Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer best known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories throughout her career spanning nearly five decades, and her work has led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her writing derived influence from existentialist literature, and questioned notions of identity and popular morality. She was dubbed "the poet of apprehension" by novelist Graham Greene. Her first novel, "Strangers on a Train", has been adapted for
Gone Girl (novel) and viperish thriller." "The New Yorker" describes it as a "mostly well-crafted novel," praising its depiction of an "unraveling" marriage and a "recession-hit Midwest," while finding its conclusion somewhat "outlandish." "The New York Times" likens Gillian Flynn to acclaimed suspense novelist Patricia Highsmith. "Gone Girl", the "Times" goes on to say, is Flynn's "dazzling breakthrough," adding that the novel is "wily, mercurial, subtly layered and populated by characters so well imagined that they’re hard to part with." A "USA Today" review focuses on bookseller enthusiasm for the book, quoting a Jackson, Mississippi store manager saying, "It will make your head