Unexpected and perfectly controlled

This is the first novel by Pierre Lemaitre I read but it certainly will not be the last. I admit I had a little trouble at the start with the very detailed descriptions and even squalid distress and suffering, but I finally got carried away by the suspense and heroin. The author leads us every time with flying colors where we least expect it. He manipulates the reader indeed happily playing on his expectations and shows that a Manichean vision of the victim and the aggressor is misleading.

In the first part of the novel, the reader thinks he embarked on a race to the watch face a psychopath to save a poor girl kidnapped. But surprise, the girl not so defenseless manages to escape and a second part to his research agrees. The question is no longer which is the psychopath but who is the victim? The polar codes are reversed. There, one might think that this is the last launched but there will be a third party, without saying too much, will be a search for truth. As for Alex, his ambivalence makes uncomfortable. It regularly challenges the transfer or even compassion that each reader tends to feel for the main character.

The narrative alternates between the view of Alex and that of the police investigation and the characters are well drawn. The style is really a good surprise. Not only is above that of the average thriller, but the author also knows how to adapt to situations and narrative perspectives. Unexpected and perfectly mastered, this thriller is a success for me.