Serge Truffaut’s last book, Powell Memorandum. Investigation into political drift, offers a demanding reading experience. This novel, which aims to be a political thriller, is more like an essay on the history of ideological currents and the economy. In this work, a private detective specializing in ideas rather than crimes, Christian Cioban, is commissioned by retired businessman Roland Lautenbacher to find the root of the evils currently plaguing democracy in the United States. If the letters that Cioban writes to Lautenbacher are sometimes dry, the chapters reminiscent of American road novels save the day. Jazz also interferes in the plot, to the point of shedding new light on the detective’s discoveries. The latter, equipped with a keen sense of analysis, goes back to the origins of the extreme right and the Trumpism that we know today. A glaringly topical book, which suggests taking a step back to better understand our world.
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