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Strangers on a Train

Patricia Highsmith

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What Members Thought

Aug 10, 2015 Melki rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-fiction

A genius idea drowned in a soup of too many uninteresting characters. Most of the book could have been edited down to one taut, terrific short story.

50 likes · Like · see review

Aug 04, 2017 Justin rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2017, read-in-july-2017, point-blank

Point Blank Podcast Review (pointblankpodcast.com)

So, middle class architect Guy Haines meets erratic alcoholic Charles Bruno on a train bound for Santa Fe. Over drinks, they get to talking about their life problems, and apropos of nothing, Bruno suggests they swap murders. Bruno offers to kill Guy’s estranged wife if Guy would agree to kill Bruno’s elderly father. It would be the perfect plan, Bruno argues — in that no one would suspect a stranger.

Guy refuses, and departs, thinking Bruno drunk ...more

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May 19, 2016 Robin rated it it was ok

I was disappointed in this book, as the first one by Patricia Highsmith I have read. I liked the plot and the relationship between Guy and Bruno is an interesting psychological study. However I thought the book was vastly overwritten with far too much repetitive and boring internal dialogue. I wasn't sure if it was because it was Highsmith's first novel or if it was perhaps the fashion of novel writing of the times, as it was published in 1950,or thereabouts.

However, it's to the author's credit ...more

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Mar 23, 2012 Jake rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-thriller-crime

(4.5) Starts slow but when this one takes off, watch out. An excellent book on murder and the meditation of guilt. The last 150 pages or so are truly gripping. A great work in the mold of Alfred Hitchcock.

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Feb 08, 2020 Tj rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I’ll keep this short, as I don’t have much to say, other than...

Strangers on a train is a film noir in book form. The protagonist, Guy Haines, meets Charles Bruno on a train while traveling to Texas. As is common in noir, he quickly finds himself trapped in a situation from which he can’t escape. Morally ambiguity, paranoia, murder, and heavy drinking are all themes around which the story revolves.

Though I prefer hardboiled detective noir stories, I enjoyed Strangers on a Train and would recomm ...more

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