A Suspension of Mercy
Patricia Highsmith
Language: English
Pages: 235
ISBN: 0393321975
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
A major new reissue of the work of a classic noir novelist.
With the acclaim for The Talented Mr. Ripley, more film projects in production, and two biographies forthcoming, expatriate legend Patricia Highsmith would be shocked to see that she has finally arrived in her homeland. Throughout her career, Highsmith brought a keen literary eye and a genius for plumbing the psychopathic mind to more than thirty works of fiction, unparalleled in their placid deviousness and sardonic humor. With deadpan accuracy, she delighted in creating true sociopaths in the guise of the everyday man or woman. Now, one of her finest works is again in print: A Suspension of Mercy, a masterpiece of noir fantasy. With this novel, Highsmith revels in eliciting the unsettling psychological forces that lurk beneath the surface of everyday contemporary life. "For eliciting the menace that lurks in familiar surroundings, there's no one like Patricia Highsmith."―Time "Highsmith's novels are peerlessly disturbing ....bad dreams that keep us thrashing for the rest of the night."―The New Yorker
tell any of his London friends he had seen her, and would not ask anything about Sydney. “Where’re you stopping?” “At the Hotel Sinclair,” Alicia answered. “Nothing grand, but it’s quite adequate.” “Would you object if I took a room there? Or would you prefer me to go to another hotel?” He smiled his boyish, shy smile. “It’s so much easier for us to meet, if we’re under the same roof.” “Of course, I don’t mind. I should think the Sinclair’s big enough for both of us.”
felt suddenly angry. He was angry because he thought Alex was faking. “Maybe what’s on your mind is, you’d like to have the series all to yourself. Especially as the first six stories are already invented and on paper. Already accepted, from the plumber story down to Paddington.” “Don’t be mad! Want the series for myself!” Alex gave a laugh. “But Syd, there is a problem and you know it. Where’s Alicia? It’s all very well to say she’s alive and got a boy friend, but where is she? Do you think
drew back deep among the candies at the far end of the shop, darting glances as if for support to the two other people who stood between her and Sydney, but they were musing over the long glass counter of sweets. Buttonlip rolled toward him, and Sydney got four pennies from his change, reached for the Evening Standard, and was surprised to see the old picture of himself—cut to just the head and shoulders—on the front page, one column wide. It was a picture of him in a white, open-collared shirt
Unless you prefer to go home and come back tomorrow.” “No, I’ll stay,” Sydney said. “Would you give us a ring tomorrow between nine and ten?” “Yes.” Sydney said good night to the Scotland Yard men, and left. The woman who had seen him was not on the landing, but the two men were still there. “How is he?” one of the men asked. “Is he alive?” They’d heard about the overdose, no doubt. “Yes, he’s alive,” Sydney said, and the message was passed down to the men standing
The hand was extended, in fact, and Sydney took it. The Inspector’s attitude was a friendly one—and everything was a matter of attitudes. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1921, Patricia Highsmith spent much of her adult life in Switzerland and France. She was educated at Barnard College, where she studied English, Latin, and Greek. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, published initially in 1950, proved to be a major commercial success and was filmed by Alfred