The Pledge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Pledge (German: Das Versprechen) is a thriller novel by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt, published in 1958. After Dürrenmatt thought that his previous movie script, Es geschah am hellichten Tag ("It happened in broad daylight") did not have a realistic ending, he set on to write "Das Versprechen".

[edit] Plot summary

In the 2001 film, Jerry Black (Nicholson) is a retired detective, who during his retirement party decides to join one of his colleagues in one last case. The case involves the molested body of an eight year old girl, found in the mountains of Nevada. After breaking the news to the girl's parents, Jerry makes a pledge to the distraught mother that he would find the killer. Mindful of the pledge he made, he buys an old gas station in the mountains, and searches for a tall man who calls himself the Wizard, using clues from a drawing done by the murdered girl.

He is the only person to suspect that a serial killer is involved, and his obsession with finding the killer begins to erode his sanity as he strives to keep his promise.

[edit] Film adaptations

The novel was adapted to film in 1996 as The Cold Light of Day, starring Richard E. Grant, and in 2001 as The Pledge, starring Jack Nicholson and directed by Sean Penn.