Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair

A whirlpool of of stereotypes, the linguistic sophistication of a ten year old's term paper and the psychological depth of a newspaper's classifieds section. The characters are unidimensional and the author is unable - or unwilling - to establish credible motivation for their actions. The love story is a collection of platitudes. There are at least 10 points at which the book could, and should have ended; instead it follows a downward spiral to the inevitable anti-climax.I shudder at the thought that this book was considered for the Prix Goncourt. French language literature must be hitting rock bottom. Domage!

For book lovers The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair is an ideal read as it is a book about a book about a book.  Marcus Goldman, author and protégé of the famous author Harry Quebert, is the narrator of this book.  We follow him from having had a very successful debut novel, to having writers block, to writing another bestseller about a murder that happened thirty three years ago and where the main suspect is none other that his friend and mentor Harry Quebert.  What is interesting is that the chapters go backwards, from chapter thirty one  to one  which reflects how the story unfolds, gradually going backwards to find out what really happened to Nola Kellergan.The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair is one of those books that felt familiar and comfortable from the first page.  Joël Dicker's writing flowed with ease, instantly drawing me into the story and the lives of the characters.  The narrative takes in the events of thirty three years ago, the summer of 1975, when Nola Kellergan went missing and the present where Marcus Goldman, with the help of Sergeant Gahalwood, looks into Nola's murder with the aim of proving Harry's innocence and finding the real murderer. Of course there are many different twists and turns in this book ,and not everything is at it seems in the sleepy town of Somerset New Hampshire or with its residents.There are  a wonderful cast of characters in this book, many of whom are hiding secrets and not happy with their lot in life.  There is very much the small town mentality in Somerset, those with self importance, those who gossip about others lives to hide the disappointment of their own, but all don't seem to be able to see what is going on under their noses, or are burying their heads in the sand.  Harry Quebert is an interesting character, you can't get away from the fact that he was in his thirties and having a relationship with a fifteen year old girl, which is wrong, but there was a love story there. Harry never married or moved from his house incase Nola came back to find him.  The love story is touching, but at the same time a bit sinister, but I still had sympathy for Harry for losing what was the love of his life and being accused of her murder.  Marcus is between a rock and a hard place with his publisher, and finds himself writing the book about what really happened to Nola.  He is dogged in his approach, and through him there is revelation, after revelation and the plot goes on many different tangents it leaves you in a spin and never quite sure what is true or where the investigation is going. There is also an interesting subtext on what it means to be a great author and what makes a masterful piece of fiction.The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair is an intelligent crime thriller, with added humour, that held my attention throughout.  The intricate plot, the fascinating characters and the fast paced murder investigation make this a riveting and at times shocking read. The translation from the original French didn't seem to loose the atmosphere or nuances  of the plot and characters which can sometimes be lost.  This hugely entertaining and gripping read that will captivate you until the final verdict; a breathtaking debut novel.

Complete and utter drivel. Reads as though it has been plotted by a ten year old, with numerous plot holes that are just insults to the readers' intelligence, and terrible dialogue. Unbelievable that it has become a best seller. The only reason I gave it two stars is that there are elements that show the writer could have written a decent enough book if he had cared, and he does have a talent for keeping the reader reading (the only reason I got to the end apart from it was the last book I read on holiday). I hope he has more respect for his readers next time round.

Part of my hesitation about recommending this book is that I fear it may have lost something in being translated from French to English. Certainly the writing is a little cliched at times, and downright laughable at others; I guess a book is only as good as its translator, who may (in this case) be less skilled than the original writer.However. This is an interesting book, with an intriguing plot, and a high concept novel-within-a-novel style that isn't fully developed or realised.The unravelling of the central mystery is well done, even if certain details are a little laboured while other aspects of the plot are completely undeveloped, and the final 'twist' is skillfully managed - I did actually experience an 'ohhhhhhhh!' moment at the unveiling, which was quite satisfying. But the author creates problems for himself in establishing two characters who are set up to be the greatest writers of their generation - when extracts of writing from these fictional authors are quoted, they are at best mediocre. And so the whole contrivance is a little hard to buy into, as a reader.A good page turner for a beach read, but with unfulfilled pretensions of being something altogether grander.

It was just about engaging enough to not give up on, but could have been much shorter, as the clumsy handling of the timeline hopping means the story is told at least twice, and many, many pages of detail are superfluous and uninteresting. Perhaps something was lost in the translation, because the dialogue - especially between the two main characters - is incredibly on-the-nose and naive.I bought the author's other major release, The Baltimore Boys, before I read this. I won't be reading that.