Irène

Camille Verhoeven, Book 1

By: Pierre Lemaitre, Frank Wynne - translator

Narrated by: Peter Noble

For Commandant Verhoeven life is beautiful: he is happily married, expecting his first child with the lovely Irène.

But his blissful existence is punctured by a murder of unprecedented savagery. Worse still, the press seem to have it in for him - his every move is headline news. When he discovers that the killer has killed before - that each murder is a homage to a classic crime novel - the fourth estate are quick to coin a nickname: The Novelist.

With both men in the public eye, the case develops into a personal duel, each hell-bent on outsmarting the other. There can only be one winner - whoever has the least to lose.

©2006 Pierre Lemaitre et Editions du Masque (P)2014 WF Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"Last year, I was not alone in hailing Pierre Lemaitre’s Alex as one of my top crime books of 2013 . . . Irène, now published in an excellent English translation, is just as gripping, frightening, intelligent and brilliant" ( Marcel Berlins, The Times)

"Quirky, brutal and not for the faint-hearted, it is crime fiction of the highest class . . . Superbly constructed and executed, it puts Lemaitre very close to Ellroy’s class. If you pick it up, you won’t be able to put it down" ( Geoffrey Wansell, Daily Mail)

"A page-turning race to a grand-slam finish" ( Laura Wilson, Guardian)

Extraordinary

Absolutely loved it. Noir as its essence. Kudos to Peter Noble for the performance. I have been hooked from beginning to end. Can't wait to start Alex now.

Acceptable but overworked

Well written and with good pace. Unfortunately, and especially towards the end, too many artificial devices to maintain suspense, Feels like gilding the lily, so much so that it becomes irritating..

Sadistic, gruesome,and perverse.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Possibly sadists.

Has Irène turned you off from other books in this genre?

No more from this author or reader.

How could the performance have been better?

Overly dramatic and affected characterizations, almost farcical.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Irène?

I would have eviscerated the book.

Any additional comments?

How any normal human being can get enjoyment or satisfaction from reading this type of fiction is just unbelievable to me.

Morbid unbelievable plot

constructed story referring to crime classics. Reading is clear, but often too pompous. Stay off