Two Faces Of January: Amazon.ca: Books

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First Sentence
AT HALF PAST THREE of a morning in early January, Chester MacFarland was awakend in his berth on the San Gimignano by an alarming sound of scraping. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

3.8 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great stuff, Jun 16 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Two Faces Of January (Paperback)

Patricia Highsmith has an interesting way to tell a crime story. Every time you get tired of reading you'd like to go on because of the tension in the text. I truly can say that this book is one of my favourites. At first you have to get to know a lot of things, but after a certain time they all fit together, like a puzzle. The characters are deeply described, you get to know Chester and Rydal up close and personal. There are two faces of January and two faces of Rydal and Chester.
There is just one thing I didn't like very much: after Colette died things got easily forseenable. I already knew the end of the book before I had read it. But after all I recommend this book. But you will only read it once, because the story is quite simple at the end. Like every crime story this book lives of the tension.

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3.0 out of 5 stars The two parts, Jun 15 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Two Faces Of January (Paperback)

The first part of the story was absolutely great. The past of Rydal Keener is an important and interesting fact in the story and it's always behind the story and has a great influence.
The most interesting part is of course the little love story between Rydal and Colette and the reactions of Chester. Chester depends on Rydal, because he does not have any connections in Greece, but he loves his wife too and has to see to it that Rydal does not sleep with her. The tension is that I always wait for a reaction of Chester's and the lack of knowledge about the next step of Colette and Rydal.
When Colette dies, the tension is gone. It's just a normal crime with a bad and a good guy. For me it was a bit unrealistic, nobody would travel with a murderer on the same ship, who hates you and wants to kill you.
The end is not really interesting, the bad guy dies and the good guy has no problems anymore. Rydal escape from his problems too easily.
At last the beginning of the story is absolutely great, but the end is for me a bit unrealistic and it is not so thrilling as the first part of the story.
But I must say that I do not often like the end of books or movies in general.

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4.0 out of 5 stars one of the best by Highsmith, Jan 1 2002

By	Ann Ueda (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Two Faces Of January (Paperback)

If you are already a Patricia Highsmith fan, I would highly recommend this book next.

While the book starts out somewhat slowly, I think this pacing helps set the overall mood of the book and allows the reader to settle into a Highsmith "high" in anticipation of another skillfully written book. At any rate, by chapter two, everything starts to wind/unwind as the book settles into typical Highsmith high-gear which, if you're like me, will soon leave you physicially and mentally breathless in an attempt to keep up!

The foreign setting of the book is also a delight, and the reader quickly becomes a part of the story, shadowing the 3 main characters in and out of the various cities, hotels, towns, and nefarious deeds that happen. There is also this undercurrent of very fine wit and humor throughout the book.

The ending is, of course, the best part. It's been many, many years since I was last compelled to rush to the last page, as I neared the end of the book, to find out what happened. The ending is also prime Highsmith and a bit of a surprise--not, perhaps, for the characters in the book or the storyline, but certainly for Highsmith during this particular period of her writing.

A great holiday/vacation read for anyone with a few days of peace to settle into the book--and to savor it from start to finish!

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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars atmospheric and entertaining, but Highsmith has done better
'The Two Faces of January' is one of many Highsmith's lesser known works written after her early great successes ('The Talented Mr Ripley', 'Strangers on a Train') and before her... Read more

Published on April 17 2001 by lazza

4.0 out of 5 stars As usual, a good book by P. Highsmith
This may not be her best book, but it is good. All the work by Patricia Highsmith is good. Her writing is excellent, no matter what. Read more

Published on Oct 24 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars An intriguing book, full of unexpected turns.
I thought this book was well written, but kind of slow to get into. Once the main characters met though, the pace increased pretty quickly. Read more

Published on Jun 11 1998