Monday 19 May 2014

Alex - Pierre LeMaitre



I admit I'm late to the party with this one. I missed the speeches, the drunken uncle and had the room to myself to enjoy the atmosphere.
Nearly to myself. I was joined by a very short detective, a very suave, very rich, almost savant detective, an amazingly frugal detective and their avuncular boss.


The case revolves around the search for Alex (female) who's been kidnapped. No-one knows who she is, no-one's reported her missing. A witness saw her taken so it's the job of Camille (male) and his two sidekicks to try and find her before it's too late.
It's been translated from the original French and I knew before starting that their crime fiction can be particularly graphic. It is here as well, but no more so than some of our homegrown writers.
The book's in three parts and is a roller coaster of a ride, good enough to send me to the shop for the second in the series, Irene.
The three detectives read in an interwoven way, feeding lines from each other, tolerating each other and being frustrated. A particular favourite theme of mine in the book is the character of Armand. You can almost see the incredulity on the faces of those that don't know him, the forbearance of those who work closely with him and the hidden anger of those he gently cons.
The only downside was when some digital photographs were found and still no-one knew a location. Is that still possible on digital? I thought the image data gave the game away on every amateur thanks to google.
Aside from that, stuck with it, loved it and am definitely taking my place at the pre-launch party next time!

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