Red Karma

Paris, 1968: student riots, workers' strikes, the Fifth Republic is at risk of collapsing, a new future is just around the corner. Amidst the general exalted madness, young romantic Herve discovers the body of a familiar student, horrifically mutilated and... in a pose that clearly suggests yoga — and who else can Herve turn to but his older brother, a veteran of the Algerian War, a battle-hardened cynic, and also a policeman, Jean-Louis Merch? Paris is about to ignite like a match, the streets are in chaos, the police have no time for unknown maniacs, and the investigation is handled by three: Jean-Louis is in charge of the police work, while Herve and Nicole, also a student and friend of the murdered girl, handle the cultural context that Jean-Louis neither understands nor wants to understand. In his new novel "Red Karma," acclaimed master and holder of numerous prestigious awards, the fearless explorer of evil, Jean-Christophe Grange, once again expands the boundaries of the historical detective thriller genre. This story will feature sinister cults, human cruelty, family secrets, and fragile hope. Grange leads his characters through winding paths across Paris, then to India — to Kolkata and Varanasi, where they will discover a terrible, blood-stained truth — and finally to the Vatican, where a revelation awaits and perhaps hope will be reborn. These three could have become the heroes of Paris in 1968 — but no, they became the heroes of a completely different story, much darker and bloodier. For the first time in Russian!