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Described as 'the Graham Greene of France' by The Independent, cult French noir writer Japrisot brings us a stylish thriller about revenge.
'A magician who lays out the truth on the page' Le Monde
The bus never stops in Le Cap-des-Pins. Not in autumn, when the small Riviera resort is deserted. Except today, when a man with a red bag and a disconcerting stare steps out into the rain.
His arrival will throw the life of young housewife Mellie Mau into disarray. After surviving a horrific attack, she has a dark secret to hide. But a stranger at a wedding, the enigmatic American Harry Dobbs, is determined to get the truth out of her, leading her into a game of cat and mouse with dangerous consequences ...
A cool, twisty thriller from cult French noir writer Sébastien Japrisot.
About the author
Sébastien Japrisot was born in Marseille, France in 1931. He published his first novel,
Les Mal Partis, when he was just 17. Japrisot translated the works of J. D. Salinger and pursued a successful career in advertising and publicity. He was a scriptwriter and the director of two films. His first crime novel,
The Sleeping Car Murders, was received with great acclaim. His reputation as a master for crime fiction grew with the publication of
The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun,
A Trap for Cinderella and
Rider on the Rain. His novel
One Deadly Summer was made into a film starring Isabelle Adjani.
A Very Long Engagement was an international bestseller and won the Prix Interallie. He died in 2003.
Linda Coverdale is the translator of Japrisot's
A Very Long Engagement. She has also translated the works of Roland Barthes.
Report
Praise for Sébastien Japrisot
Japrisot writes with warmth and has a gift for rendering almost every character instantly likable' New Yorker
'A magician who lays out the truth on the page' Le Monde
'With an instantly recognisable style and great story-telling techniques, he might be called the Graham Greene of France' The Independent
'The most welcome talent since the early Simenons' New York Times
'Utterly captivating' The Guardian
'A cordon bleu mixture of suspense, sex, trick psychology and fast action' Publishers Weekly
'Diabolically clever' Anita Brookner, author of Hotel du Lac
'Japrisot holds a unique place in contemporary fiction. With the quality and originality of his writing, he has hugely contributed to breaking down the barrier between crime fiction and literary fiction' Le Monde
'A marvellous storyteller' Télérama
'Unreeled with the taut, confident shaping of a grand master ... Funny, awful, first-rate. A rich and resonant sonata in black, astutely suspended between mythic tragedy and the grubby pathos of nagging everyday life' Kirkus Reviews
