The Talented Mr. Ripley
Patricia Highsmith · first published 1955 · ISBN 9781717348395
Tom Ripley is a small-time hustler in New York who gets hired to travel to Italy and convince a wealthy man's son to come home. Once there, Ripley becomes obsessed with Dickie Greenleaf's effortless charm and privileged life. When Dickie loses interest in him, Ripley devises an elegant solution: he will become Dickie, down to the details of his identity and bank account.
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Highsmith engineered the blueprint for every psychological thriller that followed. Ripley isn't sympathetic or evil, he's fascinating. Watching him lie, scheme, and rationalize his way through life is hypnotic, and Highsmith never tips her hand about who the reader should root for. Decades later, this still feels radical.