Train d'enfer pour ange rouge and Deuils de miel by Franck Thilliez

Pocket (Nov. 4 2013)

832 pages - 17.95 $

A little extra for this book which has two books inside, bought at the Quais du Polar festival in Lyon this year and signed by Franck... Brilliant! This book is the first in the series with Franck Sharko and explains Eugenie's presence, which had me a little disoriented reading Syndrome E. Ideally, one should therefore start with this book to discover Sharko, in absolute terms, it is not that bad because the discovery of his story afterwards do not detract from the pleasure of reading his adventures. I don't think it's already translated in English thoughj (a shame indeed) but let's hope they'll be!

The back cover announces that: 

Launched at a breakneck or approaching silently, death walks on the bloody track. Lille, Paris suburb... Terminus. One way for criminal insanity. Commissioner Sharko does not travel light. At each stop: death. Slow. Brutal. Barbarian. Gathered here for the first time, his first two investigation in the heart of darkness, where honey and tears have the bitterness of spilled blood. 

But what are the stories? (It's my own translation, so it might not be like that in the English version)

Hell Train for Red Angel 

A corpse is found by the police near Paris. The victim was decapitated, her eyes gouged out and placed in their orbit, members suspended by hooks... Commissioner Franck Sharko is responsible for the investigation. This murder interests him especially as his wife, Suzanne, disappeared 6 months ago and she could be, right now, in the hands of the same kind of madman. Soon indices are sent directly by the murderer to Sharko, by email and on his laptop... The killer is close. He knows that Frank is helped by a profiler and a pro IT with his investigation. Another body of a woman who died of her wounds is found in a disused slaughterhouses, horribly tortured and whose agony was filmed for months. From the SM Parisian clubs to the very closed environment of French porn king, Sharko traces the killer who is always one step ahead... 

Mourning of honey

One year after the tragic death of his wife and daughter, the Commissioner Sharko is back in service for a strange case: in the Church of Issy les Moulineaux, a woman fully shaved is found dead, butterflies on the skull. A cryptic message carved in a stone guide Sharko to other atrocities and murders increasingly wild. Despite his open wound and visible addiction to various substances, Sharko embarks on the trail of what looks more and more like a serial killer. The more he advances in the investigation, the more he realizes he must stem the tide as soon as possible. Completely exhausted, he must also deal with the nocturnal visits of a little girl who seems to have supernatural powers... 

What's good about them?

It has been rightfully said that "with Thilliez, it's safe." And indeed, you'll get your thrill, travel, horror and so on. These books are not really for the faint hearted. It's very far from the Victorian novel! Here, there is blood, bodies torn, cut, rotting: that's hardcore!. The horror of the killings is particularly distressing as Sharko's wife is missing (in the first book) and we can't help, as Sharko, to draw a parallel between the victims and her, fearing that she's living the same thing. Franck faces a particularly diabolical killer who's closed to him. 

I won't spoiled anything by speaking about Sharko's wife's death as it's written in the second book blurb that is even more tortured. Frank loses it and not a little. We follow him as he goes down (literally) into hell, always with the most atrocious crimes and the arrival of characters as endearing  as strange. 

One thing is certain, you will be taken by these two books which suspense won't stop till the end, with an super endearing cop - that we learn to like with his strengths and especially his weaknesses - with two very well-crafted and fast-paced stories and, as always, Thilliez's attention to detail, well explained, his extensive research on various topics he serves us on a silver platter because it must be said, he's the champion of popularisation! His novels are based on a subject slightly more complicated or unknown and he makes it all very easy to understand. I especially like learning new things while reading and with him, it's coming up! 

Two small problems have hampered my reading though which surprised me even more as I had not had that feeling with his other books, but this slight annoyance disappeared along my reading (or I got used to it... go figure!) Almost all descriptions are metaphors and other figures of speech, which I think is perfectly suited to the literary novel, but a little less in a thriller, where I expect a little more nervous writing in connection with the story. But then again, it might just be a cause of "too much is like too less". And I find the ellipsis in dialogue series so-so. Just tell me the character is out of breath, exhausted, hesitating, etc. I... I do not... need to... put the... "..." all the time... to force me to... make a... pause... 

In a nutshell 

Two excellent books to devour, not to put in all hands for a descent into the Parisian underworld, a sprinkling of religion and voodoo à la arachnid sauce, it's a 4/5 for me.

A Penny for the Hangman by Tom Savage

Random House Publishing Group - Alibi - (Oct. 7 2014)
259 pages - 2.99 $ (epub)

The catchy title and the publisher: Alibi made ​​me ask this title on NetGalley. Although I must say that the blurb in which the female journalist is in a bikini made ​​me fear that it was a kind of book à la San Antonio (not my cup of tea), it is not absolutely not that kind of book.

The blurb

In Tom Savage’s chilling novel of suspense, an ambitious reporter is beckoned to an island paradise for the story of a lifetime. But this scoop might just be the death of her.

Fifty years ago, on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas, two teenagers born to privilege were convicted of slaughtering their parents in cold blood. Today the men are free and a Hollywood movie has been made about the murders. For Karen Tyler, an eager New York journalist, the case is irresistible. She has been invited to the Virgin Islands for an interview that’s too good to pass up . . . and sounds too good to be true.

Karen packs her bikini and her digital recorder and follows an ingeniously designed trail that leads her to a wealthy, mysterious figure. The man claims to be one of the notorious boys, but Karen soon learns that all is not as it seems. On this isolated utopia of sun and surf, a young reporter far from home fights for the truth—and for her life. Because the shocking secret behind the infamous atrocities has remained hidden all these years. And the killing isn’t over yet.

What's good in that book?

This book was a blast! The pace does not fail, there is always something intriguing or disturbing. The stressful informations are revealed along the story. The narrative is interspersed with extracts from the diary of one of the teen killers, excerpts from police reports, minutes of the trial, testimony... and a disturbing correspondence from Karen. From the start, we know that another tragedy occurred on the island and she is in danger. From the start, we follow her story by being afraid of the end. Stress increases bit by bit because of the dialogues and the trap that closes on her. 

The characters are well written with shady guys, rogues (and I'm not talking about the bad guy...), naive or clever ones, there's something for everyone. There are still some cliché (both affluent teens are necessarily exceptionally beautiful and intelligent) but this does not hinder the story, it is not what stands out most about this book. What stands out most is the countdown to an end that we know/sense/guess horrible. 

Extracts or inserting text into a story - whether to give information or returns in the past - are not always easy to write in a book because they cut too abruptly the story or that they're hard to understand what they bring up to the final moment. But Tom Savage pass the exercice in style with brio. The extracts are timely writen to provide an explanation when the story needs it or sow a little anxiety and stress because the revelation brought only confirms us in our fears. 

In a nutshell

A good and stressful book that reads in one go, Tom Savage plays with our nerves and we ask for more! It is a 4/5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.

The Burning by Jane Casey

Maeve Kerrigan Novels

Minotaur Books; Reprint edition (May 8 2012)

368 pages - 13.86 $

It's been a while since I have this book in my To Be Read pile (TBR) on Netgalley and I finally decided to start it... and I finished it in a few days! I admit that the romantic side in a detective series bothers me, it's not my kind of reading but ultimately I do not regret it. 

The blurb

In this first in Casey’s thrilling, romantic mystery series for adults, meet Detective Constables Maeve Kerrigan and Rob Langton 

The Burning Man. It’s the name the media has given a brutal murderer who has beaten four young women to death before setting their bodies ablaze in secluded areas of London’s parks. And now there’s a fifth.

Maeve Kerrigan is an ambitious detective constable, keen to make her mark on the murder task force. Her male colleagues believe Maeve’s empathy makes her weak, but the more she learns about the latest victim, Rebecca Haworth, from her grieving friends and family, the more determined Maeve becomes to bring her murderer to justice. But how do you catch a killer no one has seen when so much of the evidence has gone up in smoke?

Maeve’s frenetic hunt for a killer in Jane Casey’s gripping series debut will entrance even the most jaded suspense readers.

What's good in that book

I should say at once that once again, the blurb provided by the publisher does not really stick to the story! (I wonder if the person who writes the blurb actually reads the books...) 

Maeve investigate the fifth victim because 1) her boss asked her to and 2) because they have found evidences that differ from the other murders. Point. If her male colleagues make fun of her, it's not because she has empathy for the victim but because she is a woman in a man's world. Point (bis). This topic is rather well treated in fact, Maeve having learned to defend herself and to respond to attacks from her colleagues which changes from some of the other novels. Here, the author does not dwell on machismo, gender relations and sexual harassment at work with long speeches. She treats the subject as a fact and shows the difficulties faced by Maeve through sometimes rough dialogues! 

Maeve investigate the latest victim, whose body we discovered early in the book. In view of certain elements, the detectives want to know if the victim is one of the Burning Man or not. Throughout the story, we thus learn more about Rebecca, her friends, her family, her past. The other four victims, meanwhile, are only vaguely described. I must say that I knew before the end who killed Rebecca (and yet, I never try to know in advance, because I like to be surprised) (for those who like to rack their brain to find the culprit, it can be frustrating). The story is well done, the results of the investigation are revealed as you go. There is a bit of luck in the discovery of the culprit, a little action, some wounded, in short, you do not get bored. 

If you worry about the romantic part of the book, it's very light, so this is not a problem for those who do not like affectations. The author puts a lot of humor in the relationships, which makes the story less romantic but more real. Good to know also, the book is mainly narrated throught the point of view of Maeve and Louise, Rebecca's best friend. The chapters are identified, so there is no possibility of confusing the characters which is fine because the author has not quite managed to create different voices for the two women (but I may be biased after reading Lauren Beukes, champion of the characterization).

In a nutshell

Some likable characters, a story well done, realistic dialogues and a bit of humor, it's a 3.5 / 5 for me.

Disclaimer: An e-galley of this title was provided to me by the publisher. No review was promised and the above is an unbiased review of the novel.