Noir

Three Novels of Suspense

By: Richard Matheson

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Noir contains three classic thrillers by Richard Matheson, the grand master of suspense. Originally published in the 1950s, at the very beginning of Matheson’s distinguished career, these page-turning classics are finally on audio for your listening pleasure. Now listeners everywhere can savor three unforgettable tales of crime, corruption, and cold-blooded murder.

"Someone Is Bleeding"

Dave Newton has fallen hard for Peggy, a leggy blonde with a lurid past and a heartbreaking smile. But as bloody corpses begin to litter his path, Dave is forced to confront the terrifying possibility that the woman he loves is a deranged killer.

p>"Fury on Sunday"

In the wee hours of a fateful Sunday morning, a homicidal maniac embarks on a rampage of terror and violence that threatens everyone who crosses his path, culminating in a deadly confrontation in a Manhattan apartment building.

"Ride the Nightmare"

Chris and Helen have the perfect suburban life—until Helen discovers her husband’s guilty secret. Overnight, their peaceful existence descends into a vortex of fear and brutality that may cost them the life of their only child.

©1997 Richard Matheson. Someone Is Bleeding 1953 by Richard Matheson; renewed 1981 by Richard Matheson. Fury on Sunday 1953 by Richard Matheson. Ride the Nightmare 1959 by Richard Matheson; renewed 1987 by Richard Matheson. (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“The author who influenced me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson.” (Stephen King)

Three very good suspense stories.

A master of suspense. I’m surprised they did not turn them to films. Couldn’t put it down.
The narrator creates a real sense of thrill. I enjoyed it very much .

Great Storytelling, Genius Writer

Timeless story expertly crafted, written long before cellphones and computers, still as relevant and riveting as the day it was written. Great performance as well

Not quite what I expected, and I expected more

Compared to novels like "Stir of Echoes", these felt long and drawn out. I love the economy of language used in all three, however whether the narrator or the protrayal of women, these feel dated. Listening to them, I can understand why they've been out of print for so long.

Each tale is about Regular Guy thrown into incredible situations - and reacting to them in ways that to modern folks seem unsophisticated or slow.

Someone is Bleeding is Regular Guy doesn't know when how to walk away from Crazy.

Fury on Sunday is Regular Guy trapped with escaped Crazy

Ride the Nightmare is regular Guy's past catches up to his happy home.

In every situation, Regular Guy can't seem to get out of his own way, making every wrong choice and compounding it with more wrong choices. It was tiring.

However, I'm glad I read them and while they weren't what I was expecting it was good to get a little more Matheson under my belt.

Narrator wise, Robertson Dean would not have been my first choice. Character inflection aside, his deep, resonating voice made the stories feel heavier than they probably were. This is one of those rare cases where physically reading the book may be to the Reader's advantage.

fast moving

Cannot tell that it was written over 50 years ago except a few references to cars.

fast paced. each story about 4 hrs.

excellent reader.

Noir Three Novels of Suspense

Thoroughly enjoyed all 3 stories! Will look for more books by this author! Narration was superbly done.

These haven't traveled well

What disappointed you about Noir?

The female characters are just plain insultingly stupid and vapid and the males' relationships with them are paternalistic and angering. In the first story, a woman is "bad" because she killed the husband who was regularly raping her. She of course doesn't have enough backbone to stand up for herself, and you can't really figure out why these men are in love with her. Besides her looks, she's nothing. In the second story, the "good" woman is too stupid to catch what's going on and do anything effective, while the "bad" (read slutty) woman has any sense or intelligence. I've given up listening to the third, when once again there's a "good" woman who's basically a dope.

Would you ever listen to anything by Richard Matheson again?

Certainly not early work. Hell House was quite good, but even then there was some serious deficiency in the female characters.

What three words best describe Robertson Dean’s performance?

He's good for narration, but I can't stand his vocal characterizations, especially of women. I may be alone on this, but I'd rather have a book read "straight" without vocal characterizations than have men acting as women, and doing it so badly. If the sentence is, "Davy, she said" I don't need a silly female voice, I know a woman said it. It doesn't really bring anything to the performance. That's a universal complaint I have with audiobooks, both female narrators reading as male and male narrators reading as female.

Any additional comments?

The stories are each overlong, much longer than they needed to be. They certainly show Matheson's style, even this early, but should have had some serious editing.

Still struggling to get halfway, really bad

Okay there is no character development, I'd like to kill myself with an ice pick listening to this. I have 7 more hours to go and I hate the two main characters! Story theme is weak again no character development, over describe the wrong things, I mean stale whiskey scent? Really... Oh pass on this unless you are desperate, as I was. I own over 240 audible books alone, not sure how many before this, I'm a thriller reader, this is not a thriller.