Strangers on a Train

Bruno is a snotty mama's boy, pockets full of silver- he drinks too much scotch and cries.

He glanced about his room, hating the furniture, hating his possessions. Then the pain centered in his chest, and reflectively he began to cry.

Perchance on a train one day, Bruno stumbles into Guy's carriage- they drink scotch and talk murder. Guy doesn't believe just anyone is capable of killing. Its a fine line between love and hate, Bruno insists. But hey, I kill your ex-wife and you kill my father-- its the perfect murder! No motives to link us to their deaths. Its flawless!

He strangles Guy's ex-wife in an amusement park.

There were moments when he felt his whole being in some as yet inscrutable stage of metamorphisis. There was the deed he had done, which in his hours alone in the house in his room, he felt sat up on his head like a crown, but a crown that no one else could see.

Bruno stands in the rain outside Guy's apartment in a military coat, sends letters daily - of his house plans, instructions detailing how many steps from the back fence, outlining which steps will creak and rambling about how much he hates his father.

How much does it take to coerce a person into murder?

That much the book explores. Bruno slips in to every crevice of Guy's life, threatens to achieve his means. Bruno is the shadow in the corner of the room, he's the spirit hovering just over your shoulder, pressing on your chest when you sleep, whispering poison words in your ear, his intentions seeping into your skin. Charming, fairly amiable on appearance. A very Maou-type character perhaps? But almost juvenile in his childish behaviour. And he's dead drunk most of the time. Haha.

Bruno doesn't see the pleasure in sleeping with women. He frequently describes the brotherly love between Guy and him. On one occasion he flirts with the idea of killing Guy's new wife too, so that they could be together, forever. Even Guy imagines, that sitting together at the restaurant, they could appear as lovers. It isn't explicitly stated, but the movie probably says he's gay in more clearer terms. ;D I really want to see the movie now..

Its a short read, the description isn't as poetic as I usually like, but it is a murder mystery huh. The scene I liked most was the image of Bruno in the rain, sending endless letters like Maou.. or Harry Potter lol. Kind of the idea of the words and maps bleeding into Guy's consciousness, so that he recalls each step without having to refer to it.. The writer seems to be very much into the idolized rich boy and the ambigious homosexual psychotic admirer, re: The Talented Mr Ripley. Which I am going to read next--