Franck Thilliez

Si hay alguien que le quede alguna duda para diferenciar entre una novela policiaca y una novela negra, deberían leer este libro, quedará muy clara la diferencia. Esta es sin duda una novela negra por excelencia.

Hay una cuestión con la novela negra, sobre todo la reciente, ha pasado a ser característica que sea en serie y para mi enorme desgracia, muchos escritores se han dedicado a que en sus libros el inspector de policía o investigador o como le quieran llamar sea el protagonista de show more la historia, además algunos escritores han decidio que para que sea novela negra tiene que haber escenas muy explícitas en cuanto a violencia, me refiero a que en la novela negra hay violencia, pero no tiene que ser explícita per se.

Ahora bien, me he topado con un escritor brillante porque por un lado ha puesto a cada personaje en su lugar adecuado, es decir, el protagonista real de la historia es el asesino y los asesinatos, sin minimizar la importancia de nuestro Inspector de policía, de una manera muy inteligente nos narra este libro en primera persona, es Sharko, nuestro inspector quien nos cuenta toda la investigación, de esa manera, Sharko pasa a ser un personaje principal sin demeritar al verdadero protagonista.

Así pues, no tenemos al típico policía alcohólico o amargado o guapo o mega inteligente o alto o enano o lo que sea que siempre caracterice a estos personajes, porque en realidad aunque llegamos a conocer profundamente a Sharko en realidad no sabemos si es alto, flaco, gordo, joven o viejo. Muy inteligente de parte de nuestro escritor.

Tenemos un libro que es una novela negra por excelencia con una forma narrativa inteligente y que cumple con cada uno de los conceptos que marcan este genero, un asesino que da escalofríos, la maldad en toda su expresión, una cantidad de violencia controlada y al mismo tiempo indecible, una investigación sumamente intrigante, inteligente, que contiene además no solo la parte policiaca si no también psicológica y temas de esoterismo. Vamos, que nuestro escritor no se reservo absolutamente nada.

Por supuesto que seguiré leyendo toda esta serie, estoy intrigada con este autor, al que por cierto descubrí por casualidad, sé que habrá quien lo haya leído pero yo no había visto ni sus libros ni reseñas asi que llegue completamente en blanco y me he llevado una muy grata sorpresa. show less

This was a gripping detective thriller set in the north of France. I would never have read it or even heard of it had I not stumbled upon it in the foreign-language section of the used bookstore, where there is usually nothing published in the last fifty years. Since this was $1 and it was a beautiful edition with thick paper, luscious typesetting, and fabulous cover artwork, I bought it.

I got very caught up in the fascinating plot, and I enjoyed the gray, wintry, industrial setting. Aside show more from only a couple of groan-worthy moments, the story was engaging and well-paced. Since it was sort of gruesome, involving taxidermy and serial killings, I eventually made a decision not to read it right before bed.

I would like to read something else by this author because he keeps it very interesting, he does a nice job with characters and setting, and it is a good way to travel back to France. I love really flowery and descriptive French literary novels, but I have to admit that Proust would spend a lot more time on the bookshelf and a lot less time in my hands than a book like this. show less

Part of the appeal of "Syndrome E" is that it's hard to classify. It's part police procedural, part Michael Chriton style medical thriller, part docudrama and completely French.

It stinks of a gritty, uncompromising, almost fatalistic realism while embracing some on-the-edge-of-credible ideas. It is fundamentally about violence, the degradation of the human spirit, mental illness and the corrupt use of power.

It contains scenes and ideas that are truly repellent but which avoid exploitative show more voyeurism through a crusading need to find the truth and right wrongs.

It weaves horrific real events and conspiracy theories into a story about an evil obsession, powered as much by art as by science. The plot is woven from dark threads of French and Canadian history from the Fifties onwards, avant garde cinema, inhumanly relentless science, and a disturbingly credible view that there are no limits to what those with power will do to the rest of us.

The story moves forward through two French detectives: a man in his fifties who has lost so much that his mind has broken and a woman in her thirties who has already started to be ground down by the things she sees in the work she cannot abandon. There is love here and perhaps a little hope but these are occasional rays of sunlight pushing through the dark clouds of duty, depression, and deadly menace.

The book works well until the final few chapters. There is suspense, action, tension, violence, exotic locations and sex. What more could you ask for from a thriller?

Sadly, when the evil force behind it all is finally confronted, the book degenerates into a long let-me-tell-you-all-the-wicked-things-I've-done-and-why speech that is disappointingly clumsy. As for the epilogue, I'm sure it was meant to be clever but I found it annoying. I wished I stopped one chapter earlier. show less

“A monkey, a cage, a body with its face bitten,…”
“How had a simple study of hand dominance caused her to travel so much, and how had it led to such a violent death?” What is the connection to a 30,000 year old cave on a glacier in the Alps?
And how was it all connected to the man who killed little Clara?

Man, the prologue was really rough for me to read as a parent. It really shook me up, imagining myself in Lucie’s shoes. I even texted my daughter that I loved her after I finished show more page 8. A real punch in the heart. The whole book was pretty intense and kept me reading at a ravenous pace! The case itself was a doozy, and the things happening within both Sharko and Henebelle were riveting reading! The only reason I didn't give it five stars was because the DNA and genetic science were hard for me to follow, and the trip to the Amazon seemed like a forced and sparsely written addition to an otherwise thoroughly written plot! I really hope more of these books are translated into English for me to read! Otherwise, perhaps I should learn French...

Some of the left-handed theories in here might have a correlation to pitching in baseball!

“It’s never too late. On the contrary, it’s in the past that all the answers are hidden.”

“Evolution is the exception. Extinction is the rule.” show less