Keene's 1954 novel The Big Kiss-Off is a masterpiece of hot sticky swamp noir.

The plot-line of a man returning to his hometown only to find every hand turned against him has been played out lots of time, but Keene still manages to make it seem as if he were the first to ever think of it.

Cain was shot down in the Korean War, spent two years in a POW camp only to find his divorce papers waiting for him in Tokyo. But, he's a Cajun sailor and finds a fast boat to sail to his hometown on the
Bayou only to find the sheriff giving him a deadline to leave town, his family property has been sold off, and the slinky blonde tramp he had married took off with some cheap conman. And, there's a sexy dark-
haired Charo-like Venezuelan temptress thrown in to boot.

Keene does a great job of capturing the flavor of the small town, the intricate passages through the swamps, and the confusion and frustration Cain felt returning to what no longer resembled home. Not only that but Keene aptly illustrates step by step the passion and
sexual tension Cain feels stuck with a gal he can't seem to cut loose. ( )