The Lost and the Damned

Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month

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Pub Date 12 Nov 2020 | Archive Date 12 Jan 2021
Quercus Books | MacLehose Press

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Description

This impressive debut is slick, sick and not for the faint-hearted. The first 30 pages contain what must be one of the most shocking scenes ever committed to paper. It will make you cry out (for more) - Mark Sanderson, The Times Crime Book of the Month

Introducing Olivier Norek: Former police officer, writer on Spiral and an award-winning, million-copy bestseller.

A corpse that wakes up during the autopsy.

A case of spontaneous human combustion.


There is little by the way of violent crime that Capitaine Victor Coste has not encountered in his fifteen years policing France's most notorious suburb ­- but nothing like this.

As he struggles to find a link between the cases, he receives a pair of anonymous letters highlighting the fates of two women whose deaths were never explained - two more blurred faces among the ranks of the lost and the damned.

Why were their murders not investigated? Coste is not the only one asking that question. Someone out there believes justice is best served on a cold mortuary slab.

What readers are saying about The Lost and the Damned

You can see the similarities with the TV series Spiral, which can only be a major positive!

A hard hitting and gritty French crime read that makes an impact.

A great thriller, sardonic, humorous, dark.

I loved this book. Well written and had an authentic feel to it. A complete page turner.

Translated from the French by Nick Caistor

This impressive debut is slick, sick and not for the faint-hearted. The first 30 pages contain what must be one of the most shocking scenes ever committed to paper. It will make you cry out (for...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780857059628
PRICE £16.99 (GBP)
PAGES 304

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Featured Reviews

Brilliant! The synopsis covers it all: "Olivier Norek's first novel draws on all his experience as a police officer in one of France's toughest suburbs."

Through the eyes of Capitaine Vincent Coste and his team, we accompany the Groupe Crime 1 of the Seine-Saint-Denis as they deal with some disturbing murders - even more than they are used to. What do they have in common, will there be any more, will Coste be able to find the truth or will it be conveniently covered up and swept under the carpet.

This is my first real foray into modern French crime fiction, having been introduced to this genre much earlier with Georges Simenon's "Maigret. I loved every page of this crime thriller - and Norek's experiences and knowledge come to the fore when weaving this dark tale that is far removed from the gentile Parisian sidewalks of "Maigret". The writing flows so well that the chapters fly by and you find yourself fully immersed in the lives of Coste and his team as they try and solve these grisly crimes.

I am hoping that this is merely the first in a series that is being translated from the original French into English for a new generations of crime aficionados. Dip your toe in, you wont be disappointed.

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I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy of The Lost and the Damned, the first novel to feature Capitaine Victor Coste of the Seine Saint-Denis Police Judiciaire.

Coste and his team are called out to a murder where a man has been found mutilated and shot to death. Then, in what may be a related murder, a man is found burned to death in unusual circumstances. At the same time Coste is receiving anonymous notes about the deaths of unidentified victims. It’s all very puzzling and he’s out of his comfort zone.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Lost and the Damned although it is not quite what I expected it to be, i.e. a straightforward police procedural, and I’m not quite sure how to describe it. The author is a former police officer in the district the novel is set in so that gives him an authority and the reader a confidence in his setting. It is a hard world as departement 93 (as it is known) is a deprived area with the attendant crime, drug use and poverty. There is no room for sentiment and the novel is unflinching in its portrayal of tough choices and practical policing. It opened my eyes to the practicalities in a way I haven’t seen before in fiction. Yet, it isn’t without its moments of black humour, like when the corpse wakes up on the mortuary slab. More please.

The novel has two plot lines, the murders and the anonymous letters. Both end up having universal motives that we’ve all seen before, but they are inventive in their detail and engrossing in their execution.

The characterisation is interesting. Obviously it revolves around Coste, who is a loner in his personal life and is still trying to deal with the loss of his girlfriend but what really comes across is the team’s loyalty and unquestioning support of one another. It could be seen as claustrophobic but it’s probably necessary in the treacherous waters of police politics and unrelenting crime.

The Lost and the Damned is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

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I felt that I knew Coste by the end of this book. Displays the difference between the 'haves' and 'have-nots' perfectly.
It shows that inequality is still prevalent in today's society.
Loved it.

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