Alain Silver

It sounds like a budding writer's dream - a best-selling first novel, a luxurious house in Malibu, and a trophy wife. But it all unravels when writer's block and a failed marriage send McMurray out into the streets.

Detective Marlow sets out to find the missing wife of a publishing magnate. Several smack-arounds, one dead gigolo, a few angry cops, a booze-soaked frame-up and one dame in the lake later, Marlowe finds the killer and finds that he's also looking at the business end of a gun.

Beginning with a general overview of film noir and covering its most important themes chapter by chapter (lovers plan murder, corrupt police, doomed love, psychological noir, and more), this illustrated handbook provides access to the film noir genre for amateurs and aficionados alike.

Clara grew up in the Belize jungles but was sent to live in San Francisco after a childhood trauma. Her older boyfriend, Gabriel encourages a trip back to her jungle home. Once arriving, the familiar faces and tropic environment fills Clara with hope for a brighter future. She's soon reminded that the jungle has a dark side and begins to realize that Gabriel may have an even darker one himself.

With a detailed filmography of over 400 movies stretching back to the genre's earliest days, the book begins with such classics as White Zombie (1932), starring Bela Lugosi, but also examines lesser-known films, such as The Ghoul (1933), with Boris Karloff, and the exploitation film Ouanga (1936). The book then moves through the hybrid science fiction zombie films of the 1950s, including Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and then slashes through...