Black Rain

Black Rain is a crime novel by the Belgian author Georges Simenon. Originally published in French in 1964 as La neige était sale (The Snow Was Dirty), the paperback edition you're asking about was published in English in 1965.

Summary

The novel is a psychological thriller set in a nameless, occupied city during World War II. It follows the story of Frank Friedmaier, a cynical and amoral young man who lives in a world where moral values have disintegrated. He is drawn into a web of crime and betrayal, a world as "dirty" as the snow-filled streets of his city. Unlike Simenon's Inspector Maigret stories, Black Rain is a standalone roman dur (hard novel), a term used to describe his darker, more intense psychological works that explore themes of guilt, alienation, and the human condition.