I thought this was going to be better, more suspenseful. I didn't care for the characters.

I have wanted to read this book for a long time, so when I was challenged to read something off a backlist, this was my choice! It is such a great psychological thriller, showing the guilt of a murderer, albeit a reluctant one.
When 2 strangers, Guy Haines and Charles Bruno, meet on a train, and start talking about people they despise, Bruno plants a seed that they should each kill the other person's target. Who would suspect strangers of plotting such a thing?
As the story develops, Guy can't deal with the guilt that he unwittingly triggered Bruno to kill Guy's wife, and now is in an untenable position. Bruno continues to threaten Guy, until Guy kills Bruno's father for him.
Eerie, twisted story! ( )

2nd time 6/1/23-6/6/23, better the 2nd time, the decent into madness could use more, but for a debut novel, very impressive, now 3 stars ( )

Great book. This audiobook version is really awful due to the narration by Bronson Pinchot. I usually like it when a narrator "acts" the parts but Pinchot almost makes a joke out of the book. ( )

How does an author so fully establish their trademark in a first book? The tension here is taut, the characters repulsive but compelling, and the multi-perspective psychologies thrilling.

It is a testament to the writing that knowing the premise of book didn't affect my enjoyment of the story at all. I was kept on edge, and this book more than her Ripleys made me really question what Highsmith herself was like. Reading her wikipedia page felt not like a surprise revelation but a familiar reacquaintance. ( )