David Goodis
NIGHTFALL Jim Vanning stands at the window of his Greenwich Village apartment. It’s a hot, sticky night, but he’s afraid to go out. Vanning is haunted by memories of a car accident…and a gun. He’s killed a man, and he knows they will be coming for him. But will it be the cops or the criminals that find him first? Finally, Vanning decides to go out. He has no idea where he’s going, but he’s in a hurry to get there. That’s when he meets Martha…and soon realizes that she will either redeem him, or lead him to his doom. Either way, Vanning is rushing into the night… CASSIDY’S GIRL Cassidy used to be an airline pilot. But that was before the crash. Now he drives a bus. And drinks with his friends. And fights with his wife Mildred, a slave to her temper, her body, her sex. But Mildred has found a new man to torment. So when Cassidy meets Doris, he decides to ditch his life, and take up with her instead. Doris is his angel, his way out. But Doris already has a lover—the bottle. Torn between his jealousy over Mildred and his new-found desire for Doris, Cassidy starts making plans to escape the desolation that is his life. But a man can only go so far to escape himself. NIGHT SQUAD Corey Bradford was a cop but they caught him on the take, and bounced him. Now he’s a back alley pariah. He can’t even sit in at one of Grogan’s poker games. But when Corey saves the big man’s life one night, Grogan offers him $15,000 to find out who tried to heist him. Then McDermott of the Night Squad steps in and offers Corey his badge back to work with him to bring down Grogan. Corey is torn down the middle. The Night Squad can hand him back his prestige, his dignity. But Grogan’s bribe can bring him a small fortune, a way out. Make one mistake, and either side will kill him.
