The Boy Who Followed Ripley [SEP] series
The Boy Who Followed Ripley
The Boy Who Followed Ripley is a 1980 psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith, the fourth in her series about career criminal Tom Ripley. In this book, Ripley continues living quietly on his French estate, Belle Ombre, only obliquely involved in criminal activity. His idyll is shaken when he meets a teenaged boy who is hiding from the police.
Plot summary.
A 16-year-old American boy calling himself Billy approaches Tom Ripley in the French village near the latter's residence, asking for
"The Boy Who Followed Ripley" (1980) and "Ripley Under Water" (1991), about Ripley's exploits as a con artist and serial killer who always gets away with his crimes. The series—collectively dubbed "The Ripliad"—are some of Highsmith's most popular works and have sold millions of copies worldwide.
The "suave, agreeable and utterly amoral" Ripley is Highsmith's most famous character, and has been critically acclaimed for being "both a likable character and a cold-blooded killer."