respectively). In the meantime, Lou bonds with their housekeeper, a seeming replacement for his deceased mother, and is betrayed by her when she begins molesting him. When Lou is a teen, however, his demons begin to take shape and he rapes and kills a three year old girl in the family barn. As the foster brother is a slight bit younger, he takes the rap and goes to juvenile hall. Knowing it is his son who perpetrated the crime, Dr. Ford never lets Lou out of his sight.
Why is Lou sociopathic? Number one, Lou lost his mother in infancy. He had no one with whom to bond. Number two, his father was a caring and nurturing doctor, leaving Lou to appreciate that he himself was not nurtured, while at the same time, his father's patients were. Number three, Lou was molested by the family maid; an ending that only came about when Lou and the maid were discovered in the act (of the abuse). She was promptly fired; Lou was chastised and blamed for the "incident". Number four, an outsider was brought into the fold of a man who never gave Lou the patriarchal love he so greatly desired. We, the reader are unaware of the reasoning behind the loss of the mother, however, one could certainly interpret she committed suicide, or was, on some level having an organic personality disorder. Nature, however, in Lou's case, we just don't know. I suppose Mr. Thompson left the interpretation to the reader for the sake of being a crime writer. A little mystery is definitely in order in crime writing, and Thompson provides it in spades.
Lou has quieted his demons over the past fifteen years and has become somewhat of the town's prince charming. Thompson reminds us that Lou is a sociopath by the way he is received by the townsfolk versus his own dialogue when alone. It is all an act, and, apparently a pretty good one, however, Lou's detractors, and there really are only two, advise him that he is spreading it on too thick; a lovely little nod to Shakespeare's Hamlet, I thought. As Lou is now twenty-nine, we find him in a long-term relationship with the girl next door, and she is smitten; has been her entire life. She is almost thirty, still lives with her parents, is in love with the only man she's ever been with. (She also looks eerily like the former maid, as does one of Lou's other victims, an observation he himself makes, "I was killing HER, over and over...") The two sides of the coin with Lou's spellbound lover is that she knows deep within that Lou is a liar and a cheat, however, she is charmed beyond understanding and addicted to him (or her illusion of him, if you will), even when he literally blames her for putting him in a mood when she confronts him with a lie. Lou is actually such an apathetic asshole the he beats her to death in his kitchen with his fists on the night they are to be wed.
Mr. Thompson again reminds us what sociopath his narrator is when Lou says in first person, "I could feel a hand touching my boot, I tried to kick it away, yet it just clung harder. I dragged that hand three feet before it finally let go.", in regards to his girl taking too long to die before his fall guy is to arrive, unbeknownst. Thompson's portrayal of Lou as a sociopath is spot on, on every level. I read this book, yesterday, because a writer should always read, and I learn a plethora of information from my favorite authors, as I did with, well, I should say, I was confirmed in my own understanding of sociopathy with Thompson's Lou Ford. I am currently writing my own crime story/love story (a woman asked me today if my novel was a love story, "Why, yes, in fact it is, it's about a woman who is in love with a serial killer, it truly IS about their relationship...", needless to say, she was a bit perplexed), and I needed a break and this book is on my list of books to read when writing my character, my antagonist, my serial killer. I am also able to draw from the well of personal experience, and while the folks I know who exhibit the characteristics of a sociopath do not kill people for the fun of it or for any other matter, I presume, I will say that they do exhibit the behavior Lou exhibits. They wear a mask, the are the best actors, they are wounded and use that pain to get what they want, they are addictive lovers, they are beguiling and compelling, they are not familiar with empathy and that is a hard emotion for them to pretend to have so they cause allot of pain for their loved ones that they don't even realize they are hurting, they are unable to sit still, they are brilliant, they can lie on a dime, they are passionate, they are well versed in just about everything, they say what they know wants to be heard, and they do that because that is how they show their affection for you and everybody loves 'em. Thompson told us how a sociopath feels. For god's sake, if that isn't something even a sociopath can't do.
My curtsy to Jim Thompson, who for if no other reason than to enlighten us to the mind of a killer, deserves to be honored. Read this book. It will haunt you with the whispers of darkness and you will enjoy the haunting. 

p.s.
Kubrick was right! 

*just a little book report on "The Killer Inside Me" by Jim Thompson, 
by Deannalynn Arzola