Strangers On a Train (1950)
The world of Patricia Highsmith has always been filled with ordinary people, all of whom are capable of very ordinary crimes. This theme was present from the beginning, when her debut, Strangers on a Train, galvanized the reading public. Here we encounter Guy Haines and Charles Anthony Bruno, passengers on the same train. But while Guy is a successful architect in the midst of a divorce, Bruno turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who manipulates Guy into swapping murders with him. "Some people are better off dead," Bruno remarks, "like your wife and my father, for instance." As Bruno carries out his twisted plan, Guy is trapped in Highsmith's perilous world, where, under the right circumstances, anybody is capable of murder.
- ISBN:
- 9781408294420
- Length:
- 256 pages
Genres: mystery, thriller, classics
Lists: …
Similar books
Trainspotting
Irvine Welsh
1993 · 348 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveScottish writer Irvine Welsh's first novel, Trainspotting, is a collection of short-stories revolving around a group of friends, their drug use, and struggles in the city of Edinburgh.
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
Also classics and mystery65%On 5+ of the same listsPersonalize your recommendations35%Midnight Bayou
Nora Roberts
2001 · 353 pages · 1 review
Others: NegativeA novel set deep in the bayou of Louisiana--where the only witness to a long-ago tragedy is a once-grand house... Declan Fitzgerald had always been the family maverick, but even he couldn't understand his impulse to buy a dilapidated mansion on the outskirts of New Orleans. All he knew was that ever since he first saw Manet Hall, he'd been enchanted-and obsessed-with it. So when the opportunity to buy the house comes up, Declan jumps at the chance to live out a dream. Determined to restore Manet Hall to its former splendor, Declan begins the daunting renovation room by room, relying on his own labor and skills. But the days spent in total isolation in the empty house take a toll. He is seeing visions of days from a century past, and experiencing sensations of terror and nearly unbearable grief-sensations not his own, but those of a stranger. Local legend has it that the house is haunted, and with every passing day Declan's belief in the ghostly presence grows. Only the companionship of alluring Angelina Simone can distract him from the mysterious happenings in the house, but Angelina too has her own surprising connection to Manet Hall-a connection that will help Declan uncover a secret that's been buried for a hundred years.
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
On 3 of the same lists62%Also mystery and thriller37%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations1%Less than Zero
Bret Easton Ellis
1985 · 208 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveSet in Los Angeles in the early 1980's, this coolly mesmerizing novel is a raw, powerful portrait of a lost generation who have experienced sex, drugs, and disaffection at too early an age, in a world shaped by casual nihilism, passivity, and too much money a place devoid of feeling or hope. Clay comes home for Christmas vacation from his Eastern college and re-enters a landscape of limitless privilege and absolute moral entropy, where everyone drives Porches, dines at Spago, and snorts mountains of cocaine. He tries to renew feelings for his girlfriend, Blair, and for his best friend from high school, Julian, who is careering into hustling and heroin. Clay's holiday turns into a dizzying spiral of desperation that takes him through the relentless parties in glitzy mansions, seedy bars, and underground rock clubs and also into the seamy world of L.A. after dark.
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
Also classics and mystery56%On 5+ of the same lists43%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations1%The Girl on the Train
Paula Hawkins
2014 · 323 pages · 9 reviews
Others: MixedA debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives. Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good? Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut. paulahawkinsbooks.com
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
Also mystery and thriller52%On 5+ of the same lists37%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations11%The Black Dahlia
James Ellroy
1987 · 378 pages · 2 reviews
Others: MixedThe Black Dahlia is a roman noir on an epic scale: a classic period piece that provides a startling conclusion to America's most infamous unsolved murder mystery--the murder of the beautiful young woman known as The Black Dahlia.
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
On 5+ of the same lists57%Also mystery and thriller39%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations4%Murder in the Family
Cara Hunter
2023 · 384 pages · 3 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveA shocking thriller about a cold case, a fictional true crime series, and the family caught in the middle. SIX EPISODES. ONE KILLER. It was a case that gripped the nation. In December 2003, Luke Ryder, the stepfather of acclaimed filmmaker Guy Howard (then aged 10), was found dead in the garden of their suburban family home. Luke Ryder's murder has never been solved. Everyone present around the time of the murder swears they saw nothing. Despite a high-profile police investigation and endless media attention, no suspect was ever charged. But some murder cases are simply too big to forget... Now comes the sensational new Netflix series Infamous, dedicated to investigating--and perhaps cracking--this famous cold case. The production team will re-examine testimony, re-interview witnesses, and once again scour the evidence. The family will speak. The key players will be reunited--on camera. The truth will come out. Are you ready to see it?
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
Also mystery and thriller54%On 2 of the same lists36%Similar descriptionsPersonalize your recommendations10%
