Saltburn + Patricia Highsmith, The Winner is like a classy psychological thriller from yesteryear, dressed up with topical, contemporary elements (tennis, the ultra-rich, salacious activities, and on a less pleasant note, Covid-19). Not at all twisty, but a slow burn human drama that builds steadily towards a pivotal incident, and letting the reader along for the ride as the protagonist trying to untangle from its aftermath. Highly recommend the audiobook—the narrator really embodies the protagonist's persona, and the prose flows smoothly as a listening experience.

The downside of The Winner is its lack of a true surprise—not only is its own synopsis overly revealing (glad I didn't read through it before starting), if I go through a particular Patricia Highsmith novel (it would be too much of a spoiler to mention), I can potentially match up the equivalent characters / events between the two novels. Still, personally I have a soft spot for stories about a morally-ambiguous underdog scheming the riches, and this one, even with the déjà vu, remains handsomely assembled and engrossing.

**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**