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Dread Journey
On a transcontinental train, a starlet fears her director may be trying to kill her
Four years after she arrived in Los Angeles, Kitten Agnew has become a star. Though beautiful and talented, she’d be nowhere without Vivien Spender: Hollywood’s most acclaimed director—and its most dangerous. But Kitten knew what she was getting into when she got involved with him; she had heard the stories of Viv’s past discoveries: Once he discarded them, they ended up in a chorus line, a sanatorium, or worse. She knows enough of his secrets that he wouldn’t dare destroy her career. But he may be willing to kill her.
On a train from Los Angeles to Chicago, Kitten learns that Viv is planning to offer her roommate a part that was meant for her. If she lets him betray her, her career will be over. But fight for the part, and she will be fighting for her life as well.
Four years after she arrived in Los Angeles, Kitten Agnew has become a star. Though beautiful and talented, she’d be nowhere without Vivien Spender: Hollywood’s most acclaimed director—and its most dangerous. But Kitten knew what she was getting into when she got involved with him; she had heard the stories of Viv’s past discoveries: Once he discarded them, they ended up in a chorus line, a sanatorium, or worse. She knows enough of his secrets that he wouldn’t dare destroy her career. But he may be willing to kill her.
On a train from Los Angeles to Chicago, Kitten learns that Viv is planning to offer her roommate a part that was meant for her. If she lets him betray her, her career will be over. But fight for the part, and she will be fighting for her life as well.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1945
54 people are currently reading
511 people want to read
About the author
Dorothy B. Hughes
66 books299 followersDorothy B. Hughes (1904–1993) was a mystery author and literary critic. Born in Kansas City, she studied at Columbia University, and won an award from the Yale Series of Younger Poets for her first book, the poetry collection Dark Certainty (1931). After writing several unsuccessful manuscripts, she published The So Blue Marble in 1940. A New York–based mystery, it won praise for its hardboiled prose, which was due, in part, to Hughes’s editor, who demanded she cut 25,000 words from the book.
Hughes published thirteen more novels, the best known of which are In a Lonely Place (1947) and Ride the Pink Horse (1946). Both were made into successful films. In the early fifties, Hughes largely stopped writing fiction, preferring to focus on criticism, for which she would go on to win an Edgar Award. In 1978, the Mystery Writers of America presented Hughes with the Grand Master Award for literary achievement.
Hughes published thirteen more novels, the best known of which are In a Lonely Place (1947) and Ride the Pink Horse (1946). Both were made into successful films. In the early fifties, Hughes largely stopped writing fiction, preferring to focus on criticism, for which she would go on to win an Edgar Award. In 1978, the Mystery Writers of America presented Hughes with the Grand Master Award for literary achievement.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 107 reviews
January 16, 2020
I believe this book contains some of the best prose Hughes ever wrote, and I've read a fair share of her work.
Interesting factoid: while I was working on my post for this novel, I did a search for mystery/crime/suspense novels set on a train, and this book didn't come up once. Not even once. That's a shame, really, because it's so damn good, and really, what happens here is tailor-made for the train. It also speaks to the fact that Dorothy Hughes, although a great writer who has had two novels published by NYRB, is still widely unknown, also a shame.
End of interesting factoid. I direct you to my reading journal post, spoiler free:
http://www.crimesegments.com/2020/01/...
I LOVED this book -- it is pure writing excellence and pure reading pleasure. I can't ask for more.
Interesting factoid: while I was working on my post for this novel, I did a search for mystery/crime/suspense novels set on a train, and this book didn't come up once. Not even once. That's a shame, really, because it's so damn good, and really, what happens here is tailor-made for the train. It also speaks to the fact that Dorothy Hughes, although a great writer who has had two novels published by NYRB, is still widely unknown, also a shame.
End of interesting factoid. I direct you to my reading journal post, spoiler free:
http://www.crimesegments.com/2020/01/...
I LOVED this book -- it is pure writing excellence and pure reading pleasure. I can't ask for more.
January 7, 2022
"I'm afraid"--Katherina Agnew
Movie actress Katherina (Kitten) Agnew has a role that playboy director Vivien Spender now wants to give to yet another young woman, but Kitten won’t back down, and she is afraid, based on mounting evidence, that she is going to be killed by Viv. She could just back down from the role, but she won’t do it. Thus, we are on a “dread journey,” supposedly dreading what will happen as much as Kitten does.
Dread Journey takes place on a train from LA to Chicago, so is one of those “closed set” train mysteries such as Mystery on the Orient Express (and a few other Christie mysteries). But in this tale we are not really surprised by the outcome. This is darker than Christie, in the noir tradition, without Christie’s goofy entertaining characters, which I suppose is a matter of taste which you might prefer. Ordinarily I prefer noir, but in this case, I was neither really entertained nor appropriately dread-filled. I really liked Hughes’s Ride the Pink Horse, and I think she is a very good writer--she had an MFA in Poetry from Columbia University, and her attention to the prose is obvious.
I like all the changing points of view, and I like a minor character, a Black porter, whose view we are privy to for a few pages. That his treatment in this forties novel is not racist is almost surprising, sad as it is to say that. And it is interesting to read a woman writing noir, as women are typically victims in these books. And Kitten is clearly just one of the many “victims” of the Hollywood system and Vivien in particular.
"The one in a home for alcoholics. The one picked up soliciting. The one who jumped from a window while Viv was in Florida with the new. And the others, returned to the drabness from which they had once hopefully emerged, walled behind counters, playing walk-ons."
Not that I would call Hughes in this book exactly feminist, but we do get a perhaps larger dose of sympathy for (some of) the women in this story. Oh, and one woman I particularly like is Viv's long-suffering secretary Mike, who figures in significantly in the final scene. I am not sure what to make of the gender-bending? androgynous? names such as Viv and Mike, but that was somewhat interesting. No clear indication (to me, anyway) that there is anything intended there.
So, this was fine, but I was just not all that impressed with the story. We do expect a murder and we get one, but I can’t say I experienced much dread on the journey. There’s certainly a lot of 1940’s imbibing of cocktails--at several points Viv complains that he is “getting sober,” and acts decisively to correct that problem. It’s Friday; I think I'll have a cocktail myself right now!
Movie actress Katherina (Kitten) Agnew has a role that playboy director Vivien Spender now wants to give to yet another young woman, but Kitten won’t back down, and she is afraid, based on mounting evidence, that she is going to be killed by Viv. She could just back down from the role, but she won’t do it. Thus, we are on a “dread journey,” supposedly dreading what will happen as much as Kitten does.
Dread Journey takes place on a train from LA to Chicago, so is one of those “closed set” train mysteries such as Mystery on the Orient Express (and a few other Christie mysteries). But in this tale we are not really surprised by the outcome. This is darker than Christie, in the noir tradition, without Christie’s goofy entertaining characters, which I suppose is a matter of taste which you might prefer. Ordinarily I prefer noir, but in this case, I was neither really entertained nor appropriately dread-filled. I really liked Hughes’s Ride the Pink Horse, and I think she is a very good writer--she had an MFA in Poetry from Columbia University, and her attention to the prose is obvious.
I like all the changing points of view, and I like a minor character, a Black porter, whose view we are privy to for a few pages. That his treatment in this forties novel is not racist is almost surprising, sad as it is to say that. And it is interesting to read a woman writing noir, as women are typically victims in these books. And Kitten is clearly just one of the many “victims” of the Hollywood system and Vivien in particular.
"The one in a home for alcoholics. The one picked up soliciting. The one who jumped from a window while Viv was in Florida with the new. And the others, returned to the drabness from which they had once hopefully emerged, walled behind counters, playing walk-ons."
Not that I would call Hughes in this book exactly feminist, but we do get a perhaps larger dose of sympathy for (some of) the women in this story. Oh, and one woman I particularly like is Viv's long-suffering secretary Mike, who figures in significantly in the final scene. I am not sure what to make of the gender-bending? androgynous? names such as Viv and Mike, but that was somewhat interesting. No clear indication (to me, anyway) that there is anything intended there.
So, this was fine, but I was just not all that impressed with the story. We do expect a murder and we get one, but I can’t say I experienced much dread on the journey. There’s certainly a lot of 1940’s imbibing of cocktails--at several points Viv complains that he is “getting sober,” and acts decisively to correct that problem. It’s Friday; I think I'll have a cocktail myself right now!
January 3, 2021
The success of this book will depend on how dreadful you find the titular Dread Journey. Alas, I found the writing melodramatic, and the characters by and large don't break out of their assigned tropes. The problem is that you are told from the beginning of the novel what will happen, and I never really bought into the atmosphere of oncoming disaster.
The most interesting relationship in the book is between Viv Spender, Hollywood magnate, and his longtime secretary, Mike Dana. Mike is a woman, and I had to reread the first 25 pages a few times to figure that out. It felt unnecessarily confusing - there are too many pronouns used in general, as Hughes switches between character perspectives - and nothing really improved from there.
I guess I'm glad , though, and I hugely enjoyed all of the details of a cross-country train journey in the 1940s. They seem to involve multitudes of cocktails.
The most interesting relationship in the book is between Viv Spender, Hollywood magnate, and his longtime secretary, Mike Dana. Mike is a woman, and I had to reread the first 25 pages a few times to figure that out. It felt unnecessarily confusing - there are too many pronouns used in general, as Hughes switches between character perspectives - and nothing really improved from there.
I guess I'm glad , though, and I hugely enjoyed all of the details of a cross-country train journey in the 1940s. They seem to involve multitudes of cocktails.
March 13, 2020
Hollywood starlet Kitty Agnew is on a three day train journey. She knows movie mogul Viv Spender will try to kill her before it is over. Sex in exchange of success was their arrangement. Spender turns back alley beauties and small town sweethearts into national heartthrobs and discards them once he is bored of them. He has found his new obsession but Agnew won't be sidestepped. She has an ironclad contract so he has murder on his mind. The confined compartments and the dwindling window within which Spender has to act ratchets up the inherent tension of the setup.
Dread Journey has a pretty rich supporting cast. Les Augustin, crooner cum Hollywood power player might stop a murder or record it for blackmailing purposes. Hank Cavanaugh, respected war correspondent probably has PTSD and certainly has alcoholism. There is also Spender's new discovery - Gratia Shawn too naive for my liking. And his secretary - Mike Dana, his silent enabler with a guilty conscience. The narrative switches perspectives effortlessly, showing the same situation unfolding from a couple of different point of views giving us a better understanding of the characters. Agnew alternates between being a cruel vixen deserving of her fate, with nothing but utter disdain for anyone not in her social strata. And a street smart woman who ran with the opportunity of a lifetime and refuses to give up what she has earned without a fight.
Spender's voice is also captured wonderfully by Hughes. He is a case study in Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Hughes' most famous book In A Lonely Place was equally good at putting us in the head of a narcissist, so this is a character type she had always excelled at. Modern readers will obviously draw parallels to Weinstein. (I followed his recently concluded trial, most surprising was how many female enablers Weinstein had who procured trusting young women for him. Here Spender's secretary does something similar, so Hughes is eerily prescient.) Anyway I saw traces of David Selznick, famous control freak producer of movies like Gone with the Wind and Rebecca in Spender. Both had an eye for discovering talent without possessing any themselves.
The prose is damn good for what is essentially a forgotten book from the heydays of pulp fiction. The observant world weary porter's first instinct at the start of the journey - cataloguing the animals occupying his cages on this run. This line which I think is applicable to all of us to a certain extent is my favorite. He was too young, too intense to play a part. Of necessity he learned to perform. There are lots of lines like that which say a lot in a very few words.
The things that does not work is Augustin slowly developing a conscience. And Cavanaugh's perspective is a bit too melodramatic. Noirs have stylized dialogue or narrative voice but Cavanaugh never talks like he is participating in a normal human conversation. Maybe Hughes wanted to show he was drunk. But she is not as good with it as she is with some of the other character voices. There are some cliched elements but Hughes is such a talented writer that the narrative soars over those potential pitfalls. Wonderful pacing, prose and psychological suspense ensures if you are a genre fan, you would not be disappointed with this one. Rating - 4/5
Dread Journey has a pretty rich supporting cast. Les Augustin, crooner cum Hollywood power player might stop a murder or record it for blackmailing purposes. Hank Cavanaugh, respected war correspondent probably has PTSD and certainly has alcoholism. There is also Spender's new discovery - Gratia Shawn too naive for my liking. And his secretary - Mike Dana, his silent enabler with a guilty conscience. The narrative switches perspectives effortlessly, showing the same situation unfolding from a couple of different point of views giving us a better understanding of the characters. Agnew alternates between being a cruel vixen deserving of her fate, with nothing but utter disdain for anyone not in her social strata. And a street smart woman who ran with the opportunity of a lifetime and refuses to give up what she has earned without a fight.
Spender's voice is also captured wonderfully by Hughes. He is a case study in Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Hughes' most famous book In A Lonely Place was equally good at putting us in the head of a narcissist, so this is a character type she had always excelled at. Modern readers will obviously draw parallels to Weinstein. (I followed his recently concluded trial, most surprising was how many female enablers Weinstein had who procured trusting young women for him. Here Spender's secretary does something similar, so Hughes is eerily prescient.) Anyway I saw traces of David Selznick, famous control freak producer of movies like Gone with the Wind and Rebecca in Spender. Both had an eye for discovering talent without possessing any themselves.
The prose is damn good for what is essentially a forgotten book from the heydays of pulp fiction. The observant world weary porter's first instinct at the start of the journey - cataloguing the animals occupying his cages on this run. This line which I think is applicable to all of us to a certain extent is my favorite. He was too young, too intense to play a part. Of necessity he learned to perform. There are lots of lines like that which say a lot in a very few words.
The things that does not work is Augustin slowly developing a conscience. And Cavanaugh's perspective is a bit too melodramatic. Noirs have stylized dialogue or narrative voice but Cavanaugh never talks like he is participating in a normal human conversation. Maybe Hughes wanted to show he was drunk. But she is not as good with it as she is with some of the other character voices. There are some cliched elements but Hughes is such a talented writer that the narrative soars over those potential pitfalls. Wonderful pacing, prose and psychological suspense ensures if you are a genre fan, you would not be disappointed with this one. Rating - 4/5
February 25, 2020
I was not aware of 40's author Dorothy Hughes until sometime last year, and although this is not her most well known book (that would be In a Lonely Place) I picked it as my first venture into her work because the summary suggested there might be some tie-ins to the #MeToo movement. More on that later.
What I want to start with is the quality of Hughes' writing. She knew her way around a sentence, and her character descriptions and plotting are distinctive. The story is built on an Agatha Christie-like premise - multiple characters on a train headed from L.A. to NYC, and someone is going to die - but told with a 40's noir sensibility. Her characters are for the most part types: glamorous actress, innocent ingenue, controlling producer, dedicated secretary, world-weary musician, alcoholic journalist, failed scriptwriter, and Pullman porter. But she fleshes them out so that they don't become caricatures. The journalist, for instance, is haunted by memories of war and famine, and the porter is introspective as he reflects on his job and his relationship to the passengers in his car.
This exploration of the interior life of the passengers is reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith, except that Highsmith typically focuses on one or two principal characters, while Hughes taps into the entire "cast". The producer and the secretary, especially, would have been right at home in a Highsmith novel.
And the producer is the tie to the #MeToo movement. In part it is his conviction that the rules that govern the behavior of others don't apply to him. But the connection is also there in the way that so many people feel helpless to stop him. Shades of Harvey Weinstein.
The weakest part of the book, for me, is the character of the ingenue. Her very existence drives much of the action, but I didn't find her, or her effect on the other passengers, to be especially believable. Despite that flaw, I liked the whole book enough to give it a 4 star rating.
As usual, I will close with comments on the narration. I can't say I was really happy with Gabrielle de Cuir's reading, which tended more toward dramatization that I generally like. It was OK, but it didn't enhance the book for me.
What I want to start with is the quality of Hughes' writing. She knew her way around a sentence, and her character descriptions and plotting are distinctive. The story is built on an Agatha Christie-like premise - multiple characters on a train headed from L.A. to NYC, and someone is going to die - but told with a 40's noir sensibility. Her characters are for the most part types: glamorous actress, innocent ingenue, controlling producer, dedicated secretary, world-weary musician, alcoholic journalist, failed scriptwriter, and Pullman porter. But she fleshes them out so that they don't become caricatures. The journalist, for instance, is haunted by memories of war and famine, and the porter is introspective as he reflects on his job and his relationship to the passengers in his car.
This exploration of the interior life of the passengers is reminiscent of Patricia Highsmith, except that Highsmith typically focuses on one or two principal characters, while Hughes taps into the entire "cast". The producer and the secretary, especially, would have been right at home in a Highsmith novel.
And the producer is the tie to the #MeToo movement. In part it is his conviction that the rules that govern the behavior of others don't apply to him. But the connection is also there in the way that so many people feel helpless to stop him. Shades of Harvey Weinstein.
The weakest part of the book, for me, is the character of the ingenue. Her very existence drives much of the action, but I didn't find her, or her effect on the other passengers, to be especially believable. Despite that flaw, I liked the whole book enough to give it a 4 star rating.
As usual, I will close with comments on the narration. I can't say I was really happy with Gabrielle de Cuir's reading, which tended more toward dramatization that I generally like. It was OK, but it didn't enhance the book for me.
August 18, 2025
My second Dorothy Hughes and this one wasn't any better. A passel of Hollywood people (a powerful director, a washed-up writer, an older starlet, a newer starlet, an alcoholic, a few others whose jobs I've forgotten) are taking a cross country train to Chicago. (Or maybe New York City, with Chicago as a stop.) The director has been planning and casting The Magic Mountain for several years, every so often replacing his Clavdia Chauchat with a fresher, younger ingenue. The actress the role has been promised to is convinced the director is going to murder her and substitute the beautifuller younger girl.
Hughes's way of using words grated on me. "She'd almost frightened." Tiny words were missing. "Gratia might have been relic of an old attic." (A relic?) "We'll wait dinner." (We'll wait for dinner, or we'll await dinner.)
"She heard the feather of his sigh."
"He slitted a glance."
"Hank beetled at Les."
"She watched his moving hands while doubt again thorned her."
"Away." The monosyllable was grim. That's two syllables!
April 13, 2015
Aboard the Chief, a passenger train chugging along from Los Angeles to New York, Kitten Agnew knows she is going to die. She’s under contract to star as Clavdia in an adaptation of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, a film that director Viv Spender has been meaning to make for ages. Kitten is the last in a long line of starlets groomed for the role, only to be cast aside at the last minute as Vivian Spender becomes obsessed with another, younger starlet he imagines will make a superior Clavdia and complete his masterpiece. If only these young women didn’t meet unfortunate ends—suicide by overdose of sleeping pills in the case of the last one, Viv’s wife. But even as Kitten is forced to share a suite with Gratia, the naïve young Newfoundland beauty that Viv has picked as the next Clavdia, she is unwilling to give up without a fight. Kitten has an iron-clad contract on the role, and her lawyer—uncle to a previous failed, dead Clavdia—is eager to take Viv Spender to court. Thus, Kitten knows she will either land the role of her dreams or die in some nefarious accident aboard the Chief.
Also on the train are a cast of washed-up Hollywood dregs. Leslie Augustin is an award-winning band leader and composer, but also something of a lecherous playboy looking for drink and dames; he may have struck gold after locking eyes with the innocent Gratia. Hank Cavanaugh is his drinking buddy, once a hotshot reporter now completing his descent to the bottom of a whisky bottle: broken by reporting on immense poverty and famine in China, and cracked for good after spending too much time on the Pacific Front. Sidney Pringle once had dreams of becoming the Great American Novelist now bumming a ride back home to the safety of his mother, a failed screenwriter who’s just as broken and shamed as Hank—crushed by his own pride and failures, devastated by his own ego. Also aboard are some couples more than thrilled to see such Hollywood icons in their same car, living their vacations or honeymoons without knowing Kitten’s immense dread.
Dread Journey falls about as close to perfection as a book can get. The setting is an ideal confined space for suspense, and Hughes’ execution of the plot makes no mis-steps, using well-drawn characters and setting to the fullest. The excellent prose makes it a joy to read, compelling the reader onward by the weight of the oppressive tension. The suspense begins on page one, and doesn’t relent until the electrifying ending. Dorothy Hughes had her heyday in the 1940s, but in the last few years she’s begun to receive some long-overdue recognition. Books like this one show that the acclaim is more than deserved. Dread Journey is a must-read for anyone who considers themselves well-versed in suspense or noir but has yet to read a Hughes novel—you need to see what you’ve been missing out on.
Full review, and other noir/mystery reviews, on my blog.
Also on the train are a cast of washed-up Hollywood dregs. Leslie Augustin is an award-winning band leader and composer, but also something of a lecherous playboy looking for drink and dames; he may have struck gold after locking eyes with the innocent Gratia. Hank Cavanaugh is his drinking buddy, once a hotshot reporter now completing his descent to the bottom of a whisky bottle: broken by reporting on immense poverty and famine in China, and cracked for good after spending too much time on the Pacific Front. Sidney Pringle once had dreams of becoming the Great American Novelist now bumming a ride back home to the safety of his mother, a failed screenwriter who’s just as broken and shamed as Hank—crushed by his own pride and failures, devastated by his own ego. Also aboard are some couples more than thrilled to see such Hollywood icons in their same car, living their vacations or honeymoons without knowing Kitten’s immense dread.
Dread Journey falls about as close to perfection as a book can get. The setting is an ideal confined space for suspense, and Hughes’ execution of the plot makes no mis-steps, using well-drawn characters and setting to the fullest. The excellent prose makes it a joy to read, compelling the reader onward by the weight of the oppressive tension. The suspense begins on page one, and doesn’t relent until the electrifying ending. Dorothy Hughes had her heyday in the 1940s, but in the last few years she’s begun to receive some long-overdue recognition. Books like this one show that the acclaim is more than deserved. Dread Journey is a must-read for anyone who considers themselves well-versed in suspense or noir but has yet to read a Hughes novel—you need to see what you’ve been missing out on.
Full review, and other noir/mystery reviews, on my blog.
January 8, 2023
Having previously read 4 other Hughes novels - all of them either much better or much, much better - it was a bit of a shock realizing that, with 'Dread Journey', there is something decidedly... off. Ultimately - and very surprisingly - it's simply a bad book.
Recently re-released as part of the Otto Penzler 'American Mystery Classics' series, the novel comes with a fan-girl introduction by Sarah Weinman, which is persuasively written. Weinman extols: "The novel... should take its rightful place among the upper echelon of Hughes' body of work, and of twentieth century crime fiction as a whole." (Um, well...)
Weinman also states her belief that the reason the novel was never filmed is because "[t]he observations about Hollywood are too pointed, even for an industry already pretending to be interested in self-reflection."
That's the kind of remark which causes the reader to anticipate: gee, what does Hughes reveal that 'cannot be said' on the silver screen?; which caused Hollywood producers to shrink with extreme caution?
Turns out, not much. Hughes does let fall a few truisms about certain egomaniacal Hollywood types; types who no doubt existed then as well as now. But so does 'Sunset Boulevard', as well as a number of other films critical of the entertainment industry. Weinman's assertion may still hold a kernel of weight, but it seems to me the main reason the book wasn't filmed is that it's just not all that good.
Weinman says more: "...as told by a different writer, ['Dread Journey'] would be a more conventional locked-room mystery... This novel might be 'Murder on the Orient Express'." That comparison is at least apt. Hughes sets up a similar dynamic. And, to be fair, she sets up her conflict well, introducing her cast of characters in an intriguing manner and establishing the atmosphere on the train in an engagingly enigmatic way.
However, Hughes then begins to make some unfortunate blunders. We learn, for example, who the murderer and the victim will be fairly early on (so much for *that* mystery). At first, that didn't bother me since I figured Hughes had a unique angle to unfold.
She doesn't. What she does uncoil (and simultaneously coil) is a ceaseless panorama of the interior lives of all of her characters. Almost to a person, these are (not particularly well-defined) people preoccupied with advanced, spin-dry stages of fear, frustration and / or cluelessness. (The most interesting characters are the killer Vivien Spender - who seems a dry-run for Hughes' best villain, Dix Steele in 'In a Lonely Place' - and his secretary Mike Dana, who reminded me of J. Smith Cameron's Gerri in HBO's histrionic 'Succession'.) Hughes is constantly telling us that, in one way or another, just about everyone on-board this train is on his / her last nerve. All of that goes on for pages and pages and pages... more or less, emotional inertia in lieu of an actual murder mystery plot.
Imagine something like this: Michelangelo Antonioni directing 'Psycho' - so much angst clogging up the proceedings that you almost don't notice when a murder actually happens.
Two-thirds through, I almost gave up. But a) I generally think Hughes is a fine writer (even 'DJ' shows some amount of skill), and b) at some point, the novel started to be so entertainingly awful that I was curious to see if it would stay that way. Sadly, and in sometimes an unintentionally funny way, it does.
Recently re-released as part of the Otto Penzler 'American Mystery Classics' series, the novel comes with a fan-girl introduction by Sarah Weinman, which is persuasively written. Weinman extols: "The novel... should take its rightful place among the upper echelon of Hughes' body of work, and of twentieth century crime fiction as a whole." (Um, well...)
Weinman also states her belief that the reason the novel was never filmed is because "[t]he observations about Hollywood are too pointed, even for an industry already pretending to be interested in self-reflection."
That's the kind of remark which causes the reader to anticipate: gee, what does Hughes reveal that 'cannot be said' on the silver screen?; which caused Hollywood producers to shrink with extreme caution?
Turns out, not much. Hughes does let fall a few truisms about certain egomaniacal Hollywood types; types who no doubt existed then as well as now. But so does 'Sunset Boulevard', as well as a number of other films critical of the entertainment industry. Weinman's assertion may still hold a kernel of weight, but it seems to me the main reason the book wasn't filmed is that it's just not all that good.
Weinman says more: "...as told by a different writer, ['Dread Journey'] would be a more conventional locked-room mystery... This novel might be 'Murder on the Orient Express'." That comparison is at least apt. Hughes sets up a similar dynamic. And, to be fair, she sets up her conflict well, introducing her cast of characters in an intriguing manner and establishing the atmosphere on the train in an engagingly enigmatic way.
However, Hughes then begins to make some unfortunate blunders. We learn, for example, who the murderer and the victim will be fairly early on (so much for *that* mystery). At first, that didn't bother me since I figured Hughes had a unique angle to unfold.
She doesn't. What she does uncoil (and simultaneously coil) is a ceaseless panorama of the interior lives of all of her characters. Almost to a person, these are (not particularly well-defined) people preoccupied with advanced, spin-dry stages of fear, frustration and / or cluelessness. (The most interesting characters are the killer Vivien Spender - who seems a dry-run for Hughes' best villain, Dix Steele in 'In a Lonely Place' - and his secretary Mike Dana, who reminded me of J. Smith Cameron's Gerri in HBO's histrionic 'Succession'.) Hughes is constantly telling us that, in one way or another, just about everyone on-board this train is on his / her last nerve. All of that goes on for pages and pages and pages... more or less, emotional inertia in lieu of an actual murder mystery plot.
Imagine something like this: Michelangelo Antonioni directing 'Psycho' - so much angst clogging up the proceedings that you almost don't notice when a murder actually happens.
Two-thirds through, I almost gave up. But a) I generally think Hughes is a fine writer (even 'DJ' shows some amount of skill), and b) at some point, the novel started to be so entertainingly awful that I was curious to see if it would stay that way. Sadly, and in sometimes an unintentionally funny way, it does.
March 11, 2020
I read The Blackbirder five years ago and liked it. I should have looked for her more popular book that was made into a movie In a Lonely Place, but this fresh hardback stood out on the library shelf. I really did not like the book. It is the story of a wealthy Hollywood type who dreams of finding the ideal ingenue to play a role in a favored play. He selects them one after another and kills them one after another. Knowing that at the outset, of course, there is no mystery to be solved.
What we do get is a train ride from California to Chicago with some rather disturbing folk. The anchor in this journey is the valet James Cobbett who serves as the eyes and ears of the passengers on this journey, pampered in their luxury suites. He seems the most interesting character of the lot.
The murder is predicted, the murder happens. The people are all self-centered boors.
This was supposed to relax me after doing my taxes, but it did not serve the purpose! I won't give up on this author until I find the lonely place book.
Library Loan
What we do get is a train ride from California to Chicago with some rather disturbing folk. The anchor in this journey is the valet James Cobbett who serves as the eyes and ears of the passengers on this journey, pampered in their luxury suites. He seems the most interesting character of the lot.
The murder is predicted, the murder happens. The people are all self-centered boors.
This was supposed to relax me after doing my taxes, but it did not serve the purpose! I won't give up on this author until I find the lonely place book.
Library Loan
maybe
March 18, 2021*****************
*Ride the Pink Horse 4 stars
*The Fallen Sparrow 2 stars
*The So Blue Marble 1 star
*Dread Journey maybe
*The Expendable Man TBR
*In a Lonely Place TBR
*Ride the Pink Horse 4 stars
*The Fallen Sparrow 2 stars
*The So Blue Marble 1 star
*Dread Journey maybe
*The Expendable Man TBR
*In a Lonely Place TBR
March 1, 2022
I love mysteries set on a train, and I especially love those train mysteries to be set in the 1930s or 40s. Mix in some golden days of Hollywood when there were “movie stars,” not actresses and actors, and you have a setup for high drama. Dread Journey contains these elements and all the accoutrements that go with them, from cocktail hour to black satin dresses. Over-the-top is the norm, as evident when one of the characters is ordering steak for dinner, wanting only "the best." Think the Great Gatsby on a train, and Jay Gatsby throwing his shirts in the air as Daisy looks on at how splendidly beautiful the “best” shirts were. As the darkness behind the glamorous society facade is revealed in Fitzgerald’s book, the darkness of celebrity fame is exposed in Hughes’ book. All the cocktails on the luxury Pullman car on The Chief cross-country train can’t dull the sound of masks cracking and dreams dying.
Kitten Agnew is a movie star. She has proved her worth as a box office draw, and she will not be dismissed as yesterday’s news. On a cross-country train trip from Los Angles to Chicago and then on to NYC, Kitten is in a fight for her career and, ultimately, her life. The role of her career, the goal of her life, is to play Clavdia Chaucat in an adaptation of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. Vivien Spender, the producer/director who found Kitten and made her into a star, has been, since he found her, grooming her to play this part in the movie he will produce, his magnus opus. But now, Vivien has found a new Clavdia, a fresh face to mold into his image of Clavdia. However, Kitten has an iron-clad contract with Vivien and won’t step aside. She was not the first beautiful girl to catch Viv’s eye and then later be discarded when he grew tired of them, so Kitten made sure her contract could not be broken.
The train trip to New York City is set up by Viv under the ruse of going there for the premiere of Kitten’s new movie. At the last minute, his intentions become clear to Kitten, as he forces her to share a room on the train with his new ingenue, Gratia Shawn. There’s no discussion about it because Kitten and Viv aren’t talking to one another by then. Kitten has threatened Viv with a lawsuit, one which he will lose because of her iron-clad contract. He has offered her a million dollars to give in, but Katherine “Kitten” Agnew will not go away: she alone will play Clavdia. With a stalemate existing between them, Kitten has an overriding fear when the train trip begins of what Vivien Spender has in store for her. “She was afraid. It wasn’t a tremble of fear. It was a dark hood hanging over her head. She was meant to die. That was why she was on the Chief speeding eastward. This was her bier.”
Vivien Spender had hoped to keep his new girl under wraps until New York, but Kitten knows Leslie Augustin, famous band leader and singer, who is also in their car, and drinks in Leslie’s room gives way to Gratia joining them. Journalist Hank Cavanaugh is also in Leslie’s room and working his way to his preferred state of drunkenness. So, a foursome of sorts is formed for drinks and dinner and whiling away the many hours on the train, exposing Gratia’s beauty to the public ahead of the plan. Kitten is glad of the companionship, as she is trying to ensure Viv doesn’t get her alone to try and eliminate her. Hank learns of Kitten’s trepidations about Viv, and he feels he might at least do something useful in life by saving her. Hank and Kitten have one of the longest conversations in the book, with Kitten in a completely honest moment in her wondering about dying and heaven and hell. The train speeds on, and the small world of the luxury car on the Chief train gets closer to its final act. The atmosphere is tense, and the suspense builds steadily with each chuga chuga chuga of the wheels. Can murder be averted, or is it the end of the line for Kitten?
Dread Journey is an ensemble piece, with each character is the cast receiving their solos where their thoughts and dialogue reveal themselves. Well, fresh-faced Gratia is the exception. Her character seems to be shaped by what others think and say about her rather than inner reflection or problem-solving thoughts of a deeper nature. A smattering of short outbursts of dialogue from her are her attempt to make her position clear. And, it is Gratia who uses the word “woke” to describe herself at the end, which may be the most important thing she utters. There’s no doubt as to what Kitten Agnew, Vivien Spender, popular band leader Leslie Augustin, burned-out journalist Hank Cavanaugh, or Viv’s loyal and long-suffering assistant Mike Dana, and the failed script writer Sidney Pringle are in torment about. They desperately want to find the happy ending but are afraid that one doesn’t exist, except for Viv, as his narcissism can only imagine scenarios with him succeeding. While Viv was the character I liked the least, it was quite interesting to learn through his thoughts how clever he thinks he is, his overblown confidence in there only being one right answer to anything, what he wants. Shades of Harry Weinstein are easily conjured up as we learn what the price of being a Vivien Spender star is. The Pullman porter, James Cobbett, has some deep reflections and thoughts about his passengers upon which he lingers, but James knows contentment, and, thus, he is separate from the other characters in the ensemble. Through James’ separateness, the reader has insight into the other characters as he watches them from his seat in the car or serves them. They often have their masks down in front of James, so the reader benefits from James’ invisibility to his passengers.
This book falls squarely in the noir tradition of the 1940s and 50s noir fiction, and Dorothy B. Hughes is a revered noir writer of the 40s. All the characters struggle with a world that has disappointed them and shown them things they cannot reconcile into a happy existence. Kitten, Vivien, Leslie, Hank, Mike, and somewhat less Gratia. They all are floundering in a world of broken dreams that lead to despair. Classic noir presents that the American dream is not actually an attainable goal, trying to find meaning in a meaningless world. Otto Penzler, who is the publisher of this edition of Dread Journey, states that “the lost characters in noir … are caught in the inescapable prisons of their own construction.” Rather a you-have-nobody-to-blame-but-yourself judgement, but in defense of the character’s blame, the existential state of fate does hang heavy. There’s a darkness of theme and atmosphere, which is personified by so much happening in the dark hours of the journey, like a living, breathing entity hovering to pounce. There’s the sexual tension between Hank and Gratia, Leslie and Gratia, and the sexual seductive postures of Kitten and the sexual predatory expectations of Vivien. And, there’s the dialogue of noir, mostly short and abrupt, often with a dramatic flair. The dialogue between the characters in Dread Journey is always on the edge of despondency. The unhappy ending seals the noir deal, and that shouldn’t be a spoiler for readers. Most people wouldn’t expect this setup to end anything but badly.
I am so glad that I picked out this Dorothy B. Hughes book to read in the classic crime fiction being reprinted. It was a wonderfully suspenseful tale and well written. The closed setting of the train amps up the excitement tenfold. That it is a dark tale doesn’t mean it’s a depressing one, well not in the sense of the reader being disappointed. It’s a fascinating tale, with the images of it clearly playing in your head, as if a film. Even though I was fully involved in the Dread Journey, I wasn’t overcome by gloom. For those of us who love jazz and blues music, reading this book is like hearing the sad notes of a song where someone’s been done wrong and loving the sound despite the message.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the introduction to this edition of Dread Journey. I was thrilled to see it was written by Sarah Weinman, an author whose knowledge of crime and crime writing is exceptional. This introduction by Weinman really deserves a review of its own. It’s concise but thorough, a perfect introduction. Weinman obviously knows tons about author Dorothy B. Hughes, as Hughes is her favorite author and In a Lonely Place by Hughes is a yearly reread, but Weinman doesn’t have to spend pages and pages telling us everything that’s in her head about this author. She conveys to readers the sense of who Dorothy Hughes was and provides remarks about Dread Journey that actually aid in the reading of the story. Weinman’s character breakdown of those traveling on the ill-fated train ride was an invaluable resource to me in keeping the characters straight at first. Reading Weinman’s introduction will give readers the background and notes on this story to enjoy it to the fullest.
To wrap up this lengthy review on a short book, Dorothy B. Hughes can tell a story. Her writing is so flawless that you don’t even realize just how good it is until you’ve finished the book. If Dread Journey is not even Hughes’ most well-known book, then it’s a certainty that I will read more of her. It’s always exciting to discover a new-to-me author and another sub-genre of my favorite genre of crime reading.
Dorothy B. Hughes Quick Crime Writer Bio
Dorothy B. Hughes wrote fourteen crime novels, mostly between 1940-1952, and Dreaded Journey, her eighth, was published in 1945. She wrote only one more novel after 1952, The Expendable Man in 1962. Her books are described as the hard-boiled, noir styles, and I certainly felt the noir in Dreaded Journey. Three of her books were made into movies (1943, 1947, and 1950). Humphrey Bogart starred in In a Lonely Place, perhaps her most popular work, in 1950, and it doesn’t get much more noir than Bogie. After her last novel, she continued to write criticism, reviews, and non-fiction. In her days before the novels, she had written poetry, was a literary critic, and worked as a journalist. She died in 1993 at age 89.
“She carried her head like a lady and her body like a snake.”
― Dorothy B. Hughes, Dread Journey
Kitten Agnew is a movie star. She has proved her worth as a box office draw, and she will not be dismissed as yesterday’s news. On a cross-country train trip from Los Angles to Chicago and then on to NYC, Kitten is in a fight for her career and, ultimately, her life. The role of her career, the goal of her life, is to play Clavdia Chaucat in an adaptation of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. Vivien Spender, the producer/director who found Kitten and made her into a star, has been, since he found her, grooming her to play this part in the movie he will produce, his magnus opus. But now, Vivien has found a new Clavdia, a fresh face to mold into his image of Clavdia. However, Kitten has an iron-clad contract with Vivien and won’t step aside. She was not the first beautiful girl to catch Viv’s eye and then later be discarded when he grew tired of them, so Kitten made sure her contract could not be broken.
The train trip to New York City is set up by Viv under the ruse of going there for the premiere of Kitten’s new movie. At the last minute, his intentions become clear to Kitten, as he forces her to share a room on the train with his new ingenue, Gratia Shawn. There’s no discussion about it because Kitten and Viv aren’t talking to one another by then. Kitten has threatened Viv with a lawsuit, one which he will lose because of her iron-clad contract. He has offered her a million dollars to give in, but Katherine “Kitten” Agnew will not go away: she alone will play Clavdia. With a stalemate existing between them, Kitten has an overriding fear when the train trip begins of what Vivien Spender has in store for her. “She was afraid. It wasn’t a tremble of fear. It was a dark hood hanging over her head. She was meant to die. That was why she was on the Chief speeding eastward. This was her bier.”
Vivien Spender had hoped to keep his new girl under wraps until New York, but Kitten knows Leslie Augustin, famous band leader and singer, who is also in their car, and drinks in Leslie’s room gives way to Gratia joining them. Journalist Hank Cavanaugh is also in Leslie’s room and working his way to his preferred state of drunkenness. So, a foursome of sorts is formed for drinks and dinner and whiling away the many hours on the train, exposing Gratia’s beauty to the public ahead of the plan. Kitten is glad of the companionship, as she is trying to ensure Viv doesn’t get her alone to try and eliminate her. Hank learns of Kitten’s trepidations about Viv, and he feels he might at least do something useful in life by saving her. Hank and Kitten have one of the longest conversations in the book, with Kitten in a completely honest moment in her wondering about dying and heaven and hell. The train speeds on, and the small world of the luxury car on the Chief train gets closer to its final act. The atmosphere is tense, and the suspense builds steadily with each chuga chuga chuga of the wheels. Can murder be averted, or is it the end of the line for Kitten?
Dread Journey is an ensemble piece, with each character is the cast receiving their solos where their thoughts and dialogue reveal themselves. Well, fresh-faced Gratia is the exception. Her character seems to be shaped by what others think and say about her rather than inner reflection or problem-solving thoughts of a deeper nature. A smattering of short outbursts of dialogue from her are her attempt to make her position clear. And, it is Gratia who uses the word “woke” to describe herself at the end, which may be the most important thing she utters. There’s no doubt as to what Kitten Agnew, Vivien Spender, popular band leader Leslie Augustin, burned-out journalist Hank Cavanaugh, or Viv’s loyal and long-suffering assistant Mike Dana, and the failed script writer Sidney Pringle are in torment about. They desperately want to find the happy ending but are afraid that one doesn’t exist, except for Viv, as his narcissism can only imagine scenarios with him succeeding. While Viv was the character I liked the least, it was quite interesting to learn through his thoughts how clever he thinks he is, his overblown confidence in there only being one right answer to anything, what he wants. Shades of Harry Weinstein are easily conjured up as we learn what the price of being a Vivien Spender star is. The Pullman porter, James Cobbett, has some deep reflections and thoughts about his passengers upon which he lingers, but James knows contentment, and, thus, he is separate from the other characters in the ensemble. Through James’ separateness, the reader has insight into the other characters as he watches them from his seat in the car or serves them. They often have their masks down in front of James, so the reader benefits from James’ invisibility to his passengers.
This book falls squarely in the noir tradition of the 1940s and 50s noir fiction, and Dorothy B. Hughes is a revered noir writer of the 40s. All the characters struggle with a world that has disappointed them and shown them things they cannot reconcile into a happy existence. Kitten, Vivien, Leslie, Hank, Mike, and somewhat less Gratia. They all are floundering in a world of broken dreams that lead to despair. Classic noir presents that the American dream is not actually an attainable goal, trying to find meaning in a meaningless world. Otto Penzler, who is the publisher of this edition of Dread Journey, states that “the lost characters in noir … are caught in the inescapable prisons of their own construction.” Rather a you-have-nobody-to-blame-but-yourself judgement, but in defense of the character’s blame, the existential state of fate does hang heavy. There’s a darkness of theme and atmosphere, which is personified by so much happening in the dark hours of the journey, like a living, breathing entity hovering to pounce. There’s the sexual tension between Hank and Gratia, Leslie and Gratia, and the sexual seductive postures of Kitten and the sexual predatory expectations of Vivien. And, there’s the dialogue of noir, mostly short and abrupt, often with a dramatic flair. The dialogue between the characters in Dread Journey is always on the edge of despondency. The unhappy ending seals the noir deal, and that shouldn’t be a spoiler for readers. Most people wouldn’t expect this setup to end anything but badly.
I am so glad that I picked out this Dorothy B. Hughes book to read in the classic crime fiction being reprinted. It was a wonderfully suspenseful tale and well written. The closed setting of the train amps up the excitement tenfold. That it is a dark tale doesn’t mean it’s a depressing one, well not in the sense of the reader being disappointed. It’s a fascinating tale, with the images of it clearly playing in your head, as if a film. Even though I was fully involved in the Dread Journey, I wasn’t overcome by gloom. For those of us who love jazz and blues music, reading this book is like hearing the sad notes of a song where someone’s been done wrong and loving the sound despite the message.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the introduction to this edition of Dread Journey. I was thrilled to see it was written by Sarah Weinman, an author whose knowledge of crime and crime writing is exceptional. This introduction by Weinman really deserves a review of its own. It’s concise but thorough, a perfect introduction. Weinman obviously knows tons about author Dorothy B. Hughes, as Hughes is her favorite author and In a Lonely Place by Hughes is a yearly reread, but Weinman doesn’t have to spend pages and pages telling us everything that’s in her head about this author. She conveys to readers the sense of who Dorothy Hughes was and provides remarks about Dread Journey that actually aid in the reading of the story. Weinman’s character breakdown of those traveling on the ill-fated train ride was an invaluable resource to me in keeping the characters straight at first. Reading Weinman’s introduction will give readers the background and notes on this story to enjoy it to the fullest.
To wrap up this lengthy review on a short book, Dorothy B. Hughes can tell a story. Her writing is so flawless that you don’t even realize just how good it is until you’ve finished the book. If Dread Journey is not even Hughes’ most well-known book, then it’s a certainty that I will read more of her. It’s always exciting to discover a new-to-me author and another sub-genre of my favorite genre of crime reading.
Dorothy B. Hughes Quick Crime Writer Bio
Dorothy B. Hughes wrote fourteen crime novels, mostly between 1940-1952, and Dreaded Journey, her eighth, was published in 1945. She wrote only one more novel after 1952, The Expendable Man in 1962. Her books are described as the hard-boiled, noir styles, and I certainly felt the noir in Dreaded Journey. Three of her books were made into movies (1943, 1947, and 1950). Humphrey Bogart starred in In a Lonely Place, perhaps her most popular work, in 1950, and it doesn’t get much more noir than Bogie. After her last novel, she continued to write criticism, reviews, and non-fiction. In her days before the novels, she had written poetry, was a literary critic, and worked as a journalist. She died in 1993 at age 89.
“She carried her head like a lady and her body like a snake.”
― Dorothy B. Hughes, Dread Journey
August 18, 2020
A Hollywood actress believes she'll be killed during a train trip across the country.
Mystery Review: Dread Journey is as much a thriller as a mystery and so suspenseful I had to keep putting the book down when I got too nervous. A group of eight women and men, most with Hollywood ties, one who may be a murderer, travel across America by train as their lives grow entangled. Eight flawed characters become three-dimensional human beings who the reader cares for despite their flaws. Dread Journey is told from multiple viewpoints, multiple minds with all their thoughts, doubts, fears, and torments. Natures and motivations come into multiple conflicts. Maybe my emotions were overstimulated and I read too much into it, but the story raised questions in my mind about the kind of war America had just fought, the validity of the death penalty, and just how wrong and evil is murder. Most mysteries don't make that point. The victim's often a stranger the reader hasn't engaged with much, who after all is reading about murder for entertainment. Dorothy Hughes (1904-93) also makes overt and perceptive statements about race and class in America: "a man's pigmentation did not make him a mean creature. That all men were human and as such differed one from another; and as such were the same, one to another." All in a well-written ("But a whisper could be as perilous as a scream"), hard-boiled slice of someone else's life. As an aside, did Hughes write about Harvey Weinstein in 1945? Unlikely, he wasn't born yet. Which shows that he isn't a just a person but a label for a breed of predator that has existed for a long time. Which may be why this profound but cinematic mystery was never made into a movie. Hollywood comes off poorly. Dread Journey was impressive, much better than any mystery published in 1945 has any right to be. Powerful, intense, and indelible. [5★]
Mystery Review: Dread Journey is as much a thriller as a mystery and so suspenseful I had to keep putting the book down when I got too nervous. A group of eight women and men, most with Hollywood ties, one who may be a murderer, travel across America by train as their lives grow entangled. Eight flawed characters become three-dimensional human beings who the reader cares for despite their flaws. Dread Journey is told from multiple viewpoints, multiple minds with all their thoughts, doubts, fears, and torments. Natures and motivations come into multiple conflicts. Maybe my emotions were overstimulated and I read too much into it, but the story raised questions in my mind about the kind of war America had just fought, the validity of the death penalty, and just how wrong and evil is murder. Most mysteries don't make that point. The victim's often a stranger the reader hasn't engaged with much, who after all is reading about murder for entertainment. Dorothy Hughes (1904-93) also makes overt and perceptive statements about race and class in America: "a man's pigmentation did not make him a mean creature. That all men were human and as such differed one from another; and as such were the same, one to another." All in a well-written ("But a whisper could be as perilous as a scream"), hard-boiled slice of someone else's life. As an aside, did Hughes write about Harvey Weinstein in 1945? Unlikely, he wasn't born yet. Which shows that he isn't a just a person but a label for a breed of predator that has existed for a long time. Which may be why this profound but cinematic mystery was never made into a movie. Hollywood comes off poorly. Dread Journey was impressive, much better than any mystery published in 1945 has any right to be. Powerful, intense, and indelible. [5★]
February 17, 2023
DNF Laboured and exhausting
June 1, 2021
I would love to travel across the country on a train, just not with this motley crew. Vic is just a slimeball and I thought Kitten might be smarter. This made me think of the amazing movie Barton Fink. Hollywood is not a place I would ever want to be.
December 2, 2019
“Art isn’t creation to Viven Spencer, to any of those great tomcat producers. Art is a body in a bed. It isn’t a man’s life blood dying in a pen while he sells neckties in a bargain basement.”
James Cobbett is a porter for the Chief, a train from California to Chicago. He expected a higher standard of passenger on this high end train but unfortunately, there are rude and racist people on every train, no matter how expensive nor fancy.
Dread Journey is a re-issued classic by Dorothy Hughes. Vivien Spencer and Kitten Agnew have been together for a few years and come to the end of their road. Kitten wants her role of a lifetime and Viv wants to cast a new ingenue in the role. The rest of the cast of characters becomes embroiled in an attempt to protect Kitten from Viv, who some suspect will try to kill Kitten.
Yet this book is primarily about what striving to create can do to people. About being poor and the randomness of some artistic success. About hunger and a determination to overcome poverty. It’s about love and its healing qualities. And it’s about how hate can rot you from the inside, no matter how rich or successful you become.
James Cobbett is a porter for the Chief, a train from California to Chicago. He expected a higher standard of passenger on this high end train but unfortunately, there are rude and racist people on every train, no matter how expensive nor fancy.
Dread Journey is a re-issued classic by Dorothy Hughes. Vivien Spencer and Kitten Agnew have been together for a few years and come to the end of their road. Kitten wants her role of a lifetime and Viv wants to cast a new ingenue in the role. The rest of the cast of characters becomes embroiled in an attempt to protect Kitten from Viv, who some suspect will try to kill Kitten.
Yet this book is primarily about what striving to create can do to people. About being poor and the randomness of some artistic success. About hunger and a determination to overcome poverty. It’s about love and its healing qualities. And it’s about how hate can rot you from the inside, no matter how rich or successful you become.
May 31, 2021
Somewhat claustrophobic thriller filled with hard-boiled noir language, alcoholism, social climbing, and endless histrionic inner monologues. The hyperbolic melodrama gets a little tiresome, but it’s an easy, short read.
July 26, 2019
I enjoyed Gone Girl well enough but those hailing Gone Girl and the female-written female-driven thriller novel that has become en vogue should do a little cultural excavation. Women have historically dominated the thriller market, especially in the 30s through the 50s. And one of the greats, indeed perhaps the greatest of these was Dorothy Hughes.
I haven’t read a lot of Hughes and that’s my mistake. Her most popular work is In A Lonely Place, which inspired the Humphrey Bogart movie that’s drastically different from the book. But she’s written a lot of other great thriller-type novels. The Expendable Man is an early contender for the best book I’ve read in 2019. This may not make my list but it’s also darn good in it’s own right.
You know all you need to from the premise: a popular film actress is riding a bicoastal train from LA to NYC for a film premiere, convinced that her producer/ex-lover is going to kill her. The producer himself, a Harvey Weinstein-type if there ever was one, is on the train as well, along with other assorted characters.
What makes Hughes the master of this kind of work is not the thrill-a-minute page-turning style that is popular this day in age, nor is Dread Journey a slow burn. It’s a character study. You find out who these characters are little-by-little and slowly, their motivations are revealed. Small decisions end up having big consequences. Throw in a claustrophobic setting (the entire book takes place on the train) and you’ve got quite a pot boiler.
Some female writers from this era, Margaret Millar in particular, have gotten republished and received new love and adoration in these times. It’s gotta be Hughes’ turn to have a moment.
I haven’t read a lot of Hughes and that’s my mistake. Her most popular work is In A Lonely Place, which inspired the Humphrey Bogart movie that’s drastically different from the book. But she’s written a lot of other great thriller-type novels. The Expendable Man is an early contender for the best book I’ve read in 2019. This may not make my list but it’s also darn good in it’s own right.
You know all you need to from the premise: a popular film actress is riding a bicoastal train from LA to NYC for a film premiere, convinced that her producer/ex-lover is going to kill her. The producer himself, a Harvey Weinstein-type if there ever was one, is on the train as well, along with other assorted characters.
What makes Hughes the master of this kind of work is not the thrill-a-minute page-turning style that is popular this day in age, nor is Dread Journey a slow burn. It’s a character study. You find out who these characters are little-by-little and slowly, their motivations are revealed. Small decisions end up having big consequences. Throw in a claustrophobic setting (the entire book takes place on the train) and you’ve got quite a pot boiler.
Some female writers from this era, Margaret Millar in particular, have gotten republished and received new love and adoration in these times. It’s gotta be Hughes’ turn to have a moment.
July 26, 2020
A crime novel written by the great Dorothy B Hughes (In a Lonely Place) in 1945 about a predatory movie producer, an actor he believes to have outlived her usefulness (youthfulness?), the complicity of silence, and so many other things (race, class, etc), Dread Journey is a masterpiece.
“You don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. All God’s chillun don’t want to die. They want to live in hell. That’s the joke of it. That’s why if you keep quiet you can hear the Devil laughing. Everyone’s begging to go on being tortured.”
“You don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. All God’s chillun don’t want to die. They want to live in hell. That’s the joke of it. That’s why if you keep quiet you can hear the Devil laughing. Everyone’s begging to go on being tortured.”
October 6, 2020
At first I was just confused. There were a lot of pronouns. I wasn't sure who 'she' was, but I thought I knew. He was a different problem as I thought 'he' referred to more than one person and I didn't yet have enough information to sort it out. Thankfully this confusion lasted for only about 20-25 pages. Hughes did use this writing style in other places in the novel, but there was no longer any confusion about who the pronouns referenced. Still, it didn't seem the best way to tell the story.
There is a mystery here, but it isn't what one would normally expect. A young actress, Kitten Agnew, and Vivien Spender, the head of movie studio, are on a train from California to New York. There is an additional cast of characters who feature prominently in the story. Kitten is afraid Spender intends to murder her. Does he? And who else also thinks that might be his intent?
Hughes tells her story from multiple points of view. Some action is told (and retold) by characters in the same place at the same time. For example, there was one scene where a woman walked down the train corridor and opened the door to a drawing room. The next paragraph was told from the viewpoint of the person in the room. I found this interesting, and it certainly overcame the confusion of the early pronouns. Though I did not think this her best work, it won't keep me from continuing to read her. Just 3-stars this time.
There is a mystery here, but it isn't what one would normally expect. A young actress, Kitten Agnew, and Vivien Spender, the head of movie studio, are on a train from California to New York. There is an additional cast of characters who feature prominently in the story. Kitten is afraid Spender intends to murder her. Does he? And who else also thinks that might be his intent?
Hughes tells her story from multiple points of view. Some action is told (and retold) by characters in the same place at the same time. For example, there was one scene where a woman walked down the train corridor and opened the door to a drawing room. The next paragraph was told from the viewpoint of the person in the room. I found this interesting, and it certainly overcame the confusion of the early pronouns. Though I did not think this her best work, it won't keep me from continuing to read her. Just 3-stars this time.
January 17, 2020
A good thriller. Lots of tension and atmosphere.
August 19, 2025
DNF
Impossible to follow who is whom. One sentence is written from the perspective of 1 character then the very next sentence is from the perspective of a different character, then back to the original character, then on to a 3rd, all within one paragraph!
Impossible to follow who is whom. One sentence is written from the perspective of 1 character then the very next sentence is from the perspective of a different character, then back to the original character, then on to a 3rd, all within one paragraph!
December 12, 2019
It’s about time that the British Library Crime Classics had a challenger from across the pond. American Mystery Classics is republishing Dread Journey from 1945. It is an excellent example of an American golden-age mystery. It begins with a murder on a luxurious train speeding across the US with a large cast of suspects. Sounds familiar, right? But this ride is more a character-driven psychological study than the plot with the shocking twist at the end familiar to Christie readers.
If you like golden-age classic mysteries, you will enjoy Dread Journey. It feels like stepping into the past in atmosphere and setting. Yet it’s topical underlying plot of starlets doing anything for fame still seems relevant in today’s post-Weinstein world. 4 stars!
Thanks to American Mystery Classics and NetGalley for granting my wish for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
If you like golden-age classic mysteries, you will enjoy Dread Journey. It feels like stepping into the past in atmosphere and setting. Yet it’s topical underlying plot of starlets doing anything for fame still seems relevant in today’s post-Weinstein world. 4 stars!
Thanks to American Mystery Classics and NetGalley for granting my wish for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
April 23, 2016
I really thought I'd like this. I did enjoy the other two novels I've read by Hughes. And the title is so great. But the story was so dull I ended up skimming most of it to find that it ended as dully as it began. Unlikeable characters, an ordinary Hollywood saga we all know. Not effective overall. Doesn't live up to its title.
Read
May 16, 2018Somewhat overwrought, but it is undeniably engaging, Hughes overdoes the corruption of big bad Hollywood and the innocence of pure, sweet Gratia — so there isn’t enough in between to hold our interest. But the character of Mike, the long-suffering secretary, is well-drawn.
March 4, 2023
More of a "does he really mean to do it, and will he do it" rather than "whodunit". Most of the book is spent bouncing from "revealing" conversations and descriptions of the various characters, while the plot circles the drain. Still entertaining at times.
December 30, 2013
Incredible book about the excesses of Hollywood and the problems of success. Definitely recommended by a master of suspense.
July 26, 2014
A cross-country train ride filled with a foreboding sense of impending death, told from multiple points of view in Hughes' character study.
April 11, 2015
Dread Journey is one of Hughes' masterpieces. A dark story of Hollywood and ambition gone wrong.highly recommended to anyone who likes domestic suspense.
May 20, 2023
I read DREAD JOURNEY in the edition published in 2019 by Penzler.
This is the third book by Dorothy B. Hughes I've read, the other two being her very focused IN A LONELY PLACE from 1947 and her implausible first novel THE SO BLUE MARBLE, from 1940. I rank IN A LONELY PLACE very highly, but DREAD JOURNEY, like THE SO BLUE MARBLE, only hints at the depth of IN A LONELY PLACE.
I think DREAD JOURNEY was her seventh novel. It was published in 1945. She was issuing novels very quickly. From what I've read about her on the web, her early books THE FALLEN SPARROW, THE BLACKBIRDER and RIDE THE PINK HORSE are serious. (I have just borrowed RIDE THE PINK HORSE and will post a review on Goodreads.) I think Hughes had things to say about injustice, social, sexual, financial and racial. I particularly look forward to reading her final novel, THE EXPENDABLE MAN, from 1963, which has an African-American protagonist. Hughes was white and was raised in Missouri. Her sensitivity to oppression is unusual; in particular, she is not self-congratulatory. She is clear-eyed.
But it has to be said that, in THE SO BLUE MARBLE and DREAD JOURNEY, she makes it hard to understand what is going on from paragraph to paragraph. The overarching plot is apparent, but, repeatedly, when one character starts doing something or saying something, the activity of another character comes up in such a way as to cause the reader to have to re-read the previous sentence, or paragraph, or page. Obviously, an author often intends sly shifts in point of view, but if this isn't done with skill, it thwarts the reader's attempt to follow where the author leads.
I found, on a webpage called 3:AM Cult Hero, Hughes's reflection on her career. "My mother was very ill and lived with me. The children were in that state of getting started in marriage, with grandchildren for me to care for. And I simply hadn't the tranquility required to write. I wasn't frustrated because I was reviewing mysteries, and reviewing has always been very important to me."
The page doesn't say when she said that, but I gather it was later in life. She lived from 1904 to 1993. She therefore spent thirty years, after THE EXPENDABLE MAN, without publishing another novel. The words that strike me in that quotation though, show she was cognizant of something faced by many writers: "I simply hadn't the tranquility required to write."
There are passages of brooding prose in DREAD JOURNEY, spoken by a character who's been in combat. These hint at IN A LONELY PLACE, a novel about a war vet. There are specific references to Thomas Mann's THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN. (Several of the characters are hoping to be involved in a film adaptation of that bestselling, philosophical novel.) The characters quote Shakespeare. Dorothy B. Hughes wanted to appeal to readers who could bring a lot to a novel they were reading. At least four of her novels were adapted by Hollywood in the first decade of her career as a novelist. They were hit movies. This in itself shows she had a goal and met it several times.
But the references to THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN in DREAD JOURNEY don't seem to be anything except references. (I've read several of Mann's books. I've borrowed THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, which I'll read after RIDE THE PINK HORSE. Thomas Mann is not unknown to me. Other than the fact that the characters in DREAD JOURNEY talk in philosophical terms, I don't get the impression much of THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN informs DREAD JOURNEY. I'll add to this review if THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN causes my mind to change.)
Look at Hollywood movies of the 1940s. Characters, in hard-boiled Warner Brothers films, often suddenly talk about the world at large. DREAD JOURNEY has this. Hughes was not alone in writing about people getting drunk and talking about this lousy world. Her writing is of its time. Dorothy Parker, Dashiell Hammett and Hemingway all wrote this way. (Read Parker's harrowing "Big Blonde" if you thought she was just a NEW YORKER cut-up.) Hughes is interesting. She was in complete control with IN A LONELY PLACE. The revival of interest in her is merited. But DREAD JOURNEY is awkward.
This is the third book by Dorothy B. Hughes I've read, the other two being her very focused IN A LONELY PLACE from 1947 and her implausible first novel THE SO BLUE MARBLE, from 1940. I rank IN A LONELY PLACE very highly, but DREAD JOURNEY, like THE SO BLUE MARBLE, only hints at the depth of IN A LONELY PLACE.
I think DREAD JOURNEY was her seventh novel. It was published in 1945. She was issuing novels very quickly. From what I've read about her on the web, her early books THE FALLEN SPARROW, THE BLACKBIRDER and RIDE THE PINK HORSE are serious. (I have just borrowed RIDE THE PINK HORSE and will post a review on Goodreads.) I think Hughes had things to say about injustice, social, sexual, financial and racial. I particularly look forward to reading her final novel, THE EXPENDABLE MAN, from 1963, which has an African-American protagonist. Hughes was white and was raised in Missouri. Her sensitivity to oppression is unusual; in particular, she is not self-congratulatory. She is clear-eyed.
But it has to be said that, in THE SO BLUE MARBLE and DREAD JOURNEY, she makes it hard to understand what is going on from paragraph to paragraph. The overarching plot is apparent, but, repeatedly, when one character starts doing something or saying something, the activity of another character comes up in such a way as to cause the reader to have to re-read the previous sentence, or paragraph, or page. Obviously, an author often intends sly shifts in point of view, but if this isn't done with skill, it thwarts the reader's attempt to follow where the author leads.
I found, on a webpage called 3:AM Cult Hero, Hughes's reflection on her career. "My mother was very ill and lived with me. The children were in that state of getting started in marriage, with grandchildren for me to care for. And I simply hadn't the tranquility required to write. I wasn't frustrated because I was reviewing mysteries, and reviewing has always been very important to me."
The page doesn't say when she said that, but I gather it was later in life. She lived from 1904 to 1993. She therefore spent thirty years, after THE EXPENDABLE MAN, without publishing another novel. The words that strike me in that quotation though, show she was cognizant of something faced by many writers: "I simply hadn't the tranquility required to write."
There are passages of brooding prose in DREAD JOURNEY, spoken by a character who's been in combat. These hint at IN A LONELY PLACE, a novel about a war vet. There are specific references to Thomas Mann's THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN. (Several of the characters are hoping to be involved in a film adaptation of that bestselling, philosophical novel.) The characters quote Shakespeare. Dorothy B. Hughes wanted to appeal to readers who could bring a lot to a novel they were reading. At least four of her novels were adapted by Hollywood in the first decade of her career as a novelist. They were hit movies. This in itself shows she had a goal and met it several times.
But the references to THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN in DREAD JOURNEY don't seem to be anything except references. (I've read several of Mann's books. I've borrowed THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, which I'll read after RIDE THE PINK HORSE. Thomas Mann is not unknown to me. Other than the fact that the characters in DREAD JOURNEY talk in philosophical terms, I don't get the impression much of THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN informs DREAD JOURNEY. I'll add to this review if THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN causes my mind to change.)
Look at Hollywood movies of the 1940s. Characters, in hard-boiled Warner Brothers films, often suddenly talk about the world at large. DREAD JOURNEY has this. Hughes was not alone in writing about people getting drunk and talking about this lousy world. Her writing is of its time. Dorothy Parker, Dashiell Hammett and Hemingway all wrote this way. (Read Parker's harrowing "Big Blonde" if you thought she was just a NEW YORKER cut-up.) Hughes is interesting. She was in complete control with IN A LONELY PLACE. The revival of interest in her is merited. But DREAD JOURNEY is awkward.
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