{"product_id":"the-cocktail-waitressisbn-9781781160344","title":"The Cocktail Waitress","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Cocktail Waitress\u003c\/i\u003e will involve you, and then shock you with an ending you'll never forget. This is a true rarity: a reader's novel that's also a literary event.\" - Stephen King\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFollowing her husband's death in a suspicious car accident, beautiful young widow Joan Medford is forced to take a job serving drinks in a cocktail lounge to make ends meet and to have a chance of regaining custody of her young son. At the job she encounters two men who take an interest in her, a handsome young schemer who makes her blood race and a wealthy but unwell older man who rewards her for her attentions with a $50,000 tip and an unconventional offer of marriage...\"This is vintage Cain ... Let's go get that book, baby. Let's read it. Let's get stinko.\" – \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"entertaining and cleverly plotted\" – \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eEditors' Choice, New York Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Fittingly  for the endpoint of a long and meaningful career, Cain saves his best  twist for the very last page of his very last book, a haymaker from the  blind side, so carefully finessed and camouflaged through the book as to  bring a tear to a glass eye — another writer’s jealous acknowledgment.  It is a moment that draws Joan’s world and Cain’s view of desire and  consequence into tight focus. One thinks of the author well into his  ninth decade, setting down those final passages with a hidden smile and a  writer’s certain knowledge that they won’t see this coming. He was  right.\" – \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I think James M. Cain is one novelist who has something to teach just about any writer, and delight just about any reader. \u003ci\u003eThe Postman Always Rings Twice\u003c\/i\u003e was a work of genius. So it's good news that \u003ci\u003eThe Cocktail Waitress\u003c\/i\u003e, Cain's last novel has finally been published.” – \u003cb\u003eAnne Rice\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Swift  and absorbing…pulses with more authentic primal energy than the work of  any number of Cain imitators from the 1930s to the present.” – \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The Cocktail Waitress \u003c\/i\u003ewas  found among his papers after a decade-long search and has never been  published…until now. After burying her abusive husband on page 1 of the  book, Joan takes a job waitressing to make ends meet, and winds up  meeting two new men: a wealthy but repulsive older man and a handsome  young schemer who makes her blood boil. Can you have any doubt that  things will end badly for one or both of them? No, that’s not a spoiler –  it’s a simple statement of fact when you’re talking about a Cain femme  fatale, the deadliest species there is.\" – \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eHuffington Post\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The Cocktail Waitress is a not-to-be missed crime thriller for all Cain fans ... A rare, hardboiled blast from the past.\" –\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e Shelf Awareness\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It’s easy to fall for a previously unpublished work by Cain, whose oeuvre includes \u003ci\u003eThe Postman Always Rings Twice\u003c\/i\u003e (1934) and \u003ci\u003eDouble Indemnity\u003c\/i\u003e(1943). Fortunately, \u003ci\u003eThe Cocktail Waitress\u003c\/i\u003e—which  the author sought to complete before perishing in 1977—serves up ample  delights (and a few familiar themes). It tells of Joan Medford, a  captivating young mother whose abusive hubby has died under odd  circumstances, and who then takes a job waiting tables in a  dodgy cocktail lounge. There she meets a loaded elderly gent with a bum  ticker, Earl K. White III, as well as the grabby, calculating Tom  Barclay. She weds White out of pragmatism, rather than passion; but  tensions in the continuing relationships between these three players  guarantee trouble. We witness the unfolding drama through Joan’s eyes,  while wondering what she’s withholding.\" –\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"the  most important literary event of 2012 ... This book marks the greatest  achievement of Hard Case Crime in its short existence ... ranks right up  there with anything the author ever wrote in his prime. And in saying  that, it is better than a lot of what gets published today ... Cain  creates a timeless, claustrophobic nightmare that will rock you long  after you put it down ... a noir masterpiece ... THE COCKTAIL WAITRESS  is the book of 2012. And Hollywood should take note: this is going to be  a great film noir movie someday.\" – \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBook Reporter\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This  novel will capture you quickly.” “It’s spicy and riveting.” “This is  the kind of book that makes people want to read Hard Case Crime. It’s  perfect as an introduction to crime novels or as a refreshing new  offering from an old favorite.” “You’re definitely going to want to pick  up a copy.” – \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eDNM Magazine\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The Cocktail Waitress is another gem for Cain fans - and all lovers of classic noir.\" –\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e Noir Journal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eBooks of the year\u003c\/b\u003e in the \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEvening Standard\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e (London): \"The posthumous publication of James M Cain's \u003ci\u003eThe Cocktail Waitress\u003c\/i\u003e (Hard Case Crime, £16.99) showed the third great noir master – after Hammett and Chandler – as acute on febrile sexuality and dark human urges at the end of his life as he was in \u003ci\u003eDouble Indemnity\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The work is spellbinding and compelling, in the end challenging one’s values, beliefs, and prejudices.” – \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSan Francisco Book Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eJames M Cain \u003c\/b\u003eachieved worldwide overnight fame when he published his first novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Postman Always Rings Twice\u003c\/i\u003e, in 1934.  The classics \u003ci\u003eDouble Indemnity\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMildred Pierce\u003c\/i\u003e followed, reinforcing Cain’s reputation as the great chronicler of crimes of passion, typically set against a working-class backdrop during the Great Depression. His books have inspired many classic movies.","brand":"Hard Case Crime","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303595135205,"sku":"NP9781781160344","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-cocktail-waitressisbn-9781781160344","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}