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The Cry of the Owl
 
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The Cry of the Owl (Paperback)

by Patricia Highsmith (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £4.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

The Cry of the Owl + Strangers on a Train + The Boy Who Followed Ripley
Price For All Three: £14.82

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Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New Ed edition (2 Sep 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099282976
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099282976
  • Product Dimensions: 19.9 x 12.9 x 1.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 77,282 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #8 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > H > Highsmith, Patricia

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Product Description

Product Description

Robert Forester didn't look like the kind of man to be a prowler. His ex-wife had told the police he was erratic, liable to violence, had evenfired a gun at her. Maybe he was psychopathic murderer...


From the Back Cover

‘The basic nightmare situation – to be accused of a crime you did not commit and be unable to prove your innocence – is the subject of The Cry of the Owl… It’s Kafka with a vengeance…compulsive’ Spectator

Robert Forester didn’t look like the kind of man to be a prowler. His ex-wife had told the police he was erratic, liable to violence, had even fired a gun at her.

Maybe he was a psychopathic murderer…

‘A rare talent, a remarkable novelist…her books are written in elegant and lucid press’ John Mortimer

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Cry of the Owl
63% buy the item featured on this page:
The Cry of the Owl 4.0 out of 5 stars (6)
£4.98
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A tale From the Dark Side, 7 Oct 2004
By A Customer
This dark tale is expertly told by Highsmith. Robert Forester appears to live a very unremarkable & quite boring life. He works in an office, drinks a little too much and has developed a worrying habit of watching a mysterious young woman going about her household chores..... Whilst this is clearly far from "normal", Highsmith quickly reassures you that he poses no real threat. All seems strangely innocuous until the spy & the spied upon finally meet.
Highsmith introduces us to a gallery of odd and unpleasant characters, although it is impossible not to feel empathy with the main character. Whilst there are no direct references to the era, the book has the cosy aura of 1950's/60's America.
This book is deliciosly dark and absolutely un- put downable, I raged at the central characters' weakness (especially when it came to his revolting, toxic ex wife), and felt a little deflated that the ending wasn't nicely rounded off. These however are minor quibbles, this is a must read & will leave you wanting to devour much more of her work!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping thriller, 5 Nov 2000
By A Customer
Genuinely unputdownable, though dated, thriller about a man who is accused of a crime he hasn't committed. This bleak story is exciting, sparsely written, and convincing.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Talented Ms Highsmith, 26 Mar 2006
By John Self "www.theasylum.wordpress.com" (Belfast, NI) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
I read this 1962 novel by Patricia Highsmith over a weekend, and found her at the top of her form. It's a fascinating portrayal of the tragedy and misery that results when four damaged people - couples, or ex-couples - collide in life. Highsmith's credentials in keeping us interested are amply displayed in the first three pages. On page one, we find the main character being invited by a colleague to his and his wife's wedding anniversary dinner. What story lies behind that? But we never find out, as by page two Highsmith has moved on to the protagonist himself, telling us about his hatred of dusk falling: "like a black sea creeping over the earth. In winter ... it came with frightening swiftness ... It was like sudden death." And on page three, we discover that his main pastime these days, once night has fallen, is to prowl around a young girl's house, watching her through the kitchen window...

From this Highsmith expertly conjures a tale of sex and murder with no sex and even less murder. The characters are almost all unsympathetic, and yet I felt for them in their turmoil, at the least expected moments. There are several rank implausibilities peppered through the plot, but they can't detract from Highsmith's brilliant control of the suspense that dragged me willingly 250 pages to the end in just over a day, and the payoff is both dramatic and thrilling, to the very last ambiguous sentence. This, then, is the good - the great - face of crime writing.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Sinister mystery from one of the best crime writers of the 20th century
Patricia Highsmith's crime novels are invariably engagingly sinister tales and "The Cry of the Owl" is no exception. Read more
Published 3 months ago by unlikely_heroine

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably clever
I don't know how Patricia Highsmith does it, but as with Tom Ripley again I found myself sympathising with a man whom society would say was a criminal, and despising those who... Read more
Published 14 months ago by herladyship

2.0 out of 5 stars Unconvincing
Having enjoyed the Ripley books, Strangers on a train,and other Highsmith novels, I was really disappointed with this book. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mr. C. M. Humphries

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