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Ripley's Game (1974)

by Patricia Highsmith(Favorite Author)

3.87 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0393332128 (ISBN13: 9780393332124)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

W. W. Norton & Company

series

Ripley

review 1: Highsmith takes the Ripley series in a totally different direction with this one. Surprisingly enough, Ripley himself appears only occasionally throughout the first half of the novel, as much of the action focuses on leukemia sufferer, John Trevanny. Ripley's German acquaintance Reeves Minot needs help dealing with some Mafia types trying to horn-in on the illegal gambling market in Hamburg. Tom won't commit the murders himself but manages to maneuver terminal case Trevanny into being the hit man to earn a sizable nest-egg to leave for his family when he dies. The plan is to murder members from two different Mafia families in the hopes that they will blame each other and the resulting internecine Mafia war will distract them from their Hamburg plans. Trevanny pulls-off the... more first murder easily enough but is on the verge of botching the second job on a train when who should arrive on the scene to assist but Tom Ripley himself. Unfortunately, the Mafia families manage to piece together the truth of the situation and come after them, forcing Tom and Trevanny to fight for their lives. Wonderfully plotted and exciting, with intriguing ruminations upon mortality and the forces that motivate a normally law abiding citizen to commit a crime, this third novel is as good (maybe better) than the rest and it seems Highsmith could do no wrong when it came to writing crime fiction. Highly recommended!
review 2: While this is probably my favorite Highsmith/Ripley novel so far, it is also the most unsettling. She manages - by introducing a new counter-Narrator (Jonathan) - to make Ripley's amorality seem even more fragile and desolate. Jonathan's wife Simone also stands as an interesting counter-spouse to Heloise. Throughout the novel the twisting and sometimes converging tales of Ripley and Jonathan seem like spinning endless images mirrors. Each narrator reflecting the existential, blood-splattered flatness of the other. It was brilliant and disconcerting at the same time. less

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