(Reviewed by JD Jung)
Ah, revenge can be so sweet. Now mix it with obsession and a touch of madness, and it turns utterly twisted and bizarre. Such is the case with the intense and fascinating novel, Mygale, written by the late French crime novelist Thierry Jonquet.
Richard Lafargue, a successful, well-respected plastic surgeon carries a dark secret. He locks Eve, the stunning woman he lives with, in her bedroom. If that isn’t enough, he forces her to turn tricks in a Paris apartment once a month while he watches. As you can assume, she despises him as much as he does her. Acquaintances would never figure out their sordid life as they both seem so content at the lavish parties, they attend with the Paris elite.
In the underbelly of society, we meet twenty-one-year-old Alex Barny. Though he has never been in prison or even in front of a court, he made a living by thumping people for his ’employers’. Strong and impulsive, he figured that he could make more money by committing his own crimes. But now he’s on the run. While robbing a bank he killed a cop and, in the process, caught a bullet in his thigh. He keeps scolding himself, not for the crime, but for his stupidity. If his longtime friend, Vincent, was around, he would have thought things through and planned the perfect bank robbery. However, Vincent was nowhere to be found.
The lives of Alex, Richard, and Eve intertwine but not in the way that you would expect. Jonquet takes the reader back in forth between the three and their stories and you shudder as you begin to figure it all out. Though the ending makes perfect sense, it is hardly what you expect.
Mygale takes the psychological thriller to an entirely new level. This novel is so unique, seedy and gritty, that you won’t be able to put it down. It will also linger in your mind long after you’ve read the last page. Surprisingly, at only 120 pages the narrative is concise but with elaborate detail while the characters are completely fleshed out.
This translated version of Mygale is part of the City Lights Noir collection. It’s a perfect read for this time of year. Still one of my favorites!
