Playback: A Graphic Novel

By Raymond Chandler

Betty Mayfield is blond and beautiful and has just been found guilty of murdering her husband. But when the jundge realizes the jury is terrified of her father-in-law--the man who owns everything in this small North Carolina town--he overturns the verdict. Her father-in-law swears vengeance, and Betty flees. Seeking a new life, she meets Larry Mitchell, a brash but charming gigolo, on the train to Vancouver. He brings her to the Royal Vancouver Hotel, where she checks into a room beneath the penthouse of wealthy playboy Clark Brandon, who takes her under his wing. When Mitchell's body turns up on Betty's balcony, jaded inspector Jeff Killaine is assigned to the case, but finds himself falling for Betty. Did she do it, or was she framed? This graphic novel presents a heart-pounding tale of betrayal, blackmail, and murder that will take you to the edge of your seat on a ride through Raymond Chandler's last thriller.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing
• Release date: Oct 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9781628721829

Raymond Chandler

Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) was best known as the creator of fictional detective Philip Marlowe. One of the most influential American authors of crime novels and stories, his books were considered classics of the genre, and many of them were turned into enormously popular Hollywood films, including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye.

Reviews for Playback

[bookmarque · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The last Marlowe novel is a slim one and has more obvious sex in it than previous outings where any hookups he might have had were all oblique. Not this time out. Plotwise it isn't stellar, but it works and as always the writing is crisp and unique even on page one!"I'm old, tired and full of no coffee." (Marlowe is woken early by a phone call, but still quick of tongue!)"On the dance floor half a dozen couples were throwing themselves around with the reckless abandon of a night watchman with arthritis." p 39"Javonen smiled - very slightly. Call it a down payment on a smile." p 98The ending is pretty final and sentimental, but after this long journey I'm hopeful that Marlowe finds some happiness.

[trile1000 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Let me preface this by saying that I love Raymond Chandler and Philip Marlowe. Chandler is one of my favorite authors and Marlowe of my favorite characters. Despite this, I felt like this is the weakest entry in all of Chandler's offerings and a disappointing way to end Marlowe's story. Way too short and lacking in the depth of much of his other work, it just doesn't feel the same. Perhaps it's unfair to have such high expectations, but after the quality of the others, I can't help but feel let down. But in the end, it is still a Marlowe story. I enjoyed it, just not nearly as strongly as the others. It has its sharp moments and atmosphere, but just never feels as complete. 3/5

[stacy_chambers-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this until the end, where the dialogue fell flat. Anytime Chandler tries to get romantic, it doesn't work.

Favorite line: "I've got friends who could cut you down so small you'd need a stepladder to put your shoes on."

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Chandlers last novel. I read this almost 10 years ago and don't remember much of it except that it wasn't as good as the rest of his stories.

[alexrichman_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

To a certain extent, the sumptuous atmosphere of Chandler's stories rely upon the setting - the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles. This final novel moves elswhere, a sort of Holiday on the Buses-style jaunt that retains the witty repartee between Marlowe and his various acquaintances but loses a little soul on the way to Esmerelda. As for the plot - the resolution is pretty rushed. Sad that such a great character bows out like this.

[matthew.ducmanas · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's always a bit sad when you've finished reading all the novels of a favorite author. Especially when that final book happens to be among the weakest of the bunch. In my case, Playback was the final Raymond Chandler novel I had to read and incidentally the last he completed. It has a simpler plot than the others and somehow lacks the poignancy I've come to expect from his writing. The rather disappointing ending didn't help much either. But heck- its still Chandler. His descriptions, dialogue and prose are still spot on. My other small complaints aren't too detracting, especially with the amount of goodwill the author has banked with me. Glad I still have some of his short stories to read and the fact that his novels- even this one- are satisfyingly re-readable.

[jonesli · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Playback is Raymond Chandler's last novel. Although I was glad to have read this one, there was something missing for me with the way the book flowed.Philip Marlowe, wisecracking detective, is hired to follow a rehead who goes by the name of Betty Mayfield as she is leaving a train but isn't told the whole story why. There are a few dead bodies, a couple of love scenes and not much more. I felt as though maybe Mr. Chandler had written or meant to write more to be added to this book. But even a mediocre Chandler is still worth the read. I suppose I just love the Big Sleep so much it's hard not to compare. I still plan on reading the rest of his works ; High Window, and his short story collections.

[copyedit52 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This starts out well then steadily falls apart. A disappointing Chandler, the worst of which I usually prefer to the best of most other crime writers. Perhaps he needed to pay some bills, spit this out with more formula and less inspiration than his better stuff.

[praymont_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was Chandler's last novel. His heart wasn't in it. The only really good parts are Marlowe's funny interactions with the sexy Miss Vermilyea. But sadness prevails. In one ill-fitting fragment, Marlowe is at home staring at a "blank wall in a meaningless room in a meaningless house." Then the phone rings and a woman's voice is expressing undying love for him. Chandler seems to have intended this passage to fit fairly conventionally into the narrative, but it's too eerie for that and feels more like a hallucination of love in a desolate, lonely chamber, made all the sadder by the fact that Chandler wrote this shortly after his wife's death.

[comfypants · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

A private detective follows a woman and doesn't feel like stopping.1/4 (Bad).Very little happens, nothing ends up mattering, and everything turns out to be exactly what it seemed like from the beginning. It was published posthumously, and it's supposed to be the last Marlowe novel Chandler completed, but I'm skeptical.

[paul_s-289480 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It feels like vacation for Marlowe with pieces of the case falling together more implausibly than women into his arms 5 seconds after meeting him with zero effort. The writing is still fast but the action and plot feel half-hearted with little to solve or fight for.

[ecw0647 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not the best Chandler. Apparently, it was the last novel in the Marlowe series. Others have nicely summarized the plot that finds Marlowe trying to understand why he has been asked to follow a woman arriving on the Santa Fe superliner. The plot's a bit weak, but you don't read Chandler for the plot. It's the characterizations and language that make Chandler so special.

[vesper1931 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Marlowe is employed by lawyer Clyde Ulmney, to follow a female departing from a train. To follow a Eleanor King and report her destination. But Marlowe wants more information especially when there is a dead body involved.
Another excellent well-written story. A re-read.

[lsh63 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Playback is Raymond Chandler's last novel. Although I was glad to have read this one, there was something missing for me with the way the book flowed.Philip Marlowe, wisecracking detective, is hired to follow a rehead who goes by the name of Betty Mayfield as she is leaving a train but isn't told the whole story why. There are a few dead bodies, a couple of love scenes and not much more. I felt as though maybe Mr. Chandler had written or meant to write more to be added to this book. But even a mediocre Chandler is still worth the read. I suppose I just love the Big Sleep so much it's hard not to compare. I still plan on reading the rest of his works ; High Window, and his short story collections.

[willymammoth · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Playback is one of Chandler’s later novels, written in the 50s and beyond what I regard as the “pure Noir” era of the 30s and 40s. Maybe he just didn’t have the same inspiration he did before, I don't know. It was also one of his later works, so perhaps he would just past his prime. For whatever reason, Playback just wasn’t as good as his other works. The dialogue lacks its usual hardboiled wittiness, the inventive language is absent, and the plot is thin. Maybe I’ve deified the man so much that when he misses the mark ever so slightly, I feel disappointed. Or hell, maybe it’s all of the above. Don’t get me wrong. It’s still good fiction, it’s just not the pinnacle of “Chandlerism.”The story goes like this: Philip Marlowe is hired by an lawyer acting in the interest of an unnamed party to follow a young woman and see where she goes. While following said woman, she is approached by a man who seems to be trying to blackmail her. Marlowe continues to follow her until they reach a small resort town (though it is currently in the middle of the off season). The young lady makes friends with a local millionaire (who made his money in organized crime), and suddenly her blackmailer winds up dead. She tries to get Marlowe to dispose of the body, only to discover that the body has already been disposed of. Marlowe then embarks on an investigation to find out who killed who and why it is that Miss Thang was getting blackmailed.It’s a rather typical plot for a crime novel, and pretty straight forward. It’s a decent story, too, but for anyone just getting into Chandler’s works, I’d suggest The Long Goodbye, Farewell My Lovely or The Lady in the Lake. Playback is probably best reserved for fanboys like yours truly.