Those Who Walk Away: A Virago Modern Classic

by Patricia Highsmith

Joan Schenkar (Introduction)

BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, CAROL AND STRANGERS ON A TRAIN

'Highsmith is a damn fine writer' GUARDIAN

'No one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying' VOGUE

'The setting is Venice, the characterisation brilliant, the style spare and superb' DAILY MAIL

The honeymoon is over; the bride dead by her own hand. Ray Garrett, the grieving husband, convinces the police in Rome of his innocence, but not his father-in-law, Ed Coleman, who shoots him at point-blank range and leaves him for dead. Ray survives and follows Coleman to Venice, where the two fall into an eerie game of cat-and-mouse - Coleman obsessed with vengeance and Ray determined to save his reputation, and himself.

Those Who Walk Away simmers with violence and unease. As they switch between the roles of hunter and hunted, this tense psychological novel races towards a thrilling climax.

• ISBN10: 0349004862
• ISBN13: 9780349004860
• Publish Date: 6 November 2014 (first published 12 December 1985)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Virago Press Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 272
• Language: English

Reviews

[Cameron Trost]

Patricia Highsmith wrote a handful of truly excellent short stories and her Ripley novels are good examples of suspense fiction. With that in mind, I couldn't bring myself to give this book more than two stars simply because it's way below her standard. The characters were unlikable rich Americans (which is typical for Highsmith) but their behaviour didn't ring true and their motivations weren't convincing, so there were no redeeming points at all. There were a couple of decent action scenes and a lot of coffee and alcohol, but it was all rather repetitive, directionless, and just fizzled out at the end. You should definitely read some Highsmith, but not this one.