The Snatchers / Clean Break

by Lionel White, Rick Ollerman (Introduction)

THE SNATCHERS Cal Dent has set up the perfect crime, a kidnapping which will bring the gang a half a million dollars. On his side, he’s got Red the ex-boxer and his girl, Pearl. There’s also the sadistic and trigger-happy Gino, plus Fats Morn, their outside man. The heist goes smoothly. They’ve got the kid and her caretaker, and they’re holding up in a vacation rental, waiting for the payoff. That’s when things start to go wrong. That’s when Dent starts to notice Terry, the caretaker. After all his time in and out of the joint, who knew that Dent would find himself having feelings for another person. It was the perfect crime…how could it go so wrong? [Filmed as The Night of the Following Day by Hubert Cornfield in 1968 with Marlon Brando, Richard Boone, Rita Moreno and Pamela Franklin.] CLEAN BREAK (THE KILLING) When Johnny gets out after four long, patient years, he is ready to pull the perfect heist. As he tells his girl, June, "That's the beauty of this thing. I'm avoiding the one mistake most thieves make. They always tie up with other thieves. These men, the ones who are in on the deal with me—none of them are professional crooks. They all have jobs, they all live seemingly decent, normal lives. But they all have money problems and they all have larceny in them. No, you don't have to worry. This thing is going to be foolproof." And it was, at least until Sherry enters the scene. [Filmed as The Killing by Stanley Kubrick in 1956, with Sterling Hayden, Vince Edwards, Marie Windsor and Elisha Cook, Jr.]

Genres: Fiction, Crime

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 30, 2017

About the author

Lionel White was a crime reporter who wrote around 38 suspenseful thrillers beginning with The Snatchers in 1953 and ending with The Walled Yard in 1978.

Most of his books were translated into a number of different languages and his earlier novels were published as Gold Medal pulp hard-boiled crime fiction, but when Duttons began a line of mystery and suspense books, he also wrote for them.

He was most well known for what a New York Times review described as "the master of the big caper."

A number of his books were made into movies and Stanley Kubrick liked his book 'Clean Break' (1955) so much that he licensed the rights for his film "The Killing" in 1956.

In Quentin Tarantino's film "Reservoir Dogs", Lionel White is listed as an inspiration for the film in the credits.

Gerry Wolstenholme
May 2011

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humdingers !

The Snatchers was the first White novel I read. Love his pared down style. Really got this double header for Clean Break, and it didn't disappoint. Terrific story from an excellent writer. Despite having seen the movie adaptation (The Killing) prior to reading this, and thereby already knowing the story arc I was delighted with this. {For the record there are a few minor changes made from the original}. Unfortunately the Kubrick screenings at The BFI have ended as seeing it on 'the big screen' would've made for a nice hat-trick. P.S. I've found some ebooks to be littered with typos, but I only came across one here. If you're a crime fiction fan but haven't read anything by this guy do yourself a favour and check him out. Ttfn.

[B.C. Dittemore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lionel White tells his tales with a no nonsense attitude. They’re quick, not overly complicated and deliver exactly what one would expect of a pulpy noir

[William Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lionel White reinvented the heist novel. Both of these are amazing. CLEAN BREAK, filmed as THE KILLING (1956), is one of the best heist novels ever—though Kubrick’s film takes the nonlinearity even further.