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    The Killer Inside Me
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    The Killer Inside Me
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    The Killer Inside Me
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Killer Inside Me

    Written by Jim Thompson

    Narrated by Kevin T. Collins

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Everyone in the small town of Central City, Texas loves Lou Ford. A deputy sheriff, Lou's known to the small-time criminals, the real-estate entrepreneurs, and all of his coworkers--the low-lifes, the big-timers, and everyone in-between--as the nicest guy around. He may not be the brightest or the most interesting man in town, but nevertheless, he's the kind of officer you're happy to have keeping your streets safe. The sort of man you might even wish your daughter would end up with someday.

    But behind the platitudes and glad-handing lurks a monster the likes of which few have seen. An urge that has already claimed multiple lives, and cost Lou his brother Mike, a self-sacrificing construction worker fell to his death on the job in what was anything but an accident. A murder that Lou is determined to avenge--and if innocent people have to die in the process, well, that's perfectly all right with him.

    In THE KILLER INSIDE ME, Thompson goes where few novelists have dared to go, giving us a pitch-black glimpse into the mind of the American Serial Killer years before Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, and Brett Easton Ellis's American Psycho, in the novel that will forever be known as the master performance of one of the greatest crime novelists of all time.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateNov 1, 2011
    ISBN9781611137286
    Unavailable
    The Killer Inside Me
    Author

    Jim Thompson

    Jim Thompson is an internationally published firearms writer, photographer, and consultant with more than five decades of experience as a serious shooter and experimenter. He purchased his first M1 in 1963. His dedication to precise historical research combined with his practical, empirical insight has yielded significant contributions to the fields of military history and weapons development. He resides in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

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    Reviews for The Killer Inside Me

    4/5

    662 ratings38 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Dexter meets 1950's Texas, which seems on the surface like it might be pretty good, but it just didn't click for me. I got too hung up on the misogyny, and the audio narrator wasn't fabulous, either.
    • 4/5
      This book was slow starting and didn't really hook me from the beginning. It took me over sixty pages to become engrossed, but once I became involved, it was fast reading from there. This book is incredibly disturbing. You find yourself sympathizing and agreeing with a schizophrenic murderer. The book was great and the way that Thompson let the events unfold in front of you, never letting you know too much at a time, was absolutely phenomenal. If you can make it through those initial chapters, trust me, you're in for a hell of a book.
    • 4/5
      This was a dark book. It holds up pretty well but I am not always a fan of some of the noir conventions. Not a feel good book in any way. Don't read this if you need something light and peppy. I will admit I am surprised it took me so long to read it. This is the type of mystery I would have swallowed whole as a kid.
    • 5/5
      Jim Thompson's The Killer Inside Me is a perfect novel of American Noir fiction. It is truly one of the greatest works of its respective genre to ever be published.

      Hard-boiled in plot, and bone-chillingly cold in both spiritual and human character, the story is witnessed through the narrative of its protagonist, deputy Lou Ford of Texas, who "appears" normal on the surface, but beneath the facade lies a perverse, pedophilic, depraved and murderous sociopath.

      On the contrary, deputy Lou is a most beloved fixture in his community; known and highly respected by both the unlawful and law-abiding alike: fellow law enforcement officers, entrepreneurs, big-time criminals, small-time criminals, families, educators, etc., etc. Everybody loves deputy Lou...

      A timeless cult classic, The Killer Inside Me is five-star worthy, and not to be without.
    • 4/5
      In a word (or two): Essential noir.The narrator, Lou, is a sheriff's deputy in a small west Texas oil town. He appears to be affable, eager to help, and somewhat dim-witted. He is actually a psychopathic killer. The question is, when will the people around him discover what he really is.This book is fast-paced, well written, and utterly believable.
    • 5/5
      Good, easy read. Moves at a fast pace w/ the ending somewhat predictable, yet still very, very good.
    • 5/5
      Lovely and horrendous.
    • 4/5
      This book was slow starting and didn't really hook me from the beginning. It took me over sixty pages to become engrossed, but once I became involved, it was fast reading from there. This book is incredibly disturbing. You find yourself sympathizing and agreeing with a schizophrenic murderer. The book was great and the way that Thompson let the events unfold in front of you, never letting you know too much at a time, was absolutely phenomenal. If you can make it through those initial chapters, trust me, you're in for a hell of a book.
    • 4/5
      Like most of Thompson's books, this one is a real downer, but watching this bad sheriff's deputy as he goes his merry way is certainly compelling. Even his indisputable intelligence can't humanize him in light of the cold-blooded way he treats others. Certainly one of the essential noir experiences, but not an altogether pleasant one.
    • 5/5
      What a wonderful story. Much liked pillar of the community Sheriff Lou Ford is a little bit slow and boring but the people of the Texas town like him. But they don't know about the sickness that nearly got him put away when he was young. And now Lou is loosing control to the sickness again and nobody is there to keep an eye on him. And when too many people of the town end up dead his colleagues and friends begin to wonder.This brilliantly written suspense story takes you into the mind of Lou so you are with him at all times and slowly come to understand his way of thinking. You start believing his logic, following his warped path of justification until you want him to succeed and come out the winner. That's what I liked most about this novel, because really you should detest this person, want him put away - I found my self agreeing with his way of reasoning way too often. Well written, fantastic story, very interesting characters.
    • 4/5
      A psychopath narrates the events as those around him who've trusted him their whole lives start to understand what he is. He murders, he lies, he puts on a terrific act, but it all starts to catch up to him. And this is no Dexter Morgan. This is a killer who is really disturbing, and who is obviously shaped by awful events in his childhood.The way the book is written you can see the cracks forming in his facade, and the lies he tells himself to stop himself from seeing them. You witness the way he tries to manipulate those around him, when it works and when it doesn't. Although it's not very fun to experience these things with the guy, it's very well written. Because it's so subtle it feels true. And the book ends in a way that you could interpret a few ways. Maybe he paid his dues, or maybe he won. As the psychopath might say, it all depends on where you're standing.I wouldn't recommend this book unless you're interested in this kind of mental illness, or interested in very realistically disturbing protagonists. I'm glad I read it, but it's a difficult thing to read. It gets four stars from me because it does what it does so well.
    • 3/5
      This is not a nice book. Indeed, I think Stanley Kubrick blurb gets it that this is a very good "first-person story of a criminally warped mind". The narrative breaks down a little near the end, and I am not sure what to make of the ending.
    • 5/5
      A masterpiece. Short and straight to the guts and the brains. This book is a masterclass on how to explore a character's mind. Not one single line is cliched or stereotipical and it makes the character and his broken mind so much more real for that. I never felt the "hand of the author" for one single page. This was the main character talking to me all the way through.
    • 4/5
      I don't know how I managed to read so many books about fictional serial killers without ever hearing about Jim Thompson until now. This book is a classic, and for good reason: this is one of the first books of its kind. Jim Thompson was wading into mostly unexplored waters when he authored this book.Today, with Hannibal Lecter and Dexter Morgan and other well-known fictional sociopaths, readers might find this book rather simplistic and dated. Probably hindered by the time's sensibilities, Thompson doesn't go into gory detail, which does make things a bit confusing at times. But I thought the book was well-worth sticking with, especially after about page 70, when the story really started to grow on me.I won't say much about the plot, since I don't want to spoil anyone. The main character, Lou Ford, is a small-town sheriff's deputy who has a dark secret that has been lying dormant inside of him for years. But now, having the chance for revenge, he acts upon the "sickness" that he has kept hidden from the world for so long, which makes his carefully-constructed world start to unravel. I usually guess endings pretty easily, but I didn't guess this one (perhaps I should have, but I was just so caught up in wondering whether Lou would get away with his crimes or not).I'd recommend this to anyone who likes fiction about serial killers.
    • 3/5
      Really good, simple book that kept drawing you in more and more into the twisted mind of a killer and he spiralled down a path of dispare trying to clean up the mess he created anlong the way and justifing every move at the right thing to do.
    • 5/5
      Deputy sheriff Lou Ford actually is a nice successful person. He's not fooling anybody. But sometimes he has a psychological need to torment and kill which he does in a calculating matter of fact sort of way. Hannibal Lecter has nothing on this character and its the best crime novel I've ever read. It's got a frightening realism that's missing from Lehane's Shutter Island or Harris's Silence of the Lambs and the way small town social judgements protect him right to the end is completely convincing.
    • 4/5
      A stunning portrait of a psychopath from the psychopath's point of view. Even as the horrifying details of his "sickness" and the killing that results are narrated you somehow understand the logic of his crimes. Thompson manages to make you forget how scary this man really is.
    • 4/5
      This book was slow starting and didn't really hook me from the beginning. It took me over sixty pages to become engrossed, but once I became involved, it was fast reading from there. This book is incredibly disturbing. You find yourself sympathizing and agreeing with a schizophrenic murderer. The book was great and the way that Thompson let the events unfold in front of you, never letting you know too much at a time, was absolutely phenomenal. If you can make it through those initial chapters, trust me, you're in for a hell of a book.
    • 4/5
      Creepy...yeah creepy is the appropriate adjective I'm looking for to accurately describe Jim Thompson's thriller "The Killer Inside of Me." This tale resonated with me perhaps due to my closeness to someone (also a murderer) who compartmentalizes eerily similar to the antihero Lou Ford. I've personally witnessed many of the same logical and seemingly cogent arguments to justify horrible actions that have harmed and destroyed the lives of too many people. That Mr. Thompson was able to capture this internal dialogue so accurately was outstanding. I can't help but think that Mr. Thompson must have had some first-hand experience with victimizers. In any case, I look forward to getting another chilling novel from Mr. Thompson.
    • 5/5
      This is one of the best books I've ever read. It flows so well, and the little bits of discovery as the story progresses are fulfilling.
    • 4/5
      The best Jim Thompson book, and one of the best pulp's I've ever read.
    • 4/5
      The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson A great book!

      I just loved the understated monologue about killing people and the matter of factness about the necessity to do so. I also really liked how the main protagonist Deputy Ford, never got it quite right.What is it about a book that can capture the atmosphere and essence of small town life so well. I almost felt like I was there. I just loved the myopic ineluctable journey to the very end of things.I kinda understand that this was one of the earliest examples of the genre but I never let that spoil it for me.Bloody good read.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book in the end. It read quite quickly, despite me finding the style quite difficult at first. I enjoyed the ending and the way in which the cause of the events was revealed throughout the book. I also found it interesting the way in which I was rooting for the killer, even though he had obviously done terrible things. The first person style really meant a lot of detachment from the actions of Lou Ford. Elements reminded me a lot of American Psycho. =
    • 5/5
      The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson is the story of a crime as seen through the eyes of the perpetrator. His depravity is laid out for the reader to absorb and as the lies and bloodshed escalate, we are drawn deeper into how the mind of a sociopath works. Lou Ford is a fascinating character and author Jim Thompson has captured his twisted personality perfectly.Before the book is through he is responsible for a number of deaths, some directly and some by association. This is a deeply damaged misogynist who kills men who are in his way, but he beats women to death for pure pleasure. Lou Ford has spent many years suppressing his violent wants and needs but when he meets prostitute Joyce Lakeland, he unleashes his inner feelings and allows his sickness to see the light of day. Although he tries to explain and justify his crimes, the reader can feel his pleasure and pride in his vicious murders. The Killer Inside Me is both creative and original, and has been imitated many times since it’s original publication in 1952. Jim Thompson has created an unforgettable character in Lou Ford with his good ol’ boy mask that isn’t quite able to hide the monster underneath.
    • 4/5
      Twenty-nine-year-old Lou Ford is a Deputy Sheriff from the West Texas town of Central City. Lou, who is in a long-term relationship with childhood sweetheart Amy Stanton, is a hard-working, trustworthy, simple character with a keenness for clichés; at least this is how he is perceived to be by his community. In reality Lou is a sociopath with a dark secret that he has been hiding since childhood.The story follows the highly intelligent, manipulative and cold-blooded psychopathic killer Lou. Written from the first-person perspective, the book offers a chilling yet compelling insight into the mind of a psychopath. A deranged, deeply disturbed mind capable of meticulous, deviant planning. A mind acutely aware of its sociopathic nature and sadomasochistic tendencies, but also on occasion prone to pithy and at times humorous observations about others.The author both engrosses and disturbs the reader through the utilisation of realistic, simple prose, a raw writing style and an engaging plot. Widely acclaimed as something of a master of suspense, Thompson expertly escalates the tension with a quick moving plot and by providing only enough detail for context.Unrelenting in its bleakness, pessimism and ruthlessness, The Killer Inside Me is a thought-provoking and suspenseful book that has transcended pulp fiction to become a widely acclaimed literary work.
    • 3/5
      This is a darker, slightly loopier granddaddy of TV's Dexter. Stop me if this sounds familiar: a law-enforcement officer, traumatized in childhood and subsequently watched closely by his father, splits his adult days between being a beloved community cornball and sadistically murdering people… and, in the most interesting twist here, we get to see it all from his perspective. It's to Thompson's credit that he mostly pulls this off—I found myself nearly agreeing with the deranged murderer that yes, this person in front of him totally needed to die. What might drag down the book for you a bit are Thompson's excesses. He gets carried away with beat-style passages, his plot is needlessly complicated in the classic noir fashion, and his characters are often painted so broadly you'll roll your eyes. If you think of it as genre writing, you'll forgive these flaws, as they're par for the course. It's up to you to decide if Thompson's violent, unapologetically evil story is a weak noir novel, or an interestingly twisted one. I'm still not fully decided myself.
    • 5/5
      Well, the title says it all! The man character is the killer in question, and he narrates the tale. Creepy, violent, and premeditated! Chapter 18 is exceptionally well written! It is muddled and cloudy, showing the killer's mind and the frenzied state he lives in. Whew! My favorite Jim Thompson book to date!
    • 4/5
      Not just the usual noir; the cynicism and violence are dialed up a notch, and, as a result, not the sort of book I normally read. However, I was impressed by the writing and the realism of the protagonist Lou Ford, who describes himself as a paranoid schizophrenic but is actually closer to a violent psychopath. Lou reminded me a great deal of Dexter (I've only seen the series, not read the books), in that both hide behind authority, nice guy personas, and cliches, while having little understanding of normal humans or social interaction. While Dexter is portrayed as a sort of kinder, gentler nutball, though, Lou is presented as a deeply diseased man and is much more believable and thus much more disturbing--probably everyone has met a Lou Ford or two without (hopefully) knowing it.
    • 3/5
      The Killer Inside - Jim Thompson ***I had never heard of Jim Thompson, but browsing in a bookshop came across this. Stephen King recommended the author on the cover so I decided to pick it up and give it a try. I was surprised that it was written so long ago (1952) but I am quite a fan of the Noir period. James M Cain has to be one of most recently discovered favourite authors.What is it about?The book is told through the eyes of a small town deputy by the name of Lou Ford, a man who has created a fake persona as a slightly slow but lovable member of the community. We experience his paranoia and disturbed view of the world that leads him into a killing spree. Fuelled by past events from his childhood Ford meticulously plans each murder, but how long will it be before he is found out? What did I like?The action when it comes is very vivid, Thompson leaves very little to the imagination as we are described blow by blow the injuries inflicted on Ford's victims. I enjoyed the way that we are only allowed to experience Ford's own thoughts, this left me second guessing along with him whether or not the other characters were believing his stories or not. It was interesting to see how he perceived each situation and as his mental disease became more apparent to the reader, I also found myself looking at past events in a new light.What didn't I like?I understand the whole noir genre, and the need to keep language short and direct, but for me the novel was just a little too extreme. At times I lost myself in the plot and wasn't entirely sure what was happening. I admit, maybe this was just as much down to me as the author, but for me it spoilt the flow of the novel. Also I wish the author had explored Lou's early life a little more especially as the events directly related to his present day frame of mind. I love the character of Lou, but can't but help wonder what more have become if Cormac McCarthy had got his hands on him. Reminds me more than little of Child of God.Anyway, by no means a poor read, just didn't hit enough buttons for me to be able to give it more than 3 stars. Looking at Amazon it has more than it's fair share of 5 star reviews so I am willing to accept that the fault is likely to be with me. I don't think I will actively seek out any more of Thompson's works, but if one 'fell' into my lap I would possibly give it a try.
    • 4/5
      Lou Ford is a young deputy sheriff with a big secret. He has what he calls a "sickness." In truth, he is a sexual sadist and a homicidal sociopath. After having rough sex with a prostitute he finds all of his urges have come back. Years earlier he attacked a child. When his foster brother took the blame for the crime, Lou thought his secret was safe, especially when his brother died in a construction "accident." He got away with it until he decided to blackmail the men who supposedly murdered his brother. Things get complicated and the bodies start piling up. Ford is a strange man (never mind the fact he's a killer). He speaks in cliches all the time and he has an ego the size of Alaska. He thinks that he has covered up each and every crime and hasn't left a shred of evidence that could implicate him in any way. It's strange to read this in the 21st century. So many different forensic techniques we take for granted today (DNA, for one) were not available back in the 1950s. Even methods like the polygraph and fingerprinting have been greatly improved since their invention.