Deaf detectives are not legion… which explains why Caleb Zelic’s first investigation (see our criticism of Resurrection Bay from the same publisher) did not go unnoticed. It is the instinct, the energy and above all the unfailing tenacity – not to say the stubbornness – of this extraordinary Australian investigator that makes him effective. In A world on fire, we find him a few months after the explosive finale of his first investigation, still torn by the betrayal of his former partner, while a terrified young woman throws herself under a car in front of him. Who is she ? Who was chasing her? And above all, why did she want to contact him?
The investigation will be eminently complex and will lead Caleb from Melbourne to Resurrection Bay and even to Adelaide on the trail of drug manufacturers. His research will be all the more difficult as the Koori community of the Bay is victim of racist violence in the background and as Caleb’s Aboriginal wife, Kath, distances herself from him. Not to mention that our detective launches like a free electron on all the leads he finds… and that the bush is on fire! That’s why it’s only at the very last second that things will finally come to light. But not completely, Caleb’s investigation – which we guess will continue in another book – does not provide all the answers to the questions.
We may feel a certain annoyance at certain unresolved passages and, yes, Caleb’s handicap makes him vulnerable, which creates a tension that is often difficult to bear. But the energetic writing (well rendered by a solid translation) and the characters more real than real by Emma Viskic once again manage to keep us in suspense until the very end.
Beyond the police investigation, Viskic also allows us to grasp the intolerance of the locals towards the Aborigines, which, even with the distance that separates us, is reminiscent of a situation for us familiar, if not systemic.
Faces of the apocalypse
Jean-Jacques Pelletier did not wait for the “exploits” of Vladimir Poutine to start talking about the apocalypse, the 5000 pages of the seven big books of his series The handlers of the apocalypse are clear proof of this…as are the half-dozen big novels that followed. But now, surprise, the veteran of the Quebec thriller has decided to “keep it short” and regroup in On the edge of the apocalypse a series of short stories illustrating, each in their own way, their favorite theme: the apocalypse, of course. The set hides some nice surprises.
In the first part of the book, we will find characters familiar from the world of Pelletier such as Inspector Théberge and the novelist Victor Prose in borderline situations, as usual. The apocalypse here is combined on a daily basis and globally.
The second series of short stories, which depict “personal apocalypses”, are mostly based on those who succeeded Théberge such as Inspector Dufaux, Natalya and even a refreshing black detective with a storefront in the nation’s capital. Each short story, and the book itself, ends with what Pelletier defines as “behind the scenes”, a short text in which he explains the links to be made between what we have just read and the his work, which was not really necessary.
But when you are Jean-Jacques Pelletier, you can do anything, or almost.
Restart
Niko Tackian has accustomed us to a change of scenery with books each sailing at the antipodes of each other: Breathe is part of the same line by plunging, this time, the reader on an almost desert island, somewhere in the middle of the South Atlantic.
It’s a somewhat “special” island that doesn’t really appear on the maps, a sort of “last chance island” where people find themselves lost in search of redemption who have the means to afford a bet totally away. The basic price and the conditions are the same for all residents: everything is provided, but you have to commit to forgetting your life before and starting from scratch.
Newly arrived, Yohan, who is renamed Ahab-the-detective by the few people he meets, first spends most of his time understanding his surroundings. Vaguely remembering having been a writer before leaving his old life for good, he begins to explore the island and soon discovers that other loners also inhabit the territory, some portions of which are however prohibited. His quest will take him to unsuspected territories, that is to say to the depths of his consciousness, we won’t tell you more.
It’s a disconcerting book, rich in twists and turns of all kinds and carried by touching characters, as evanescent as the winds of the South. Another “drunken vessel” to be attributed to Niko Tackian.