alex the commandant camille verhoeven trilogy

Fate does not concern itself with such trivialities it is quite capable, in spite of them, of taking the form of a killer armed with a swan-off shotgun, a 12-gauge Mossberg 500.Īll that remains to be seen is how you will react.

This is what is going to happen to Camille.Īnd it does not matter, whether, like him, you are attending your best friend’s funeral on the day in questions, or whether you feel that you have already had your fill for one day. To take an example, three blasts from a pump-action shotgun fired at the woman you love. … This decisive, disorienting event which sends a jolt of electricity through your nervous system is readily distinguishable from life’s other misfortunes because it has a particular force, a specific density: as soon as it occurs, you realise that it will have overwhelming consequences, that what is happening in that moment is irreparable.

One character dominates throughout – Commandant Camille Verhœven, the pint-sized detective in the Paris Brigade Criminelle, and as Camille starts the scene is set for us with the calm assurance that when we turn the page all hell will be let loose:Īn event may be considered decisive when it utterly destabilises your life. All three have been translated by Frank Wynne, and he’s done a wonderful job. I loved it, it is definitely a ‘Shiny’ book, but it is the final part of a trilogy and I felt it would be too difficult to write at length about it without spoilers of the whole trilogy – although if you were to read each book’s blurb, you would get the main gist of what happens!Īlthough Alex was published first in the UK, the trilogy begins with Irène, then Alex(links to my reviews) and is concluded by Camille. I was meant to be reviewing this for Shiny New Books‘ in the ‘Extra Shiny’ edition (coming to you on May 12th). Camille by Pierre Lemaitre Translated by Frank Wynne

Alex the commandant camille verhoeven trilogy