I enjoyed reading this book but I haven't really decided why. I have wanted to read Patricia Highsmith for a while, intending to start with Strangers on a Train or The Price of Salt, but when I came across Ripley's Game in a used book store I picked it up and started reading it that night when I finished Redefining Realness on the plane with half an hour or so to go. Of course, when I returned home and checked into Goodreads I realized that I had read the first several chapters of the third book about Tom Ripley. I decided to go in order and purchased this one, beginning right away. Ripley's Game had felt like it picked up into the action right away, but this novel started quite slowly, introducing the character well before the bulk of the story began. I think it helped me stick with it that I had already become invested in the middle of the story, until suddenly the dreary little story went up like ten levels of intensity. I'm still not really sure what it is about this story but I definitely want to read more. I am unsure of what to do with Tom Ripley. He's kind of a pathetic disaster, like watching a very anxious train wreck. I don't even like his character that much but I'm still swept along with the story, following intensely. Highsmith has definitely done something right, even if I can't quite identify it.