It's hard to judge this kind of book.I finished it, and while I was reading it, I definitely was interested in discovering what would happen next. (so ... that would be 2 stars ?)But each page made me cringe with exasperation. Seriously. (so, only 1 star, right??)First : the style is awful. (i read the original version in French, and i don't know if the english translation improved the style.)You KNOW the point of this kind of book is not to provide you with beautifully written pages... Thilliez is not Proust. But still, you can actually feel that he TRIES. Sometimes. And it hurts :)But enough said about the author's terrible writing skills.The two main characters are totally not believable. As human beings, they are not believable. Ok then.As literary creations, they aren't believable either, which is a problem, since a writer should be able to make you believe in anything. So you keep reading about them doing weird things and having weirdest dialogues ... After a while, I've got to say it becomes funny. The more tragic the story becomes, the more it looks like a joke.The mystery now ... There are some truly scary features in this story, so I guess it could become a nice script for some Hollywood thriller movie if it gets rewritten by a talented screenwriter.(I think the rights have been sold, so it should happen)Most of the mystery relies on some nutty theories about violence, the kind of thing anyone with some remote knowledge in psychology could laugh at. The writer himself seems to believe they are true though.But I'll let the readers judge...So this is the kind of thriller that is supposed to be scary and shocking, and happens to be involuntarily funny, and shockingly bad. (so i definitely didn't like it, right?)It can certainly keep you entertained during a long flight though (so 2 stars ??)It's all a question of perspective !(now I'm going to have a little fun and read some 1 star reviews ;>) Wow. Double Wow! This is how I would best describe this book. It definitely kept my attention. I could not stop reading this book. Some books are drugs as they are that addictive. I would have to say that Syndrome E is one of those books. It had the right about of creep, gore, and a well thought out and written mystery. I never could figure out the rhyme or reason behind it all until the reveal at the end. At first I was not sure if I was going to like Sharko dispite his cool name. However he proved himself to me as a intelligent person with strength and personality. I may not have had this problem if I had read the first two books. Just saying as I would have gotten to know Sharko better. Lucie on the other hand I liked right away. I cared for her first as a mother and than second a detective. I could not help but instantly reference to the movie, The Ring with the creepy video tape that people watched of the girl crawling out of the well. This video had the same type of concept with the visural images. I would not want either fact to happen to me...death or blindness are not good choices in my book. I can not wait to read the next book in this series, Bred to Kill. I hope that it makes it debut in the US as well.
What do You think about Le Syndrome E (2010)?
Adictiva, oscura. Con un trama perfectamente urdida e interesante
—hruhru
Very enthralling mystery. I enjoyed it quite a bit!
—mac
