After Dark, My Sweet

The classic crime novel about a kidnapping scheme gone wrong from America's "Dimestore Dostoevsky," the basis for the noir film of the same name (Geoffrey O'Brien, poet, critic author, former editor and chief, Library of America).

William "Kid" Collins was once a respected boxer. Now he's a drifter, on the run after escaping from a mental institution.

One afternoon he meets Fay, a beautiful young widow. She is smart and decent—at least when she's sober. Soon Collins finds himself involved ...