Enjoy fast, FREE delivery, exclusive deals and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery

List Price: $15.95 Details

Save: $5.47 (34%)

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Thursday, August 3 on orders shipped by Amazon over $25. Order within 4 hrs 42 mins

Select delivery location

In Stock

$$10.48 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Payment

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Details

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Friday, August 4 on orders shipped by Amazon over $25. Order within 4 hrs 42 mins

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Jenson Books Inc

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$12.91
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: indoobestsellers

Added

Not added

$15.14
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: RAREWAVES-IMPORTS

Added

Not added

$19.14
& FREE Shipping

Sold by: InfiniteBooks_USA

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

Follow the Author

Cornell Woolrich

Deadline at Dawn (An American Mystery Classic) Paperback – June 28, 2022

by Cornell Woolrich (Author), David Gordon (Introduction)

4.4 40 ratings

Part of: American Mystery Classic (37 books)

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$6.99

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$17.50

$17.49

Paperback

"Please retry"

$10.48

$5.19

Mass Market Paperback

"Please retry"

$9.56

—

$9.55

Kindle
$0.00 Read with Kindle Unlimited to also enjoy access to over 4 million more titles $6.99 to buy
Hardcover
$17.50

4 Used from $17.49 12 New from $17.50
Paperback
$10.48

8 Used from $5.19 15 New from $10.48
Mass Market Paperback
$9.56

6 Used from $9.55 2 Collectible from $6.75

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$10.48","priceAmount":10.48,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"10","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"48","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"4sHt%2BgtbUG0yQXStZYEj%2BVVHuM0cYI15%2FBK%2B5XU7Sovohtu%2FxYFIumVMcbINScO7MP4PiuIt2hUEXSOWw0GU13ZxIXriDp9JC5ESOSSvjLAZX6Q2fbI%2Bk331%2FtMxGq3amwMnEiMkiR1taZgrn%2BXAlQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.60","priceAmount":7.60,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"60","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"4sHt%2BgtbUG0yQXStZYEj%2BVVHuM0cYI15%2BXtS99RQdSur3TgiPY8g0juEV8DQAeuux9tXjuImbf4pqhDGJoY%2BbwN4tCd4xpVTZYmrcie97kHMImYDC3yRIzQgheSzQEdQ7UF8%2B9Wfaqgj5MxxZiz%2Fre4%2FlqMdy8CjhiN9JwTPXmrQG2so%2FQuiy3gm3E%2BBB4Ik","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

In this thrilling mystery from “the Hitchcock of the written word,” two lovers rush to solve a murder before the end of a New York night (Believer)

When Quinn first meets Bricky, she’s working as a partner-for-hire at a dancehall and he’s struggling to shake the anxiety of his guilty conscience. Earlier that day, the young man took advantage of a found key and used it to rob a stranger’s home. Now, with the purloined money in his pocket, Quinn is unable to escape the memory of his wrongdoing―and not even a night spent dancing is enough to silence his nagging thoughts.

When the dancehall closes, he and Bricky―linked, after many intimate hours, by a budding romance―return to the scene of the crime intending to restore the stolen fortune and begin a new life together, only to discover, upon arrival, that the owner of the property has been murdered. There’s evidence present that easily links Quinn to the crime, and he expects that, as soon as day breaks and the authorities learn of the gruesome scene, he will be arrested straight away. Which means that he and Bricky have only a few short hours to find the true killer and clear Quinn’s name for good.

What begins as a romance soon turns into a nightmare, as this young couple trek through the dark underbelly of old New York in a desperate race for salvation. Twisty, turny, and breathlessly told, Deadline at Dawn is an exemplary tale from the “supreme master of suspense” (New York Times).

Part of series

American Mystery Classic
Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

American Mystery Classics
Publication date

June 28, 2022
Dimensions

5.3 x 0.8 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

1613163266
ISBN-13

978-1613163269
See all details

Frequently bought together

Deadline at Dawn (An American Mystery Classic)

$10.48

Get it as soon as Thursday, Aug 3

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

The Bride Wore Black (An American Mystery Classic)

$15.95

Get it as soon as Thursday, Aug 3

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

$15.99

Get it as soon as Thursday, Aug 3

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Choose items to buy together.

Lowest Pricein this set of productsThis item:
Cornell Woolrich
40
Paperback
$10.48
Most purchasedin this set of products
Cornell Woolrich
367
Paperback
$15.95
Highest ratedin this set of products
Cornell Woolrich
74
Paperback
$12.95
Cornell Woolrich
30
Paperback
$15.99
Cornell Woolrich
27
Paperback
$14.99
Cornell Woolrich
86
Paperback
$14.42
Erle Stanley Gardner
71
Paperback
$15.95
Cornell Woolrich
57
Paperback
$15.99
Dolores Hitchens
27
Hardcover
$20.49
Mary Roberts Rinehart
642
Paperback
$13.10
John Dickson Carr
35
Paperback
$14.07

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Of all the authors whose forte was turning our spines to columns of ice, the supreme master of the art, the Hitchcock of the written word, was Cornell Woolrich."
― Believer Magazine

"The writing of Cornell Woolrich goes through you like a shriek in the night."
― Dorothy Salisbury Davis, MWA Grandmaster

"One of the great masters."
― Ellery Queen

About the Author

Born George Hopley-Woolrich, Cornell Woolrich (1903–1968) is the pen name most often employed by one of America’s best crime and noir writers, whose other pseudonyms included George Hopley and William Irish, the moniker under which Waltz into Darkness was first published. His novels were among the first to employ the atmosphere, outlook, and impending sense of doom that came to be characterized as noir, and inspired some of the most famous films of the period, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, Francois Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black, The Phantom Lady, and celebrated B-movies such as The Leopard Man and Black Angel.

David Gordon was born in New York City. His first novel, "The Serialist," won the VCU/Cabell First Novel Award and was a finalist for an Edgar Award. It was also made into a major motion picture in Japan. His work has also appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, Purple, and Fence, among other publications.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ American Mystery Classics (June 28, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1613163266
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1613163269
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.3 x 0.8 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #582,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,822 in Traditional Detective Mysteries (Books)
- #8,898 in Murder Thrillers
- #30,326 in Suspense Thrillers

Customer Reviews:
4.4 40 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Cornell Woolrich

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

George Hopley-Woolrich (4 December 1903 – 25 September 1968) is one of America’s best crime and noir writers who sometimes wrote under the pseudonyms William Irish and George Hopley. He’s often compared to other celebrated crime writers of his day, Dashiell Hammett, Erle Stanley Gardner and Raymond Chandler.

Born in New York City, his parents separated when he was young and he lived in Mexico for nearly a decade with his father before returning to New York City to live with his mother, Claire Attalie Woolrich.

He attended New York’s Columbia University but left school in 1926 without graduating when his first novel, “Cover Charge”, was published. “Cover Charge” was one of six of his novels that he credits as inspired by the work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Woolrich soon turned to pulp and detective fiction, often published under his pseudonyms. His best known story today is his 1942 “It Had to be Murder” for the simple reason that it was adapted into the 1954 Alfred Hitchcock movie “Rear Window” starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly. It was remade as a television film by Christopher Reeve in 1998.

Woolrich was a homosexual but in 1930, while working as a screenwriter in Los Angeles, he married Violet Virginia Blackton (1910-65), daughter of silent film producer J. Stuart Blackton. They separated after three months and the marriage was annulled in 1933.

Woolrich returned to new York where he and his mother moved into the Hotel Marseilles (Broadway and West 102nd Street). He lived there until her death on October 6, 1957, which prompted his move to the Hotel Franconia (20 West 72nd Street). In later years he socialized on occasion in Manhattan but alcoholism and an amputated leg, caused by an infection from wearing a shoe too tight which he left untreated, turned him into a recluse. Thus, he did not attend the New York premiere of Truffaut’s film based on his novel “The Bride Wore Black” in 1968 and, shortly thereafter, died weighing only 89 pounds. He is interred in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.

Woolrich bequeathed his estate to Columbia University to endow scholarships in his mother’s memory for journalism students.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

40 global ratings

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

David Kloth

Tick-tock; tick-tock; Time Is Running Out

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 21, 2023

Verified Purchase

"Deadline at Dawn" is billed as being written by William Irish. It wasn't. William Irish was one of the popular pseudonyms used by Cornell Woolrich during his prolific writing career spanning about sixty years around the middle of the 20th Century. Woolrich wrote short stories for various crime magazines, as well as many novels. Twenty-nine of his stories were turned into films, with Alfred Hitchock's "Rear Window," being the most well known.

In "Deadline at Dawn" Woolrich engages a small group of Manhattan losers and misfits as they rush to save themselves from The City, and from the cops. It starts around midnight with a young woman plying her trade of professional dance partner for ten cents a dance. She's come from a small town in Iowa to Manhattan to make the Big Time in the Big Apple, but wound up wearing out her feet for two and one-half cents, her cut of a dance ticket.

Nearing the end of her shift, she meets a young man of about her age who has a big fistful of dance tickets. He'd bought them without realizing the joint was closing, and the dances ending with it. As circumstances unfold, they discover they're both from the small town Iowa, but didn't know each other, there.

It's at this point that their adventure begins. I'm not going to give away the plot details, but Woolrich's story is told in real time, and our two protagonists have until dawn to solve a murder and catch the bus, together, home.

Woolrich is a great storyteller who crafts his storylines into believable tales with believable characters. The villains are villainous, and the heroes likeable, even though they aren't particularly virtuous. This is a great story, well told. The bottom line is that mystery lovers should read all of the Cornell Woolrich novels and stories we can find. Thank goodness for e-readers and electronic book stores.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 2, 2012

Verified Purchase

Story is exciting, an excellent page turner, Woolrich could clearly write well, even though there was a certain improbability in the characters, and a strange surrender to telling, not showing, at the very end, for no reason I can discern, because everything up to then had been so well shown and executed.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comedy Snob

good read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

Well plotted, easy, suspenseful, enjoyable read, by one of my favorites: Cornell Woolrich

One person found this helpful

Helpful

David L. Hartzog

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 12, 2015

Verified Purchase

Classic novel basis for movie.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 26, 2016

It would be easy to make the case that of the ten greatest writers of the twentieth century, at least three of them came from the pulps: Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Cornell Woolrich. And of those three, it is just as easy to make the case that Woolrich was the finest among that daunting trio. Yes, Hammett was Hemingway before Hemingway was Hemingway, but he could not sustain it, so his output is meager. Chandler’s influence on the evolution of the detective in fiction, and the quality of his prose, is staggering, some of his work, brilliant. Yet here again, that literary brilliance had an undeniable shelf life. His output and resume was greater than Hammett’s, yet does not come close to Woolrich. Output is not quality, of course, but as Ray Bradbury noted, it produces quality, and Woolrich was prolific. What cinches it is a stretch where Woolrich published novel after novel of gripping, enduring mystery and suspense. His use of the language was extraordinary, his ability to cast a mood magical, and his mastery of creating heart-pounding suspense remains unequaled.

Deadline at Dawn was written in the 1940s, during that incredible period when memorable novel after novel appeared. Some he wrote under the Woolrich name, others William Irish, still others George Hopely. He was so prolific he feared glutting the market. Woolrich was in essence a romantic, which is why he had originally — and with some success — set out to become the next Fitzgerald. His sense of romanticism, and wishing it could be a certain way, but knowing it often wasn’t, led to a theme running through his oeuvre. In many of Woolrich’s finest efforts, fate and destiny are forces which cannot be overcome, no matter how desperately we try. There is a rainbow at the end, but often the protagonist can’t reach it, because he or she can’t get out of the jam. Why? Because fate is laughing at him, dooming him. If Night Has a Thousand Eyes exemplified this sense of fatalism and life being out of our control, then Deadline at Dawn exemplifies the romanticism, the hope that somehow, once in a blue moon, a guy and a girl can beat the odds, fight fate and maybe win. Maybe.

Darkly romantic and deeply involving, New York City becomes a living thing, a Woolrich extension of fate working against two little people in a jam. To say that Deadline at Dawn is about a young man who has made a mistake and a cynical yet secretly soft-hearted dance hall girl who decides to help him try to fix it, is like saying Lonesome Dove is about a couple of old Texas Rangers making a cattle drive. Neither description can convey the tenderness, beauty, and heartfelt moments that stay with us long after the final page is turned. After finishing this novel, I had the same feeling as when finishing Remarque’s Three Comrades and The Night in Lisbon, that I had just read something wonderful. As in many Woolrich novels, everything takes place as a race against the clock, an effort to stave off doom for the protagonists. Also as in many Woolrich tales, we are drawn into their plight, and into their souls, so that we are aching for them to succeed, and give fate a kick in the pants.

First it’s trying to fix a moment of weakness, then get out from under a murder charge before anyone finds the body. But ultimately, it’s an exciting and moving story of two “little” people fighting a city that doesn’t care about them, has changed them in ways they don’t like, is laughing at them as they try to fix things and catch a bus back home before it’s too late. Woolrich once wrote that he didn’t think he was a very good writer, he just wrote the truth. While Night Has a Thousand Eyes is more heralded, and it is one of his brilliant works during that aforementioned stretch, I prefer to believe that it was in Deadline at Dawn that a writer who was more than just good, but great in fact, actually told the truth. A wonderful, involving read. Both a mystery and suspense story, it is about so much more. A masterpiece, from a guy who wrote a slew of them. A must read.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Tazmanian Devil

excellent story... solid binding for a paperback

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 21, 2014

Verified Purchase

This publisher breathes new life into a classic tale.
A story out of print for decades is as vivid and compelling as ever.
Highly recommended

Amazon Customer

Excellent.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

Excellent

See more reviews

Amazon Music Stream millions of songs	Amazon Advertising Find, attract, and engage customers	6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Books, art & collectibles	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Sell on Amazon Start a Selling Account

Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	Amazon Fresh Groceries & More Right To Your Door	AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Experienced Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Ignite Sell your original Digital Educational Resources	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services

Audible Listen to Books & Original Audio Performances	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Box Office Mojo Find Movie Box Office Data	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics	DPReview Digital Photography	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting

Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	IMDbPro Get Info Entertainment Professionals Need	Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital & Print Publishing Made Easy	Amazon Photos Unlimited Photo Storage Free With Prime	Prime Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy

Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Amazon Warehouse Great Deals on Quality Used Products	Whole Foods Market America’s Healthiest Grocery Store	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Zappos Shoes & Clothing	Ring Smart Home Security Systems

eero WiFi Stream 4K Video in Every Room	Blink Smart Security for Every Home	Neighbors App Real-Time Crime & Safety Alerts	Amazon Subscription Boxes Top subscription boxes – right to your door	PillPack Pharmacy Simplified	Amazon Renewed Like-new products you can trust

Amazon Prime includes:

Buy new: $10.48$10.48 FREE delivery: Thursday, Aug 3 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon. Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com

Buy used: $7.60

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Author

Deadline at Dawn (An American Mystery Classic) Paperback – June 28, 2022

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

What do customers buy after viewing this item?

Editorial Reviews

Review

About the Author

Product details

Videos

Important information

About the author

Cornell Woolrich

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$10.48

FREE delivery: Thursday, Aug 3 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.

Ships from: Amazon.com

Sold by: Amazon.com

Buy used:

$7.60