What do you think?
Rate this book
The Executioners
vg++ 1st Penguin film tie-in edition paperback book In stock shipped from our UK warehouse
214 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
277 people are currently reading
9247 people want to read
About the author
John D. MacDonald
569 books1,382 followersJohn D. MacDonald was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and educated at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Syracuse and Harvard, where he took an MBA in 1939. During WW2, he rose to the rank of Colonel, and while serving in the Army and in the Far East, sent a short story to his wife for sale, successfully. He served in the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. After the war, he decided to try writing for a year, to see if he could make a living. Over 500 short stories and 70 novels resulted, including 21 Travis McGee novels.
Following complications of an earlier heart bypass operation, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10 and died at age 70, on December 28, 1986, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard.
In the years since his death MacDonald has been praised by authors as diverse as Stephen King, Spider Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, Kingsley Amis and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Thirty-three years after his passing the Travis McGee novels are still in print.
Following complications of an earlier heart bypass operation, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10 and died at age 70, on December 28, 1986, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard.
In the years since his death MacDonald has been praised by authors as diverse as Stephen King, Spider Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, Kingsley Amis and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Thirty-three years after his passing the Travis McGee novels are still in print.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 515 reviews
July 11, 2018
When rapist Max Cady gets out of jail, he goes looking for the man who put him there, Sam Bowden...
Cape Fear, aka The Executioners, was the source for a couple pretty good movies, one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons, and, in a way, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play so I figured I should give it a read when it showed up on the cheap.
I watched the Martin Scorcese version of the movie in recent memory and the book is a less intense, less interesting version. No philandering on Sam's part, no creepy-ass Juliette Lewis sucking on Robert DeNiro's finger. Between that and seeing the Simpsons episode about 300 times, there weren't many surprises. Cady plays cat and mouse with the Bowden family until the shit finally goes down. The basic beats were the same so I had some trouble staying interested.
The ending was different than the movie, though, which was a nice surprise. However, I prefer the ending of the DeNiro movie. Another strike against the book is how dated the relationship between Sam and his wife seemed, along with a lot of the dialogue.
Basically, I spoiled the book for myself by watching the movie and having my brain saturated by the Simpsons episode. The book still had its chilling moments and I'm sure I would have given it four stars had I not seen the movie first. This was one of the rare occasions I thought the movie trumped the book. Three out of five stars.
Cape Fear, aka The Executioners, was the source for a couple pretty good movies, one of my favorite episodes of The Simpsons, and, in a way, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play so I figured I should give it a read when it showed up on the cheap.
I watched the Martin Scorcese version of the movie in recent memory and the book is a less intense, less interesting version. No philandering on Sam's part, no creepy-ass Juliette Lewis sucking on Robert DeNiro's finger. Between that and seeing the Simpsons episode about 300 times, there weren't many surprises. Cady plays cat and mouse with the Bowden family until the shit finally goes down. The basic beats were the same so I had some trouble staying interested.
The ending was different than the movie, though, which was a nice surprise. However, I prefer the ending of the DeNiro movie. Another strike against the book is how dated the relationship between Sam and his wife seemed, along with a lot of the dialogue.
Basically, I spoiled the book for myself by watching the movie and having my brain saturated by the Simpsons episode. The book still had its chilling moments and I'm sure I would have given it four stars had I not seen the movie first. This was one of the rare occasions I thought the movie trumped the book. Three out of five stars.
June 5, 2024
I loved the 1991 movie with Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange, but I do have to say the 1957 version with Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Telly Savalas is legendary. The movie is better than the book and I'm not usually one to say that, but only because the book is very dated and there is too much time in between.
An outstanding psychological thriller, as the characters deal with the psycho Max Cady. He is a convicted rapist, who spent 14 years in prison. Sam Bowden was the witness that put him away and all Max has had is time to plan how he would get revenge.
Sam has a beautiful wife and three children now and worries for their safety when their family dog is poisoned and Max appears to be the culprit. Several cruel incidents happen. When Max sets out to destroy the family, Sam derives a plan to eliminate him. This will keep you on the edge of your seat, but not for long since it is only 224 pages long.
An outstanding psychological thriller, as the characters deal with the psycho Max Cady. He is a convicted rapist, who spent 14 years in prison. Sam Bowden was the witness that put him away and all Max has had is time to plan how he would get revenge.
Sam has a beautiful wife and three children now and worries for their safety when their family dog is poisoned and Max appears to be the culprit. Several cruel incidents happen. When Max sets out to destroy the family, Sam derives a plan to eliminate him. This will keep you on the edge of your seat, but not for long since it is only 224 pages long.
August 19, 2016
The Executioners is the 1957 thriller by John D. MacDonald, the prolific author of pulp mystery and science fiction; the scent of nearly sixty year old paper in the edition I purchased was one of the book's mainline pleasures for me. MacDonald is best known as author of the twenty-one Travis McGee mysteries--with titles like The Deep Blue Good-by, A Tan and Sandy Silence or The Lonely Silver Rain color coded for airport travelers--and this novel, which received not one but two classic film adaptations as Cape Fear, in 1962 and 1991. Returning to the source material didn't compare with the cinematic experience of this same story, but it works.
Set on MacDonald's turf of Florida and around a lakeside village he calls "New Essex," Sam Bowden is a married man, a family man, the straight flyer in the law firm of Dorrity, Stetch and Bowden. He met his wife Carol at the University of Pennsylvania where they became friends. They married and Sam enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant, serving the JAG Department. He returned home in 1945 and has three children with Carol--Nancy, fourteen; Jamie, eleven; and Bucky, six--and a dog named Marilyn. The Bowdens just purchased a house on ten acres outside of town and even own a twenty-six foot day cruiser, the Sweet Sioux III. Life is good.
On a lake picnic with her family, Carol can sense something troubling her husband. Sam tells her about an encounter in the parking lot after work with a man named Max Cady, a staff sergeant who Sam served as key witness against in a court martial case in Melbourne during the war, a rape case. Sam came upon Cady in an alley assaulting a fourteen year old girl, landed a punch on the sergeant's chin and called the Shore Patrol. Cady, a seven year army veteran who'd seen two hundred days of combat and been pulled from action with a severe case of jungle nerves, was sentenced on Sam's testimony to life at hard labor.
He remembered how the sergeant had looked in court. Like an animal. Sullen, vicious and dangerous. And physically powerful. Sam looked at him and knew how lucky the punch had been. Cady had looked across the court at Sam as though he would dearly enjoy killing him with his hands. Dark hair grew low on his forehead. Heavy mouth and jaw. Small brown eyes set in deep and simian sockets. Sam could tell what Cady was thinking. A nice clean non-combat lieutenant. A meddler in a pretty uniform who'd never heard a shot fired in anger. So the pretty lieutenant should have backed right out of the alley and gone on his way and left a real solider alone.
Snatching the keys out of Sam's station wagon, Cady did not threaten Sam explicitly. Released after thirteen years, he shares the effort it took for him to find Sam's office and home address. He reveals that he's been thinking about the lieutenant for fourteen years. He offers Sam a cigar. Then he tells the attorney to give his best to the wife and kids. Sam's summary is that Cady is not sane. But that isn't the scary part. Carol tells her husband that last week while the kids were at school, Marilyn was barking at something. She spotted a man sitting on the wall of their property, about a hundred yard away, smoking a cigar. Assuming he was a salesman, Carol still had a case of the creeps.
Sam reports the encounter to police captain Mark Dutton, who later recounts pulling Cady out of a bar and having him checked out. There were no arrest warrants in the hill town in West Virginia he comes from. A search of Cady's car and room didn't turn up a gun or anything out of line, so Dutton let him go. Sam's next move is to hire a private investigator named Sievers who comes recommended by Sam's firm. Sievers reports to Sam that he tailed Cady, but their target made him, and is so wily that he'll likely slip anyone he could hire to have Cady followed. Sievers recommends Sam drop the case. Alarmed that Cady intends to harm him and his family, Sam is advised there are ways to "change" Cady's mind.
Refusing to take the law into his own hands, Sam rejects Sievers' suggestion. Then the family dog, Marilyn, is brutally poisoned and dies in front of the children. Fearing for the safety of her family, Carol confronts her husband about not doing more to protect them. Sam convinces her that he's thought this through and is doing all he can. He puts the kids on a tight summer schedule and even discusses the Cady situation with the fifteen-year-old boy that Nancy is dating. When Cady shows up at the marina where Sam and Nancy are working on the boat, Sam is baited into throwing a punch at him. Contacting Sievers, Sam inquires about changing Cady's mind.
"Can you do what you said?"
"It can be done for three hundred bucks, Bowden. I won't dig up the talent myself. I've got a friend. He's got the right contacts. He'll put three of them on him. I know the place, too. Out in back of 211 Jaekel Street. There's a shed and a fence near where he parks the car. They can wait in the angle of the shed and the fence."
"What ... will they do?"
"What the hell do you think? They'll beat the hell out of him. With a couple of pieces of pipe and a bicycle chain, they'll do a professional job. A hospital job." His eyes changed, became remote. "I took a professional beating once. Oh, I was a hard boy. I believed that short of killing me they couldn't hurt me. I was going to bounce right back like Mike Hammer. But it doesn't work that way, Mr. Bowden. It marks you through and through. It's the pain, I guess. And the way they won't stop. The way you hear yourself begging and they still won't stop. The guts and pride run right out of you. I wasn't worth a damn for two long years. I was perfectly healthy, but I had the jumps. I had them bad. I wasn't ready to have anybody start hurting me like that again. Then I started to come back. It happened eighteen years ago and even today I'm not sure I got all the way back to where I was. And I'm tougher than most. There isn't one man out of fifty--and understand, I've seen those figures work--who is ever worth a damn after a thorough professional beating. They have rabbit blood for the rest of their lives. You're doing the right thing."
According to MacDonald, The Executioners was the result of a $50 bet he made with his friend, author MacKinlay Kantor, that hardly resting on his laurels, MacDonald could write a novel in thirty days, have it serialized in magazines, published as a book club selection and adapted into a movie. Retitled Cape Fear in 1962 for its paperback issue the same year the film--starring Robert Mitchum as Cady, Gregory Peck as Sam and Polly Bergan as "Betty Bowden"--was released, the novel was brutally but vividly remade under the direction of Martin Scorsese in 1991. Starring Robert DeNiro as Cady, Nick Nolte as Sam and Jessica Lange as "Leigh Bowden," with Mitchum and Peck in cameo roles, this is a glorious thriller I must've studied a dozen times growing up.
The experience of reading the book doesn't live up to the emotionally wrenching experience of the Scorsese picture, in which Cady is portrayed as a vengeful but cunning Pentecostal, straight out of a southern Gothic and whose physical and psychological brutality is depicted throughout. Then again, not many novels can live up to a Scorsese picture that's hitting on all cylinders. MacDonald's story unfolds passively for the most part, with Sam or Carol relating a number of their encounters with Cady after the fact, and the dilemma of what to do about him hanging over the story more like a mysterious shadow than a physical threat.
While the Scorsese picture explored the creepy relationship between the Bowdens' daughter and Cady in ways the book doesn't, the aspect of the novel that grew on me was Sam and Carol. MacDonald does an excellent job depicting a 1950s woman, educated and refined on the surface but a creature of instinct and untapped power underneath. The give-and-take between the couple is playful and endearing. While the prowler business with Cady proves anti-climactic, I liked the characters and was invested in how their troubles would be sorted out. The Executioners ends up a compelling and wonderfully drawn mystery, enough to make me interested in what MacDonald published on a longer schedule.
Set on MacDonald's turf of Florida and around a lakeside village he calls "New Essex," Sam Bowden is a married man, a family man, the straight flyer in the law firm of Dorrity, Stetch and Bowden. He met his wife Carol at the University of Pennsylvania where they became friends. They married and Sam enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant, serving the JAG Department. He returned home in 1945 and has three children with Carol--Nancy, fourteen; Jamie, eleven; and Bucky, six--and a dog named Marilyn. The Bowdens just purchased a house on ten acres outside of town and even own a twenty-six foot day cruiser, the Sweet Sioux III. Life is good.
On a lake picnic with her family, Carol can sense something troubling her husband. Sam tells her about an encounter in the parking lot after work with a man named Max Cady, a staff sergeant who Sam served as key witness against in a court martial case in Melbourne during the war, a rape case. Sam came upon Cady in an alley assaulting a fourteen year old girl, landed a punch on the sergeant's chin and called the Shore Patrol. Cady, a seven year army veteran who'd seen two hundred days of combat and been pulled from action with a severe case of jungle nerves, was sentenced on Sam's testimony to life at hard labor.
He remembered how the sergeant had looked in court. Like an animal. Sullen, vicious and dangerous. And physically powerful. Sam looked at him and knew how lucky the punch had been. Cady had looked across the court at Sam as though he would dearly enjoy killing him with his hands. Dark hair grew low on his forehead. Heavy mouth and jaw. Small brown eyes set in deep and simian sockets. Sam could tell what Cady was thinking. A nice clean non-combat lieutenant. A meddler in a pretty uniform who'd never heard a shot fired in anger. So the pretty lieutenant should have backed right out of the alley and gone on his way and left a real solider alone.
Snatching the keys out of Sam's station wagon, Cady did not threaten Sam explicitly. Released after thirteen years, he shares the effort it took for him to find Sam's office and home address. He reveals that he's been thinking about the lieutenant for fourteen years. He offers Sam a cigar. Then he tells the attorney to give his best to the wife and kids. Sam's summary is that Cady is not sane. But that isn't the scary part. Carol tells her husband that last week while the kids were at school, Marilyn was barking at something. She spotted a man sitting on the wall of their property, about a hundred yard away, smoking a cigar. Assuming he was a salesman, Carol still had a case of the creeps.
Sam reports the encounter to police captain Mark Dutton, who later recounts pulling Cady out of a bar and having him checked out. There were no arrest warrants in the hill town in West Virginia he comes from. A search of Cady's car and room didn't turn up a gun or anything out of line, so Dutton let him go. Sam's next move is to hire a private investigator named Sievers who comes recommended by Sam's firm. Sievers reports to Sam that he tailed Cady, but their target made him, and is so wily that he'll likely slip anyone he could hire to have Cady followed. Sievers recommends Sam drop the case. Alarmed that Cady intends to harm him and his family, Sam is advised there are ways to "change" Cady's mind.
Refusing to take the law into his own hands, Sam rejects Sievers' suggestion. Then the family dog, Marilyn, is brutally poisoned and dies in front of the children. Fearing for the safety of her family, Carol confronts her husband about not doing more to protect them. Sam convinces her that he's thought this through and is doing all he can. He puts the kids on a tight summer schedule and even discusses the Cady situation with the fifteen-year-old boy that Nancy is dating. When Cady shows up at the marina where Sam and Nancy are working on the boat, Sam is baited into throwing a punch at him. Contacting Sievers, Sam inquires about changing Cady's mind.
"Can you do what you said?"
"It can be done for three hundred bucks, Bowden. I won't dig up the talent myself. I've got a friend. He's got the right contacts. He'll put three of them on him. I know the place, too. Out in back of 211 Jaekel Street. There's a shed and a fence near where he parks the car. They can wait in the angle of the shed and the fence."
"What ... will they do?"
"What the hell do you think? They'll beat the hell out of him. With a couple of pieces of pipe and a bicycle chain, they'll do a professional job. A hospital job." His eyes changed, became remote. "I took a professional beating once. Oh, I was a hard boy. I believed that short of killing me they couldn't hurt me. I was going to bounce right back like Mike Hammer. But it doesn't work that way, Mr. Bowden. It marks you through and through. It's the pain, I guess. And the way they won't stop. The way you hear yourself begging and they still won't stop. The guts and pride run right out of you. I wasn't worth a damn for two long years. I was perfectly healthy, but I had the jumps. I had them bad. I wasn't ready to have anybody start hurting me like that again. Then I started to come back. It happened eighteen years ago and even today I'm not sure I got all the way back to where I was. And I'm tougher than most. There isn't one man out of fifty--and understand, I've seen those figures work--who is ever worth a damn after a thorough professional beating. They have rabbit blood for the rest of their lives. You're doing the right thing."
According to MacDonald, The Executioners was the result of a $50 bet he made with his friend, author MacKinlay Kantor, that hardly resting on his laurels, MacDonald could write a novel in thirty days, have it serialized in magazines, published as a book club selection and adapted into a movie. Retitled Cape Fear in 1962 for its paperback issue the same year the film--starring Robert Mitchum as Cady, Gregory Peck as Sam and Polly Bergan as "Betty Bowden"--was released, the novel was brutally but vividly remade under the direction of Martin Scorsese in 1991. Starring Robert DeNiro as Cady, Nick Nolte as Sam and Jessica Lange as "Leigh Bowden," with Mitchum and Peck in cameo roles, this is a glorious thriller I must've studied a dozen times growing up.
The experience of reading the book doesn't live up to the emotionally wrenching experience of the Scorsese picture, in which Cady is portrayed as a vengeful but cunning Pentecostal, straight out of a southern Gothic and whose physical and psychological brutality is depicted throughout. Then again, not many novels can live up to a Scorsese picture that's hitting on all cylinders. MacDonald's story unfolds passively for the most part, with Sam or Carol relating a number of their encounters with Cady after the fact, and the dilemma of what to do about him hanging over the story more like a mysterious shadow than a physical threat.
While the Scorsese picture explored the creepy relationship between the Bowdens' daughter and Cady in ways the book doesn't, the aspect of the novel that grew on me was Sam and Carol. MacDonald does an excellent job depicting a 1950s woman, educated and refined on the surface but a creature of instinct and untapped power underneath. The give-and-take between the couple is playful and endearing. While the prowler business with Cady proves anti-climactic, I liked the characters and was invested in how their troubles would be sorted out. The Executioners ends up a compelling and wonderfully drawn mystery, enough to make me interested in what MacDonald published on a longer schedule.
November 25, 2017
Reading John D. MacDonald’s excellent 1957 novel The Executioners (now published as Cape Fear because of the films) was a study in contrasts between the two films and the author’s original vision.
The story goes that Gregory Peck, the star and producer of the 1962 film, did not like MacDonald’s title and so picked Cape Fear because of its ominous tone and because films with place names as titles tended to do well at the box office. Having read the original (which stands the usual test of the book being better than the films) MacDonald’s title was the correct one as it best identifies with the theme of what the author was describing.
I also learned that the 1991 Martin Scorsese film was not so much based on MacDonald’s book as it was a retelling of the earlier film. Robert DeNiro’s portrayal of villain Max Cady, scary as hell as it was, built upon and surpassed Robert Mitchum’s role.
MacDonald’s lean and muscular novel tells of small town attorney Sam Bowden’s dramatic confrontation with Max Cady, a released inmate whom Bowden had testified against in a rape trial during the second world war. Coming for an insensible and possibly psychotic revenge against Bowden, Cady represents a polar opposite to Bowden. Whereas Bowden is a successful lawyer and family man, comfortable in his suburban home and protected by layers of law and civilization, Cady is a hill person from West Virginia, better described as an animal than as a human.
It is here that MacDonald, ever the master of describing a layered narrative with a philosophical meaning behind his surface story, makes his greatest achievement. The author is describing a war between the law and order of our society and primitive impulses and creeds that still hold sway over much of what we do. MacDonald harkens back to a natural law where village elders would have condemned Cady as a threat, rather than the cold and logical laws we live with today, providing for the due process of law and the respect for the rights of those who would thwart this same law. As a lawyer, Bowden is torn between his life’s work and his deeply held beliefs and the fundamental need to protect his family.
An excellent book and would make a very good introduction to MacDonald’s work.
The story goes that Gregory Peck, the star and producer of the 1962 film, did not like MacDonald’s title and so picked Cape Fear because of its ominous tone and because films with place names as titles tended to do well at the box office. Having read the original (which stands the usual test of the book being better than the films) MacDonald’s title was the correct one as it best identifies with the theme of what the author was describing.
I also learned that the 1991 Martin Scorsese film was not so much based on MacDonald’s book as it was a retelling of the earlier film. Robert DeNiro’s portrayal of villain Max Cady, scary as hell as it was, built upon and surpassed Robert Mitchum’s role.
MacDonald’s lean and muscular novel tells of small town attorney Sam Bowden’s dramatic confrontation with Max Cady, a released inmate whom Bowden had testified against in a rape trial during the second world war. Coming for an insensible and possibly psychotic revenge against Bowden, Cady represents a polar opposite to Bowden. Whereas Bowden is a successful lawyer and family man, comfortable in his suburban home and protected by layers of law and civilization, Cady is a hill person from West Virginia, better described as an animal than as a human.
It is here that MacDonald, ever the master of describing a layered narrative with a philosophical meaning behind his surface story, makes his greatest achievement. The author is describing a war between the law and order of our society and primitive impulses and creeds that still hold sway over much of what we do. MacDonald harkens back to a natural law where village elders would have condemned Cady as a threat, rather than the cold and logical laws we live with today, providing for the due process of law and the respect for the rights of those who would thwart this same law. As a lawyer, Bowden is torn between his life’s work and his deeply held beliefs and the fundamental need to protect his family.
An excellent book and would make a very good introduction to MacDonald’s work.
January 3, 2023
The Executioners, published in 1957, is better known by its movie title of Cape Fear, released in 1962 starring Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Telly Savalas. It was Remade by Scorsese some thirty years later in 1991, starring DeNiro, Nick Nolte, and Jessica Lange, with Peck and Mitchum making appearances in different roles than in the first movie. But, before it became really famous because of Hollywood, it was a top-notch crime thriller. Indeed, Macdonald shows off his talents here, making it a short, terse, focused thriller.
MacDonald here takes issue with civilization and the question of how law and order limits those who play by the rules and effectively empowers those who choose not to abide by the rules. Sam Bowden is a lawyer, a by-the-book lawyer who wouldn’t think of ever bending the rules or stretching its limits. He lives by the moral code, has a young wife, and three kids, and a dog. He makes enough so he can live on a big spread in the country outside of town.
But, when a monster named Max Cady gets out of prison after serving fourteen years for raping a fourteen year old, he sets his sights on the witness who interrupted the crime and whose testimony put him in prison, causing him to lose his wife and kid. As Cady later tells Bowden, he lost his family and now he just wants to even the score. Bowden knows Cady is a dangerous psychopath, but learns to his shock that there is nothing the police can do to hold him. He hasn’t committed any murder yet. If it was the Old West, Bowden would just challenge him to a duel. If it were caveman days, Bowden would get his tribe mates together and hunt this animal down. But, there is not much that can be done in the modern world. Bowman isn’t allowed to take the law into his own hands and preemptively strike Cady.
Indeed, even when Cady takes the advice of a detective he hires and pays to have Cady beaten, it backfires. Bowden is effectively neutered and can only run and hide as the hunter waits for him.
It is a stunning tale of how Bowden comes to realize they no one is coming to his rescue and he has to take on this madman to protect his family. Never has a stronger argument been made for Second Amendment rights. The first duty of society is to protect its inhabitants from the barbarians massing at the gates and there are times when all the laws on the books just aren’t enough.
MacDonald here takes issue with civilization and the question of how law and order limits those who play by the rules and effectively empowers those who choose not to abide by the rules. Sam Bowden is a lawyer, a by-the-book lawyer who wouldn’t think of ever bending the rules or stretching its limits. He lives by the moral code, has a young wife, and three kids, and a dog. He makes enough so he can live on a big spread in the country outside of town.
But, when a monster named Max Cady gets out of prison after serving fourteen years for raping a fourteen year old, he sets his sights on the witness who interrupted the crime and whose testimony put him in prison, causing him to lose his wife and kid. As Cady later tells Bowden, he lost his family and now he just wants to even the score. Bowden knows Cady is a dangerous psychopath, but learns to his shock that there is nothing the police can do to hold him. He hasn’t committed any murder yet. If it was the Old West, Bowden would just challenge him to a duel. If it were caveman days, Bowden would get his tribe mates together and hunt this animal down. But, there is not much that can be done in the modern world. Bowman isn’t allowed to take the law into his own hands and preemptively strike Cady.
Indeed, even when Cady takes the advice of a detective he hires and pays to have Cady beaten, it backfires. Bowden is effectively neutered and can only run and hide as the hunter waits for him.
It is a stunning tale of how Bowden comes to realize they no one is coming to his rescue and he has to take on this madman to protect his family. Never has a stronger argument been made for Second Amendment rights. The first duty of society is to protect its inhabitants from the barbarians massing at the gates and there are times when all the laws on the books just aren’t enough.
May 19, 2015
I'm late to the game with John D. MacDonald, this being the first of his novels I have read. There will be more, by the gods. Yes, the book is dated, both in ideas and dialog, first published in 1958. It still works pretty well, in a retro sort of way. The conversations between the husband and wife seemed off, couldn't buy it at all. I have to say that the original movie is preferable to the book for me, something that doesn't happen very often. I know the remake starring Robert DeNiro took some liberties, but it still caught the tone. Whether it be book or movie, Max Cady is an utterly horrifying character, a perfect psychopath bent on revenge.
July 7, 2019
3+ stars - A riveting thriller authored by John D. MacDonald and published in 1957, ‘Cape Fear’ originally titled ‘The Executioners’ was translated into film in 1962 and again, almost thirty years later, in 1991. The novel takes place in MacDonald’s present day of ‘57 in the fictional town of New Essex. Sam Bowden, a small-town lawyer lives with his beautiful wife, Carol, and three kids, the effervescent and highly capable fourteen-year-old Nancy and lively boys Jamie, eleven and Bucky, six years old, just outside of town in a fairly isolated area. Sam is in his happy place, satisfied with his career, and content to rest his eyes on his good looking family. Sam and Carol frequently call each other Dear and Darling bringing to mind the innocence of 1950s TV shows. At times the dialog is just a bit cheesy, leaving my ears perked for the sound of canned laughter, but it’s not really all that bad,...eh, not really, darling. Certainly, the specter of a criminal that Sam, as a key witness help put behind bars for thirteen years, helps to put things into perspective. When Max Cady appears, he snatches the keys out of Sam’s car, bringing Sam to the remembrance of their unholy meeting all those years ago. A drunken Cady was raping a fourteen-year-old girl in an alley in Australia, when Sam, a First Lieutenant at the time, pulled the drunk man off of the girl. During the intervening years of prison, Cady has lost his marriage and his young son has died in an accident. Now, it’s Cady’s mission to even the score.
MacDonald balances some key ingredients in this revenge tale. The innocence of the times, Sam's children, his wife, and his own innocence about the underbelly of the world, the knife’s edge of violence that can be turned against what he holds most dear, and his belief that he is the master of his own destiny. All of those things are turned on its head, and Sam finds that possibly even he, moral and ethical man that he considers himself to be, can be persuaded to consider something reprehensible and unlawful, something immoral, when his family is threatened. The children’s playfulness, a well-loved dog, Nancy’s budding sexuality as she is beginning to be interested in boys, all remind us of our own families, our own daughters, and the reader comes to know that what’s at stake are things that we all have at risk in the world, the loss of our loves and often, a lifestyle that we have convinced ourselves that we’ve earned. For Sam, who feels the need to be the man protector, the he-man able to save the day; he is forced to confront his helplessness, his own inadequacies. For Carol, who wants to keep ‘her brood’ under her wing, it is the same, for she, too, has to face failure, nerves, devastation. In this way, MacDonald hones in on the ubiquitous nature of our fears about our inability to change outcomes and about being helpless in the face of terrifying events.
‘Cape Fear’ is a fascinating and rich character study in a work of popular fiction. The dialog is often inept, at times a detraction. Max Cady represents a universal evil, the bogey man of which we should all be aware. Sam is a representative of the law, of justice. If the law can’t save you, however, you should probably be ready to save yourself. Recommended for its astute probing into the nature of good and evil in the world as well as in ourselves.
MacDonald balances some key ingredients in this revenge tale. The innocence of the times, Sam's children, his wife, and his own innocence about the underbelly of the world, the knife’s edge of violence that can be turned against what he holds most dear, and his belief that he is the master of his own destiny. All of those things are turned on its head, and Sam finds that possibly even he, moral and ethical man that he considers himself to be, can be persuaded to consider something reprehensible and unlawful, something immoral, when his family is threatened. The children’s playfulness, a well-loved dog, Nancy’s budding sexuality as she is beginning to be interested in boys, all remind us of our own families, our own daughters, and the reader comes to know that what’s at stake are things that we all have at risk in the world, the loss of our loves and often, a lifestyle that we have convinced ourselves that we’ve earned. For Sam, who feels the need to be the man protector, the he-man able to save the day; he is forced to confront his helplessness, his own inadequacies. For Carol, who wants to keep ‘her brood’ under her wing, it is the same, for she, too, has to face failure, nerves, devastation. In this way, MacDonald hones in on the ubiquitous nature of our fears about our inability to change outcomes and about being helpless in the face of terrifying events.
‘Cape Fear’ is a fascinating and rich character study in a work of popular fiction. The dialog is often inept, at times a detraction. Max Cady represents a universal evil, the bogey man of which we should all be aware. Sam is a representative of the law, of justice. If the law can’t save you, however, you should probably be ready to save yourself. Recommended for its astute probing into the nature of good and evil in the world as well as in ourselves.
July 3, 2019
Originally published as The Executioners, this stand-alone suspense novel is best known for its two movie versions. The story is simple: a recently released rapist stalks and threatens the family of the man who testified at his trial. Despite the corny Eisenhower-era dialogue, the plot moves along briskly and keeps us in suspense, although the ending falls a bit flat.
February 26, 2018
The best kind of John D. MacDonald novel. I've read so much Travis McGee, I've forgotten that John D. could write different characters. I liked Sam Bowden and his wife a lot. They seemed to reflect me (and my situation) more than Travis McGee ever did. I could relate better. It seemed a bit more grounded, less of a heroic caricature.
March 31, 2025
A great, satisfying crime thriller! So glad I finally got to read this one. I've been hunting for a copy in the wild and managed to find one for a buck at Goodwill. Now to check out the films and to give that Simpsons episode a rewatch...
October 23, 2017
I don't recall ever reading this intense MacDonald title, but I knew the basic story. Not from the two movie versions, I've never seen those, either. And after checking wiki after I finished the book, I don't plan to watch the movies. Neither one remained true to MacDonald's plot, and in my opinion his version is the most satisfying for the characters and the reader.
Sam Bowden has to face the ultimate dilemma here. His family is being threatened: how far will he bend his personal rules, his sense of integrity, his character, in order to protect them?
The suspense builds relentlessly, so does the frustration. Why is no one helping these people? It is the classic situation of 'we can't do anything unless he does something first'. But what if the something that he does first is kill everyone, what good would the police be then? So what will Sam do?!
My copy was published in 1991 to help publicize that year's movie version, which starred Robert DeNiro as bad guy Max Cady. I could easily imagine him in the role. But I had to tape a piece of paper over the face on the front cover because I couldn't deal with those creepy eyes staring at me whenever I put the book down.
Just one more comment. I don't know if anyone else will feel this way, but when I read the final chapter, it seemed to me that everything that came before that was a build-up so that MacDonald could express a certain point of view of the world, an idea of acknowledging and accepting the uncertainties that are part of every life and learning how to handle them without letting them handle you. I think life would be smoother for everyone if we could start off with that attitude instead of having to learn it through fear.
Sam Bowden has to face the ultimate dilemma here. His family is being threatened: how far will he bend his personal rules, his sense of integrity, his character, in order to protect them?
The suspense builds relentlessly, so does the frustration. Why is no one helping these people? It is the classic situation of 'we can't do anything unless he does something first'. But what if the something that he does first is kill everyone, what good would the police be then? So what will Sam do?!
My copy was published in 1991 to help publicize that year's movie version, which starred Robert DeNiro as bad guy Max Cady. I could easily imagine him in the role. But I had to tape a piece of paper over the face on the front cover because I couldn't deal with those creepy eyes staring at me whenever I put the book down.
Just one more comment. I don't know if anyone else will feel this way, but when I read the final chapter, it seemed to me that everything that came before that was a build-up so that MacDonald could express a certain point of view of the world, an idea of acknowledging and accepting the uncertainties that are part of every life and learning how to handle them without letting them handle you. I think life would be smoother for everyone if we could start off with that attitude instead of having to learn it through fear.
March 12, 2019
I've watched the two movie adaptations. Robert Mitchum was born to play Max Cady, the bad guy. I enjoy reading JDM's stand alone crime novels, including this one. It moves fast. I plan to read more of his titles.
February 7, 2017
Max Cady has spent 14 years in prison for raping a minor. The moment he is out of prison, he seeks vengeance from his lawyer, Sam Bowden, for using faulty defense tactics during his trial. With Max Cady closing in on Sam, killing his dog and then going after his wife and 3 children, Sam is forced to take help of professional killers to get rid of his deranged stalker. How does Sam survive this ordeal?
Somehow, I liked the movie better. Robert De Niro aced the character of Max Cady. Riveting, absolutely mind-blowing performance in a negative role. The screenplay was amazing, too. I would strongly recommend the book and the movie to those who love thrillers, especially stalker fiction.
Somehow, I liked the movie better. Robert De Niro aced the character of Max Cady. Riveting, absolutely mind-blowing performance in a negative role. The screenplay was amazing, too. I would strongly recommend the book and the movie to those who love thrillers, especially stalker fiction.
July 26, 2019
2.5★
A book made into a movie two times which did not meet my expectations. A very dated feel with sexist language that got in the way too often followed by a denouement that was so anti-climactic. Meh.
A book made into a movie two times which did not meet my expectations. A very dated feel with sexist language that got in the way too often followed by a denouement that was so anti-climactic. Meh.
January 18, 2024
I hadn’t realized until recently that Cape Fear was a novel! Written by a very famous and prolific writer! I’ve seen the 1991 movie a few times and the 1962 movie once. I’d like to re-watch the 1962 version to see if it follows the book more closely because I don’t remember it.
Anyway, it was good but (because I’ve seen the movies) there were so many opportunities for it to be better!
We have Sam, the lawyer, and Carol, his clever and fun wife. They’re a tight couple who communicate well and love each other very much. They have 3 kids: Nancy, the eldest, and 2 younger boys whose names
I’ve already forgotten. Max Cady is a disgusting criminal who Sam had put away in prison and now he’s done his time and he’s out, coming for revenge. Yes the family has a boat, which does not figure prominently in the novel. Cady only interacts with Sam in the novel. If you’ve seen the ‘91 movie then already this is all very different, right? But then I’m don’t think the author could have written in the kind of stuff from the movie into a book from the 50s/60s.
Anyway, it was good and I’m glad I read it!
Anyway, it was good but (because I’ve seen the movies) there were so many opportunities for it to be better!
We have Sam, the lawyer, and Carol, his clever and fun wife. They’re a tight couple who communicate well and love each other very much. They have 3 kids: Nancy, the eldest, and 2 younger boys whose names
I’ve already forgotten. Max Cady is a disgusting criminal who Sam had put away in prison and now he’s done his time and he’s out, coming for revenge. Yes the family has a boat, which does not figure prominently in the novel. Cady only interacts with Sam in the novel. If you’ve seen the ‘91 movie then already this is all very different, right? But then I’m don’t think the author could have written in the kind of stuff from the movie into a book from the 50s/60s.
Anyway, it was good and I’m glad I read it!
October 6, 2019
Si regge su una suspense crescente e una buona storia di vendetta covata per anni. Con ben due trasposizioni cinematografiche al suo attivo, Cape Fear sembra quasi (esclusivamente) un romanzo pensato per il grande schermo - ovvero, in funzione di questo… -, ma non ho trovato emozioni così distintive e un plot davvero avvincente fra queste pagine veloci. Negli anni, siamo stati invasi da storie irresistibili e suggestive, sia nei libri sia nei film, siamo ormai assuefatti; appena una trama ci fa ritrovare elementi che ci sono noti o suggestioni già viste, sentite, assimilate, non possiamo avvertirne l’incanto che ne aveva decretato il successo decenni or sono. Promosso con riserva, dunque; ora guardo i film per avere (si spera) qualche brivido di piacere…
May 10, 2023
09/2016
The death of a beloved family pet is so sad but dealt with very effectively for the plot. Emotional. Interesting (in the way John D. MacDonald always is). The end was a touch less than explosively climactic. The title is not great, probably why it was famously filmed (twice) as Cape Fear.
The death of a beloved family pet is so sad but dealt with very effectively for the plot. Emotional. Interesting (in the way John D. MacDonald always is). The end was a touch less than explosively climactic. The title is not great, probably why it was famously filmed (twice) as Cape Fear.
May 20, 2015
Read this sometime in the 90's. I remember liking it, significantly more than the movie, but that was likely due to the grossness that is Juliette Lewis.
October 5, 2020
Not much to say here. This book felt lacking in a lot of ways. The character development felt very shallow and I thought the ending wanted it both ways. MacDonald seemed afraid of anything bad happening to the heroes of the story and the whole thing just got very boring after a while.
"Cape Fear" otherwise known as "The Executioners" follows Sam Bowden and his family. Sam is happy and still in love with his wife, Carol. They have three children together, a girl and two boys. Though Sam is content, though he is a little afraid of how his oldest daughter, Nancy is growing up. This all ties together somewhat loosely because Sam tells his wife how he thinks he saw a man that he helped put away for rape years ago while on leave in Melbourne. Sam came across a sailor (Max Cady) raping a 14 year old girl. Sam served as witness and knew that Cady had been set to serve several years hard labor. Now apparently Max is out and looking for revenge against Sam.
I can't get a handle on any of the characters in this book. It's mentioned a few times that Carol is like a quarter Indian which is why she gets so dark (rolls eyes) and Sam just feels like a big blob of banality. I wanted to feel some sense of urgency or fear for the family and I got nothing. I think in this case, the movie did a much better job of showing the onslaught of terror the Bowden family was under with regards to Cady.
I think that MacDonald was trying to show how a good and decent man like Sam could turn to murder and maybe readers would feel the horror of it. But he had a man showing up and threatening his family so it doesn't feel outside the realm of what anyone would think or feel.
I didn't really like the writing in this one. I think because MacDonald a few times has Sam voicing the fact that the 14 year old girl who was raped by Cady looked older than she appeared. Also what was she doing out so late at night (we find out she was getting something for her mother). The book is fixated on Sam's daughter, Nancy and how she's growing up too. There also seems to be at times a feeling of pity for Cady cause it's mentioned how much combat he had seen and was suffering from jungle nerves.
The flow was not that good. The book starts and stops in weird places. The whole set-up/plan in this one felt a bit too much like Scooby Doo and the gang.
The book takes place in Florida, but it seems a dark and murky place.
The ending felt so off based on what came before it. Sam and Carol have a dialogue at the end of the book which pretty much seems to be life goes on or something. It just felt off.
"Cape Fear" otherwise known as "The Executioners" follows Sam Bowden and his family. Sam is happy and still in love with his wife, Carol. They have three children together, a girl and two boys. Though Sam is content, though he is a little afraid of how his oldest daughter, Nancy is growing up. This all ties together somewhat loosely because Sam tells his wife how he thinks he saw a man that he helped put away for rape years ago while on leave in Melbourne. Sam came across a sailor (Max Cady) raping a 14 year old girl. Sam served as witness and knew that Cady had been set to serve several years hard labor. Now apparently Max is out and looking for revenge against Sam.
I can't get a handle on any of the characters in this book. It's mentioned a few times that Carol is like a quarter Indian which is why she gets so dark (rolls eyes) and Sam just feels like a big blob of banality. I wanted to feel some sense of urgency or fear for the family and I got nothing. I think in this case, the movie did a much better job of showing the onslaught of terror the Bowden family was under with regards to Cady.
I think that MacDonald was trying to show how a good and decent man like Sam could turn to murder and maybe readers would feel the horror of it. But he had a man showing up and threatening his family so it doesn't feel outside the realm of what anyone would think or feel.
I didn't really like the writing in this one. I think because MacDonald a few times has Sam voicing the fact that the 14 year old girl who was raped by Cady looked older than she appeared. Also what was she doing out so late at night (we find out she was getting something for her mother). The book is fixated on Sam's daughter, Nancy and how she's growing up too. There also seems to be at times a feeling of pity for Cady cause it's mentioned how much combat he had seen and was suffering from jungle nerves.
The flow was not that good. The book starts and stops in weird places. The whole set-up/plan in this one felt a bit too much like Scooby Doo and the gang.
The book takes place in Florida, but it seems a dark and murky place.
The ending felt so off based on what came before it. Sam and Carol have a dialogue at the end of the book which pretty much seems to be life goes on or something. It just felt off.
December 30, 2022
Having seen both versions of Cape Fear, films based on this novel, they have clearly tainted my perspective of the source material. The Cape Fears were excellent adaptations, not to say that the novel is weak, it’s very good, although I think that the films do a better job of maintaining the tension and terror, and have a superior climax. The films do a better job portraying the psychotic Max Cady. In the book he is introduced early then is “off camera” for most of the rest. One advantage of the novel is the clever and snappy banter between Sam Bowden and his wife Carol, although sometimes it falls flat as being too staged and cutesie for typical folks that aren’t brilliant writers. So yeah, my expectations were pretty high and I was somewhat disappointed. I've read better JDM, and this is one of those rare novels where the movies are better that the book. Three stars.
December 22, 2012
It’s 1957 and Sam Bowden is a dedicated lawyer, a happily married man with a lovely wife, Carol, and three children, Jamie, Bucky and Nancy. Way back in 1943, Bowden was a First Lieutenant on the Judge Advocate General’s Department and became a prime witness in the trial and conviction of staff sergeant Max Cady for the assault on a young woman in an alley. Significant memory – ‘I hard a whimpering in an alley. I thought it was a puppy or a kitten. But it was a girl. She was fourteen.’
Cady got life, but was let out after thirteen years. And Cady began stalking Bowden.
There was no law of harassment in those days. The law seemed helpless, as did Bowden. ‘He swam out with furious energy, but he could not swim away from the sticky little tentacle of fear that had just fastened itself around his heart.’ MacDonald’s prose is littered with gems like this. Another: ‘He could have been a broker, insurance agent, advertising man – until he looked directly at you. Then you saw the cop eyes and the cop look – direct, sceptical and full of a hard and weary wisdom.’
All of the characters are deftly drawn, particularly Bowden’s wife. Although there’s a pall of incipient doom hovering in the absent guise of Cady, there’s humour too. ‘Carol was a good but emotional cook. She talked to the ingredients and the utensils. When something did not work out, it was not her fault. It was an act of deliberate rebellion. The darn beets decided to boil dry. The stupid chicken wouldn’t relax.’
Cady issues veiled threats, but never in anybody else’s hearing. Even when the Bowdens’ dog Marilyn is poisoned, there’s no evidence that it was Cady. In order to protect his family – ‘his four incredibly precious hostages to fortune’, Bowden arrives at the unpalatable conclusion that he must go outside the law to deal with Cady.
‘There are black things loose in the world. Cady is one of them. A patch of ice on a curve can be one of them. A germ can be one of them.’
Near the denouement, MacDonald returns to that significant memory. ‘… heard a faint mewling sound, a hopeless sound of fright and pain and heartbreak so like the unforgettable sound he heard long ago in an alley…’
The book begins and ends with the family on their boat. The beginning is a slow fuse, not recommended in modern thrillers. But it works because MacDonald paints a happy family, creating characters you’re going to care for and worry about.
Cady got life, but was let out after thirteen years. And Cady began stalking Bowden.
There was no law of harassment in those days. The law seemed helpless, as did Bowden. ‘He swam out with furious energy, but he could not swim away from the sticky little tentacle of fear that had just fastened itself around his heart.’ MacDonald’s prose is littered with gems like this. Another: ‘He could have been a broker, insurance agent, advertising man – until he looked directly at you. Then you saw the cop eyes and the cop look – direct, sceptical and full of a hard and weary wisdom.’
All of the characters are deftly drawn, particularly Bowden’s wife. Although there’s a pall of incipient doom hovering in the absent guise of Cady, there’s humour too. ‘Carol was a good but emotional cook. She talked to the ingredients and the utensils. When something did not work out, it was not her fault. It was an act of deliberate rebellion. The darn beets decided to boil dry. The stupid chicken wouldn’t relax.’
Cady issues veiled threats, but never in anybody else’s hearing. Even when the Bowdens’ dog Marilyn is poisoned, there’s no evidence that it was Cady. In order to protect his family – ‘his four incredibly precious hostages to fortune’, Bowden arrives at the unpalatable conclusion that he must go outside the law to deal with Cady.
‘There are black things loose in the world. Cady is one of them. A patch of ice on a curve can be one of them. A germ can be one of them.’
Near the denouement, MacDonald returns to that significant memory. ‘… heard a faint mewling sound, a hopeless sound of fright and pain and heartbreak so like the unforgettable sound he heard long ago in an alley…’
The book begins and ends with the family on their boat. The beginning is a slow fuse, not recommended in modern thrillers. But it works because MacDonald paints a happy family, creating characters you’re going to care for and worry about.
April 2, 2023
If only he hadn't messed up the ending.
March 28, 2021
"... All over the world, right now, this minute, people are dying, or their hearts are breaking, or their bodies are being broken, and while it is happening they have a feeling of complete incredulity. This can't be happening to me. This isn't the way it was meant to be."
I can't believe it took me this long to finally read this one, but holy hell what a great little book! MacDonald is a master at putting the reader on edge as the tension builds and the stakes keep getting higher for the poor Bowdens. This loveable and relatable family find themselves in the psychotic path of Max Cady and it becomes a literal life and death game of cat and mouse. Do yourself a favor and read this one!
I can't believe it took me this long to finally read this one, but holy hell what a great little book! MacDonald is a master at putting the reader on edge as the tension builds and the stakes keep getting higher for the poor Bowdens. This loveable and relatable family find themselves in the psychotic path of Max Cady and it becomes a literal life and death game of cat and mouse. Do yourself a favor and read this one!
December 31, 2018
Excellent suspense thriller. Enough differences between the two movies and the book to make it worthwhile. John D. MacDonald never fails to deliver a great novel.
July 29, 2020
Scorsese really did me dirty. The De Niro movie may be outrageous but my god does it make you sit in the edge of your seat. This book did the exact opposite. I was so far IN my seat I was practically sinking into the cushions of out boredom.
It took me 2 months to read this 197 page book! Unlike in the movie, there is no tension or feeling of fear in this version of the story. Considering it’s small page number, this felt incredibly slow.
One thing I love about the film is the disfunction within the family that creates more of an intense environment. In the book, everything is cookie cutter and sickeningly perfect which completely added to my distaste.
Quite honestly, I pretty much hated everything about this book. The characters were boring, the story was slow with no feeling of malice, and without spoilers, the ending is completely different and FAR less heart racing and exciting. I’m not sure I can even call it an anticlimax as there was no build up to begin with, so let’s just say it was a boring end for a boring story. YAWN. 2 stars only because I actually managed to finish it, but by god, it was very close to being a DNF.
It took me 2 months to read this 197 page book! Unlike in the movie, there is no tension or feeling of fear in this version of the story. Considering it’s small page number, this felt incredibly slow.
One thing I love about the film is the disfunction within the family that creates more of an intense environment. In the book, everything is cookie cutter and sickeningly perfect which completely added to my distaste.
Quite honestly, I pretty much hated everything about this book. The characters were boring, the story was slow with no feeling of malice, and without spoilers, the ending is completely different and FAR less heart racing and exciting. I’m not sure I can even call it an anticlimax as there was no build up to begin with, so let’s just say it was a boring end for a boring story. YAWN. 2 stars only because I actually managed to finish it, but by god, it was very close to being a DNF.
May 14, 2018
Sam Bowden’s testimony had put Cady behind bars years earlier. Once released, Cady, being a total psychopath, comes in search of revenge, unbridled hate aimed not only at Sam, but also his wife and three children. A potentially great story of a perfect law abiding citizen, Bowden, being faced by evil incarnate, Cady. The book really begins well by slowly building up the tension as Cady gets closer and closer, but the tension gets lost somewhere and we suddenly find ourselves in a lengthy section on how Sam met his wife Carol, and we are treated to the most charming dialogue between them that dissolves the tension and deflects our attention from the Cady story. We finally do return to the main plot, but we never really recapture the tension, and the story is brought to a close in a fairly disappointing way. It was almost as if MacDonald had gotten completely absorbed in the loving relationship between the husband and wife, and was so enjoying writing that witty and warm dialog that he forgot about the menacing Cady.
August 31, 2024
Severek izlediğim bir Gerilim-Polisiye filminin kitabını merakla okudum. Akıcı bulduğum anlatıda yazar kadar çevirmen ve yazar Beyza Güngör'ün de imzası var. Bu romanda çok ilginç bulduğum bir iki şey var; öncelikle normal insanlar olarak belirginleşen adam ve ailesinin gittikçe artan korku unsurlarıyla yan yollara sapmaya başlaması ve esas kırılımı, olay zincirini başlatan "hayvani" karakterin tüm anlatının dışında hareket etmesi. Tüm bu korkunç ihtimallere aile ve bireyleri üzerinden takip ediyoruz. Bu durumun sıkıntı yaratabileceğini, aileden nefret etmeye başlayacağımızı düşünmeye başlamıştım fakat son sayfalarda aile reisinin bir cümlesi ile durum zirveye çıkıyor; "artık eskisi gibi olamamak," Yazar resmen bizi o cümleye sürüklüyor. İnsanın içindeki hayatta kalma güdüsü ve bunun nerelere kadar gidebileceği.
August 22, 2018
I really loved it!!
John D. McDonald has done a great job here, "Cape Fear" is a thriller about vengeance, insanity, hate, stalking, and dignity in spite of a deadly threat!!
The story itself deals with a family with three kids living in a small town threatened by a convicted rapist after having suffered a long sentence in jail..
Very well written and little by little the tension becomes more intensive page after page!!
I've seen the two movies adaptation, but the novel is in my opinion much better!!
So, if you want a thriller with an intelligent plot and well written, then here will you find it..
Dean;)
John D. McDonald has done a great job here, "Cape Fear" is a thriller about vengeance, insanity, hate, stalking, and dignity in spite of a deadly threat!!
The story itself deals with a family with three kids living in a small town threatened by a convicted rapist after having suffered a long sentence in jail..
Very well written and little by little the tension becomes more intensive page after page!!
I've seen the two movies adaptation, but the novel is in my opinion much better!!
So, if you want a thriller with an intelligent plot and well written, then here will you find it..
Dean;)
September 21, 2019
The basis for the excellent 1962 movie "Cape Fear" starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. Remade again in 1991 with Robert De Nero and Nick Nolte. This version is not nearly as good. Lawyer's testimony sends a bad guy to prison who swears revenge on his release. How does the man protect his family? Short, easy read with great tension. See the original movie with fantastic performance from Mitchum as the heavy. Recommended.
July 25, 2019
This stand-alone thriller by MacDonald has been made into a movie twice. The original movie starred Gregory Peck as Sam Bowden and Robert Mitchum as Max Cady. The 2nd movie in 1992 was a Martin Scorsese remake starring Nick Nolte as Sam and Robert DeNiro as Max. This book as many of MacDonald’s books takes place in Florida around a lakeside village. MacDonald is best known for his Travis McGee mysteries. This book was originally called "The Executioner" but was renamed after the movie came out.
Sam Bowden, an attorney faces a dilemma. His family, his wife and 3 children, are being threatened by Max Cady who has spent 14 years in prison for raping a minor. Bowden was a witness to the crime so he helped put him in prison. Now Cady seeks vengeance. He kills the family dog and stalks the family. Sam is forced to seek help from professional killers first because the authorities seem powerless to protect them. After they fail, he decides to try to trap him on his own.
I like the characters, especially Sam and Carol and their banter towards each other. I could equate with them and the fear they had of the ex-con and his stalking. The major theme in this book was that when the authorities are powerless to help you and your family you must take matters into your own hands. It was an enjoyable read and should be good background for watching the movies.
Sam Bowden, an attorney faces a dilemma. His family, his wife and 3 children, are being threatened by Max Cady who has spent 14 years in prison for raping a minor. Bowden was a witness to the crime so he helped put him in prison. Now Cady seeks vengeance. He kills the family dog and stalks the family. Sam is forced to seek help from professional killers first because the authorities seem powerless to protect them. After they fail, he decides to try to trap him on his own.
I like the characters, especially Sam and Carol and their banter towards each other. I could equate with them and the fear they had of the ex-con and his stalking. The major theme in this book was that when the authorities are powerless to help you and your family you must take matters into your own hands. It was an enjoyable read and should be good background for watching the movies.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 515 reviews