Daybreak, Atlantic City. Secret Life, On A Honeymoon. Life Apart.

Don’t let the psuedo-Marilyn Monroe bombshell on the cover fool you, Fright is not any kind of particularly simmering or sexual story. I’m not sure I’d even go so far as to classify it as the same kind of noirish, hardboiled stuff that Hard Case Crime normally puts out. It is, however, a gripping, if at times painful, read.

Set in 1915, Fright actually takes on a bit of a veneer of that historical fiction that I love so well, but don’t get it twisted: it is certainly a crime story from 1950 in the most basic sense. Our protagonist, the perfectly-named-for-the-1910’s Prescott Marshall, is something of a weasel, but at first we don’t entirely hate him. Yes, he’s marrying a rich society girl for her money, but as the book’s first part rolls on he seems to actually care about her a good deal as well… maybe… But then, like all central characters to such books, he makes a mistake.

I don’t want to give much away, but let’s just say that cheating, blackmail, and murder are involved. From there on Marshall finds his life and decisions entirely dictated by his own fear of discovery, and what makes this truly tragic is that his sweet, loving, and far-too-loyal wife is willingly jerked along for the ride–from a perfect depiction of 1910’s New York City to an unnamed small town in the middle of nowhere.

As the story progresses we do feel something, if not much, for Marshall. We identify with his fear, with how he got somewhat backed into the situation that started everything (not that he can be let off the hook for it) and we feel suspense as things escalate and he’s never sure whether or not he’s been found out. But the real crux of the personal narrative focuses on Marjorie, his wife. Good Lord, I can’t remember the last time I felt so bad for someone in a book. She is far too much the perfect, old fashioned ideal of what an obedient wife should be, (and no, the narrative is nowhere near dated enough for that to really come across as a good thing) she is all sweetness and self-sacrifice, and the mistakes of the main character simply continue to ruin her life and happiness.

Fright is a difficult read at times, but overall an exciting and enjoyable one. The ending is tragic, chilling, and satisfying all at once, with a few twists that I don’t even wish to hint at. At certain points farther along in the book, the narrative also turns away from the lighthearted period feeling of the novel’s beginning, moving towards surreal scenes in which we can’t always tell what is really happening and what is purely the protagonist’s dream or perception. Cornell Woolrich–one of the real creators of the noir/suspense genre, and the author of the short story upon which Rear Window was based–presents us with a dizzying and unconventional crime thriller that at times even veers towards a murder mystery from the murderer’s perspective. An intense, absorbing, and at times heartbreaking experience.