The themes of this 1963 noir by Dorothy B. Hughes could have been torn right from today's headlines. Gripping and very well written, it is a fine example of genre literature that transcends its genre.
If you have not read anything about the book or its plot, please don't. The Expendable Man would still be well worth reading even if you were already in on the crucial revelation dropped in the very clever first third or so, but the experience of the epiphany will reward your forbearance.
The bad-luck protagonist, Hugh Densmore, a young doctor, is at once naive and worldly for reasons revealed in time. Set in and around Phoenix, the narrative turns up the heat in every way. Judging by this effort, Hughes was rather better at description than dialogue, but even the sometimes stilted interrogations and confrontations pull you right along. Highly recommended.
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