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Someone is Bleeding Kindle Edition

by Richard Matheson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 14 ratings
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A simple crush could lead to an early grave in this pulp noir thriller for fans of Cornell Woolrich.

Young novelist Dave Newton is instantly smitten when he meets blonde, beautiful Peggy. But Peggy has a past full of abuse and terror—and she’s involved with Jerry, a lawyer with mob connections and an old rival from Dave’s college days. Soon, Dave finds himself caught in a love triangle with Peggy and Jerry, desperate to win her affections. But when corpses begin to pile up in Peggy’s wake, Dave must face the truth that either Jerry is a mass murderer—or Peggy is.

Praise for Richard Matheson

 

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

 

“One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.”—Ray Bradbury
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  1. Print length
    136 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    RosettaBooks
  5. Publication date
    March 20, 2014
  6. File size
    2641 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08KH2JC96
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ RosettaBooks (March 20, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 20, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2641 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 136 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
14 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

nathan lamb
4.0 out of 5 stars Solid thriller
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2023
Verified Purchase
Solid love triangle murder mystery. Kinda random but aspects of it very much reminded me of Basic Instinct. Quick read.
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Clark D. Young
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Noir
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2023
Verified Purchase
When I think of classic noir, I usually think of the movies from the 1950s. This is a novel that could—maybe should—be made into a classic noir movie.

The usual formula—boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back—has a plot twist that I will not reveal here. Suffice it to say that Richard Matheson shows why he is a master of his craft. The story he tells will have you guessing until the end. Not bad for a novel first copyrighted in 1953!
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L. Simon
4.0 out of 5 stars Crazy Hot Dame
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2018
Someone Is Bleeding
By Richard Matheson

You know that feeling when a friend starts dating a totally hot but totally crazy girl? You can see the crazy right away, but all he sees is the hot? You know it’s gonna go sideways, and you want to scream at him to be careful, but you know it’ll fall on deaf ears.

That’s what it was like reading Richard Matheson’s first published novel, Someone Is Bleeding.

During his life, Matheson mastered several genres from Science Fiction (The Shrinking Man), horror (I Am Legend & Hell House), and Westerns (Journal of the Gun Years). Someone Is Bleeding was published in 1953 by Lion Books, but it has the story structure of a Fawcett Gold Medal crime paperback where an Everyman is plunged into a world of violence by falling for a femme fatale.

In this case our hero-narrator is Los Angeles novelist Dave Newton. On a quiet day at the beach, Dave sees the irresistible Peggy sunbathing and decides he has to meet her. The reader quickly realizes that Peggy is a hot mess filled with neurosis and sexual hang-ups. It seems that every relationship in her life has been filled with dysfunction and sexual abuse - her ex, her lawyer, her father, her landlord -nobody knows how to function around Peggy in a proper manner, but Njce Guy Dave is sure going to try.

The first quarter of the novel is mostly a tepid relationship drama as Dave learns to navigate the cyclone of man-drama that follows Peggy everywhere. It’s not until a character winds up murdered with an icepick in the eye that the action and intrigue begins. Dave knows that Peggy is damaged goods and even finds himself asking if a woman can be “rape prone” in the same way that some men are accident prone (these were less compassionate times with such matters, it seems).

As the bodies pile up within Peggy’s orbit, a compelling murder mystery evolves for Dave to solve. Could Peggy be murdering these people? Or is a bigger conspiracy afoot? The novel’s violence escalates with vivid villains and some great action sequences making the reader grateful for not bailing during the first quarter’s tale of tormented romance.

Matheson was a remarkable talent, and it’s fun to visit his humble beginnings in this short crime story. Finding the original paperback is a pricey proposition, but the book has been reprinted as an eBook and in a Matheson compilation titled Noir. This one is definitely worth your time.
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NoteBleue
3.0 out of 5 stars Only the hapless protagonist doesn't understand what's going on and makes things worse
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2015
It's Matheson's first novel, and it shows. The style is uneven and occasionally clunky. The story unfolds slowly and in a very predictable way. Only the hapless protagonist doesn't understand what's going on and makes things worse. Most characters are unsympathetic, and the dialogue is stilted.
The French film adaptation - "Les seins de glace" (1974, aka Icy Breasts) - can't overcome the deficiencies of the plot but it offers better dialogue and atmosphere, and even injects some humor. The ending, which is different from the novel, seems a bit more satisfying.
2 people found this helpful
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Anakina
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable noir
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2017
With this book I started reading the noir trilogy by Richard Matheson, which deviates a lot from his subsequent production related to speculation fiction.
“Someone Is Bleeding” is a short novel characterised by the vintage charm of noir (actually it was originally published in 1953).
Some parts are perhaps a bit hasty, even if, all things considered, there was no need to dwell much in them.
As often happens in his books, we have the usual male protagonist in trouble, who is brave but a little weak.
The plot itself is not intricate, but events happen so quickly that you have no time to think. What you really don’t understand is what the characters do in their life. The protagonist is a writer, but you never see him writing throughout the story.
The ending is not predictable, although in part the reader can get to figure out who the culprit is.
The prose is excellent, as always.

Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli, author of  Kindred Intentions
One person found this helpful
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Dave Wilde
5.0 out of 5 stars An Early Noir Story From Matheson
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2015
"Someone Is Bleeding" is Richard Matheson's first novel. It is an odd, atmospheric piece that builds up slowly in a sort of lost, dream-like life and, although at first, it seems like not much is happening, bodies start to pile up and suspicion and accusations are thrown about.

Matheson takes a David Newton, a writer, and pairs him with Peggy Lister, an ethereal blonde with legs that goes on forever, but is an emotional basketcase, having survived several traumatic experiences. Newton falls for her hard but she jumps from emotion to emotion and is excited about the oddest things. They begin by having a sweet handholding romance but Peggy is a little odd. She isn't your normal femme fatale, but almost without trying she has all these men twisted around her little finger. Is it a talent or a curse?

Peggy is also hooked up with her lawyer, Jim, an old college buddy of Newton's. There is a tug-of-war over Peggy between these two men and she has a curious past. Throw in a few bloody murders and boy do you have a story.

As a reader, throughout most of the story, it's hard to be sure whether Newton is telling the truth, whether Peggy is absolutely cuckoo, or whether they are all being manipulated.

What makes this story work isn't the plot necessarily, but the slow way it develops. Although it all takes place in sunny Southern California, there's nothing bright or sunny about this one. It is a world of fog and darkness. Even the carnival on the boardwalk has its dark side.

In some respects, it a raw first novel by a writer still finding his voice, but it has a lost and rootless quality about it that really makes it work. These people are consumed and trapped by their suspicions and their obsessions and seduced by their passions and desires even when they should know better.
4 people found this helpful
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