Rating
The Pequod Review:
Vic Van Allen, the protagonist of Deep Water, seems to have it all – an apparently happy life with his wife Melinda, a successful job as the head of a publishing company, and a variety of fulfilling hobbies. But beneath the veneer of sophistication, he has deep problems. He is trapped in a dysfunctional and sexless marriage, made worse by the fact that his wife has been having multiple affairs for the last three years. And his sexual repression causes him to act out in evil and violent ways, including starting a false rumor that he killed one of his wife’s lovers – a fantasy that soon becomes a reality. Vic is a less sympathetic and more frightening character than Tom Ripley, and this is one of Patricia Highsmith’s most unsettling and claustrophobic books.