Thanks to Steve for recommending this little gem. Reminiscent of Simenon or Highsmith, set in France, it concerns the final days of a hit man. But the murders are coming to an end and so is the life of our protagonist, Simon, as he hires a young man to assist him with his last death. But things change for a nice interlude when Bernard meets a young woman with a child, and then they meet a taxidermist of a certain age. A family is born. This short novel is filled with humor and darkness. The writing is superb and the characters each interesting in their own way. You can finish it an hour or so and will consider the time well spent.
11 comments:
I still hear echoes of Jean-Patrick Manchette's books in your recap. Not that it's a bad thing as I like Manchette's books a lot. I've been considering Garnier ever since Steve mentioned him, and this about convinced me. I see my library does not have this, but they do have two other titles of his available as ebooks, so I will either mentally flip a coin, go with the earlier one, or look at their plot descriptions on Amazon to decide which one to try.
It was almost a coin flip. In the end I went with THE FRONT SEAT PASSENGER.
I got this on a kindle for $4. I wish you would review that one on here when you have finished it, Jeff. I could use someone to spell me once in a while. Maybe Steve would like to too. I find it hard to read an older book every week with so many good new ones coming out.
OK. Will do.
Or any older book for that matter. Thanks!
Steve gives very good book (and music) recommendations! I'll have to track down a copy of this.
The two I have read by Garnier are The A24 and A Long Way Off, both of which I liked. I will have to pick up some more.
Oh, I like Garnier's writing, Patti. It's dark and noir - even bleak. But it's also very human. And his writing is compelling.
I will try another.
I haven't read any Garnier, but from your review plus the comments it seems I should. I'll pick one soon, after I'm finished with my current SF thing.
It is a bit dark, but not unduly so.
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