A review by lailat
A Suspension of Mercy by Patricia Highsmith

3.0

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Prior to reading A Suspension of Mercy, I had only read one other novel by Patricia Highsmith: Carol (which in fact I’ve read about 4 or 5 times). I was aware, of course, that Highsmith had other novels, but as they seemed to be a completely different genre to Carol, I’d not previously been bothered about checking them out.

Highsmith is known for her thriller writing, and while I enjoy the odd thriller, I found that A Suspension of Mercy didn’t quite have the suspense, urgency and twists that I usually enjoy in a thriller. I know comparisons to Gone Girl are overdone at this point, but this is like the original Gone Girl…but not as good. I didn’t ever feel like there was a chance that Sydney had anything to do with Alicia going missing, and as a result I wasn’t really gripped to the story.

It was an enjoyable enough read, but not a stand out for me.