Monday, December 15, 2014

ALEX, an astonishing crime novel

Today I finished reading Alex by Pierre Lemaitre via KINDLE.

Amazon.com: ALEX (KINDLE edition)

To be honest, I misidentified it as an American novel. Actually, this is a French mystery. It has been translated into Japanese, and it won a high fame also in Japan.


Alex is the heroine of this novel. At the beginning, she was abducted by a man. Not knowing the reason, she was told by the kidnapper that he would like to watch her die. She was made naked, locked in a crate, and tortured.

Meanwhile,, Camille Verhoeven, a police officer who has a bitter memory being killed his wife, was to be engaged in this kidnap case. He cooperates his colleagues to identify Alex and the kidnapper. But the investigation hardly proceeds. Time passing, Alex becomes exhausted.

This novel is composed of three departments. Readers will firstly consider this novel as a kidnap thriller, and sympathies Alex. however, the end of the latter part of the first department, the truth regarding Alex is revealed. She has a certain reason of being kidnapped, regardless of her own awareness.

The second department of the novel continues to shed the light to Alex and Camille. But it tastes rather a psycho thriller. I could not understand the thought of Alex in spite of her struggling for survival. Then, there is an astonishing scene in the last chapter of the second department.

The last and shortest department focuses mainly on the relatives and friends of Alex. Whether you are on the side of Alex depends on your ideology. Some more desperate truths are revealed. Finally, you will know the true meaning of the title "Alex." The last sentence said by Camille and the court judge implies a hidden fact regarding the whole incident. Whether you admire Camille or not is also your choice.

There are several grotesque description in this novel. I do not recommend this for persons who hate crime scenes.

By the way, I think this story is very suitable to film. Surprising story line is attractive. Two hours is adequate to tell the whole story. And hesitate to say, violence and sexual scenes will be sensational. Indeed, there was a plan to adopt this work into film. Unfortunately, I have no information afterwards. There are a couple of films named Alex not related to this novel. Interestingly, each of them shares similar atmosphere.

Pierre Lemaitre’s Alex to be adapted for cinema

Irreversible (Japanese title: Alex)

About ALEX

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