Three Days and a Life by Pierre Lemaitre
Three days at the edge of the new millennium, one moment of madness and one young life’s course altered forever. A dazzling new thriller from the master of noir.
Antoine is twelve years old. His parents are divorced and he lives with his mother in Beauval, a small, backwater town surrounded by forests, where everyone knows everyone’s business, and nothing much ever happens. But in the last days of 1999, a series of events unfolds, culminating in the shocking vanishing without trace of a young child. The adults of the town are at a loss to explain the disappearance, but for Antoine, it all begins with the violent death of his neighbour’s dog. From that one brutal act, his fate and the fate of his neighbour’s six year old son are bound forever.
In the years following Rémi’s disappearance, Antoine wrestles with the role his actions played. As a seemingly inescapable net begins to tighten, breaking free from the suffocating environs of Beauval becomes a gnawing obsession. But how far does he have to run, and how long will it take before his past catches up with him again?
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Authors Bio
Pierre Lemaitre (born 19 April 1951 in Paris) is a Prix Goncourt-winning French author and a screenwriter, internationally renowned for the crime novels featuring the fictional character Commandant Camille Verhœven.
His first novel to be translated into English, Alex, is a translation of the French book of the same title, it won the CWA International Dagger for best crime novel of 2013.
In November 2013, he was awarded the Prix Goncourt, France’s top literary prize, for Au revoir là-haut, an epic about World War I. The translation of another of his French novels, Camille won the CWA International Dagger in 2015.
My Review
4 Stars
It’s 1999 in the little town of Beauval, where everyone knows your business. Antoine is twelve years old and just lost his friends to the mayor’s son and his Play Station. His mother has forbidden him from playing the games so Antoine spends his time in the woods working on a tree house with the neighbor’s dog. Then the dog is injured and need to be put down and Antoine is devastated.
From there, little Remi Desmedt is six years old and idolizes Antoine. But Remi ends up dying and Antoine decides to hide the body. We watch how Antoine won’t admit to the death. The town’s people are coming up with all kinds of theories and accusations. Then the town butcher, Monsieur Kowalski is blamed for the disappearance. We then meet up with Antoine years later on and we see how this secret has shaped his life.
I’m sad to admit that I didn’t recognize the author’s name until I looked up his other books and realized that he is the author of Alex. That was one heck of a mind tweak. Once I saw that I can’t wait to see what he was going to put Antoine through. Antoine agonizes over Remi’s death but is so afraid to admit what really happened. I could feel for him as a kid. I grew up in a small town and I can relate to a lot of what happens.
This is a great thriller. It is slow paced and it does tend to drag. But it is a good story. Antoine has to live with his choices and doesn’t always make good ones but you can still see how one even can affect you for life. I do recommend this book. It is a good read and I think many will like it.
I received Three Days and a Life from Quercus for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.
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