POP. 1280 by Jim Thompson

Few characters haunt me quite like Sheriff Lou Ford from Jim Thompson’s 1952 masterpiece, The Killer Inside Me. Really, is there a more evil psychopath in 20th century American literature than that guy? Almost thirty years after having first read it, …Killer remains my favourite crime novel and I’ve always meant to read more from Thompson. And where better to finally start than with his other psycho cop book, Pop. 1280?

Nick Corey is the sheriff of Potts County, a podunk southern town full of sleaze, secrets and pecan pie. He’s a lazy, scheming womaniser; a laughing stock hell bent on getting the last laugh. The book opens with Nick being visited and ridiculed by the sheriff of a much bigger neighbouring county and it’s easy to think him a tongue-tied dimwit. Until it dawns on you that Nick is luring the man into a complex, fatal double-cross. It’s the first of many - Pop. 1280 reads like a series of ever more ludicrous hustles, each bolstering Nick’s confidence, not to mention his derangement. I couldn’t help but feel Thompson was writing this one with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Alas, the humour hasn’t aged well. Better you read …Killer.

Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson
Orion Books, 2003 (First Pub. 1964)
187 pages