There is no system or consistent effort to annotate this list as it has been appearing over the past couple of months, which is unsurprising due to the inherent "fuzzy" nature of "existence" on Facebook; there are sporadic references to the films that have been made out of some of these titles, but that has also been haphazard. (The numbering scheme has proven to be a little bit shaky as well, and is currently off by one...but, hey, that could happen to anyone. And note that one title--Williams's THE HOT SPOT--has been listed twice. It's good, but not THAT good!)
The list also moves around in time, beginning with recent titles, then swooping backwards to engage with once-obscure but now-classic 50s titles from folks familiar to most of us (Goodis, Thompson, Willeford, Williams), then back to the present, and then back further to the original classics (Cain, Burnett).
The entry for Simenon (THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAINS GO BY, the film version of which was part of our aborted SIMENON 2020 series) also contained a comment from a frequent contributor with additional titles, mostly in the NYRB series. I did not include that list due to its lenght, though I added several of that poster's additions to Gary's entries. (Note that our two Simenon films playing at the Roxie on 2/20 are not represented in that display--which is not a criticism, as a full display of Simenon's romans durs would require a sizable collection of group photos in order to be comprehensive: the man was a machine...)
Here is the list as it stands as of 2/2/22:
NWR Author Title
1 Nic Pizzolato GALVESTON
2 Ryan David Jahn THE DISPATCHER
3 James Sallis DRIVE
4 Richard Price THE WHITES
5 Bill Beverly DODGERS
6 Gene Kerrigan THE MIDNIGHT CHOIR
7 Guillermo Arriaga SWEET SCENT OF DEATH
8 Jason Starr LIGHTS OUT
9 Wallace Striby THE HEARTBREAK LOUNGE
10 Massimo Caroltto/Marco Videtta POISONVILLE
11 Charlie Huston THE SHOTGUN RULE
12 Charles Williams THE HOT SPOT
13 Georges Simenon THE MAN WHO WATCH THE TRAINS GO BY
14 Luis Alfredo Garcia Roza THE SILENCE OF THE RAIN
15 A. D. Miller SNOWDROPS
16 David Armstrong NIGHT's BLACK AGENTS
17 Richard Matheson NOIR (three novels of suspense)
18 Lionel White THE BIG CAPER (also STEAL BIG)
19 Bruce Elliott ONE IS A LONELY NUMBER
19 Elliott Chaze BLACK WINGS HAS MY ANGEL
20 Martin Booth A VERY PRIVATE GENTLEMAN
21 Dorothy B. Hughes IN A LONELY PLACE
22 Ted Lewis GET CARTER
23 Charles Willeford PICK-UP
24 Vern E. Smith THE JONES MEN
25 Charles Williams THE HOT SPOT (same as #12
)
26 Willy Vlautin THE MOTEL LIFE
27 Willy Vlautin NORTHLINE
28 George V. Higgins THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE
29 Paul Auster GHOSTS
30 Jim Thompson POP. 1280
31 Charles Willeford COCKFIGHTER
32 Robert Edmond Alter CARNY KILL
33 Ira Levin A KISS BEFORE DYING
34 Sam Reaves DOOLEY'S BACK
35 George Pelecanos THE TURNAROUND
36 George Pelecanos THE BIG BLOWDOWN
37 Patricia Highsmith A SUSPENSION OF MERCY
38 Patricia Highsmith THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY
39 Patricia Highsmith THE BLINDERER
40 Jim Thompson AFTER DARK, MY SWEET
41 Jake Hinkson DRY COUNTY
42 Patrick Modiano MISSING PERSON
43 Edward Bunker NO BEAST SO FIERCE
44 David Goodis SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER
45 Gerald Petievich MONEY MEN/ONE-SHOT DEAL
46 William McGivern THE BIG HEAT (also KILLER ON THE TURNPIKE)
47 Horace McCoy NO POCKETS IN A SHROUD
48 Gene Kerrigan LITTLECDRIMINALS
49 Richard Stark POINT BLANK (aka THE HUNTER)
50 Ryan David Jahn GOOD NEIGHBORS
51 Patricia Highsmith THE TWO FACES OF JANUARY
52 Jim Thompson A SWELL-LOOKING BABE
53 Vladimir Nabokov LAUGHTER IN THE DARK
54 Joseph Koenig FALSE NEGATIVE
55 Benjamin Black THE BLACK-EYED BLONDE
56 David Goodis NIGHTFALL
57 Thomas Perry THE BUTCHER's BOY
58 Richard Lange ANGEL BABY
59 Claudia Piņiero THURSDAY NIGHT
60 William McGivern THE DARKEST HOUR/THE CROOKED FRAME/BUT DEATH RUNS FASTER
61 Ken Bruen VIXEN/CALIBRE
62 Elmore Leonard RUM PUNCH
63 Seymour Shubin ANYONE's MY NAME
64 James M. Cain MILDRED PIERCE
65 James M. Cain DOUBLE INDEMNITY
66 James M. Cain BABY IN THE ICEBOX and other short fiction
67 Gil Brewer WILD TO POSSESS/A TASTE FOR SIN/A DEVIL FOR O'SHAUGNESSY/THE THREE-WAY SPLIT
68 Friedruch Durrenmatt THE PLEDGE
69 Harry Whittington FORGIVE ME, KILLER/A MOMENT TO PREY
70 Massimo Carlotto THE GOODBYE KISS (also THE MASTER OF KNOTS & THE COLUMBIAN MULE)
71 Dorothy B. Hughes THE BLACKBIRDER
72 W. R. Burnett THE ASHPALT JUNGLE
73 Peter Robinson IN THE DARK PLACES
(added since 2/2/22)
74 Robert Bloch PSYCHO
75 Jim Thompson THE GETAWAY
76 Elmore Leonard GET SHORTY (signed!)
77 Harry Whittington YOU'LL DIE NEXT
78 Chester Himes ALL SHOT UP
79 Richard Lewis SWANSEA TERMINAL
80 Jim Thompson SAVAGE NIGHT
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