. This is the first of two volumes gathering the best American crime fiction of the 1960s, nine novels of astonishing variety and inventiveness that pulse with the energies of that turbulent, transformative decade.
In The Murderers (1961) by Fredric Brown, an out-of-work actor, hanging out with Beat drifters on the fringes of Hollywood, concocts a murder scheme that devolves into nightmare. This late work by a master in many genres is one of his darkest and most ingenious.

Dan J. Marlowe's The Name of the Game Is Death(1962) channels the inner life of a violent criminal who freely acknowledges the truth of a prison psychiatrist's diagnosis: "Your values are not civilized values." Written with unnerving emotional authenticity, the story hurtles toward an annihilating climax.

Charles Williams drew on his experience in the merchant marine for his thriller Dead Calm (1963). A newlywed couple alone on a small yacht find themselves at the mercy of the mysterious survivor they have rescued from a sinking ship, in a suspenseful story that chillingly evokes the perils of the open ocean.

In the beautifully told and sharply observant The Expendable Man (1963), Dorothy B. Hughes's final masterpiece of suspense, a young man in the American Southwest runs afoul of racial assumptions after he picks up a hitchhiker who soon turns up dead.

In twenty-four brilliantly constructed novels, Richard Stark (a pen name of Donald Westlake) charted the career of Parker, a hard-nosed professional thief, with rigorous clarity. The Score (1964), a stand-out in the series, finds Parker and his criminal associates hatching a plot to rob simultaneously all the jewelry stores, payroll offices, and banks in a remote Western mining town, only to come up against the human limits of even the most intricate planning.

This Volume features include an introduction by editor Geoffrey O'Brien (Hardboiled America), newly researched biographies of the writers and helpful notes, and an essay on textual selection.
Atmospheric and deftly plotted story The characters are richly drawn-the details of the book are fascinating-gives a very vivid picture of life at this time-I was transported every time I picked up this highly imaginative stories
This omnibus edition linking five American thrillers from the early 1950’s is quite a lengthy read at 950 pages including the commentary by Geoffrey O’Brian but I thought it highly enjoyable and I’m looking forward to reading the second volume from Library Of American available through netgalley.co.uk Both volumes and e-books are due to be published in the UK on the 12th September 2023. Strongly recommended.

As a rule, I much prefer reading physical books to e-books. The big exception is LOA--they publish great material, but I'm not a fan of their physical format. So I was very happy to receive an advance copy of this book.

I was especially interested in reading the Fredric Brown title, because I've seen his name mentioned often but my library doesn't have any of his books, and I hadn't gotten around to interlibrary loan. I enjoyed his The Murderers here, but the favorite novel I read in this book was Dan Marlowe's The Name of the Game is Death. I recently bought a physical copy of Hughes's The Expendable Man which I haven't read yet, so I skipped that one here.

Another nice collection from LOA--I think their multiple author collections are my favorites of their books. Thanks to LOA and NetGalley for the early edition to review.

This new omnibus from LOA offers a great look back at 1960’s noir by some of the best in the business.
The Murderers by Frederic Brown- A would-be actor and a wayward wife, married to some wealthy big shot decide that killing the big shot and getting his money is what they should do. They just need a plan. But things don’t always go to plan.
The Name of The Game is Death by Dan J. Marlowe-A brutal revenge story that never let’s up from start to the agonizing last page.
Dead Calm by Charles Williams-A young couple cruising along in their yacht pick up a ship-wrecked castaway, offering him rescue and help. But they’ve let the devil on board and now their in danger. I saw the movie years ago. This is much better.
The Expendable Man by Dorothy B. Hughes-Picking up a hitchhiker in Arizona proves to be a mistake which leads to one deadly problem after another.
The Score by Richard Stark- Written by Donald Westlake in one of his darker moments, this is a Parker novel about a heist that involves stealing from a whole town, the banks, jewelry stores, etc. Parker puts together a crew, a plan, and sets things in motion until the unexpected happens. I’ve read this tense novel a few times and even have the original 1963 paperback that I bought when it was new. The story is lean, expertly crafted, and won’t let you go until you finish!
All in all some great entertaining noir, a blast from the past, not to be missed. Thank you NetGalley for this dark and relentless ARC!

What a fantastic collection of absolute classics. Dead Calm is the shining star for me, but all of them are great and all have stood the test of time in terms of sheer quality crime novels. So well written, with a real sense of nostalgia as you enter worlds where mobile phones and computers do not play a part in the stories and their resolution.