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The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones
by Jack WolfThe explosive and controversial debut novel by a major new voice in fiction Meet Tristan Hart, a brilliant young man of means. The year is 1751, and at the age of twenty he leaves home to study medicine at the great hospital of St. Thomas in London. It will be a momentous year for the intellectually ambitious Mr. Hart, who, in addition to being a student of Locke and Descartes and a promising young physician, is also, alas, psychotic. He is obsessed with the nature of pain and medically preventing it, but--equally strong and much harder to control--is his obsession with causing it. Desperate to understand his deviant desires before they are his undoing, he uses the new tools of the age--reason and science and skepticism--to plumb the depths of his own dark mind. Profoundly imaginative, unexpectedly funny, and with a strange but moving love story at its heart, The Tale of Raw Head and Bloody Bones is an oddly beautiful and daring novel about the relationship between the mind and body, sex, madness, pain, and the existence of God.
The Tale of the Secret Mirror (Are You Afraid of the Dark? #5)
by Brad Strickland Barbara StricklandKim Chen is annoyed about her little brother finding her secret hiding place in the attic. To scare him away, she tells him that the attic is haunted. Kim thought she had made the story up, but later that night she hears someone creeping about.
A Tale of Two Biddies
by Kylie LoganWhen it comes to solving mysteries, these ladies are in a league of their own… Summer can be the best of times or the worst of times for the resort town of Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie. For Bea Cartwright, business is booming as guests storm her B and B for the Bastille Day celebration. In honor of the holiday, the League of Literary Ladies is reading the Charles Dickens’ classic, A Tale of Two Cities. It would be hard to make a more apropos selection—especially when they have their very own Defarge sisters, elderly twins Margaret and Alice, who run the local knitting shop.On Bastille Day, the head-banging rock band Guillotine shows their chops for the tourists—but the celebration is soon cut short. With something needling the Defarge dowagers and secrets that lead to murder, solving this mystery will be a far, far better thing than the Literary Ladies have done before. They’ll just have to make sure to keep their heads while they try to stop a killer’s reign of terror…
A Tale of Two Castles
by Gail Carson LevineNewbery Honor author of Ella Enchanted Gail Carson Levine weaves a spellbinding tale about a clever heroine, a dragon detective, and a shape-shifting ogre.Newly arrived in the town of Two Castles, Elodie unexpectedly becomes the assistant to a brilliant dragon named Meenore--and together, they begin to solve mysteries. Their most important case concerns the town’s shape-shifting ogre, Count Jonty Um, who believes someone is plotting against him. Elodie must disguise herself to discover the source of the threat amid a cast of characters that includes a greedy king, a giddy princess, and a handsome cat trainer.Readers who loved Ella Enchanted and Fairest will delight in this tale of a spirited heroine who finds friendship where she least expects it and discovers that goodness comes in all shapes and sizes.
A Tale of Two Citizens
by Elyce WakermanA lie is the only thing that can get twenty-year-old Harry Himelbaum past the cold scrutiny of Ellis Island's immigration official, Will Brown. A lie that locks them in a deadly battle.It is 1929. At home, economic depression and dust storms ravage America, and abroad, the goose step of Nazism is intensifying. Widespread fear of "the other" has reached a fever pitch. Against this tumultuous backdrop, two families share the spotlight in this sweeping saga: the Himelbaums of Poland, and the Browns of Iowa.All Harry Himelbaum wants is to live somewhere happy, and to send for the wife and child he must deny having. But Will Brown stands in the way. Will is a young, zealously patriotic Iowa lawyer, who has dedicated himself to staunchly upholding the nation's laws and keeping his America pure. Little does he expect that his childhood sweetheart and new wife, Barbara, would form a romantic attachment for Harry, the man he's sworn to keep out.Based on the true story of the author's father, this heart-wrenching clash of love and loyalties is a picture of an America torn between being a symbol of hope for immigrants and a proud nation fighting to re-create itself.
A Tale of Two Citizens: A Novel
by Elyce WakermanA lie is the only thing that can get twenty-year-old Harry Himelbaum past the cold scrutiny of Ellis Island’s immigration official, Will Brown. A lie that locks them in a deadly battle.It is 1929. At home, economic depression and dust storms ravage America, and abroad, the goose step of Nazism is intensifying. Widespread fear of "the other” has reached a fever pitch. Against this tumultuous backdrop, two families share the spotlight in this sweeping saga: the Himelbaums of Poland, and the Browns of Iowa.All Harry Himelbaum wants is to live somewhere happy, and to send for the wife and child he must deny having. But Will Brown stands in the way. Will is a young, zealously patriotic Iowa lawyer, who has dedicated himself to staunchly upholding the nation’s laws and keeping his America pure. Little does he expect that his childhood sweetheart and new wife, Barbara, would form a romantic attachment for Harry, the man he’s sworn to keep out.Based on the true story of the author’s father, this heart-wrenching clash of love and loyalties is a picture of an America torn between being a symbol of hope for immigrants and a proud nation fighting to re-create itself.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction-novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
A Tale of Two Cookies: A Cookie House Mystery (A Cookie House Mystery #3)
by Eve CalderIn A Tale of Two Cookies, a cozy mystery from Eve Calder, it’s nothing but sugar and spice at The Cookie House, but elsewhere on Coral Cay everything isn’t so nice.Pastry chef Kate McGuire is loving life on the laid-back island of Coral Cay, Florida. As junior partner in a bakery renowned for luscious desserts—especially her cookies—life is pretty sweet. So when an old friend arrives and announces a spur-of-the-moment beach wedding, that’s just the icing on the wedding cake.But the groom vanishes right as a television crew descends on the town to film a hot, new realty show. Is there a connection? Is her friend Desiree somehow involved? Or did groom Judson simply get cold feet? The bride and groom were paired better than warm cookies and cold milk, so Kate doesn’t buy it. As the show’s cast runs amok on the island and the investigation into Judson’s disappearance heats up, Kate and her pal Maxi, along with town dog Oliver, will brave the rambunctious world of reality TV and a wedding weekend gone awry, in an all-out effort to find the missing groom.
A Tale of Two Harrys (Ghosts of London #4)
by Nic SaintWhen the set of the latest Harry Potter movie is being haunted by a poltergeist, Harry McCabre and her ghost hunting associate Jarrett Zephyr-Thornton are called in to deal with the pesky ghostly pest. Little do they know this is only the beginning of a murder spree by a group of self-proclaimed dark wizards, who’ve sworn to bring back dark magic and destroy all mortals in the process. Meanwhile, Darian Watley is facing his own demons, when he’s partnered with the son of the new Scotland Yard Commissioner, a man determined to bring down the Wraith Wranglers, forcing Darian to sever all ties with Harry. With fresh ghosts popping up left and right, Harry’s relationship hanging in the balance, and Jarrett being lured over to the dark side, A Tale of Two Harrys is Harry McCabre’s most challenging mystery yet.
A Tale of Two Kitties (Magical Cats #9)
by Sofie KellyIn this charming mystery from the bestselling author of Paws and Effect, two magical cats have powers of detection that prove indispensable to librarian Kathleen Paulson… With a well-placed paw on a keyboard or a pointed stare, Kathleen’s two cats, Hercules and Owen, have helped her to solve cases in the past—so she has learned to trust their instincts. But she will need to rely on them more than ever when a twenty-year-old scandal leads to murder… The arrival of the Janes brothers has the little town of Mayville Heights buzzing. Everyone of a certain age remembers when Victor had an affair with Leo’s wife, who then died in a car accident. Now it seems the brothers are trying to reconcile, until Kathleen finds Leo dead. The police set their sights on Leo’s son and Kathleen’s good friend Simon, who doesn’t have much of an alibi. To prove her friend innocent, Kathleen will have to dig deep into the town's history—and into her sardine cracker supply, because Owen and Hercules don't work for free...
A Tale of Two Murders (A Dickens of a Crime #1)
by Heather RedmondOn the eve of the Victorian era, London has a new sleuth . . . In the winter of 1835, young Charles Dickens is a journalist on the rise at the Evening Chronicle. Invited to dinner at the estate of the newspaper's co-editor, Charles is smitten with his boss's daughter, vivacious nineteen-year-old Kate Hogarth. They are having the best of times when a scream shatters the pleasant evening. Charles, Kate, and her father rush to the neighbors' home, where Miss Christiana Lugoson lies unconscious on the floor. By morning, the poor young woman will be dead. When Charles hears from a colleague of a very similar mysterious death a year ago to the date, also a young woman, he begins to suspect poisoning and feels compelled to investigate. The lovely Kate offers to help—using her social position to gain access to the members of the upper crust, now suspects in a murder. If Charles can find justice for the victims, it will be a far, far better thing than he has ever done. But with a twist or two in this most peculiar case, he and Kate may be in for the worst of times . . .
A Tale Out of Luck: A Novel
by Willie Nelson Mike Blakely“Nelson, arguably the best thing ever to have come out of the Lone Star State, gives a tip of the hat to fellow Texan Larry McMurtry with his debut novel.” —Kirkus ReviewsRetired Texas Ranger Captain Hank Tomlinson intends to spend the rest of his days raising cattle on his Broken Arrow Ranch, and nurturing his frontier town of Luck, Texas. But when the brutal murder and scalping of a mysterious drifter leads to a clash between cavalry soldiers and a band of Comanches suspected of the killing, a full-scale uprising seems likely. Worse yet, the murder of the drifter bears a disturbing resemblance to a string of killings Hank remembers from his distant and violent past as a Texas Ranger.Meanwhile, Hank's twenty-year-old son and his adoptive brother find themselves on the trail of a valuable Kentucky mare who vanished under their watch. The trail leads them into the dangerous haunts of outlaws and vengeful Comanche warriors. Now Hank must attempt to keep his sons safe while trying to catch a murderer who he knows will soon strike again. His ace-in-the-hole is beautiful Flora Barlow, the tavern owner with a knack for detective work.Though a rival lawman and a competing rancher complicate Hank's investigation, he and Flora slowly begin to uncover a crooked web of crime, deception, and murder. Dark secrets emerge, and everyone must choose sides as lawmen, outlaws, soldiers, and Comanche warriors converge for a final, bloody confrontation.“Willie Nelson and Mike Blakely . . . lead us along paths that no other western I've read has taken . . . an entertainingly spun tale.” —Blogcritics
The Tale Teller: A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel (A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel #5)
by Anne HillermanLegendary Navajo policeman Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn takes center stage in this riveting atmospheric mystery from New York Times bestselling author Anne Hillerman that combines crime, superstition, and tradition and brings the desert Southwest vividly alive. <P><P>Joe Leaphorn may have retired from the Tribal Police, but he finds himself knee-deep in a perplexing case involving a priceless artifact—a reminder of a dark time in Navajo history. <P><P>Joe’s been hired to find a missing biil, a traditional dress that had been donated to the Navajo Nation. His investigation takes a sinister turn when the leading suspect dies under mysterious circumstances and Leaphorn himself receives anonymous warnings to beware—witchcraft is afoot. <P><P>While the veteran detective is busy working to untangle his strange case, his former colleague Jim Chee and Officer Bernie Manuelito are collecting evidence they hope will lead to a cunning criminal behind a rash of burglaries. <P><P>Their case takes a complicated turn when Bernie finds a body near a popular running trail. The situation grows more complicated when the death is ruled a homicide, and the Tribal cops are thrust into a turf battle because the murder involves the FBI. <P><P> As Leaphorn, Chee, and Bernie draw closer to solving these crimes, their parallel investigations begin to merge . . . and offer an unexpected opportunity that opens a new chapter in Bernie’s life. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
A Talent for Murder
by R. T. JordanPolly Peppers been hired to be the "nice" judge on "Ill Do Anything to Become Famous," the latest reality T. V. show to hit the airwaves, in which contestants have to prove that theyll go for anothers jugular in order to get their names in the headlines. But someone takes the shows theme literally when Thane Cornwall, the relentlessly critical and universally hated British judge on the panel, is found dead with a ten-inch knife in his back. . . If theres one thing Pollys learned over the years, its that nothing in Hollywood is ever as it seems. Now shell have to get to the bottom of this mystery before her star on the Walk of Fame may soon be put out by a cunning killer. . . "Bubbly. . . Fans of comic whodunits will be rewarded. " --Publishers Weekly
A Talent For Murder
by R. T. JordanPolly Pepper's been hired to be the "nice" judge on "I'll Do Anything to Become Famous," the latest reality T.V. show to hit the airwaves, in which contestants have to prove that they'll go for another's jugular in order to get their names in the headlines. But someone takes the show's theme literally when Thane Cornwall, the relentlessly critical and universally hated British judge on the panel, is found dead with a ten-inch knife in his back. . .If there's one thing Polly's learned over the years, it's that nothing in Hollywood is ever as it seems. Now she'll have to get to the bottom of this mystery before her star on the Walk of Fame may soon be put out by a cunning killer. . ."Bubbly. . . Fans of comic whodunits will be rewarded." --Publishers Weekly
A Talent for Murder (Nancy Drew Files #75)
by Carolyn KeeneDuring a visit with Ned's married cousin in San Francisco--an employee at the Coast's hottest talent agency--Nancy investigates the mysterious deaths of the rich and famous.
A Talent for Murder: A Novel
by Peter Swanson"What a killer read! A Talent For Murder is the thrilling tale of a woman who suspects her husband is a serial killer. As the bodies stack up, so does the paranoid tension until I was feverishly turning pages in the dark, desperate to know what happens next. A fast, exciting read with twist after twist." — Janice Hallett, Internationally bestselling author of The AppealA newlywed librarian begins to suspect the man she married might be a murderer—in this spectacularly twisty and deviously clever novel by Peter Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of The Kind Worth Killing and Eight Perfect Murders.Martha Ratliff conceded long ago that she’d likely spend her life alone. She was fine with it, happy with her solo existence, stimulated by her work as a librarian in Maine. But then she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured salesman whose job took him on the road for half the year. When he asked her to marry him, she said yes, even though he still felt a little bit like a stranger.A year in and the marriage was good, except for that strange blood streak on the back of one of his shirts he’d worn to a conference in Denver. Her curiosity turning to suspicion, Martha investigates the cities Alan visited over the past year and uncovers a disturbing pattern—five unsolved cases of murdered women.Is she married to a serial killer? Or could it merely be a coincidence? Unsure what to think, Martha contacts an old friend from graduate school for advice. Lily Kintner once helped Martha out of a jam with an abusive boyfriend and may have some insight. Intrigued, Lily offers to meet Alan to find out what kind of man he really is . . .but what Lily uncovers is more perplexing and wicked than they ever could have expected.
A Talent for Murder
by Andrew Wilson‘I wouldn't scream if I were you. Unless you want the whole world to learn about your husband and his mistress.’ Agatha Christie, in London to visit her literary agent, boards a train, preoccupied and flustered in the knowledge that her husband Archie is having an affair. She feels a light touch on her back, causing her to lose her balance, then a sense of someone pulling her to safety from the rush of the incoming train. So begins a terrifying sequence of events. Her rescuer is no guardian angel; rather, he is a blackmailer of the most insidious, manipulative kind. Agatha must use every ounce of her cleverness and resourcefulness to thwart an adversary determined to exploit her genius for murder to kill on his behalf.
A Talent for Murder: A Novel
by Andrew WilsonDiscover the real-life mystery surrounding the queen of crime herself: Agatha Christie. In this &“audacious mystery…with thrilling results&” (The Guardian), Andrew Wilson investigates Christie&’s unexplained ten-day disappearance and offers his own gripping explanation, in which Christie is pulled into a riveting case of blackmail and murder.&“I wouldn&’t scream if I were you. Unless you want the whole world to learn about your husband and his mistress.&” Agatha Christie is preparing to board a train, preoccupied with the devastating knowledge that her husband is having an affair. She feels a light touch on her back, causing her to lose her balance, then a sense of someone pulling her to safety from the rush of the incoming train. So begins a terrifying sequence of events—for her rescuer is no guardian angel, rather he is a blackmailer of the most insidious, manipulative kind. &“You, Mrs. Christie, are going to commit a murder. But, before then, you are going to disappear.&” Writing about murder is a far cry from committing a crime, and Agatha must use every ounce of her cleverness and resourcefulness to thwart an adversary determined to exploit her expertise and knowledge of the act of murder to kill on his behalf. In this tantalizing novel Andrew Wilson ingeniously explores Agatha Christie&’s odd ten-day disappearance in 1926 and weaves an utterly compelling and convincing story around this still unsolved mystery involving the world&’s bestselling novelist.
Talent Show Tricks
by Franklin W. Dixon Matt DavidDetective brothers Frank and Joe must figure out who is sabotaging their school talent show in the fourth book in an all-new, interactive Hardy Boys chapter book mystery series.Frank and Joe Hardy are excited to compete in the annual Bayport Elementary Talent Show. Frank is going to work behind the scenes, and Joe wants to show off his sweet juggling skills. But during the first rehearsal, strange things start to happen--their friend's trumpet is filled with bubbles, someone's backing track is switched to croaking frogs, and a strategically placed batch of hair dye gives one of their classmates a bad hair day to remember. Can Frank and Joe figure out how to stop the pranks before the curtain falls early on the show?
A Talented Man: A gripping suspense novel about a lost sequel to Dracula
by Henrietta McKerveyIN THE VEIN OF PATRICIA HIGHSMITH, A MASTER FORGER DISCOVERS THE LOST SEQUEL TO BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA ...'Hangover Square meets The Talented Mr. Ripley, a chilling and engrossing tale of the psychopathic mind' Christine Dwyer HickeyEllis Spender, only son of a once-esteemed society family, believes money, success and the high life are his birthright -- only prevented by a cruel trick of fate.Struggling to stay ahead of his creditors, the dejected writer decides to forge a sequel to one of the most famous novels of all time, Bram Stoker's Dracula. Its remarkable 'discovery' will create the lifestyle he believes is his due. But as his scheme begins to bear fruit, others who stand to gain become obstacles. And Ellis will stop at nothing to achieve his desires...A Talented Man is a page-turning literary thriller of deception, forgery ... and murder.'The atmosphere of pre-war London is evoked with skill in this spirited story of literary skulduggery' Joseph O'Connor
A Talented Man: A gripping suspense novel about a lost sequel to Dracula
by Henrietta McKerveyIN THE VEIN OF PATRICIA HIGHSMITH, A MASTER FORGER DISCOVERS THE LOST SEQUEL TO BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA ...'Hangover Square meets The Talented Mr. Ripley, a chilling and engrossing tale of the psychopathic mind' Christine Dwyer HickeyEllis Spender, only son of a once-esteemed society family, believes money, success and the high life are his birthright -- only prevented by a cruel trick of fate.Struggling to stay ahead of his creditors, the dejected writer decides to forge a sequel to one of the most famous novels of all time, Bram Stoker's Dracula. Its remarkable 'discovery' will create the lifestyle he believes is his due. But as his scheme begins to bear fruit, others who stand to gain become obstacles. And Ellis will stop at nothing to achieve his desires...A Talented Man is a page-turning literary thriller of deception, forgery ... and murder.'The atmosphere of pre-war London is evoked with skill in this spirited story of literary skulduggery' Joseph O'Connor
The Talented Miss Farwell: A Novel
by Emily Gray TedroweCatch Me If You Can meets Patricia Highsmith in this “stylish” (New York Times Book Review) page-turner of greed and obsession, survival and self-invention that is a piercing character study of one unforgettable female con artist. At the end of the 1990s, with the art market finally recovered from its disastrous collapse, Miss Rebecca Farwell has made a killing at Christie’s in New York City, selling a portion of her extraordinary art collection for a rumored 900 percent profit. Dressed in couture YSL, drinking the finest champagne at trendy Balthazar, Reba, as she’s known, is the picture of a wealthy art collector. To some, the elusive Miss Farwell is a shark with outstanding business acumen. To others, she’s a heartless capitalist whose only interest in art is how much she can make.But a thousand miles from the Big Apple, in the small town of Pierson, Illinois, Miss Farwell is someone else entirely—a quiet single woman known as Becky who still lives in her family’s farmhouse, wears sensible shoes, and works tirelessly as the town’s treasurer and controller. No one understands the ins and outs of Pierson’s accounts better than Becky; she’s the last one in the office every night, crunching the numbers. Somehow, her neighbors marvel, she always finds a way to get the struggling town just a little more money. What Pierson doesn’t see—and can never discover—is that much of that money is shifted into a separate account that she controls, “borrowed” funds used to finance her art habit. Though she quietly repays Pierson when she can, the business of art is cutthroat and unpredictable. But as Reba Farwell’s deals get bigger and bigger, Becky Farwell’s debt to Pierson spirals out of control. How long can the talented Miss Farwell continue to pull off her double life?
The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith
by Joan SchenkarA biography of the novelist who created Tom Ripley that is “both dazzling and definitive . . . as original as its contemptible, miserable, irresistible subject” (Los Angeles Times).A New York Times Notable Book * A Lambda Literary Award Winner * An Edgar Award Nominee * An Agatha Award Nominee * A Publishers Weekly Pick of the WeekPatricia Highsmith, one of the great writers of twentieth-century American fiction, had a life as darkly compelling as that of her famed “hero-criminal,” the talented Tom Ripley. Joan Schenkar maps out this richly bizarre life from her birth in Texas to Hitchcock’s filming of her first novel, Strangers on a Train, to her long, strange self-exile in Europe. We see her as a secret writer for the comics, a brilliant creator of disturbing fictions, and an erotic predator with dozens of women (and a few good men) on her love list. The Talented Miss Highsmith is the first literary biography with access to Highsmith’s whole story: her closest friends, her oeuvre, her archives. It’s a compulsive page-turner unlike any other, a book worthy of Highsmith herself.“Schenkar’s writing is witty, sharp and light-handed, a considerable achievement given the immense detail.” —Jeanette Winterson, The New York Times Book Review“This is no ordinary biography . . . The Talented Miss Highsmith breaks much ground in connecting Highsmith’s diabolical tales with the real women who prompted her strongest passions.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times“Captures the writer in all her sullen, sinister, ambivalent glory.” —Tina Jordan, Entertainment Weekly
The Talented Mr. Ripley: The Talented Mr. Ripley (Vmc Designer Collection #2481)
by Patricia Highsmith"Tom Ripley is one of the most interesting characters in world literature."--Anthony Minghella, director of ?The Talented Mr. Ripley Since his debut in 1955, Tom Ripley has evolved into the ultimate bad boy sociopath. Here, in this first Ripley novel, we are introduced to suave Tom Ripley, a young striver, newly arrived in the heady world of Manhattan. A product of a broken home, branded a "sissy" by his dismissive Aunt Dottie, Ripley meets a wealthy industrialist who hires him to bring his playboy son, Dickie Greenleaf, back from gallivanting in Italy. Soon Ripley's fascination with Dickie's debonair lifestyle turns obsessive as he finds himself enraged by Dickie's ambivalent affections for Marge, a charming American dilettante. A dark reworking of Henry James's ?The Ambassadors?, ?The Talented Mr. Ripley? serves as an unforgettable introduction to this smooth confidence man, whose talent for murder and self-invention is chronicled in four subsequent Ripley novels.
The Talented Mr Ripley: Now a major Netflix series (Virago Modern Classics #200)
by Patricia HighsmithA MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MATT DAMON, JUDE LAW AND GWYNETH PALTROW One of the BBC's 100 Novels that shaped our world. 'An outstanding thriller which has deservedly become a classic' THE TIMES 'Ripley - amoral, hedonistic and charming - is a genuinely original creation' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'I'm a huge Highsmith fan. If there's one book I wish I'd written, it's The Talented Mr Ripley' SARAH WATERSA BEAUTIFUL HARDBACK EDITION OF ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL CRIME NOVELS EVER WRITTENTom Ripley travels to Italy with a commission to coax a prodigal young American back to his wealthy father. But Ripley finds himself very fond of Dickie Greenleaf. He wants to be like him - exactly like him. Suave, agreeable and utterly amoral, Ripley will stop at nothing to accomplish his goal. The Talented Mr. Ripley serves as an unforgettable introduction to this smooth confident man, whose talent for murder and self-invention is chronicled in four subsequent Ripley novels.