The Messenger

The Messenger by Megan Davis is a twisty and dark tale set in Paris and as well as a murder mystery exposes the seamier side of the City of Light and it's extreme social divisions, which give the city an almost schizophrenic character.

The book begins with young Alex Giroud speaking to his probation officer after being released from 7 years in prison for the murder of his father,Patrick and claiming that despite pleading guilty at the trial him and his accomplice,Sami Lantou, are innocent. Alex originally claimed that Lantou did the actual killing getting his friend a stiff 25 year sentence while being classed as a minor, only receiving 7 himself.

Alex's story is told in 2 timelines,the first tells of his troubled school days,his descent into criminality with Sami and events leading to the death of his Father while the second involves the newly-released Alex trying to prove his,and more importantly Sami's ,innocence convinced that Patrick was investigating at a story that cost him his life,and that of a fellow journalist friend who followed the trail later.
As Alex tries to unravel the mystery of his Father's death it becomes very obvious that dark forces are watching and trying to warn him off.

This is an excellent read and will be an eye-opener for many who think they know Paris.From the affluent environs of "Zone 1" the Paris of the movies with nice cafes and luxury apartments Alex descends through a series of bad decisions to the parts the French tourist board don't talk about,the outer zones where the homeless and hopeless wash up, the shanties where people live in appalling conditions and the illegal migrants ,unwanted and uninvited,barely scrape a living.

This is an involving book that addresses a number of social and societal issues from exclusion to fake news via corruption ,racism and much else,it never preaches but will make readers think about our imperfect and unfair world,never a bad thing. Of course that would be pointless were it not entertaining and engrossing......which it most definitely is.

This is a fantastic read with a dual timeline, a compelling storyline and well developed characters that along with the dark and twisted atmosphere, the pacing and the unpredictability made for a truly immersive readig experience.

You don't expect a coming-of-age novel to have a brutal murder at its core, but that's exactly what this darkly real, and gripping thriller is built on. It is a deep and intense novel, always human and yet often disturbing - it twists a path through the streets of Paris, along the line where privilege and those living on the edge interact. I found it utterly compelling - I read it through in maybe just four sittings and I can see why it won so many awards. I'll never look at Paris the same way again.

A teenage boy rebelling against his father and anxious to be accepted by his peers enters the refugee camps of outer Paris to score drugs. He engages with one of the outcasts to try to rob his father but this goes wrong and later that night his father is found dead. After years in prison he starts to look at what his journalist father had been working on prior to his death and finds a web of intrigue. Swingers clubs, development of high value city sites - t6he more he finds out the more obvious it is that he is being watched by people who don't want him looking any further... Complex and intriguingly plausible plot, a good read.

Set in Paris, the book moves back and forth between the present day and seven years ago. In the present, Alex Giraud is struggling to cope with life following his release from prison for his role in the murder of his father, seven years ago. The narrative slowly discloses what happened seven years ago when Alex, privileged public school boy goes off the rails. Today's story reveals why Alex is himself at risk in the present day. As the book develops the two stories become more intimately entwined revealing that what is happening today is to do with what happened in the past. I found this book a bit of a slow burner to start with, although it became a more compelling read as it progressed. I thought it was overall a clever book, and raised some interesting issues about privilege and class.
There were, however, a couple of bits that didn't ring true to me. Firstly, Alex has a brief relationship with a girl, Lisa, aged 16. When released from prison she seemingly jumps at the chance to get involved with him again, although the earlier narrative suggests she was not actually that keen on him (but more interested in what drugs he could score). The second aspect which bothered me is when Alex reads his medical records while in hospital. The present-day world in this book is very similar to the world of 2022 where medical records and much of our data generally is digited- so the likelihood of Alex finding a letter marked confidential revealing the truth about his father seems highly unlikely to me, and clearly designed to reveal that little twist.

I could hardly put this down! From the opening chapter this book pulls you into a dark story full of twists, set in a side of modern day Paris that tourists will never see. Beyond the murder and the broader coming-of-age story at its core, it is both disturbingly realistic and yet on the fringes of dystopia, it invites the reader to contemplate what our world would be like if some of the more xenophobic elements in our society were allowed to take hold.

I really enjoyed this book…. Alex's story is told in 2 timelines,the first tells of his troubled school days,his descent into criminality with Sami and events leading to the death of his Father while the second involves the newly-released Alex trying to prove his,and more importantly Sami's ,innocence convinced that Patrick was investigating at a story that cost him his life,and that of a fellow journalist friend who followed the trail later.
As Alex tries to unravel the mystery of his Father's death it becomes very obvious that dark forces are watching and trying to warn him off. I highly recommend reading this book! It was well worth reading! The storyline was very interesting, it sucked me in and had me glued to my Kindle! Definitely don't miss out on this one! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

At times a very interesting read although i found it a tad confusing with the timelines etc and not knowing Paris well could not visualise the geographical descriptions etc,overall a good read

Thanks for the opportunity to read and follow Alex in his search for the truth. The storyline covered lots of information relevant today such as ‘fake news’. I’m glad that Alex was able to uncover the truth eventually

I really really enjoyed this book, I loved the time line of Eddy and Alex.
It was a great read and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending it to all my friends and people I share my reviews to.

The Messenger is a novel by Megan Davis that reveals itself layer by layer, much like the gradual peeling of an onion. Along the way, there are red herrings and conspiracy theories, and more than a few wrong turnings. But the story provides interesting insights into the darker side of The City of Light as well as the multiple forms of corruption - moral and otherwise - that exist at different levels of French society.

At first glance, The Messenger is about the relationship between a father and son. Deeply unsettled after his parents' divorce, Alex lives with his father, but is not happy about it.

His Dad, Eddy, is a journalist who also seems quite unhappy with his life, and has a serious alcohol problem to contend with. Eddy is very critical of Alex, who resents his father's preoccupation with his grades almost as much as his withholding of paternal affection.

Things come to a head when Alex makes friends with Sami, a young man who comes from a very different background. The latter is part of the huge community of have-nots who populate the underbelly of Paris, making a living from petty criminal activities.

After Alex and Sami come up with the unwise notion of robbing Alex's father, the plan fails horribly, and the next day Eddy is found dead, brutally murdered in his apartment. Alex and Sami are accused of killing him, and in order to save himself, Alex throws Sami to the wolves.

As a result, Sami - already known to the police as a small time criminal - goes down for 25 years, and Alex, as a minor and the son of a rich white man, gets a reduced sentence of 7 years.

But once he has served his sentence, Alex becomes obsessed with clearing his name alongside that of Sami's. Unfortunately, whoever is responsible for Eddy's death has too much at stake to allow Alex to investigate the murder unhindered.

So what was the last piece of investigative journalism that Eddy had been involved in? Could that have played a role in his death? And who in his friends' circle knows more about this than they are admitting? These are the questions that begin to plague Alex, leading him deeper and deeper into the mystery of his father's death.

When one of his father's friends dies of an apparent suicide shortly after going through the documents that Eddy was working on, Alex becomes convinced that there is more to this story than meets the eye. The real question is whether he will survive long enough to find out the truth...

A young man in Paris, freed after serving seven years for a crime he did not commit, sets out to discover the truth about his murdered father., and uncovers a tissue of corruption in high places.
It sounds like a thriller but for me this book was as much about the characters as the plot, and in particular the relationship between Alex Giraud and his journalist father Eddie.
Bullied at school and treated harshly by his father, Alex’s teenage rebellion takes him to the seamier side of Paris’s underworld, where his behaviour leads him to the tragic events of the night of Eddie’s murder.
Freed from prison, Alex is determined to clear his name, but finds himself in danger when he discovers his father was working on something big before he died, It seems some people are still willing to go to any lengths to protect their secret. Will Alex get at the truth before it is too late?
So far, so thrilling, though I have to confess I found the various threads of the plot difficult to fathom at times, involving as they do corruption, fake new and civil unrest.
But the emotional pull of Alex’s journey from surly teenager to a young man faithful to his quest to bring justice for his father is what drew me in and kept me reading. He is an exquisitely observed character whom any mother will recognise – though maybe not his own, who has neglected him since childhood. His father really is all he has, but Alex can’t see beyond his own teenage need for rebellion and peer acceptance to recognise that Eddie loves him deeply.
Starved of any outward show of affection, he turns inward on himself, seeking solace in bad company which leads him to a life of crime. And yet he is a very sympathetic character, whom I cared very deeply about from the opening page.
I also empathised with Eddie, a far less sympathetic character, but still a great portrayal of a man whose strength and weaknesses have led him down some strange paths.
Finally, for me what made this book so readable was the utterly gripping glimpse into the seamier side of Paris. I’ve only ever seen the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the restaurants and the shows. But in the suburbs and the side streets, there is poverty and hardship, people who have nothing, and subsequently have nothing to lose. The description is stunningly realistic, and you can’t look away.
A powerful story which offers the reader far more than the surface plot, and a great debut from Megan Davis.