James M. Cain's debut, The Postman Always Rings Twice, is unafraid to entice and draw its readers in with its descriptive outlook on romantic passion and murderous resentment. The imagery that the author placed on display has highlighted the darker and sadistic shadings of human desire.

We are introduced to characters who intersect and connect by chance, both emotionally and psychologically at the right place and at the right time. Frank is a man without a stable past, a wanderer from place to place, while Cora is a disillusioned and burned-out wife who seeks escape from her husband and desires to take hold of something much more than what he has to offer. Such descriptions may seem rather cliched or sentimental, but Cain swerves around this through his chosen darker angle.

Pacing would be an aspect that I don't think many would have a problem with, it certainly wasn't for me, as each passing chapter were framed succinctly and charged with great momentum; development was to be found in every corner. This digestible nature surprisingly eluded itself from pitfalls of over-simplification and shallowness, a feat that further proved itself during and beyond the narrative's critical twists and turns. Expanding on that, it is not that its first few chapters were poor by any means. Instead, Cain seemed to find greater assurance of his plotting and intentions for his characters as the narrative continued to unfold. Cora and Frank managed to break out of their archetypal shells and exposed the depth that existed beneath them. Cain builds upon everything that was established towards an ending that honestly tore my heart to pieces. This was perhaps an influence from my tendencies to bring my own baggage and experiences into the reading process, of which I was rewarded for unconsciously doing so.

As glowing as this review may be, I must address the fact that I am not a fan of Cain's usage of dialogue. Not so much with the content itself, but in the manner in which he presented them to his readers. Dialogue passages all of a sudden emerged out of the text without an indication of who may have been saying it. There wasn't enough nuance and differentiators in his speaking characters for one to immediately identify who was speaking. This proved to be a disruptive con that did bring out waves of irritation, especially during the earlier chapters of the story. Had this not been a personal issue for me, I probably would have gushed at this novel with immense positivity. Heck, maybe that may even be the case if I do decide to give this novel a second round.