High Priest of California Audiobook By Charles Willeford cover art

High Priest of California

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High Priest of California

By: Charles Willeford
Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
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She was leaning against the door. Her smile was a sickly twisted grimace; the sort a prisoner gives a judge when he's asked if he has anything to say before he's sentenced. Russell Haxby is a ruthless used-car salesman obsessed with manipulating and cavorting with married women. In this classic of hard-boiled fiction, Charles Willeford crafts a wry, sardonic tale of hypocrisy, intrigue, and lust set in San Francisco in the early '50s. In High Priest of California every sentence masks innuendo, every detail hides a clue, and every used-car sale is as outrageous as every seduction. First published 1953.

©2011 Indo-European Publishing (P)2020 Audible, Inc. Crime Crime Fiction Detective Fiction Hard-Boiled Mystery Noir Traditional Detectives Witty San Francisco
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To me, willeford shines as perhaps the single most cynical noir writer of his kind. each of his books, wall to wall, is filled with deeply unpleasant, vile people and their desperate victims.

this is no exception, high priest of California is arguably the single most evil point of view character willeford has written despite the fact his crimes are relatively minor in relation to his larger body of work. Obviously this is a mixed bag for a lot of people. some will be instantly turned off of this sleazy worm clawing his way into a woman's life by any means necessary, but others, like me, will find this as compelling an observation on banal evil and vanity as Jim Thompsons classic "the killer inside me".

really breezy quick read, one of the funniest, cruelest punchline endings of Willeford's career. worth picking up on sale if you can get it

thoroughly unpleasant classic willeford

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This is another excellent Willeford book. It is more like a novella because of the shorter running time. I enjoyed the detailed descriptions around San Francisco from the point of view of a used car salesman and his attempt to hook up with a rather unusual lady. This one less heavy hitting than the brilliant Pick-up, also set in SF. Very effective narrator with a suitable voice.

Another excellent Willeford

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The narrative performance was well done, the story itself was meaningless and I would have given it zero stars if Audible allowed it. Spoiler alert-----this is a convoluted telling of a heartless guy leading a woman on for sex and then dumping her as soon as he drives her home. Even taking into account the time period, I don't know why the author bothered with this other than to earn a few dollars for convincing someone to publish it. Just as the protagonist exploits the young woman, the author does the same to the publisher and the reader. In the end we all get screwed.

Not worth the time.

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