Red Lights opens on a Labor Day weekend. A husband and wife from Long Island are driving to Maine to pick up their son and daughter at Walla Walla Summer Camp. But the trip veers sharply into noir when the husband insists on stopping along the way for a drink in a bar. His wife fumes. When the husband stops for the second time for another drink, the wife leaves a note saying she’s taking a bus to Maine. Simenon ratchets up the suspense with an escaped convict from Sing Sing prison changing this couple’s lives forever. This isn’t Maigret material. It’s much darker. If you’re in the mood for walk on the wild side, Red Lights will take you there.
Love this one and love the movies although the changed it to Paris. Strange.
Simenon knows how to push the suspense buttons in this book, Patti. I haven’t seen the film versions, but I’ll be looking for them now.
This was from his “American” period, of which I’ve read several books, generally set in the suburbs. I don’t think I’ve read it yet.
This New York Review of Books edition of RED LIGHTS features an introduction by Anita Brookner, Jeff. At the end of the book, Simenon documents it with: SHADOW ROCK FARM, Lakeville, Connecticut, 14 July 1953. RED LIGHTS is well worth reading.
Man, it’s been a long time since I read a Simenon novel. Probably my early twenties, much longer than I want to think about(being sixty-one and all).
Maybe it’s time to read another Simenon novel, Randy. RED LIGHTS would be a good book to start with.
This isn’t one I know, but I really like the Maigret books, so I may have to give it a try.
RED LIGHTS is about 90 degrees from a Maigret, Rick. Think pure noir. Simenon wrote about a hundred of these short, hard-boiled novels outside of the Maigret series. Some of them are very good.
Excellent! Simenon is so much better when he isn’t writing about Maigret. I like THE FUGITIVE and THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAINS GO BY too. I enjoyed the movie version of this book as well.
I’m a big fan of Simenon’s autobiographical novel, PEDIGREE, JF. And, like you, I like the non-Maigret novels better than the Maigrets.
thanks for the warning, George, i’ll stick with the Maigret books.
I think Jeff Meyerson has read all the Maigret novels and Art Scott is pretty close to reading them all, Rick.