If you are a friend of Tom Ripley definitely be sure to leave one of those goofy “I am of sound mind and body and have no thoughts of killing myself” notes on every social media account and in your safety deposit box too. If you are Tom Ripley, for the love of god start lifting weights so you can more effectively drag all these bodies around!

I’ve only read two of the five now, but I think it’s quite interesting how celebrated these novels are as the pinnacle of crime writing when the final resting place for the narrative feels so thinly disguised. Tom Ripley is damn lucky his first three books were written before the invention of the criminal database!

For me this sequel lacked the throbbing frantic energy of the first, especially through the logistically complex middle section which involved a few too many generically-named white boys for my comprehension. I enjoyed the descriptions of Ripley burying and burning bodies because I am awful. How the fuck does handing the police a chunk of charred man not immediately result in your arrest. Not even on suspicion of murder per se, but perhaps one count of possession of charred man-flesh or something.

Great book! Tom’s house sounds lovely.

Moby Dyke