First you find a little thread, a little thread leads you to a string, and the string leads you to a rope. And from the rope you hang by the neck.

A. I. Bezzerides (1905–1992) was a Greek-American novelist and screenwriter best known for his novel Thieves' Market (1949) and the screenplay for the classic film noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955). He was born in Turkey to Armenian parents and immigrated to the United States in 1925. He worked as a writer for Warner Brothers in the 1940s and 1950s, writing several scripts for Humphrey Bogart. He also wrote the screenplay for the film The Long Goodbye (1973), based on Raymond Chandler's novel. Bezzerides wrote about the struggles of the working class and the effects of poverty on individuals. His work was praised for its realism and he was known for his frank depictions of violence, crime, and corruption.