The Lost Girls of Rome by Donato Carrisi

Mulholland Books (Nov. 19 2013)

I bought The Lost Girls of Rome in 2013, as much to discover an Italian author (especially as I mostly read French or English authors...) as for the story that seemed promising. In the end, I discovered this author by reading The whisperer, bought and dedicated last year at the Quais du polar festivla. I also really liked Donato Carrisi's full of intelligence interventions.

So at last, I finally read his second novel and I must say that I did recognized his pen. Carrisi seems to enjoy confusing us to better surprise us. The POV alternate between different characters, including a corpse that wakes up every day wondering who he is. Marcus is a strange character, we feel that he has experienced a lot of things, that he is capable of violence and we're all the more surprised when we know what's his "job". Sandra, a young widow, is unable to recover from what she thought was a ridiculous accident until she discovers that the fall was done on purpose. She also hides things and will have to face her own guilt and choose between forgiveness and revenge. We also follow a hunter stalking his prey, all in a series of chapter linked by a date, a time, a character.

Several plots unfold and eventually meet and are explained with always - author's brand - twists that we did not see coming. That is the Carrisi's effect: you think you're reading a linear book and wham! he changes the rules. Talking story: Sandra and Marcus' paths intersect as they track a serial killer, a master of manipulation and old investigation come to a final outcome, all that wrapped up in a reflection - another brand of the author - this time about forgiveness, revenge, and the choice that is up to each person. How would we react if a stranger served us the murderer who destroyed our lives and that justice has missed on a plate?

Again, Carrisi offers us a good thriller, with well-crafted story, grounds for thought and very ambiguous characters. Only drawback in my case, the somewhat too religious angle. As much as I love to learn more about the history of religions (especially the secret things!) And then I have to say that I was served and delighted, as much as a good reflection about good and evil does doesn't bother me, bringing God as an explanation bothers me. The non-religious and non-believer I am is struggling with the church's moral lessons... It is probably what makes The Lost Girl of Rome a tad less good than The whisperer in my case.

The blurb

A grieving young widow, seeking answers to her husband's death, becomes entangled in an investigation steeped in the darkest mysteries of Rome.

Sandra Vega, a forensic analyst with the Roman police department, mourns deeply for a marriage that ended too soon. A few months ago, in the dead of night, her husband, an up-and-coming journalist, plunged to his death at the top of a high-rise construction site. The police ruled it an accident. Sanda is convinced it was anything but.

Launching her own inquiries, Sanda finds herself on a dangerous trail, working the same case that she is convinced led to her husband's murder. An investigation which is deeply entwined with a series of disappearances that has swept the city, and brings Sandra ever closer to a centuries-old secret society that will do anything to stay in the shadows.

In a nutshell

A very good thriller, well written and with twists as we like. This is a 4/5 for me.

Meurtres pour rédemption by Karine Giébel

Pocket (23 avril 2012)
992 pages - 16,95 $

I met Karine Giebel at the Quais du polar festival. I had already read and loved her book Juste une ombre, so I was really happy to talk to her (invite her at the QuébeCrime festival) and ask her to choose my next book! She asked if very noir stories don't scare me, I told her that I loved them, she replied that with Meurtres pour rédemption (or: Murder for redemption), I was going to be spoiled and autographed me: Vanessa, This dive into the bowels of French prisons... Regards.

Honestly, it took me some time to bring myself to read it, because, precisely, it's set in prison and I was afraid it'll annoy me (haha, but what a mistake on my part!) and also because Marianne's pastime is to listen to the trains (which is still super annoying right?) And then I threw myself in this doorstop (992 pages is no mean feat...)

But what a dive! But what a shock! Gérard Collard (a French well-know reviewer) said about this book "a shock as I have never had!" and I'm thinking: do tell Gerard, I think you've been a bit sutble on that, right? Because it felt more like it came as a bombshell! It's dark, very dark, there is not much room for hope, but it's taking, you on the edge of the chair, you can't, you doesn't want to leave Marianne - but what if something's going on in my absence? Ha, well it can't, it's a book! - You'll want more of it and you'll stress.

Marianne, one should hate her: she killed a senior for his money, it's ugly. Marianne, she is super guilty, no doubt, and in addition she's done it again. Marianne is also the damaged girl who mastered neither her strength nor her feelings or impulses. Yet Marianne, herself, doesn't want to be that bad and she's capable of great kindness, she's extreme like that. Marianne is a character complex, moving, captivating and well highlighted by the other characters, as well written as her.

The story is set in a lot of prisons, yes with an s, because she goes in many of them, this is what happens when you're a rebel like Marianne. And dammit! There's a lot going on in jail! Never a time out between the low blows, the fighting, friendship, love and hate, it's a microcosm that Karine Giebel details for us with a writing so powerful it prevents us from releasing the book. Result: 992 pages that pass surprisingly quickly in a mass of feelings we feel in turns. It's poignant, sad, desperate, but ends on a great philosophy touch and a heartbreaking fullness. Because Giebel doesn't content herself with writing a great book, she gives us a message, a reflection on freedom. The freedom to love, to travel, to live, but is one ever free even without prison bar? Marianne will eventually find her freedom and gives us a good lesson of life.

The blurb

Marianne twenty years. Bars as the only horizon. Life for the killer.

Indomitable, uncontrollable Marianne stands against hatred, brutality and daily humiliations.

No hope to escape this hell, or only in a dream, thanks to drugs, to books, to roll train that carries the spirit beyond the gates. Thanks to the friendship and the passion that carry light in the heart of darkness.

However, one day, a door opens. A chance of freedom.

But the price is terrifying for Marianne who only aspires of redemption...

In a nutshell

You already know it: go read that hell of a book. It's dark, hard, nervous, not relaxing, but if we wanted to sleep we would read a Goncourt, right? This is a 5/5 for me!

Good to know : Her books are translated in Italian, Dutch, Russian et Spanish

Camille: The Commandant Camille Verhoeven Trilogy

MacLehose Press; 3 edition (May 5 2015)
26.99 $


Pierre Lemaitre is one of the authors-that-one-should-absolutely-read! I was astonished by Alex (like many people indeed). I really liked Irene for which he was awarded the first novel prize of the Festival de Cognac and a nomination for the CWA Daggers International 2014. And I just finished the trilogy with this book, Camille.


Camille, a small in size but big in personality cop, is driven in a well twisted story and there's mayhem in his life and in the book. The narration is a multiple POV and we pass from Camille to the suspect (and both are sometimes found in the same place at the same time) and the other characters, the story alternates between the 3rd person (almost everyone), and the first person (the suspect) - it makes one giddy! We are caught in a rhythm that does not lessen, in a pitiless trap in which Camille has landed himself, taking us with him. The story is told over 3 days with hours as chapter titles. It's brilliant, because we feel his discomfort, his feeling of always being a step back behind the suspect and we can't do anything to avoid it.

But who hate so much Anne Forester as to try to finish her off, even after the robbery? And is it a simple robbery? Verhoeven, too busy with his desire to protect Anne, doesn't understand what is happening... at least up to a point... He's still Verhoeven! But then he's almost alone, since (oops! I almost said why... But no, I will not spoil the other novels or this one by the way)

And I've said it with Alex and Irene, but as a reminder: Pierre Lemaitre has a different writing style, very literary, very Michel Audiard-esque and so enjoyable that for that alone, his books must be read (and I do hope the translator did a great job for you guys). His character descriptions alone are worth the reading. He also has the art and writing of combining extreme violence with derision / cynicism / utter irony.

The icing on the cake? The story is really good. So yes, some readers do not like the end (I won't spoil anything about that because if you read me it's probable that you have read other review...) But I have to say that the end makes sense, it goes along with the book, it ends well the trilogy and still leaves room for a possible sequel!

What the blurb?

In the highly acclaimed and award-winning novels Alex and Irene Pierre Lemaitre created a memorable character, Police Commandant Camille Verhoeven, who will seek justice at any cost. Now, in Camille, Verhoeven faces his most harrowing case yet, and the ultimate reckoning for the diminutive yet tenacious protagonist.

Anne Forestier finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time when she is trapped in the middle of a bank robbery. Shot three times, she is lucky to survive - and morbidly unlucky to remember the face of her assailant.

Followed home from her hospital bed, Anne is in grave danger. But one thing stands in her favor - a dangerously vengeful partner, carrying the scars of devastating loss, who will break all the rules to protect the woman he loves: Commandant Camille Verhoeven.

Following the horror of Irene and the thrills of Alex, Camille is the heart-stopping final chapter of Lemaitre's multi-award-winning trilogy. Drawn once again into a labyrinthine web with answers ever out of reach, Camille must draw on all his talent to face an enemy who threatens everything he holds dear.

In a nutshell

I really recommend you to discover, read or reread Pierre Lemaitre! A sharp and very effective writing, a very well done plot and a character, Camille, that we hope to read again about one day, it's a 5/5 for me.

La conjuration primitive by Maxime Chattam

Pocket - 12 janvier 2015
537 pages - 15,95 $


Maxime... my favorite French author... the first who caused me to spend my first sleepless night reading (the trilogy of evil is the antithesis of sleeping pills!) And here he do it again, with La conjuration primitive.

Is it that good?

Oh yes! Because as usual, he managed to create super cool characters, lovable, intelligent and different. This time we follow French police officers (he often set his book in USA with private detective ou FBI agent or journalist), divided into several teams because of the scope of the investigation. Especially we follow a team led by Alexis, a fan of the New York Giants. He is intelligent, able to feel things and managed to get on board a famous profiler, Richard Mikelis, who had vowed not to take this kind of investigation anymore. He is accompanied by Ludivine and Segnon which become more present as story unfold. Oddly, the specialist, although important and really committed, is not the most prominent character in the story. It's really a team effort, but with a little extra complicity between Alexis and Ludivine. It seems that Chattam like to put couple in his stories, because it often results in a couple (whether official or not) investigating.

Because as usual, he managed to create a completely insane story, with really really twisted villains with particularly Machiavellian ideas. WATCH OUT! Sensitive hearts should refrain: the descriptions of the scenes are not always easy to read. But for well hung hearts, you will not be disappointed! Chattam is excellent in the twists and this time, he outdid himsef... big time! I was dumbstruck at half the book, then I loooved the nod towards the end of the book (and there, it's better if you read his other books) (but it will not hurt anything if you have not read them... you'll just miss the nod) (but it's still a pity...) One thing is certain, his stories are always different from what you can read and they always question about evil. Is it contagious? Hmm... you'll have to read the book to know the answer!

And what's more, we travel with The conjuration primitive (in addition to France): in Poland, where we visit the St. Kinga chapel that is located in the town of Wieliczka. I did not know that this place existed and despite the circumstances of the book, it really makes me want to visit it (a chapel more than 100 metre below the earth and made of salt!!) Maxime Chattam always does research before writing so as to be as realistic as possible, and he succeeds. I know from having read on Twitter that he even scoured the parking of heavy trucks in Poland to soak up the atmosphere (he had posted pictures of the place) and better transcribe it in this book. We also travel in Quebec, in a city with a ficticious name (too many horrors happen there to place the action in a specific city) (because honestly no city would have liked to be used in this part of book), (but people of Quebec will probably recognize the city of Fairmont (and its windscreen building long of 1.3 km).

But what's the story?
And if only  evil could fight evil?

Investigators call them The Beast and The Phantom... If the murders they commit are not alike, their savagery is incomparable. And what about that mysterious common signature - *e - which negates the isolated track of serial killers? Did he killers know each other?
But soon, The Beast and The Phantom are no longer alone. Atrocious crimes multiply, first in France and then across the whole Europe.
Predation in the rough. Competition in the horror...
In order to combat this epidemic, and try to understand: a brigade not quite like the others, backed by a famous profiler.

In a nutshell

Endearing characters, a very well done plot, a cold and dark atmosphere and incredible twists, it's a 5/5 for me! So just go ask English editors to translate it!

Interview! Nathan M. Farrugia

Nathan M. Farrugia and I share in common the fact that we loved action books. That's why he asked me if I could review his book The Chimera Vector, which was quite cool as I had it in my Want to Read list on Goodreads!

And now, after loving his book (that could be referred as: action-action-action-and-geek-stuff)(really cool stuff in fact) I wanted to ask him a few question as undoubtedly he knows a lot about combat and stunt (the scene were so well described, it could only came firsthand!) He kindly answered my question which I present you right now!

The culprit
Nathan Farrugia is published by Momentum Books (Pan Macmillan).

He served in the Australian Army in infantry and reconnaissance, and studied film, television and professional writing. He worked as a post-production video editor, colorist and copywriter, where he earned the nickname Fagoogoo because no one could pronounce Farrugia.

Nathan lives in Melbourne, Australia. In his spare time he practices lock picking and discovers hidden places around the world with urban explorers. He studies Systema, a little-known martial art and former secret of Russian Special Forces. Nathan has trained under USMC, SEAL team, Spetsnaz and Defence Intelligence instructors, and the wilderness and tracking skills of the Chiricahua Apache scouts and Australian Aboriginals. He also drinks tea.

He spills the beans…
Will you tell us a little bit about your series?
Sure, The Fifth Column series (3 novels, 1 short) is about a young girl, Sophia, who is genetically modified and trained by a clandestine government agency, the Fifth Column. She’s abducted by renegade scientists and soon finds herself the spearhead of a resistance movement. Throughout the series, it’s pretty much just her and a small group of friends standing between the Fifth Column and their tightening stranglehold over the world. Sophia’s group are high trained but they’re a ragtag bunch, sort of the opposite of James Bond.

So, Nathan, what’s with all the training you’ve done and what’s next?
Haha, I get a little carried away! No but seriously, I go too far.

I have a background in the army, but your general soldierly knowledge only takes you so far. I found myself being drawn to strange and unconventional training such as urban escape and evasion, lockpicking, wilderness survival and surveillance. I’m still deciding on what’s next, maybe some more navigation by night. Doing more than just one Parkour class would be good too. 

 
Do you still need to work? If yes, how do you manage to combine work and writing (and training and blogging and tweeting...)
I do some video editing part-time, also from home. It’s easy to combine because I basically never blog and I tend to use social media more to make fun of myself than sell books. I think a campaign manager would have a heart attack if they saw how I do things. But I spend most of my time writing or doing writing-related things or pretending to write.

Where do you find all that techno stuff in your books?
Well, I traveled here from the future. Oh and we’ll all be destroyed by artificial intelligence.

I also get some inspiration from DARPA, the Pentagon’s evil science division, and from a wide array of conspiracy theories. And my brain, which is pretty crazy too. Anything that could conceivably happen now or next year is something I’ll look at.

Which events will you attend in the next months?
I’ll be on a panel at Supanova in Melbourne, Australia (April 2015) talking about thrill seeking. There are a bunch of other events on this year and hopefully I can announce them soon! But it should be a pretty fun year.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading some crazy short stories by Patrick Lenton, called A Man Made Entirely of Bats. It’s hilarious and bizarre and I read a story before bed every night. It’s in print and ebook, so I recommend checking it out. Next on my list is The Foundation by Steve P Vincent, which looks to be a very exciting thriller.

What do you look for in a good book? Is there anything that will make you put a book down, unfinished?
The thing that sucks about being a writer is as you improve and refine your own skills, you start to enjoy fewer books. I find it difficult to discover good books in the thriller genre more so than the science fiction genre. I think this is because many thrillers will be mired with clichés, formulaic plots and a whole conga line of tropes that are typical of the genre, such as the James Bond clone, the Middle Eastern terrorist or the sinister Russian KGB agent.

What I look for in a good book is a clever storyteller who will either try something new or work with these tropes and make them interesting, or invert them completely. On the first page, I look for sharp, crisp writing that can tell a story in fewer words without needing to clutter it with adverbs and adjectives, or spend a whole sentence describing a doorknob. Their economy of words allows you to enjoy and connect with the story. These are the excellent writers, and they are excellent because they are precise and fearless.

If you could experience one book again for the first time, which one would it be?
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.

What's next for you?
I’m working on a new episodic series at the moment, featuring both new and existing characters. You don’t need to have read my previous books to read these. But existing readers still get to continue their journey with Sophia, Damien, Jay and others.

The great thing about this episodic series, like a television series, is there’s more room for plots to develop, for characters to get to know each other and for us to get to know them, to love them and to hate them. But don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t dare use the extra room to get lazy and long-winded! The same level of efficient, precise storytelling applies in this form and there won’t be a scene in there that doesn’t need to be.

Why so serious questions 

What would be your desert island read? Probably not Jurassic Park. Given that is also set on an island. Maybe a good cyberpunk novel like Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon.

Your favorite villain? Gary Oldman’s character, Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, from The Fifth Element. 

Whose hero do you wish you had created? None, really. There are plenty of hero characters out there who I adore, but I don’t wish for a second they were mine. I’d really prefer to create my own. 

If you weren’t a writer, what would you be?
I was almost a stuntperson once, which is good because you at least get paid for endangering your life. Otherwise, I’d become a permanent traveller. It’s simultaneously as lonely and exciting as being a writer and that works for me. 

Any question you want to ask your hero?
I would ask, in the nicest way possible, how have you not given up on the human race yet?
One day, that will be handy to know.
For when the AI comes and kills us all.


*************

You can follow Nathan on his blog here or Twitter or Facebook

The Owl by Bob Forward

An Owl Thriller
Brash Books (1 juin 2014)
234 pages - 13,51 $




I was attracted by the story of an anti-hero that can not sleep. This book is a new edition and has even been turned into a film. The author is a writer for film and has among others participated in the writing of X-Men, the Fantastic Four, etc. It immediately gives the idea that the book should be pretty good, right? Anyway, I was sure to be blown away by the action!

The blurb

The most daring and original hero in crime fiction… in a debut novel that’s a relentless, pure-adrenaline rush.

It’s the mid-1980s. Crime in Los Angeles is running rampant. When the law can’t help you, there is one man who can: Alexander L’Hiboux, whose ability to sleep was destroyed in the ghastly tragedy that cost him his family. Now he’s justice-for-hire, prowling the streets and solving crimes with deadly finality. A desperate, grief-stricken shipping magnate hires The Owl to find the scum who brutalized his daughter…a quest that uncovers a shocking conspiracy that will rock the city.

What's good in that book?

Its action! Because there's a lot of it. We follow The Owl and as he never sleeps... there is no downtime. We wander in the slums of Los Angeles, we discover a nightlife not always rosy. We learn how to pass the time when you can not sleep, but we can not stay at home either, because some people would love to whack us. We rush headlong into the stronghold of mobsters not so soft and very well armed, we dodge bullets, we fight with our bare hands. In short, this book is no picnic!

Its main character, The Owl, a bit keyes up to the edges (and the middle too). He's always trying to keep up his reputation intact, sometimes to the point of doing unnecessary things, but we don't hold it against him. The Owl is that anti-hero who kills the bad guys as we like it in the movies. In addition, he's funny or cynical, sometimes it's the same thing. I admit I was a little disappointed to read that he washed only once a week, when he managed to go to a hotel... it's kind of a useless and damaging details that the author could have avoid in my opinion. Despite this, I loved to read the story through the view of The Owl when he tells his everyday life and his story, tragic, adds a depth to his situation.

Its story, because what seemed a fairly simple case - avenge the daughter of a tycoon - turns into an Owls-hunt. Someone knows that The Owl has been recruited and is not very happy. The Owls will have to find the culprit behind all the attacks before he can carry out his mission: make said culprit to disappear. Thus the hunter becomes hunted.

In a nutshell

This novel, published in 1984, is a reprint... which already gives an idea of ​​the quality of the book, as it's rare for a publisher to reissued a third-rate. A lot of action, an antihero well written, an atmosphere Los Angeles noir very noir indeed, it's 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.

Blood Line by John J. Davis

Granger Spy Novel
Simon and Winter Inc. (14 octobre 2014)
253 pages - 19,95 $



I was attracted by the cover, simple and effective. I thought that this book was serious. Then I read the synopsis. So I changed my mind on the content of the book, but the story was still interesting and I wanted to see how the author was going to do with a spy family.

The blurb

New espionage thriller redefines rogue—the Granger Spy Novel series introduces a loving family with lethal issues caught in the crosshairs of global arms dealers.

IF YOUR FAMILY IS A TARGET, YOU HAVE TO BE A WEAPON.

A Granger Spy Novel, Blood Line (Simon & Winter, Inc. /October 14, 2014/ $15.95) is a high-voltage debut spy thriller and the first in a series about a family with killer talents. A father who is a former one-man kill squad for the CIA, a mother who is a past assassin for the Mossad, and a daughter coveted by both agencies. The Grangers are a blood-loyal clan—it’s how they stay alive.

When a simple home invasion turns out to be not so simple, Ron Granger must put aside his quiet rural life and return to the Central Intelligence Agency to take on international arms dealers.

Aided by his beautiful wife, Valerie, and resourceful teen daughter, Leecy, Ron must quickly decide who to believe—the calculating opportunists, shrewd criminals, or the power-hungry rival intelligence agencies. Any ally could be fatal—all of them are racing to possess the technological breakthrough that will forever change the face of modern warfare. But when Leecy is kidnapped, Ron and Val must choose between the mission and a rescue.

Facing an impossible decision, with time running out, Ron only knows one thing:

When you can't trust anyone else, trust your family.

What's good about that book?

When I saw this book on Netgalley, it reminded me of the movie The Family by Luc Besson... but this time, the family is a bunch of spies instead of mafiosi. Knowing the light tone of the film, I admit I hoped/thought/believed that the book would be in the same genre.

And honestly? That's exactly it! You will read it to have a good not too brainer time, no big reflection on the horizon, we let ourselves go with the flow of the book. The tone is light and pleasant.

There is not much action in the story, we're more in the discovery of the family and especially in the history of the parents. The family is pursued by sinister individuals, but still finds time - while walking to flee of course - to tell everything to the last detail. We learn how the father and mother are great spies (the best actually) with capacity tenfold in just about all useful techniques to the model spy. Such perfection is a bit too much but with the assumption that this book does not take itself seriously, it is right in tone and thus welcome!

Well then, there a few things that, in my opinion, do not make much sense in the book:

- I can not imagine that the US government can give the mission to find the latest military technology to a family deeply involved with another agency from another country (Mossad in that case)...

- I can not imagine parents allowing their daughters still in school, as great as she can be, to integrate the CIA as soon as the school finish.

- I somehow found a bit too easy the scene where the culprit is clearly identified while he is in the next room and he listens to everything that is said (you guessed it, the culprit didn't wait for the other to pick him up after the long conversation was over).

But, even with a few far-fetched details, this book will make you spend a good time. I will put this book in the category Young Adults or in the comedy or parody style, because of the tone and the course of the story so/very/too light of the book. This book will appeal to fans of flawless characters, heroes without fear and without reproach to whom everything succeed.

In a nutshell

A good book, very very ideals characters and a family united in espionage, 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.