Brigitte Aubert

"Карибский реквием" можно признать одним из наиболее увлекательных романов Брижит Обер. Действие разворачивается на дивном острове, затерянном в Карибском море. Начало истории не предвещает главному герою, частному сыщику Леруа Дагоберу, плейбою и серфингисту, никаких show more осложнений. Даже наоборот! Красавица мулатка, которая поручает детективу разыскать ее отца, - чудо как хороша. Настоящая фотомодель! У нее, правда, отвратительный характер и очень опасные друзья, но что с того, дело-то совсем простое. Даг берется за эту работу, не подозревая, что совершает, возможно, главную ошибку в своей жизни. На райском острове Сен-Мартен его ждет настоящий кровавый кошмар и скорое осознание того, что невинное расследование имеет к его собственной персоне самое непосредственное отношение. В этом триллере под пикантным соусом ингредиенты тщательно отобраны, дозированы, хорошо приготовлены, что придает... show less

Death From the Woods was named France's Best Thriller of 1997, and the reason for that, without doubt, is the character of Elise Andrioli. Most people upon hearing that the main character is a blind, mute quadriplegic will probably avoid the book, thinking that it's too depressing. It is not because the story is told by Elise, and we get to see how smart and brave and funny she is. Her sense of humor is what is helping her to survive being unable to communicate with anyone. When Virginie show more shares her bombshell with Elise, the knowledge fires her up. Elise wants to learn more, and she wants to be able to share her knowledge with the police. When she does manage to regain the use of one index finger and uses it to answer yes or no questions, the news spreads through their little circle of friends and acquaintances. Soon the murderer knows as well, and Elise's life is threatened in more than one bone-chilling scene.

Through Elise, our own senses are limited to what she can hear and what she can feel, and this certainly ratchets up the tension, but the rest of the characters are mostly stereotypes, and I found it entirely too easy to pinpoint the killer's identity. Moreover, the ending was anticlimactic and the type that I dislike the most: one of the characters tells us everything that happened. Quelle déception!

I must say, however, that even though I'm disappointed by the secondary characters and by that ending, Elise Andrioli is such a marvelous character that I want to read the second book she appears in-- Death From the Snows. I'm a soft touch when it comes to extraordinary characters. show less

The conceit of this story -- that the protagonist, Elise Andrioli, has lost the ability to move below the neck and is blind and mute due to being caught in a bomb explosion -- is both its strength and weakness. It's fascinating to be in Elise's head as she narrates this tale and yet, the situations that are presented seem tailor-made for her disabilities. I could see the seams.

A chance encounter with a young girl near the woods while sitting in her wheelchair sucks Elise into a murder show more mystery. The girl, Virginie, confides in Elise that there's a killer of young boys on the loose in their French neighborhood, and that she both knows who will next be killed, leaving Elise with the impression that she knows who the killer is. With only a slight movement of one finger as a means of communication, Elise sets herself to solving the mystery.

Slowly, Elise and her caregiver, Yvette, become part of the social circle revolving around Virginie's parents and these people, along with a police captain, confide in Elise and use her as a sounding board. Whatever Elise needs to know at each point in the progressing tale, someone manages to reveal to her at just the right time. Yet there is more to the serial killings than is first thought and the conclusion turns out to be rather ingenious, or would have been if I hadn't figured out half of it ahead of time simply because of things said and the fact that Elise can't see things for herself. But I don't want to give too much away. This is a rather clever mystery, but at its best, it gives the reader an intriguing peek/insight into the mind of a woman trapped inside her uncooperative body.

There's a sequel, but much as I enjoyed this, I'm not sure I want to read the next book. The most fascinating aspect of this book -- Elise's condition -- will no longer be fresh and it would need to depend more on the mystery to carry the tale. Still, this one is very much worth reading, even if you can see the pieces come together before Elise can figure them out. show less

I think the author was very talented to make an interesting mystery where the protagonist could neither see nor speak nor move. I would have given it higher grades for its ingeniousness but found the ending to be somewhat of a let down