Book Stop Corner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged.”




Michel Bussi, a French award-winning author, pens his latest crime thriller, Ne lâche pas ma main translated into English with the title, Don't Let Go. The story revolves around a happy married couple and their young daughter, while holidaying at a French island, the wife goes missing without a trace but leaving behind a trail of clues and eye-witnesses that make the husband a sure shot suspect, and when the local female detective reaches the crime scene, she is sure that the husband is hiding something from them and not too long her hunch comes true, as the husband runs away from the police and the ongoing investigation, and so the body count which skyrockets like anything.


Synopsis:

In an idyllic resort on the island of La Réunion, Liane Bellion and her husband Martial are enjoying the perfect moment with their 6-year-old daughter. Turquoise skies, blue sea, palm trees, a warm breeze.

Then Liane disappears. She went up to her hotel room between 3 and 4pm and never came back. Her husband, worried, had gone to the room along with the concierge - the room was empty but there was blood everywhere. Despite his protestations of innocence, the police view Martial as their prime suspect. He was the only other person who went to the hotel room between 3 and 4pm according to the staff of the hotel.

Then he disappears along with his daughter. With Martial as prime suspect, helicopters scan the island, racial tensions surface, and more corpses are found. Is he really his wife's killer? And if he isn't, why does he appear to be so guilty?


Liane and Martial Bellion along with their 6 year old daughter takes up a vacation on a picturesque French island called, La Réunion. But soon their blissful family holiday turns into a living nightmare, when Liane disappears without a slight trace yet leaving behind more than one eye witness whose story about Liane's whereabouts before disappearance points to Martial as the suspect. Although initially, when Aja, the local female detective, and her team arrives on the crime scene, Martial seems quite cooperating, but soon things take a tragic turn, when a dead body of a young man washes up ashore, very near the hotel where the Bellions were staying and that is when Martial flips and runs away from the hotel with his daughter. And as the body count keeps increasing, Aja is sure that Martial is the killer. Although Aja's team mate Christos sees a different agenda and an angle behind the killings on this quaint and quiet island. Where will this mystery of the missing wife lead Aja and Christos to?

Have always been a die hard fan of the author, his writing style and his books, which are always so incredibly mind boggling and forever keeps me guessing till the turn of the very last page. Although sadly, this time, I can't rate his new book, Don't Let Go with 5 glowing stars, mainly because of the plot which unnecessarily dragged for a while, and some of the characters lacked a bit of depth. The best thing about his book is the twisting plot line and the psychologically flawed characters, although this time, I can't say the same. Nevertheless, this book managed to awe me in the right places.

When it comes to Bussi's books, there is a certain trait in his story lines, a heart breaking love story or an emotional drama that plays out in the most subtle manner in the backdrop of the grueling mystery. And this time too, the love story between Martial and his wife, Liane is played out ingeniously all the while maintaining the level of suspense and tension through out the story line. Although, this time, the tension and that grip on the suspense faltered a bit, especially during the cat-and-mouse-chase scenes, I mean, it became pretty obvious with Christos' hunches about Martial's past life coming true, yet somehow, the author wanted his readers to stay glued into those chasing scenes.

The writing style is great, and even though the book is translated, I felt that the story line has not lost its flair. Yes, the narrative is laced heavily with native Creole words and texts whose meanings are explained at the bottom of almost every other page in the book, but that again felt a bit tedious to constantly look down and find out what those words mean. The pacing is smooth as butter, and the underlying tension kept me hooked pretty much the entire length of the novel.

The characterization is done strongly, like each and every character is trying to outrun one another with their intriguing and constantly challenging demeanor towards this mystery. The protagonist, Aja, is a very calm, calculative and thoughtful police detective as well as determined to catch the killer on the island. The next big character, would be Martial, whose back story, is penned with so much details that the readers will be compelled to feel like they know Martial by the back of their hand. There are some other important key characters, like Imelda, Christos, etc which could have been explored a bit more, as their incomplete portrait will only leave the readers begging for more.

The backdrop of the thriller is set in a French island, La Réunion and the author has vividly brought out the French island's charm and flair through his prose, thus giving the readers a first hand taste of this scenic French island environment. The readers are bound to feel native while reading this book, as the author has strongly depicted the cultural and historical aspects of this small island where everything smells of the palm tress and of the salty blue sea. So the readers are in for a treat, as the exotic landscape will sweep them off their feet. The setting could not have been perfect for this riveting thriller.

In a nutshell, this is a must have book in your handbag when you are going on your next vacation. And with a tight plot and interesting characters, you are bound to feel the thrill of this story.

Verdict: Engrossing, enthralling and enticing to the very core. A nail biting read!

Courtesy: Thanks to the publishers from Hachette India for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
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Author Info:
Michel Bussi is one of France's most celebrated crime authors. The winner of more than 15 major literary awards, he is a professor of geography at the University of Rouen and a political commentator. After the Crash, his first book to appear in English, will be translated into over twenty languages.
Visit him here



Book Purchase Links:

• Amazon US
• Amazon India