2018-05-26
The first problem with this book is that we know that Charles de Gaulle was not assassinated in 1963, so that kills any immediate tension.
What compounds the issue is that the story is written in an Omniscient voice, which keeps the reader distant from the characters involved.
In fact, it’s not until two-thirds of the way into the book that the French police even discover there even is a plot, and it was only then that I felt any sense of tension develop as a cat and mouse chase between the French detectives and assassin began.
Even then, the assassin evades police attention by pure luck, and in the end he’s only caught by pure luck. All of which I felt undermined the story as whole.
Where the novel really holds interest is as an historical piece of the time – the political conditions of France in the 1960’s, the geography of Paris, and the details of how someone might use identity theft to masquerade as different people in that era.
Aside from that, considering the book’s reputation, I didn’t think it really stood the test of time – and IMO certainly doesn’t hold its own against thrillers half its age.
Rating: 2/5