The Cry of the Owl

by Patricia Highsmith

[brokentune]

"She had called him up to give him a piece of her mind, Robert supposed, and what surprised him more than anything was that she could be so voluble, so sure of herself, while addressing someone she considered a murderer. Weren’t people supposed to be afraid of murderers? If she really believed him a murderer, wouldn’t she be afraid he might get angry and come after her, too?"

It appears that this January has been the month of reading gloriously messed up books and it all started with The Cry of the Owl.

Robert is depressed. The only reprieve from his low moods is when he watches Jenny, a twenty-something from behind a tree outside of her house. Robert is a stalker. Of course, this leads to complications, and - this being a Highsmith novel - complications lead to twists that turn the hunter into the hunted and make you question the sanity of every one of the characters.

"A crow flew over, cawing. Late at night for a crow, Jenny thought. A crow was black. That was fitting."