The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

I was inspired to read The Talented Mr. Ripley after reading this New Yorker article about the fraudulent activity of Dan Mallory. I had never seen the movie, and was only generally familiar with the plot, so it was all new to me. When Tom Ripley receives an opportunity to travel to Italy for free to retrieve a college acquaintance on behalf of his parents, he leaps at the chance to reinvent himself as a more interesting and refined man on the Continent. In Italy, he meets up with Dickie Greenleaf and Marge, joining them on their lazy summer holiday. As Dickie and Marge grow weary of Tom, things turn dark. This book was interesting because it is a suspenseful, thriller-type book, but as opposed to noir, it was filled with sun-drenched descriptions of coastal Italy. It was also less intense than many of the murder-mystery books I have read recently. I enjoyed it, but did not devour it. I was able to put it down after reading just a chapter or two before bed. If you are interested in reading a classic psychological thriller, I would recommend this, but I would not call it a must-read. I am glad I read it, but am not running to read the sequels.