The Adversary: A True Story of Monstrous Deception [Hardcover]

This is a story of such horror and depravity that many will be shaken to their roots by it. If such stories upset you or make it difficult to sleep, perhaps you should read this on happy days and in the morning.

On January 9, 1993, Jean-Claude Romand, well-regarded medical researcher with the World Health Organization, killed his wife and three children. Then he had lunch with his parents and killed them. Later, he picked up his mistress and tried to kill her. The next day, he took an overdose of outdated barbituates and set his house on fire. Romand was rescued from the flames while he was unconscious, and made to stand trial. Journalist Emmanuel Carrere was moved to sort out what led to these horrors and what ensued since then.

Actually, Romand was not a doctor. He did not even have a job. He spent his life pretending that things were normal and he was a model citizen, while nothing about him was as it seemed.

He maintained his deception by behaving as though he was like everyone else, and persuading people to have him manage their money in a Swiss bank account. Meanwhile, he spent the money on himself, his family, and his mistress. Even the people who had gone to medical school with him and remained his friends and neighbors never realized what was going on.

The deception started when he could not bring himself to take his final examination for the second year of medical school. When time came for the make-up test, he skipped that too. No one of his classmates noticed that his name was not among those who had passed, and for the next several years he was able to reenroll in medical school as a second year student and pretend to study. The elaborate fiction built from that slim base.

To realize how unusual this was, his later wife was also a medical student at the same time and failed the exam that Romand skipped. As a result, she dropped out of medical school and became a pharmicist. That route would have been available to Romand as well. But he did not take it.

They struck up a correspondence based on Romand's liking of the author's book, and Romand helped him to recreate the events. M. Carrere felt that Romand "was counting on me more than the psychiatrists to explain his own story to him . . . ." "This responsibility frightened me."

In a time when studies have demonstrated that 80 percent of all people lie on their resumes, what is fascinating is how gullible everyone was. His wife didn't think that it was strange that she could not call him at the office. People took it at face value that he could earn them 18 percent interest in a Swiss bank (which normally pays much lower interest rates). As P.T. Barnum used to say, "There's a sucker born every minute."

While most con men are satisfied to take money, Romand wanted everyone's good esteem even more. If he could not keep that esteem, he killed to keep from having to face the emotional scenes that would follow. With a rich fantasy life, he could always find a self-serving excuse for his behavior. So even in killing loved ones, he thought more in terms of this being suicide. Everything in the world was about him, in his view. His "long imposture [was] only a pathetic mixure of blindness, cowardice, and distress."

This psychology has continued to be pathological since he was confined to prison (being eligible for parole in 2015 -- watch out!). He now plays the role of model prisoner who has found religion, rather than the role of model citizen. In performing in this way though, the author says and asks, "He is not putting on an act . . . but isn't the liar within him putting one over on him?"

You will be haunted by the author's final word on the case: "I thought that writing this story could only be either a crime or a prayer." I think he succeeded in turning it into a prayer. You'll have to read the book and decide for yourself.

My suggestion is that you be more suspicious. Check out the resume details in the future. Cross-check on those who are about to marry into your family. See what your children are really doing. Although you probably do not have a Romand lurking, you may have a less sinister version who can still cause lots of harm.

Uncover the reality beneath the iron mask!

The problem with The Adversary is inherent in its subject - the criminal himself has lived so many lies that he has no idea of who he really is. Carrere in depicting Romand as honestly as possible depicts a "generic lie" person ... a person who "exists" only to the extent that other individuals substantiate ... even if Romand, himself, does not remember. In this context, Carrere is forced to insert himself into the story, explaining both how he came to write the story and some of the difficulties in doing so.

The result is an excellent semi-journalistic account of Romand's life and trial - probably an excellent book for those with an interest in true crime stories. For those whose enjoyment is in Carrere's ability to depict human fear, confusion, horror this book is ultimately unsuccessful. Romand is so far from the norm that insight into his plight sheds little light on the human plight.