“Any resemblance to people who exist or have existed… Oh, and then shit”, writes Marc Levy in the epigraph of “Noa”, third volume of the adventures of the 9, this group of computer hackers who work for the benefit of good and freedom , play with the powerful to better untie the meshes of corruption and create chaos to bring out the truth.
The nods to reality are indeed legion in this trilogy. After focusing on the collusion that seeps into the pharmaceutical industry, disinformation on social networks and the plight of Syrian refugees, the group of 9 sets out this time to overthrow Loutchine, a dictator who leads the Belarus with an iron fist, and whose name and personality unequivocally recall the country’s current president, Alexander Lukashenko, as well as his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Behind their screen, hackers infiltrate enemy territory, unearth disturbing and crucial information, bring down networks to come to the aid of Janice, an investigative journalist who works in the field — directly inspired by Carole Cadwalladr, this journalist from The Guardian behind the unveiling of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Under its air of a thrilling spy novel, the trilogy 9 testifies to the great erudition of its author – on the international chessboard and its key players, of course -, but especially on humanity, its history, its faults and its stutters.
Seated in the cafe of the hotel where he resides during his stay in Quebec for a promotional tour, Marc Levy is probably in his twentieth interview of the day. However, apart from the fact that it is his third espresso, nothing betrays fatigue or boredom. He answers questions like he would write a novel — passionately recounting the investigations that gave birth to his story, quoting a politician, analyzing the consequences of the fall of Roe v. wadetelling a romantic anecdote, like that of this aunt, “redhead, 1 meter 76, with the accent of Jane Birkin”, who offered him his greatest love model.
A great investigative work
“This series began with investigative work driven by questions that had been on my mind since the campaign and the election of Donald Trump in 2016. We learned that disinformation groups were working in concert with Russia to influence the American elections, then the votes in favor of Brexit. When we look closely, we discover a mechanism that repeats itself. It’s exciting. Then there was the encounter with the real 9. A stroke of luck, the culmination of a work that led to a romantic gold mine. »
Although I am nostalgic for a certain sensuality of my youth — vinyl records, cinemas, letters — I am far from believing that everything was better before. The only thing that is really in danger, the real regression of the 21st century, is that of freedoms.
Given this behind-the-scenes work, it’s no wonder that the French writer imagined the plot of “Noa” even before Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine. “The dictatorship always reproduces itself in the same way. We have a head of state who seeks to divide society in order to neutralize it, who creates poverty or exploits it, who weakens teaching and education and who foments an imaginary enemy. We saw it with Trump, we see it with Lukashenko, with Kim Jong-un and with Putin, of course. When you watch for the signs, it’s easy to see the blows coming. »
From kyiv to London, via Tel-Aviv, Madrid, Rome, Oslo and Minsk, Marc Levy weaves a thrilling intrigue, lifts the sheets of a passionate youth, slips into the darkest corners of the Web and reveals the extent of great power corruption through encrypted messages, computer codes, false identities and planned assassinations. The pace is frantic, the twists and turns, breathless.
However, when we close the novel, what we retain above all is the fragility of our achievements, the extent of the threats that weigh on our freedoms and our democracy. A situation that requires you to roll up your sleeves, according to the writer.
“The world has always been violent. I believe a lot in this sentence, I don’t remember who said it: “The forces of evil advance when the forces of good give up.” We don’t have the luxury of being pessimistic. Although I am nostalgic for a certain sensuality of my youth — vinyl records, cinemas, letters — I am far from believing that everything was better before. The only thing that is really in danger, the real regression of the XXIe century is that of freedoms. I think children should be taught that democracy is just as fragile as the planet. When you read the conditions of Facebook and Instagram, it is not normal to shrug your shoulders and believe that this collection of data is normal. The Stasi were ping-pong players besides that. »
The fate of others
The most widely read contemporary French author in the world, Marc Levy is used to labels. From a rose-water writer, he suddenly became committed, politicized, a democrat. “Writing is like playing a musical instrument. The more you work, the more freedom you have in your score. After eight years, you start playing jazz and people say to you: “Ah! Do you play jazz now?” While it was still there. I believe that the greatest confidence that I have been able to make in my life as an author is said in the first sentence of the first volume of the trilogy. Carole says at 9: “In 20 or 30 years, students will look at what you have done, what do you have to tell them before they judge you?” 9 replies: “The fate of others concerned me as much as mine.” This sentence sums up everything I’ve been writing for for 20 years. »
In 22 years of career, the prolific author published nothing less than twenty novels. This time, the uncertainty in which the world is plunged slows its momentum. Before considering the sequel, he remains attentive to the decisive historical moments that will probably take place this summer. “If Putin succeeds, we are heading towards a new cold war and what that entails in uncertainty about the fate of America. If he falls, Lukashenko falls with him, and something extraordinary will happen, the strengthening of Europe, the crushing of far-right movements and a boomerang effect in the rest of the world; a great wave that will sweep through the youth like at the end of the 1960s. Revolutions are contagious, and that is what autocrats are most afraid of. »