First published 1975
In Patricia Highsmith's darkly comic short story collection, the line between man and beast blurs. When a dog's loyalty is betrayed, it exacts a gruesome, cold-blooded revenge. A cat's affection turns dangerously possessive. A housewife's tender care for her pets masks a chilling obsession. Highsmith's animals are no mere companions - they're cunning, calculating predators who will stop at nothing to protect themselves and punish their human oppressors. As the body count rises, these unsettling stories force us to question: who is the real animal here?
Genres: fiction, short-stories, animals, horror, dark
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: animals-as-characters, unreliable-narrator
240 pages · Paperback · W. W. Norton & Company
Content warnings: animal-death, gore, graphic-violence