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Irène cover art

Irène

By: Pierre Lemaitre, Frank Wynne - translator
Narrated by: Peter Noble
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Summary

For Commandant Verhoeven life is beautiful: he is happily married, expecting his first child with the lovely Irène.

But his blissful existence is punctured by a murder of unprecedented savagery. Worse still, the press seem to have it in for him - his every move is headline news. When he discovers that the killer has killed before - that each murder is a homage to a classic crime novel - the fourth estate are quick to coin a nickname: The Novelist.

With both men in the public eye, the case develops into a personal duel, each hell-bent on outsmarting the other. There can only be one winner - whoever has the least to lose.

©2006 Pierre Lemaitre et Editions du Masque (P)2014 WF Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"Last year, I was not alone in hailing Pierre Lemaitre’s Alex as one of my top crime books of 2013 . . . Irène, now published in an excellent English translation, is just as gripping, frightening, intelligent and brilliant" ( Marcel Berlins, The Times)
"Quirky, brutal and not for the faint-hearted, it is crime fiction of the highest class . . . Superbly constructed and executed, it puts Lemaitre very close to Ellroy’s class. If you pick it up, you won’t be able to put it down" ( Geoffrey Wansell, Daily Mail)
"A page-turning race to a grand-slam finish" ( Laura Wilson, Guardian)

What listeners say about Irène

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant

One of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to in the dark genre! Listen at your peril. Highly recommended if you dare.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

French mystery

What did you like most about Irène?

The French accent of the narrator reading the story,really added to the listening experience, and gave it a French atmosphere, and you could imagine you were there

What did you like best about this story?

The clever twists and turns, and the way the killer was goading Camille.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

When Camille and his team worked out where Irene was being held,and they arrived on the scene and found her.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I found it hard to turn it off.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A bit predictable

OK. I enjoyed it well enough but it was a bit predictable and the characters were not that believable, I thought.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Heartbreaking

What did you like most about Irène?

This is a gripping tale

What was one of the most memorable moments of Irène?

No, the whole thing was great.

What does Peter Noble bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The fluidity of the story with great intonation.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The little man with a big brain and a short temper

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Brilliant writing but gory

An unusual crime novel with a great idea - hood there are no copycats! Difficult to follow who's who as there are a lot if characters right at the beginning. I would have given 5 stars but there was too much gore.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Ms
  • 21-03-15

Unpleasant

Tired of sadistic horrors inflicted on women. Hoped it was police procedural but it descended into pointless gore. Won't choose any more of series

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A clever book

I don’t use clever in a pejorative way. This is a clever, tricksy book. To say how would give away too much but a serial killer using scenarios from crime novels is a perfect plot for fans of crime novels.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The narrator kills the book!

Any additional comments?

I've just listened to all 3 books from this author. And the narrator chosen kills book 1 and 3, where as Alex has a good narrator.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping

Compulsive listening. The story was powerful and unique though extremely distressing but told with compassion and disturbing beauty

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Irène

Sadly DNF. Narration didn’t grab me and found the story mixed up and difficult to follow. It may have been the accent.

Lots of gore which didn’t bother me.

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1 person found this helpful