The Fallen Sparrow

By: Dorothy B. Hughes

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

An escapee from a Spanish prison hunts for his best friend's killer in New York.

For more than a year, Kit McKittrick languishes in a Fascist prison, his days spent in darkness and his nights tortured by fear of his limping jailer, whose name he never learns. He escapes Spain with the help of Louie Lepetino, a childhood friend who came with him to fight on behalf of the Republican cause. Back in the United States, Kit heads out West to recover from his ordeal, while Louie returns to a life of cafés and cocktail parties in New York. But Kit's convalescence is cut short when he learns Louie has taken a fatal tumble out of a window, and he journeys to New York to discover who gave his savior the final push.

Only a woman could have led Louie to his death, Kit thinks, and New York is full of femmesfatales. But man or woman, Louie's murderer should watch out for Kit. He wants vengeance, and he's willing to kill for it.

©2014 Dorothy B. Hughes (P)2014 Skyboat Media

Interesting

Was excited to discover a female noir author (this book was made into a decent film). Sadly, her female characterizations are at times even worse than her male author counterparts’. This is made worse by the miscast narrator who gives all the female characters syrupy, breathy, treacle voices, is not a very good reader in general, and has a voice too distinctive for narration, as it’s a distraction. The plot is pretty good, lots of anthropological fodder, insights on human behavior (pretty much not the good kind!). Some great zingers in the writing.