Red Karma

Paris, 1968: student riots, workers' strikes, the Fifth Republic is at risk of collapse, a new future is just around the corner. In the midst of universal elevated madness, young romantic Hervé discovers the corpse of a familiar student, horrifically mutilated and in a position clearly suggesting yoga — and who else can Hervé turn to but his older brother, a veteran of the Algerian war, a seasoned cynic, and moreover a police officer, Jean-Louis Merche? Paris is about to burst into flames like a match, the streets are in disorder, the police are preoccupied with unknown maniacs, and the investigation is carried out by three: Jean-Louis handles the police work, Hervé and Nicole, also a student and friend of the deceased, take care of the cultural context that Jean-Louis does not understand and does not want to understand. In "Red Karma," there will be sinister sects, human cruelty, family secrets, and fragile hope. Grange leads his characters on winding paths throughout Paris, then to India — to Calcutta and Varanasi, where they will uncover a terrible, blood-stained truth — and finally to the Vatican, where the answer will be revealed and, possibly, hope will be revived. Hervé, Jean-Louis, and Nicole could have become the heroes of Paris in 1968 — but no, they became the heroes of a completely different story, much creepier and bloodier.