Savage Night by Jim Thompson

Video review here. Written review below.

Jim Thomspson was born James Myers Thompson in Oklahoma in 1906.

Oklahoma…1906…that would put him close in location and age to one of my favorite musicians and human beings of all time, Woody Guthrie.

I immediately stopped my basic author bio search and looked to see whether the two had ever crossed paths and sure enough they did. In fact if it wasn’t for Woody Guthrie, the world might not have know Jim Thompson.

This is a very dark and romantic background and the exact thing you want to be true after reading a Thompson book.

He was born in an apartment above the Caddo County Jail in 1906. His father “Big Jim” Thompson was a former teacher turned county sheriff. It didn’t last long though as after being accused of embezzlement he took off for Mexico until 1910 when he reunited with his family in Oklahoma City and then onto Fort Worth Texas.

At the age of 19 little Jim Thompson would sometimes work the oil rigs with his father. He was also a bellboy at the Hotel Texas where he would do shady side hustles for guests such as procuring prostitutes, drugs and liquor as this was during prohibition. Unfortunately, he got high on his own supply and joined the non-exclusive club of alcoholism by the time he was 19.

From here he hits the rails as a hobo, a vagrant rail rider. You were probably hoping that this was where he met Woody who did lots of train hopping himself but unfortunately, no.

At the age of 23 he enrolled at the University of Nebraska in 1929 but then dropped out in 1931 due to the Great Depression.

In 1935 he sold his first story, The Strange Death of Eugene Kling to True Detective for the November issue.

Also, around this time is when he joined the Communist Party.

And here is where he is introduced to the hard travelin’ man himself, Woody Guthrie. They had a similar…comrade by the name of Bill Cunningham. No, not our beloved Bill Cunnigham of Pulp 2.0 and Men’s Adventure Quarterly fame! This Bill Cunningham was a Marxist economics professor and fellow “true crime” writer.

He was the director of the Oklahoma Federal Writers Project (alongside Louis L’Amour) but due to his Communist affiliation he was fired.

In 1940 he moved his family to San Diego where he scraped plaster for an airplane manufacturer where he was again investigated for his communist ties.

In 1941 Thompson travels to New York City and meets up again with Woody. He tells the Woodster about a novel he is working on. Woody is intrigued and shows it off to some more of the leftist crew to where it will end up in the hands of the founder of Modern Age Books who in March 1942 would publish Thompsons debut novel Now and on Earth.

Now and on Earth (1942) was a semi-autobiographical novel about Thompson’s time during WW2 when he worked at the airplane manufacturer, alcoholism, family dynamic and the plights of the American worker.

His next novel, Heed the Thunder (1946) is similar in that it would be described as general fiction or the dreaded literature descriptor. The kind of books that say “A novel” on the cover. Which, too each their own but that’s usually an automatic pass for me.

Thankfully for us genre fiction fans here is where he starts writing the good old stuff. The gritty crime novels that he would be known and celebrated for. His next book is Nothing More than Murder (1949)

And that’s enough for this bio. There have been books written about Jim Thompson, his life, his books and his influence on popular culture so if you want to know more check out:

Savage Art: A biography of Jim Thompson (95) by Robert Polito

Jim Thompson: Sleep with the Devil (91) by Michael J McCauley

Difficult Lives (93) by James Sallis. This book was released on Gryphon Books who is owned by our Youtube comrade Gary Lovisi. The book also contained biographies on David Goodis and Chester Himes. It looks like it was rereleased in 2025 by Penguin Random House.

Savage Night by Jim Thomspon

Our protagonist is Carl Bigelow. He has just gotten off the bus at Perdale, a small town ninety-five miles from New York City. The story is told in first person narrative, so we get all of Carl’s inner monologue and The Man is on his mind. The Man, (Capital T, capital M) has hired Carl for a job. It appears that Carl is a hitman and he is in town to knock off Jake Winroy. Winroy was involved with some corrupt members of the government and some nefarious mobsters, including The Man, and he has been running his mouth. Carl’s job is to arrive in town undercover as a student at the local college. He is to rent a room at the Winroy’s house, who have recently opened it up for boarding. The murder should look like an accident, so Carl is to gain everyone’s trust, wait months before making the murder occur and then keep on living his life in Perdale after the “accident.”

This novel is so much more than it seems on the surface. While I was reading it I was like, this is cool, it reminds me of the Orrie Hitt Widow novel I just read; very sleazy with every character covered in moral grime.

And then I finished it.

Closed the cover.

Mouth agape.

This book is a mindfuck. Every time I hear someone talk about Jim Thompson, they say he was bleak, depressing, depraved and nihilistic. That’s what I was ready for and yeah, it was in here, but it wasn’t any different than other books from this genre and era. What got me was the oddness. Whenever I thought I understood the main character’s personality it would change. The reality in the story would become surreal but not dreamlike or trippy, just a little off.

Carl, our main character, is five feet tall. For perspective; 2 inches taller than Danny Devito but I imagine him more like Malcom in the Middle as people are always mistaking him for a kid. He also has woman falling over him. He low key brags at the beginning that the week prior he banged three ladies in a week and the lust continues into this new situation. And no offense to the smaller stature guys out there, I’m sure they can get it in, but I just don’t see that happening at that rate. He is also cold and hard but panics in a second. He is frightened often but can be mean and intimidating also. When an older couple invite him over for dinner, the woman tells him that she wishes they had a child just like him. This grown man, who is a hired killer, almost cries and then daydreams that they are his parents.

There is a woman in this story who is missing half of her leg. At the bottom of the partial leg is a baby sized ankle and foot. Ok, and?? Not a big deal, people are born with deformities. But it goes to a place that reminded me of the little man in the first King of Yellow story.

Those are just a few examples, but the book is littered with them. It’s weird!

It is going to be difficult to talk about without spoilers so if you haven’t read it yet and absolutely plan on it, don’t read any further because even the most minor spoiler would change your perception of the narrative.

Upon arriving at Winroy’s place we meet Jake Winroy’s wife Fay, who after about five min of talk is ready to fall into Carl’s bed.

Settled into his room at the house Carl Bigelow pulls out his copy of True Detective Magazine. There is an article all about a vile serial killer named Charlie Bigger. AKA Little Bigger because of his small stature. The novel isn’t vague about it either. Our main character is Little Bigger. The article is written in this fantastical and sensational way. Which is how those articles were written but what makes it odd is the man it’s about is reading it and basically saying, yep. All true. My opinion at this moment was that it was a little cheesy.

We also meet the other lodger, Mr. Kendall. He comes off as flamboyant and for a second I thought he might also have it for Charlie. He is older and works at the bakery across the street but he used to be a teacher at the college. Charlie’s first instinct about Kendall is that he works for The Man and was sent here to make sure Charlie is doing his job. Or maybe he is another hired killer from someone else. Or maybe the guy is just a guy. Charlie can never make up his mind. Either way the motives of the mysterious Mr. Kendall creates suspense.

Fay Winroy is so enamored with Charlie Bigger that she is willing to help him take her husband Jake out. Once again, this isn’t anything that hasn’t happened in hundreds of noir novels but what’s weird is that it’s never talked about. There is no build up to the decision. No scenes of Charlie talking her into it. It just is.

We have one scene with The Man. He is really built up to be this larger-than-life gangster. In bed with Senators, businessman, street tough hoods and hitmen. There is no escaping The Man. Before the man found out about Charlie Bigger no one knew who he really was. He was considered a crime folktale legend .

The bulk of the novel is Charlie being paranoid. He constantly flips on who to trust. He hooks up with Ruth and has actual feelings for her as he sees himself in her disabilities.

The climax comes out of nowhere and smacks you upside the head. While you are recuperating and trying to get your bearings someone sticks a tab of acid in your mouth, gets behind you and starts pushing you out the door.

Amazing.

https://flatwaterfreepress.org/nebraska-noir-legendary-crime-writer-forgotten-man-in-home-state/ https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=TH013 https://fwtx.com/culture/jim-thompson-lived-hard-and-wrote-even-harder/ https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/nebraska-noir-crime-writing-giant-jim-thompson-forgotten-in-native-state/