Alex

Author:  Pierre Lemaitre

Series:  Verhoeven Trilogy, Book 2

Year:  2011

Publisher:  Albin Michel

Pages:  400

Amazon Summary:

Upon winning the prestigious 2013 Crime Writers Association International Dagger Award, the judges praised Alex by saying, "An original and absorbing ability to leash incredulity in the name of the fictional contract between author and reader... A police procedural, a thriller against time, a race between hunted and hunter, and a whydunnit, written from multiple points of view that explore several apparently parallel stories which finally meet."

Alex Prevost--kidnapped, savagely beaten, suspended from the ceiling of an abandoned warehouse in a tiny wooden cage--is running out of time. Her abductor appears to want only to watch her die. Will hunger, thirst, or the rats get her first?

Apart from a shaky eyewitness report of the abduction, Police Commandant Camille Verhoeven has nothing to go on: no suspect, no leads, and no family or friends anxious to find a missing loved one. The diminutive and brilliant detective knows from bitter experience the urgency of finding the missing woman as quickly as possible--but first he must understand more about her.

 

So this was one heck of a mystery/thriller. I found it impossible to put down even when it got really creepy and crawly in places. I had to know what was going to happen to Alex, who the kidnapper was, what was with all the killing and murders. And then with the other story. What was with that? I definitely did not expect this to go there when I started it. I really hope to reach more of this author's work.