It is here, in this mysterious setting, both fascinating and oppressive, that will play out the plot of the fourth novel by Franck Thilliez. From the first pages, the characters come to life.
David Miller, embalmer and author of thrillers, receives a strange proposal from Arthur Doffre, an old rich man paraplegic: Doffre wants Miller to write him a story. The very particular history of Executioner 125, a serial killer dead for 27 years. To put it in the best conditions possible, Doffre offers David spent a month in a cabin lost in the middle of the Black Forest. David's family (his wife and their young daughter) are of course welcome ...
After 60 pages the reader finds herself locked up with the Miller family, Arthur Doffre and his companion, among the trees and snow. Quickly, psychosis will settle, forcing each protagonist to confront his fears and nightmares.
The camera is a perilous exercise for the authors of thrillers. Franck Thilliez comes out with flying colors. The plot is exciting, the characters and their reactions are still credible (as always with Franck), and the atmosphere is perfectly rendered. The mixing action psychology is well balanced.
In short, you'll understand that this is once again a great thriller that serves us Thilliez. A book that casts some mysteries after the last page is turned, which evokes both the atmosphere of Shining (Kubrick's film) and Shutter Island (Lehane's novel).
Roll on the next one!
