Earlier called The Executioners. Now updated probably because of the movies. An effective scary book, though probably a bit too slow in building up. Did give me a nightmare- that's a high credit. I thought the ending was unsatisfying... a random shot in the dark fells the bad guy. I remember in the movie the girl is half seduced by the bad guy.. not so in the book making it a little less interesting. but the movie has him as some sort of quiet rebel genius - which is also much less real/effective. the book has him as a soulless redneck ... powerful and w/o restraint. ( )

I'm a big fan of MacDonald's work. This was one of his early thrillers, and not my favorite, but still good. I prefer his Travis McGee series and I will eventually read everything he wrote. Love the style. ( )

Successful small town attorney Sam was once an instrumental witness in the conviction of Cady for rape. Fourteen years later, Cady has been released, and turns up in Sam's town and begins terrorizing Sam and his family. Cady is clever about it, though, and the police seem to be unable to do anything about it. So Sam has to take things into his own hands.

Although I've liked what I've read by MacDonald in the past, it's been a long time since then. This was described as noir, but I found it to be dated in a way well in excess of the way in which some noir conventions can feel dated. Parts of it are unrealistic to the point of ridiculous. It's been made into two well-regarded movies, and I vaguely think I've seen the earlier version.

1 1/2 stars ( )

Sam Bowden is a happy, contented man. He works as a lawyer for a thriving practice, he has a wonderful marriage and a great family but all of this becomes threatened when Max Cady comes to town. During the war, Sam testified against Cady at his trial for rape and was responsible for Cady being put in prison. Cady is free now, bitter and vengeful he has tracked Sam down and intends to make Sam pay and the best way to hurt Sam is through his wife or his three kids.

This is a powerful story of a normal family pushed to the limit by fear. I didn’t plan on it, but this seems to be the year I read books that were made into movies starring Robert Mitchum and, Cape Fear is one of his best. Mitchum played the vicious Max Cady to the hilt in 1962, a role that was then vividly replayed by Robert DeNiro in 1991. John D. MacDonald masterfully delivers this tight, well paced story of a 1950s family being terrorized by a psychopathic killer.

Originally published as The Executioners, this book is an edge-of-your-seat, suspenseful read but even though the ending here is quite believable, I think the movie versions were more exciting. Max Cady was a memorable role and Robert Mitchum perfectly underplayed this menacing, creepy killer out for revenge, and, while the 1991 Martin Scorsese film is a little over-the-top, an almost gleeful De Niro played Max Cady as an obsessively religious, crazed maniac. Cape Fear is a classic crime novel and with each John D. MacDonald book I read, I find myself becoming an even bigger fan of this author. ( )

This is a heck of a read! Max Cady is a true psychopathic character and his presence brings terrific tension to this story! And this book gave me one of my favorite movies - "Cape Fear" - the one with DeNiro! It was cool to read this! ( )