A Fine Dark Line (novel)

infobox Book |
name = A Fine Dark Line
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author = Joe R. Lansdale
illustrator =
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country = United States
language = English
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genre = Novel
publisher = Subterranean
pub_date = 2002 June 1
english_pub_date =
media_type = Print (Hardcover)
pages = 412 pp
isbn = ISBN 1931081662
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"A Fine Dark Line" is a 2002 novel written by Joe R. Lansdale. The story is set in Dewmont, Texas in 1958. "A Fine Dark Line" is currently being made into a feature length movie.

Plot summary

The story is told through the eyes of Stanley Mitchell, a thirteen year-old boy, the younger of two children. The Mitchells are the owners and proprietors of the only drive-in theater in Dewmont. Stanley's discovers a tin box containing a collection of troubled love letters that ultimately lead him to a burned out house, the mysterious deaths of two young women and various secrets that the powers that be in Dewmont would prefer to stay buried. Stanley's ally is Buster Smith, the projectionist at the drive-in theater, an elderly black man whose attempts to drown his demons in alcohol are doomed to failure but who has a depth that only Stanley is aware of. In attempting to solve the mysteries of the deaths of the two women, Stanley exposes not only himself, but also his family and friends, to danger.