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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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The somewhat choppy narrative takes place over a month, and is somewhat reminiscent of the TV show NYPD Blue, with lots of cutting between different locations and perspectives. It's a bit off-putting at first, but by the second half of the story, there have been enough new murders and complications so that one isn't so distracted. There book does suffer from a lack of distinction amongst all the cops. Other than the lead inspector Dacquin, the other cops are interchangeable and unmemorable, which is a bit of a problem since there are at least four of them running around at any one point. Manotti treats them more as Dacquin's pawns than real characters, which is a bit of a shame. Similarly, there are a huge number of people interviewed and interrogated, and they too, tend to run together. To keep everything straight, I recommend readers keep a running list of whom everybody is as they read.
It should be said that the book is unrelentingly grim and cynical, which some may not care for. The French cops don't mess around, beating suspects, blackmailing informers, and generally operating by whatever means necessary. It has one of the better climaxes I've come across recently though, very realistic I felt. And there's a fun little epilogue which really ends thing on just the right note. Manotti has written at least two other Dacquin books, but they've not been translated into English.
FYI, this book is also known as "Dark Path", which is the more literal translation of the original French title. Also, Manotti is a pseudonym.
The somewhat choppy narrative takes place over a month, with lots of cutting between different locations and perspectives. It's a bit off-putting at first, but by the second half of the story, there have been enough new murders and complications so that one isn't so distracted. There book does suffer from a lack of distinction amongst all the cops. Other than the lead inspector Dacquin, the other cops are interchangeable and unmemorable, which is a bit of a problem since there are at least four of them running around at any one point. Manotti treats them more as Dacquin's pawns than real characters, which is a bit of a shame. Similarly, there are a huge number of people interviewed and interrogated, and they too, tend to run together. To keep everything straight, I recommend readers keep a running list of whom everybody is as they read.
It should be said that the book is unrelentingly grim and cynical, which some may not care for. The French cops don't mess around, beating suspects, blackmailing informers, and generally operating by whatever means necessary. It has one of the better climaxes I've come across recently though, very realistic I felt. And there's a fun little epilogue which really ends thing on just the right note. Manotti has written at least two other Dacquin books, but they've not been translated into English.
FYI, this book is also known as "Dark Path", which is the more literal translation of the original French title. Also, Manotti is a pseudonym.
The problem with the book (and once again this could be the problem of the translation), is in the last 26 pages, things begin to happen that have not been presented earlier in the book as possibilities and the people involved, were previously minor characters and are now front row. This is not a good way to end a book because it makes the rest of it implausible. This ending is also rushed as if we were coming to the end of a 'one-hour drama' and have taken to long with the prior narrative. There is also the introduction early in the book of an 'historical' figure for (to me) no other reason than name recognition.
The book was written in 2005, but placed in 1980 and from time to time characters make statements that will prove true in 'their future' but had occurred by 2005. So what. If I write a book set in 1980, I can make a statement that America will elect a black President in the early years of the 21st century. Wow, wouldn't that be a brilliant guess, except we all know that Barak Obama was elected in 2008.
So nice try but no cigar.
Zeb Kantrowitz
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