The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Rating: 3 of 5 stars 

Pages: 320 pages
Published: 1955

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith is the first book in a series featuring the titular character. In this first installment, Tom Ripley manipulates his way into Dickie Greenleaf’s life by way of his father. A chance meeting in New York with the senior Greenleaf results in an expense-paid trip for Tom to Italy to convince Dickie to come back stateside to be with his ill mother. 

Once Tom arrives by sea, he quickly meets Dickie and his female companion, Marge. Tom is swept into the lifestyle of the well-to-do in Europe and finds a way to not only get involved in Dickie’s life but take it over. As the plot progresses, the readers wonders how far will one man go to achieve what he deems success? 

Mr. Tom Ripley evolves into a sociopath reaching far beyond the bounds of normal social behaviors. The book is fast-paced. I finished it in a just a few days, and it left me questioning what is right and who is right. I read this book for my monthly in-person book club discussion, and overall, I enjoyed it. The additional discussion made the book more meaningful. Highsmith’s style of writing definitely matches the time (~1950s) in which the book was written, and her personality and personal life shine throughout the story. I would suggest reading an eBook copy of this novel as there are several Italian sentences, and an eReader should offer the opportunity to translate it, thus giving the story more meaning. 

Recommendation: This book is a classic. I intend to see the 90s movie now that I finished it. As always I would recommend reading the book before seeing the movie, and I would encourage readers to read this book with someone as the discussion enhances the experience. 

Until next time ... Read on!

Regardless of whether I purchase a book, borrow a book, or receive a book in exchange for review, my ultimate goal is to be honest, fair, and constructive. I hope you've found this review helpful.

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The Survivors by Jane Harper

Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Pages: 384 pages
Published: September 2020

The Survivors by Jane Harper is a dark, mysterious novel set in the small town of Evelyn Bay, Australia and on a beautiful beach. Kieran Elliott has come back home to help his mother prepare to move his father, who is suffering from dementia, to a palliative care facility. While there, a young out-of-town college student, there to further her art studies, is murdered. This current-day event brings a tragic event that caused the death of Kieran's brother and the disappearance of a young girl nearly 12 years ago to the surface. The moderately-paced story interweaves the present-day crime with the horrific events of the past to a complete conclusion. 

I enjoyed this book. While it was slow to get started for me, I found the writing to be solid and descriptive. The author had me longing to go for a swim, which is just not feasible in January (even in Texas). There were a lot of characters, as well as red herrings, introduced, that provided elements of confusion and intrigue in determining whodunit. I had pinned the murder on just about everyone, except for the right person, before I reach the conclusion. 

Having said that, the ending did fall a little flat for me. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was a little underwhelmed when I found out who the murderer was and what happened to the missing girl from 12 years prior. The story moved a bit slow for me, but it wasn't too slow. I am trying to take more time to read and digest books this year rather than racing to some arbitrary finish line of total books read by the year's end. 

Recommendation: I appreciated the imagery Harper provided in this novel. It was a suspenseful and engaging without being too graphic. I would recommended it to older teens and adults for a long weekend read. 

Until next time ... Read on!

Regardless of whether I purchase a book, borrow a book, or receive a book in exchange for review, my ultimate goal is to be honest, fair, and constructive. I hope you've found this review helpful.

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The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Pages: 289 pages
Published: February 2014

Welcome to 2021. I started this book in 2020, but it is my first one completed on the first day of the year, and I hope this does not portend my reading year. The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson had great promise and an interesting premise but was an extremely frustrating read. This mystery's main character is George Foss, who reconnects with his first college love some decades later, when she asks him for a pretty serious favor. Seemingly caught up in the nostalgia of the relationship they once had George agrees and finds himself caught up in a dangerous whirlwind. 

The book is fast-moving, and the author's writing is intriguing. However, the story fell flat for me in the end because the ending really wasn't an ending at all. George was so infuriating, I'm not even sure we can call him a protagonist because he was his own antagonist. His love interest was equally difficult to follow and highly unlikeable. It just didn't seem like George made good choices throughout the book, and the author took the easy way out in the end - leaving this reader quite unfulfilled. 

Recommendation: I read this book with the Fort Worth Library's awesome Stay at Home Book Club. It's an awesome group of people all over the interwebs that reads and discusses together, and the consensus was Mr. Swanson left much too be desired with this read. But, hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. 

Until next time ... Read on!

Regardless of whether I purchase a book, borrow a book, or receive a book in exchange for review, my ultimate goal is to be honest, fair, and constructive. I hope you've found this review helpful.

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Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Pages: 256 pages
Published: October 2020

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam is one of of those books where you love it or you hate it. I hated it. It seemed much longer than its 256 pages and ended with no real conclusion of any kind. The book is basically about a white family of 4 who rent an Airbnb for a vacation away from the city. Upon the first few days of their vacation, the Black owners of the home show up unannounced with news that something very strange is going on in the world that has hindered communication with people in New York and news media to electronic devices. From there, many random things happen that, I suppose, are to illustrate the uncertainty of the situation and how people react in a dire situation. The book goes on like this till the end that isn’t really an end. I seriously thought maybe I was missing some pages. 

This was a Book of the Month add-on selection for me. On one-hand I’m disappointed I spent my money on it, but on the other hand, it was only $9.99. So, membership does have its privileges. 

The over-attention to detail - the droning on and on of grocery list items and non-essential sexual activities just didn’t do it for me. The only reason, and I am so serious when I say this, the only reason I continued to the end is for the upcoming Netflix movie that will star my two favorite actors -  Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts. I have a feeling this will be one of the rare cases where the movie will be better than the book - it has to be! 

Recommendation: Save your time and your coins - just wait for the movie. So little time; so many books. Choose something else.  

Until next time ... Read on!

Regardless of whether I purchase a book, borrow a book, or receive a book in exchange for review, my ultimate goal is to be honest, fair, and constructive. I hope you've found this review helpful.

Read More