Ride the Pink Horse

This wonderfully sweaty, panicked book is about a gangster called Sailor who travels from Chicago to Santa Fe, New Mexico, looking for revenge and for money. Everything seems to be against him. It is Fiesta, it is hot, thousands of people are crowding into town, Sailor has nowhere to stay, the odds are stacked against him -- and some important and very violent people are in town, only one of whom he wants to meet. One of Hughes’ most brilliant novels, Ride the Pink Horse transplants noir to an America of vivid colours and bright sunlight, with startling results.