Time Is a Killer

by Michel Bussi (Author), Shaun Whiteside (Translator)

Book Information for bookishbill

Title
Time Is a Killer
Author
Michel Bussi
Other Authors
Shaun Whiteside (Translator)
Member
bookishbill
Publication
World Noir (2019), 512 pages
Reading Dates
 
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europa editions
Collections
Read but unowned
Rating
Review
Not reviewed
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Description

"In the summer of 2016, Clotilde is spending her vacation in Corsica with her husband Franck and her teenage daughter Valentine. It is the first time she has been back to the island since the car accident in which her parents and her brother were killed decades earlier. She was in the car too, but miraculously escaped with her life ... When a mysterious letter signed "Palma"--Clotilde's mother--arrives, the truth about her family, her parents' death, and her childhood is called into show more question"--Amazon.com. show less

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Member Reviews

3 reviews, 15 ratings
Review from bookishbill
Other Reviews
An intriguing book which keeps the brain working at the little mysteries that the author presents for resolution. We mainly see the story through Clothilde's diary which she kept in the days before the car crash that killed her father, mother and brother. But we know that the diary is not in Clothilde's hands, so who is it reading the story to us? And how reliable was Clothilde's point of view? She was afterall only 15 years old and brought a teenager's interpretation to her observations.

Twenty seven years later Clothilde, now a successful Parisian layer, brings her family to Corsica for the first time, and becomes obsessed with the idea that her mother is still alive. But how can that be? Surely the bodies in the car were identified at show more the time. And then little things beginning to occur which could not be coincidence. Clothilde's obsession strains her marriage. Then a retired policeman tells her that he has proof that the car crash was not an accident. Her father's car had been tampered with. Her family was murdered.

A slightly lower rating than I might have otherwise as given, due to some reservations about the final pages.
show less
½
L'action se passe en Corse donc vendetta et problème de famille en vue !
Clotilde Idrissi revient en vacances en Corse en camping , 30 ans après son terrible accident de voiture qui a tué sa famille. Très vite elle comprend que quelque chose ne va pas, son passé la rattrape et des questions se posent, 30 ans plus tôt était-ce un accident de voiture ou un meurtre prémédité ?
Les faits sont racontés à deux voix, celle de Clotilde adolescente au travers de son journal intime de 1986 lu par ?????? et Clotilde adulte à la recherche de la vérité.
Comme d'habitude Bussi nous ballade d'époque en époque et de fausses pistes en fausses pistes. Un bon thriller.
½
Le roman est un peu long; le dénouement est improbable et franchement difficile à comprendre (la motivation est beaucoup trop alambiquée); les personnages sont relativement bien dessinés mais pas très attachants... Pourtant le décor de la Corse pardonne tout et est tellement bien décrit que l'on s'y croirait. La trame narrative rachète les défauts et les rêves de dauphins de Clothilde injectent un peu de magie. Bussi aurait pu couper une centaine de pages pour vraiment tenir en haleine, mais l'histoire est impeccable pour les vacances sur la plage.
½

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Author Information

Picture of author.
49+ Works 2,108 Members

Some Editions

Hagedorn, Eliane (Translator)
Reitz, Barbara (Translator)
Whiteside, Shaun (Translator)

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Time is a Killer
Original title
Le Temps est Assassin
Original language
French

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Suspense & Thriller
DDC/MDS
843.92LiteratureFrench & related literaturesFrench fiction1900-2000-
LCC
PQ2662.U845 T4613Language and LiteratureFrench, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese literaturesFrench literatureModern literature1961-2000
BISAC

Statistics

Members
140
Popularity
208,807
Reviews
3
Rating
½ (3.32)
Languages
7 — English, French, German, Italian, Latin, Latvian, Swedish
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
23
ASINs
6