Influenced by German Expressionism, McCarthyism, and nuclear-age uncertainty, film noir is a term coined by French critics for a genre of uniquely American movies from the post-World War II period through 1960.--Los Angeles Times. And noir has continued in the hands of such prose masters as Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, John Lutz, and John D. MacDonald, who is represented by a brilliant early novella of dark crime.