Frantic: 18 (Black Gat Books) - Softcover

Calef, Noel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 194452066X ISBN 13: 9781944520663

Publisher: Stark House Press, 2019

Synopsis

Julien Courtois finds himself in a bit of financial bind. And the only way out is murder. He’s even got the perfect plan. While his secretary believes him to be in his office, he climbs up a rope to an upper floor and stages his victim’s “suicide.” It all works according to plan. But on his way out of the building, he remembers that the rope is still dangling out of the window, leading right down to his office! Rushing back into the building, Julien manages to get stuck in the elevator when the janitor turns off the power for the weekend.At the same time, a young couple steal Julien’s car from in front of the building, and his wife, thinking she’s watching Julien drive off with another woman, assumes the worst. And so begins a torturous set of circumstances. While Julien remains trapped in the elevator, his life gradually becomes unraveled by a vindictive wife and a couple of teenagers playing at being gangsters.Filmed in 1961 by Louis Malle as Elevator to the Gallows, this classic French novel is a masterpiece of noir tension.

About this title

About the Author

Noël Calef was born Nissim Calef in Bulgaria on September 29, 1907. He moved to France in the 1930s, and during the Second World War II, was arrested by the French police, interned and starved in Drancy camp before being deported to Italy. Returning to France, where he took the author name Noël Calef, he published some twenty novels and short stories, including six detective novels. Calef is most famous for inspiring the film Elevator to the Gallows by Louis Malle, adapted from his novel Ascenseur pour l'échafaud and published in the U.S as Frantic. He continued to work in the film industry, and even made an appearance in Joseph Losey s A Man to Destroy. Calef died on May 10, 1968 in France.

From the Inside Flap

FRANTIC Julien Courtois finds himself in a bit of financial bind. And the only way out is murder. He s even got the perfect plan. While his secretary believes him to be in his office, he climbs up a rope to an upper floor and stages his victim s suicide. It all works according to plan. But on his way out of the building, he remembers that the rope is still dangling out of the window, leading right down to his office! Rushing back into the building, Julien manages to get stuck in the elevator when the janitor turns off the power for the weekend.At the same time, a young couple steal Julien s car from in front of the building, and his wife, thinking she s watching Julien drive off with another woman, assumes the worst. And so begins a torturous set of circumstances. While Julien remains trapped in the elevator, his life gradually becomes unraveled by a vindictive wife and a couple of teenagers playing at being gangsters.Filmed in 1961 by Louis Malle as Elevator to the Gallows, this classic French novel is a masterpiece of noir tension.

Edition details

• Publisher: Stark House Press
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 194452066X
• ISBN 13: 9781944520663
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 162