The Doll Maker by Richard Montanari

(Byrne and Balzano)
487 pages
Mulholland Books (April 28 2015)



Richard Montanari is a discovery for me, although it's not his first novel (far from it, as this is the eighth book in the series!)

I admit I loved the book cover, intriguing and disturbing at will and the story really attracted me. The good news is, although I never read the first books in the series, it never felt like I missed an episode. This makes it easy to discover this fine team with this book (and then read the others). Byrne and Balzano are two different and yet very similar character, one Irish and one Italian, they are nonetheless as stubborn as a mule and very close to their family. I don't know if it's because the characters are already anchored in the series, but it brings out an air of familiarity with Byrne and Balzano, even if I just discovered them. These are two very nice people and I was going to say "normal" to the point that one soon feels as if they're family.

Initially - and especially because of the cover (don't juge a book by its cover...) - I was afraid that the children are turned into dolls, but fortunately it's not the case. There is a certain tension in the narrative, an insidious side to the murders that mixes the horrible (killing is bad) to the very sophisticated, a very disturbing part due to a certain delicacy in the murders. It's a bit like eating with Hannibal Lecter (in the series of the same name), where you eat very elaborate things, very classy, ​​but frankly disturbing (I am eating veal or the pig from upstairs?) Montanari managed the same atmosphere, with a mixture of French elegance and quite disturbing suspects. The suspects (with an s so as not to tell if it's a or some people, mwahaha)(talk about taking great lenght not to spoil the story!) are very different from what I used to read! I can't say anything so as not to spoil the surprise (horror?) of the discovery, but it is very troubling.

What's the story?

Detectives Byrne and Balzano return to the streets of Philadelphia to put an end to a macabre succession of murdered children.
A quiet Philadelphia suburb. A woman cycles past a train depot with her young daughter. There she finds a murdered girl posed on a newly painted bench. Beside her is a formal invitation to a tea dance in a week's time.
Seven days later, two more young victims are discovered in an abandoned house, posed on painted swings. At the scene is an identical invitation. This time, though, there is something extra waiting for Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano: a delicate porcelain doll.
It's a message. And a threat. With the killers at large, Detectives Byrne and Balzano have just seven more days to find the link between the murders before another innocent child is snatched from the streets.

In a nutshell

An excellent novel, a disturbing, sophisticated atmosphere, engaging characters and very troubling suspects. It is a 4.5 / 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.

The Morgenstern Project by David S. Khara

Le French Book (April 9 2015)
265 pages

David S. Khara writes here the third and final part of his trilogy about projects (The Bleiberg Project - which I really liked The Shiro Project - not read yet - and The Morgenstern Project).

We meet back Eytan with pleasure, the Mossad giant, who this time doesn't come alone but with two accomplices who are part of his family... sort of... but I leave you the pleasure of discovering how and why. This is one of the parts that I liked the most in this third installment: discovering Eytan story. Having not read the second book, I don't know if we learned more about him and his story but here! it's really interesting and it makes him even more human (proof that GMO can be good for humans. Mouhaha!) The book is divided into two parts, like in the first book but if the discovery of History let us understand the plot in The Bleiberg Project, this time it helps us to understand Eytan and his rage to remain free. Because this time, Eytan is the project.

Once again, the author captivates us with a Historical thread- always well documented - that not only will interest all the history of the war and particularly its lesser known parts (Polish resistance, manhunt, medical tests on Jews, etc.) lovers , but also helps us to better understand the present. I'm thinking that this is a topic of interest for the author who brilliantly highlights the saying that one cannot know his future without knowing one's past. Khara proves this through his stories full of adventure and that, in itself, is already great.

Along with the knowledge of History, we discover Eytan's story: where he comes from and how he became who he is, and we also experience an incredible story, always at a steady and flawless pace. We don't read this book, we watch it like we would watch an amazing action movie. (Probably why the Hollywood studios are interested...) Eytan, accompanied by his two accomplices Eli and Avi meet back with Jeremy and Jacqueline, and finds himself hunted and hunter. Well certainly, the outcome is a little easy but there is no shortage of nervousness, suspense and humor, which is always nice in a thriller.

Again, Khara speaks of modified men and, thanks to his extensive research, mixes reality and almost science fiction. Almost, because one wonders if it's not already a reality somewhere... It's about members and particularly powerful prosthesis that bring the quest for superior man even further.

The blurb

When you kill a legend, it becomes inspiration, and you can't kill inspiration. Jeremy Corbin and Jacqueline Walls lead a calm life in a New Jersey suburb, when one day everything changes. Eytan Morgenstern returns to save them, and this improbably team must take on the Consortium, leading them on an epic journey from London to Tel-Aviv, from the Polish forests to Manhattan high-rises, from the shameful past to the threatening future. After a lifetime of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, the Mossad operative is once again fighting those who wish to study his superhuman body. The self-sacrificing secret agent must rely on the help of his friends to finally free himself of the physical and emotional scars of his past.

In a nutshell 

Another success for David S. Khara who perfectly completes his trilogy. It's action packed with captivating History details and interesting characters. This is to read and it's a 4.5 / 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.

Falling in love by Donna Leon

(Commissario Brunetti #24)

256 pages

Atlantic Monthly Press (April 7, 2015)

Donna Leon is well known - especially thanks to her character Guido Brunetti (and his love of good food) - yet I had not read her books. The fact that her novels take place in Italy has played in favor of the book when I chose my next reading. A little sunshine and Italian warmth could only be beneficial in these months of endless winter!

Donna Leon, is all about good taste in every sense of the word! Good musical taste (especially the opera) but also historical, architectural and gastronomic. Reading Falling in Love is like roaming the streets of Venice, meet great (and a bit posh) people, listen opera, looking at beautiful stuff and enjoy some great food... With all that, it's already quite a trip!

For those of you (and I know there's a LOT of you) who have already read everything written by Leon, you'll have the (great or not great) surprise to meet back Flavia, the opera singer who this time is not a culprit but the victim. So it's a return in the - let's say bloody - milieu of the opera, with a too many great amount of yellow roses, to Flavia's displeasure. Brunetti, skeptical at first, will eventually be convinced of the twisted and dangerous aspect of the world of opera and especially of fans.

This novel will appeal especially to those who love the atmosphere in police novels. Here, no great violence, no hard to read scenes, everything is about good education, good manners, Venice, music and great food. The mystery will be resolved by Brunetti, with the help of his colleagues who are doing a big part of the job and the culprit who leaves big enough clues for the police to found him/her (mwahaha, no you won't know if it's a she or a he!) You should easily - and more quickly than Brunetti and his colleagues - solve some puzzles where they will take a too much time for my taste. I admit to having a preference for characters with vivid intelligence.

The blurb

Donna Leon’s Death at La Fenice, the first novel in her beloved Commissario Guido Brunetti series, introduced readers to the glamorous and cutthroat world of opera and one of Italy’s finest living sopranos, Flavia Petrelli—then a suspect in the poisoning of a renowned German conductor. Years after Brunetti cleared her name, Flavia has returned to Venice and La Fenice to sing the lead in Tosca.

Brunetti and his wife, Paola, attend an early performance, and Flavia receives a standing ovation. Back in her dressing room, she finds bouquets of yellow roses—too many roses. Every surface of the room is covered with them. An anonymous fan has been showering Flavia with these beautiful gifts in London, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, and now, Venice, but she no longer feels flattered. A few nights later, invited by Brunetti to dine at his in-laws’ palazzo, Flavia confesses her alarm at these excessive displays of adoration. And when a talented young Venetian singer who has caught Flavia’s attention is savagely attacked, Brunetti begins to think that Flavia’s fears are justified in ways neither of them imagined. He must enter in the psyche of an obsessive fan before Flavia, or anyone else, comes to harm.

In a nutshell

A preppy novel for a relatively easy plot without much violence. It is 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.

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!