This was Ira Levin’s first book, which he later followed up with Rosemary’s Baby and Stepford Wives. This is a classic thriller with a masterful plot line, and fully developed characters. It is the study of a psychopath, and I won’t tell you his name because that is half the fun of getting there. But the killer is a man born into a poor family, spoiled by his parents, who decides there is only one way to gain the riches that were not granted to him by life. He charms women into believing he loves them, and then if his manipulations don’t work…well, then, let’s move to the next one.
The book shows how easily we can be deceived and how, right up to the end, a true psychopath never believes they have done anything wrong. As for the ending, it was truly satisfying, if chilling, as we are privy to the killer’s thoughts.
One of the things I really liked about this book was that it was written in 1953. That means without cell phones and text messages, you sometimes had to wait until the next day to talk to someone. No internet means doing a little more legwork in your investigations. That all played into the tense plot. In 1956, the book was made into a movie with Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward, and I will have to see it.
I highly recommend this as a great suspenseful read that will thrill and chill! But please, pretend it’s 1953 and don’t search for the storyline beforehand. This is a book that draws you in and unfolds before you. Let it!
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