Jim Thompson "The Nothing Man" (1954) ****

Clinton Brown, the protagonist of Jim Thompson's novel The Nothing Man (1953), is a neurotic, internally-struggling, violent male narrator to rival his character Lou Ford (of The Killer Inside Me (1952) and Wild Town (1957)). As with Killer, it's hard to relate to our lead, as he commits one shocking act after another, but we the readers can't turn away, instead turning the next page to find out which direction Clinton will careen next.