Detour - Martin M Goldsmith

Alexander Roth is a jazz fiddle player who can't quite seem to catch a break after losing his job and having his best girl Sue leave him to pursue her dream of becoming a famous actress in Hollywood. After failing to find any work in New York City, he decides to sell everything he's got and head out on the road to California in pursuit of Sue. Hundreds of miles later, Roth finds himself penniless and hungry on the side of the road, trying to thumb a ride in desperation. He thinks all his problems are solved when a generous and boisterous bookie named Haskell stops to pick him up and take him all the way to L.A., even buying him a steak dinner along the way. Little does Alexander Roth know that this is the beginning of the worst trouble he's ever stumbled into. This forgotten classic of noir fiction would go on to be adapted by the author himself into the celebrated poverty row film noir of the same name in 1945. - Summary by Ben Tucker