The Talented Mr. Ripley / Ripley Under Ground / Ripley's Game

There are fantastic moments in this book, and I love the meandering pacing. When Highsmith ratchets up the tension, it's a fantastic ride. The contrast between Ripley as a man who wants to be loved and Ripley the man who might just hit you over the head is played out well here, and even holds up over time, I'd say.

Still, it has a fairly predictable ending (it may not have been predictable in 1955), not much in the way of an interesting tone, and gives us quite a few unintelligent characters; rather than Ripley being some sort of clever criminal, he's mostly just lucky, which might be fun as a metaphysical puzzle, but not as fun as a thriller. (And perhaps Highsmith wanted to write something more metaphysical–in that case, she didn't go far enough for me.)

Glad I read it. I may read another in the series to see how her writing develops over time, but this one didn't top Strangers on a Train for me...