Highly recommended!

What if Ripley were not so talented? This story of delusional madness is all in the telling; Classic Highsmith , excellent performance.

9 persone l'hanno trovata utile

This book is about the journey, not the destination

This is the third book I have listen to by Patricia Highsmith. In each of her books that I have listened to, I really intensely dislike almost every character in the book. However, they hold my interest.
If they were movies, where you judge the characters mostly on how attractive and charming they are, the experience would be very different. In the books, even though they constantly refer to the protagonist as handsome and attractive and brilliant, you have to depend more upon their actions than what they look like to decide how you feel about them. Because, sadly, of course, we all give far more leeway to attractive people than to unattractive people. Since that is not an issue when you’re listening to a book, the narrator then has a big influence over how we develop feelings for the characters.
I feel like the narrator helps tremendously to make this story very interesting. Sometimes I get frustrated because, I think, how incredibly stupid are some of these people!? But, as we are all human and make mistakes, this story did continue to hold my interest, Even though some of the characters were so incredibly annoying. I don’t need the ending to be one way or another to give me some sort of satisfaction, because I enjoyed listening to this story no matter how it ended.

3 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Don’t bother

This book was strange. One man has several names. He kills two people—accidentally ? At the end, he seems insane. Pretty much a waste of time.

2 persone l'hanno trovata utile

Not Patricia High smith’s Best

I normally love Patricia Highsmith’s writing and stories but this is really not good. It’s a one note samba about obsession, and is at least three times longer than the material can withstand.

2 persone l'hanno trovata utile

An obsession that went on for too long

I like to read Patricia Highsmith's descriptions of domestic details, of the places her characters inhabit, and of their inner thoughts and machinations over time. This story did not disappoint, but was overly long as it moved to a predictable ending (with some satisfyingly dark twists). The narrator's voice and cadence was appropriate to the story. A good listen anyway for Highsmith fans.

1 persona l'ha trovata utile

Great story very entertaining

A good book for reading to pass the time. Patricia Highsmith builds up tension, keeping the reader eager to hear more about the characters. The characters are clearly painted, all domineering control freak.

1 persona l'ha trovata utile

Just Okay

*No Spoilers*
Pro: I enjoyed the overall story
Cons: The story definitely dragged through the last 1/4. The ending was kind of disappointing and anticlimactic.
For an *included* story, it's worth a listen. I personally would have been disappointed to have spent a credit on it though.

A real struggle

I struggled to finish this book. It was obvious that David had mental health difficulties and that things would end badly. I'm sorry that we had to see Effie's death before anything was done. sorry also that Annabelle didn't have the courage to tell David outright that she was not interested . She never once told him "I love my husband" and seemed to lead him on. She probably wanted to let him gently know. The book should have been half it's length.

I LOVED this novel!

Highsmith can be hit or miss for me but I thought this book was fabulous. Complicated protagonist with crisp, wonderful descriptions. At times I was revolted by his narcissism, but haven't we all experienced unrequited love? But oh my....

The narrator is comfortable, strong and believable.

Suspenseful and honest

I really enjoyed this. The narration almost makes it feel like a movie. The story is very engaging and riveting. Casually insane haha. Just like Highsmith.