Cape Fear stalks our end-of-summer reading list

Mystery Club #5 

Back in 1991, I went to see Cape Fear in the theater.  De Niro’s terrifying performance still lingers in my mind, all these years later.  But it wasn’t until last year that I finally read the book that the film and its 1962 predecessor were based on.     

All you need is a cocktail umbrella!

John D. MacDonald, best known and loved for his Travis McGee novels, wrote Cape Fear in 1957.  It was originally published as The Executioners. 

The basic premise is a familiar one.  A lawyer, Sam Bowden, is stalked by Max Cady, a man he helped to put away in prison years before.  At that time Sam had been young, but now he has a family – a wife, three kids, two of them growing up too fast, and a sweet family dog.

You could practically write it yourself, couldn’t you?

Here’s where MacDonald’s genius comes in.  In little glimpses, we get to know the family.  Likewise, the ongoing deeds and general behavior of the villain.  Yes, the family is appealing and wholesome but human.  Yes, the villain proves himself to be the worst of the worst, over and over again -- far beyond retribution.

But the story goes beyond that.  The nuances of justice, of right and wrong, of how far one can allow oneself to go in the name of defending one’s bit of peace and happiness without destroying everything you’ve built and are proud of – and how much fear and oppression a human soul can take before it breaks.  Not to mention how our survival instinct expands to protect those we care about.

This all sounds very pompous as I write it, but the way MacDonald handles it, and turns it over in these pages for us to examine, is anything but heavy-handed.  It is, instead, very human.

Throughout it all, Cady puts the reader on edge as much as he does Sam Bowden’s family.  And Cady amuses himself by tormenting others.  For the most part he sticks to attacking citizens who won’t go to the police.  

One woman, perhaps a little too “friendly,” winds up with “a face like a blue basketball” after Cady’s ministrations with a smashed chair.  And even to her Cady mentions his adopted nemesis, Sam Bowden – “The Lieutenant” – twice.  “And both times it gave me the cold creepers, right up and down my back," she tells Sam. “One time he said you were an old Army buddy and to show you how much he liked you he was going to kill you six times.”

Cady, like many twisted minds we encounter in daily life, doesn’t make sense by the normal standards of society.

It takes some finagling to arrange for Cady to be put away, even temporarily.  Perhaps a small sidestep outside the law.  But even that doesn’t last.  And this time when Cady gets out of custody, he’s not pulling any punches.  He’s not wasting any time.

The clock is ticking.  Summer is high.  And there’s nowhere for the Bowdens to run, after all, but home.

This is a fast, partly delightful and partly very intense summer read.  Perfect for tucking in your pocket to take with you to the beach, or a solo picnic!

My favorite vintage version!