The Talented Mr. Ripley

How it reads

The Talented Mr. Ripley is thriller (psychological thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in an international setting, in the recent past, told in the third person, staying close to one character. Its central concerns are identity, secrets and class and society. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It opens a series. The ending is dark — no rescue, no neat bow. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.