Ride the Pink Horse - Dorothy B. Hughes, Penguin Books Ltd

The first masterpiece by the doyenne of American noirSailor, former henchman and trouble-accruing gangster, travels from Chicago to Santa Fe, New Mexico, looking for revenge and for money. But it's hard to make a dishonest buck when everything seems to be against him. It is Fiesta, it is hot, thousands of people are crowding into town, Sailor has nowhere to stay, the odds are stacked against him - and some important and very violent people are in town, only one of whom he wants to meet. Heat-struck and high-energy, one of Hughes’ most brilliant novels, Ride the Pink Horse transplants noir to an America of vivid colours and bright sunlight, with startling results.