When crime hits the personal life of a detective. Or in this case, commandant. Usually not something I'm very fond of. It often feels like cheap, unrealistic and lazy writing to me. But not when it comes from Pierre Lemaitre's pen. Love his reflective, slightly sarcastic style. As if he hovers above his story, commenting on the things that go or went down, hovers above his protagonist, shining his light on Camille Verhoeven's world. Makes you feel part of it. Outer and inner.

Same, though to a lesser degree, could be said about the segments from the point of view of the antagonist. A stone-cold, highly determined and well-organized human sledgehammer. Combined they give the idea of a modern-day duel. But who is hunting who? I can see how people might find the story a bit too much (unrealistic, right?), but for me the omnipresent sense of urgency and tension more than made up for that. Cheap and lazy this is not. Au contraire!