Posted at 8:00 a.m.
It falls right with the news
As Marc Levy puts it, “any resemblance to people who exist or who have already existed… Oh, and then shit”. In effect, noah sticks quite well to the geopolitical reality of the hour. We reconnect with the team of nine hackers first met in It happened at nightin 2020, and found in The twilight of the beasts, in 2021. This time, a dictator named Loutchin (contraction of Lukashenko and Putin) is raging in Belarus. A journalist wants to infiltrate the country. The nine hackers try to thwart the plans of the dictator and his allies. Brexit is just one of the many examples where Russian attacks are wreaking havoc on democracy. To note that noah was written before the invasion of Ukraine. Espionage, Russian oligarchs, imprisonment of dissidents, whistleblowers, freedom of the press… Even if one can read noah without having read the first two volumes, why deprive yourself?
The facts on which it is based are fascinating
Janice, the main character of noah, is directly inspired by Carole Cadwalladr to whom the novel is dedicated. This journalist from Guardian- which Marc Levy found so fascinating that he hopped on a plane to have lunch with her in London – is the origin of the Cambridge-Analytica scandal. In a TED conference, the British journalist exposes the role of billionaire Arron Banks (Ayrton Cash in the novel) in the Brexit campaign, as well as his links with Russia. The latter took Cadwalladr to court. Marc Levy, who did a lot of research for the writing of this novel, wanted to tell the story of this woman who has to fight alone while the culprits get off pretty well.
Marc Levy has knitted a really gripping plot
Marc Levy has imagined a fast-paced plot that will delight lovers of spy novels: cutting-edge technologies, encrypted messages, a gang leader with a hidden identity, car chases, assassinations that send shivers down your spine, twists and turns of all kinds … All wrapped in a layer of exoticism because, as in the two previous novels, the action takes place all over the world: Kyiv, London, Tel-Aviv, Vilnius, Oslo, Minsk, Madrid, Rome… We goes from a terrifying and freezing prison to the heat of Israel, from a backroom to a London salon. We visualize very well a series of the genre Killing Eve whose action rebounded in several major capitals. Precisely, the scenario writer Costa-Gavras showed his interest for the adaptation of 9 on the small screen. He has already finished adapting the first two books. We should know in September who will be the broadcaster. This will be the first TV series for the 89-year-old filmmaker.
Despite everything, love still exists…
May the regular readers of Marc Levy be reassured: there is still love in the air. Despite the distance, and beyond their computer screens, there are hearts beating in unison among the group of nine. Dangerous loves because these digital pirates are not supposed to know each other, much less meet each other. But no danger, not even planetary, can stop a heart from beating. Marc Levy may have discovered the soul of a James Bond, he remains a great romantic.
noah
Marc Levy
Robert Laffont/Versilio
395 pages