Rosy and John (by Pierre Lemaitre)
I don’t recall how I came across the profoundly intense writing of Pierre Lemaitre. Somehow, I managed to acquire a copy of Irene, the first book in the Camille Verhoeven series. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I had some extra reading time, so I decided to give Irene a try. It was one of the most captivating psychological thrillers I’ve ever read—incredibly dark, suspenseful, and shocking. Immediately, I felt compelled to acquire the rest of the books in the series. I’ve already read the second installment, Alex, and now I’ve moved on to book three, Rosy and John.
Rosy and John, a novella that clocks in at just three and a half hours on audio, retains the same dark intensity that I’ve come to expect from Lemaitre. In this installment, Camille finds Jean Garnier (pronounced John in the story), who has concealed seven bombs throughout Paris. After the first bomb detonates, John surrenders to the police, demanding that his mother be released from prison. If not, the remaining six bombs will detonate every 24 hours.
Learning about John’s character was captivating. His girlfriend tragically passed away in a car accident, and he lost his job due to the unexpected demise of his boss. The relationship between John and his mother is unsettling. Camille, an exceptional investigator, faces challenges from John’s criminal sophistication. Surprisingly, what I appreciate most about this series is its absence of fairy tale endings. Lemaitre fearlessly allows horrific events to occur to likable characters, even to those I didn’t anticipate or desire any harm to. In Rosy and John, the unthinkable happens just as I believed Camille and his colleagues had meticulously planned a heroic conclusion. This was an exceptional installment to the series. I eagerly anticipate moving the final book in the series, Camille, up in my TBR list.
I wasn’t able to obtain a physical copy of Rosy and John as I was the other books in the series, so I purchased the audiobook with my Audible membership. Peter Noble narrated the audiobook, and while I appreciated his French accent and pronunciation of Parisian places, I found his narration a bit choppy. Additionally, the volume of his voice fluctuated, so I had to turn up the volume to a higher level than I usually do.
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