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.
Blurb taken from Goodreads.
✼
I'm a huge fan of classic crime novels, and I've been trying to collect as many of them as I can. I was given Strangers On a Train as a Christmas present to add to my collection, and from the moment I read the blurb on the back, I knew it had the potential to be a really great story.
I have to admit, it wasn't really what I was expecting, although that's not always necessarily a bad thing. I loved the twists and turns in the narrative, and the rapid story and interesting characters added to this really well. I did find the book a little dull in places, but it was very different and I'm really glad I read it.
Rating: ✫✫✫✫
SPOILER ALERT
The Story
I thought the idea for this book sounded really exciting. Two strangers committing murder for each other, meaning they cannot be caught. It's a really interesting concept that has a lot of mileage. I was so keen to see how it could work and how the imaginary consequences of the situation may follow the culprits around. When Charles Bruno and Guy Haines meet on a train, they get to talking about their lives, and the people who they would rather deal without. For Bruno, it's his father; for Guy, his estranged wife. Intriguing!
The story didn't quite go in the way I had expected. I jumped to the conclusion that the two parties would both be willing to go ahead with the double murder, when actually, one is coerced by the other when they take it upon themself to commit one murder unprompted. This really did surprise me, but I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing. The way Bruno went ahead with murdering Miriam made the story a lot darker. The blackmail that followed and the eventual murder of Bruno's father by Guy opened the book up, and I found myself really interested to see where the story was going.
All seemed well, and on the surface I should have been able to whizz through the book. It wasn't particularly long, and it had an intriguing concept. Unfortunately, I found the prose a little dull in places. Some chapters moved the story along really quickly, but others seemed to go on for an unnecessarily long time. It's a shame, because I feel it let the book down a little.
Nevertheless, the characters were really interesting, and they helped to move the plot along where it failed to do so itself. They were definitely flawed characters, and they came to life off the page vividly. Charles Bruno is manic and troubled, taking it upon himself to wreak havoc in another man's life for his own end. Guy Haines was impressionable and rash, and allowed guilt to eat away at him. They helped to bring the story to a really dramatic conclusion, and I loved the way the ending came; slowly building up within Guy's confession, then reaching a fast end.
The Verdict
This book was definitely different to any other book I've read, and helped me tick another classic crime novel off my list. I loved the concept, and was ready to settle in for an exciting read. It wasn't what I expected, and I didn't think it was perfect, but I did enjoy it.
With each chapter came twists and turns, and twists and turns. Although it moved a little slowly in places, some of the chapters moved the story along very rapidly, aided by a cast of flawed and interesting characters, and this helped to maintain my attention.
It isn't one of my favourite books, but I'm really glad I read it. The story made a significant impact on me, and I'd recommend it to those who love crime fiction.
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