Jim Thompson "South Of Heaven" (1967) ***1/2

South Of Heaven (1967) was one the last few books written by Jim Thompson during his lifetime (he wrote three more novels before he died in 1977). The story of a young man in Texas (a staple of Thompson's work), his grueling job working on a pipeline, his elusive best friend, the prostitute he falls in love with, and the unsavory characters he wants to bring to justice, South Of Heaven has a bit more of a poetic nature than a good deal of Thompson's usual fare (the lead character even writes poetry)—it feels like a Cormac McCarthy novel at times (right down to the title).