The Actor

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NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

“Terse and bleak and low-key emotional… indelible.”—Entertainment Weekly

Hospitalized after a liaison with another man’s wife ends in violence, Paul Cole has just one goal: to rebuild his shattered life. But with his memory damaged, the police hounding him, and no way even to get home, Paul’s facing steep odds—and a bleak fate if he fails…
This never-before-published novel by three-time Edgar Award winner Donald E. Westlake is a noir masterpiece, a dark and painful portrait of a man’s struggle against merciless forces that threaten to strip him of his very identity.PRAISE FOR DONALD E. WESTLAKE

One of the great writers of the 20th Century.—Newsweek

The novel’s deeper meditations will keep you thinking long after you’ve closed the book.—USA Today

Elegant, melancholy… a significant final work from a master.—Publishers Weekly, starred review

One of his most interesting books… absolutely a must-read.—Booklist, starred review

Terse and bleak and low-key emotional… indelible.—Entertainment Weekly

An unsparing look at a man adrift, it’s a fitting final dispatch from a master.—Time

A tour-de-force that shows a master at the top of his game.—Edward Champion, Philadelphia Inquirer

Relentlessly involving.—Weekly Standard

Among the best novels of his brilliant career. It is pure noir writing at its best.—BookReporter

A great book… it outshines anything else Westlake has done.—Craig Clarke, Somebody Dies

Compelling… bleak stuff – though always with a bit of hope shining through.—The Complete Review

With the unveiling of his final unpublished novel [Westlake’s] range and depth as a writer are only deepened.—Barnes & Noble

This is an exceptional and painful book. It is the essence of noir… one man’s unceasing, provocative struggle to make good in a relentlessly grim world… Our unanimous pick for the best genre book of the year.—PornoKitsch

Few novels conjure up such a state of pervasive dread…This is the noir nightmare, plain and simple. I read it in a white heat.—Vince Keenan

The most terrifying identity puzzle Westlake ever crafted, and it keeps you guessing all the way.—The Westlake Review

A penetrating tale, a wonderful story.—Midwest Book ReviewDonald E. Westlake is widely regarded as one of the great crime writers of the 20th century. He won three Edgar Awards and was named a Grandmaster by the Mystery Writers of America.  Many of his books have been made into movies; Westlake also wrote the screenplay for The Grifters for which he received an Academy Award nomination.US

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