Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Ripley Underground, by Patricia Highsmith

The sequel to The Talented Mr. Ripley is perhaps not on a par with the original, but it's no doubt a good read if you like mysteries. The story revolves around the shady activities of Tom Ripley after the whole Dickie Greenleaf incident. This time Tom starts out building for himself the reputation of honest gentleman, a sheep's skin under which he carries on with his life of hideous crimes.

Highsmith has created an amoral character. Rather personifying evil, Ripley turns out to be very human and not always filled with bad intentions. He just has the knack of putting himself in situations where he reaches "points of no return" leading to more gruesome and horrifying deeds than he would have preferred.

The story begins with Ripley participating in little smuggling operations and art forgeries and all seems to be going well enough until it gets out of control and each little crime begets a bigger one. Soon Ripley is travelling all over Europe covering the tracks of one crime by committing another. The trips here and there add a lot of charm and style to the story and increase the pace little by little until the frenzy builds up and you begin to sweat in fear along with Tom.

I found the end to be a bit abrupt, leaving several threads too loose for my taste. However, knowing that this is only the second in a series gives me some hope that resolution comes in "Ripley's Game", the following installment, and that Highsmith manages to make it clear how Ripley gets out of this one.

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