Свобода — опасная вещь

by James Hadley Chase

Роман «Свобода – опасная вещь» отчасти выбивается из привычного для автора жанра, но ничуть не уступает остальным произведениям мастера в динамичности сюжета и увлекательности. В центре романа оказывается сын известного кинопродюсера, погруженный в весьма странные фантазии и изнемогающий в тени отцовской славы, внешне благополучная жизнь которого в одночасье сходит с накатанной колеи в силу неожиданных обстоятельств...

Genres: Thriller, Noir, Novels, Detective, Crime

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

René Lodge Brabazon Raymond was born on 24th December 1906 in London, England, the son of Colonel Francis Raymond of the colonial Indian Army, a veterinary surgeon. His father intended his son to have a scientific career, was initially educated at King's School, Rochester, Kent. He left home at the age of 18 and became at different times a children's encyclopedia salesman, a salesman in a bookshop, and executive for a book wholesaler before turning to a writing career that produced more than 90 mystery books. His interests included photography (he was up to professional standard), reading and listening to classical music, being a particularly enthusiastic opera lover. Also as a form of relaxation between novels, he put together highly complicated and sophisticated Meccano models.

In 1932, Raymond married Sylvia Ray, who gave him a son. They were together until his death fifty three years later. Prohibition and the ensuing US Great Depression (1929–1939), had given rise to the Chicago gangster culture just prior to World War II. This, combined with her book trade experience, made him realise that there was a big demand for gangster stories. He wrote as R. Raymond, James Hadley Chase, James L. Docherty, Ambrose Grant and Raymond Marshall.

During World War II he served in the Royal Air Force, achieving the rank of Squadron Leader. Chase edited the RAF Journal with David Langdon and had several stories from it published after the war in the book Slipstream: A Royal Air Force Anthology.

Raymond moved to France in 1956 and then to Switzerland in 1969, living a secluded life in Corseaux-sur-Vevey, on Lake Geneva, from 1974. He eventually died there peacefully on 6 February 1985.

Reviews

[W · Rating 3 out of 5]

A film festival is on in the South of France,and there are lots of starlets showing off their charms.Lucille Balu is one of them,and she is thrilled to know that movie mogul Floyd Delanie wants to meet her.

But Floyd Delaney also has a son,and he has plans of his own,about what to do with the starlet.He has an inner compulsion to kill.

Another fine effort by Chase.
3.5 stars

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chase’s 1958 standalone psycho killer novel, the Case of the Strangled Starlet, alternately titled Not Safe to Be Free, is set at the Cannes Film Festival. The main characters are a millionaire producer, his young social climber wife Sophia, and his tagalong son, Jay. Apparently, no one ever suspected Jay was a psycho killer who strangled at a moment’s notice without guilt or remorse. Everyone else apparently is too busy being rich and famous. The plot moves along steadily and there are few twists and turns except when Sophia chooses keeping things quiet over bad publicity. The story doesn’t necessarily take advantage of the exotic locale. Moreover, the characters, particularly Jay, but also the supporting cast, are cartoonish, not fully developed, and lacking any real complexity.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

With Not Safe to be Free, James Hadley Chase reaches perfection--of a sort. Finally, he has written a novel without a single sympathetic character. Set in the atmosphere of the Cannes Film Festival, the first two characters are a psychopath, Jay Delaney, wanting to kill someone, anyone, for the fun of it, and Lucille Balu, a young starlet aspiring to get a major motion picture contract from Jay's father, the head of an American studio, Floyd Delaney. Lucille is greedy for fame. Her agent is greedy for money. Sophia, Floyd Delaney's wife, desperately wants to maintain her social position and hide her past as a prostitute from an impoverished background. Into this mix walks the alcoholic one time high flying photo-journalist, Joe Kerr, whose accidental killing of his wife has put him on a downward spiral into self destruction. He conspires with the shady owner of a run down hotel used by streetwalkers to blackmail the elder Delaney. Meanwhile, Jay falls in love with an easily duped and naive young woman running a beaten up cafe. Disregarding all the warning signs, the desperate girl returns his affections. Amidst all this is Inspector Devereaux, a canny detective who nonetheless allows his deference to wealth and influential people (the Delaneys) to delay his investigation just long enough to get two additional people killed.

Chase managed to surprise me with this novel. Except for a handful of 60s and early 70s novels, I've been reading through Chase's work chronologically. And just about the time I thought he was ready to stop experimenting and just churn out routine crime thrillers, he comes up with this story. Jay Delaney might be the most hated creature Chase's pen ever turned out. Psychotic, narcissistic, and insane, Chase's Jay Delaney keeps you pinned to the page salivating over his eventual comeuppance. And then, in a way, frustrates you at the end. This novel connects back to Chase's earliest work and the murderous Slim Grisson in No Orchids for Miss Blandish. But that was the book that got Chase his first fame as a writer of thrillers, almost twenty years before he published Not Safe to be Free. In this story, the psychological portrait of the killer is much more fully developed. With shifting perspectives, much of the story is told from Jay's point of view. Chase takes you into the inner workings of the mind of a madman. The combination of paranoia, narcissism, ruthlessness, and sociopathy makes for frightening portrait of someone who could easily pass you by on the street while you barely notice them, while all the time, they could easily be ready to knock you off for the fun of it. Here, is a tableaux of the modern world and the evil and madness that bubbles up around everyone's feet.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good Chase novel, my favourite and perhaps the most interesting characters sadly did not make it to the finish line but it could be expected with Chase, always a case of good characters, who/how many will die? Far from his best works in my opinion, nonetheless it had moments of brilliance.

[Milind · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many dramatic moments in this novel which will leave those who are susceptible to atmosphere breathless.

Jay Delaneys is a very dark character , a young man with a whispering mind. This is no cosy whodunit. We know from the first page who the murderer is but still we follow the relentless fast paced events following the murder.

The atmosphere is tense throughout. The characters are mostly dark.

Not a typical crime book but worth reading.

[Κώστας · Rating 4 out of 5]

βιπερ νο. 65

Ο J.H.C. έχει γεννηθεί ταλέντο για την παρατήρηση ανθρώπων και, στα βιβλία του, έχει επιλέξει μερικούς χαρακτήρες πιο πραγματικούς από τους αληθινούς ανθρώπους. Ποτέ δεν χρησιμοποιούσε λεπτομερείς περιγραφές, δεν χρησιμοποιεί σχεδόν καθόλου λέξεις για το σχήμα ενός πηγουνιού, την αστάθεια ενός κοστουμιού ... ένας σύντομος διάλογος για να διευθετήσει τα πράγματα, και, χωρίς ορατή δουλειά, ο ήρωάς του είναι ζωγραφισμένος και αγκυροβολημένος στη μνήμη του αναγνώστη . Υπάρχει πραγματικά κάτι μαγικό για αυτό!

[Joseph Angelan]

I read this book in the 60s and still cannot forget it. Till that date all the who done it books made you to guess the murderer and you find out at the end of the book. This novel began with the murderer listening to his voice to kill. Nobody had written a book such as this revealing the name of the murderer on page 1 and still gripped your attention till the end It is one of the best books if not the best I ever read

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good ol' James Hadley Chase, a guilty pleasure for me - and a great holiday indulgence. The psychotic son of a movie producer kills a starlet in his room at a swish hotel in Cannes. To his horror, his stepmother finds the body in his closet. A drunk paparazzo also has incriminating evidence against him. Will his perfect crime turn into a real nightmare? You'll stay up all night finding out.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo libro mi ha lasciato piacevolmente sorpreso: considerando gli anni in cui è stato scritto (contemporanei al giallo classico) la trama è molto interessante, avendo come protagonista il colpevole/serial killer, e non la polizia (aspetto, per l'epoca, abbastanza nuovo). Questo permette al lettore di entrare nella mente del colpevole, di capire le sue emozioni e, soprattutto, le motivazioni che lo hanno spinto a compiere gli omicidi, scavando nella sua mente. L'aspetto psicologico è accompagnato da elementi d'azione, che rendono il libro molto scorrevole e avvicente, alleggerendo la parte sulla psicologia del colpevole che, se trattata da sola, sarebbe potuta risultare pesante.
La scrittura non ha nulla di speciale, ma si confà alla narrazione veloce; mi è piaciuta molto l'alternanza dei capitoli, che spezza la narrazione con un rapido cambio di prospettiva, facendoti restare col fiato sospeso.
Insomma, vecchio ma moderno, poiché Chase ha saputo scrivere un giallo/thriller come quelli che si vedono oggi, 50 anni prima!

[Santiago Roussineau · Rating 3 out of 5]

El uso del narrador omnisciente permite la flexibilidad de ir desarrollando la novela como una película mental. Grandes momentos de tensión y cortes, con un final abrupto en el pico del clímax. Lenguaje directo y fácil de leer, con los detalles justos para que la imaginación del lector se cargue con la energía propia de los ambientes que se relatan.

[Umar Hanazuwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obeying self instincts is dangerous to a loner.

[Emmanuel Wallart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder on the croisette. A great one. A character with a real and complex personality, but the story is, as usual with JHC, the center of the novel. If you like the author, read it immediatly.

[Chinedu Ogbenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

[Ioannidesz Evjeniosz · Rating 5 out of 5]

!!!

[Shashikant Chavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of murder mystery is really exciting. The emotional drama at the end is touching.

[আহসানুল শোভন · Rating 5 out of 5]

স্বনামধন্য প্রযোজক কাম পরিচালক ফ্লয়েড ডিল্যানির একমাত্র পুত্র জে ডিল্যানি। নিঃসঙ্গ, একাকী। নামী পিতার সন্তান হওয়া সত্ত্বেও মানুষজনের সাথে মিশে না। বাইরে থেকে দেখে মানুষ তাকে লাজুক প্রকৃতির বলে মনে করে। কিন্তু তার মনোজগৎ সম্পূর্ণ রূপে ভিন্ন। তার কোনো মেয়েকে খুন করতে ইচ্ছা করে। জগতের প্রতিটি মেয়ের প্রতিই রয়েছে তার তীব্র ঘৃণা। জে’র মা মানসিক বিকারগ্রস্থ ছিলেন। ছে��েকে নিজের কাছে একদমই ঘেঁষতে দিতেন না। তখন থেকেই ধীরে ধীরে নারীদের প্রতি জে’র তীব্র বিদ্বেষ তৈরি হয়। জে’র মা ছাদ থেকে লাফিয়ে পড়ে আত্নহত���যা করেছিলেন। পরবর্তীতে জে’র বাবা আরও দুটি বিয়ে করেন। দ্বিতীয় বিয়েটি টেকেনি। তার তৃতীয় পক্ষের স্ত্রী সোফিয়া এক সময়কার চলচ্চিত্র অভিনেত্রী। জে’র সাথে তার সৎ মায়ের বয়সের ব্যবধান মাত্র পাঁচ বছরের।

কানে চলচ্চিত্র উৎসব শুরু হয়েছে। দেশ বিদেশ থেকে অতিথিরা আসছে। জে’কেও প্রায় ইচ্ছের বিরুদ্ধে তার বাবার সঙ্গে আসতে হয়েছে। কানে এসেই জে’র পরিচয় হলো উঠতি নায়িকা লুসিলি বালুর সঙ্গে। লুসিলিকে দেখার পর জে’র সেই পুরোনো ইচ্ছেটা আবার মাথাচাড়া দিয়ে উঠলো। এই মেয়েটিকে তার খুন করতে হবে। মনে মনে সিদ্ধান্ত নিয়ে ফেললো জে, হ্যাঁ একেই খুন করবে সে। জে খুব যত্ন করে মেয়েটার জন্য ফাঁদ পাতলো আর মেয়েটিও এসে জে’র সেই পাতা ফাঁদে পা দিলো। একজন স্বনামধন্য চলচ্চিত্র প্রযোজক পরিচালকের পুত্রকে সন্দেহ করার মত দুঃসাহস লুসিলি দেখায়নি। জে খুব সহজেই তার মনস্কামনা চরিতার্থ করতে সক্ষম হলো। সমস্যা দেখা দিলো যখন ঠিক ওই সময়েই জে’র সৎ মা সোফিয়া ডিল্যানি হোটেল কামরায় ফিরে এলেন। এই অংশটুকু জে’র পরিকল্পনার ভেতর ছিলো না। তার আরও জানা ছিলো না, হোটেলের করিডোরে অপেক্ষারত ফটো সাংবাদিক জো কারের কথা। জে, লুসিলি এবং সোফিয়ার হোটেল কামরায় প্রবেশের মুহূর্তগুলো ধারণ করা হয়ে গেছে তার ক্যামেরায়। এই ছবিগুলো দিয়ে প্রমাণ করা যাবে অনেক কিছুই। ফাঁসিয়ে দেয়া যাবে পুরো ডিল্যানি পরিবারকে।

একদিকে পুলিশ, আরেকদিকে ব্ল্যাকমেইলারের দল। মড়ার ওপর খাঁড়ার ঘাঁয়ের মত জে এমন একটা সময়েই প্রেমে পড়ে গেলো একটি মেয়ের, যার সাথে একটা দিন আগে দেখা হলেও জে এতবড় অপরাধটা করে বসতো না। এখন কী করবে জে? জে’র সৎমা সোফিয়া এই ব্যাপারটা কতদিন তার বাবার কাছে লুকিয়ে রাখবেন। জে অতগুলো টাকা ব্ল্যাকমেইলারকে কোথা থেকে দিবে? এদিকে পুলিশ তাদের জাল ধীরে ধীরে গুটিয়ে আনছে। খুব দ্রুত কিছু করতে না পারলে জে’কে ফাঁসির দড়িতে ঝুলতে হবে। জে’র হাতে সময় কম। খুবই কম..

জেমস হ্যাডলি চেজ রচিত মাস্টারপিস একটি সাইকোলজিক্যাল থ্রিলার। শ্বাসরুদ্ধকর এই বইটি একবার হাতে নিলে পুরোটা শেষ না করে ওঠাটা কষ্টকর হয়ে দাঁড়াবে।

[Kakha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost all of the magnificent literary creations of James Hadley Chase, in their numerous translations into many languages ​​of the world, have had two or more variants of the name. This once again proves the incredible interest in the works of this master of all over the world. I wrote it just like that, just remembered.
The plot of this novel, this toughest story, takes place in Cannes, France, during the days of the film festival. The main character sees a girl posing on the beach in front of a photographic lens. Suddenly the thought of killing her comes to him because he can do it "perfectly"... Terrible! Don't like murder... even in detective fiction books. Murder is evil. Great evil. I take murder detective stories as a warning, as another lesson to be even more circumspect, even more cautious, even more careful.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never read Chase before but this was a really pleasant surprise. Yes, his portrayals of women are sexist and the characters are two dimensional, but the plotting and pace are spot on. A real page turner!

[Kedar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read packed with everything. Builds up until the end. A very expected ending.

[Daniele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thrilling
The usual Chase, but this time with women that are able to love a little bit more than in other books of his.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

insanity