From Publishers Weekly
Best known for the witty, Francophiliac Gideon Oliver mystery series, Elkins here delivers a stand-alone thriller that probes wartime guilt from multiple angles. For history professor Pete Simon and his French-born wife, Lily, Brooklyn in 1963 is worlds away from the horrors of WWII. But when Lily's father, Marcel Vercier, turns up on their doorstep begging her to view an old film, the Simons' cozy life combusts. Lily had always maintained that her father had been shot by the Nazis in 1943; now, caught in her lie and troubled by unfathomable other secrets, she refuses to answer Pete's urgent questions. Before the Simons can see the film, Vercier is murdered, and masked thugs break into their apartment, demanding to have it. Lily hands it over, then disappears, leaving Pete a cryptic note about needing space. Feeling like a sap, Pete decides to find her anyway, flying to Barcelona, where Vercier was apparently partner in an antiques dealership. A tough interview with the dead man's cagey co-partner, Charles Lebrun, reveals little about the film, the murder or Lily's whereabouts, but it does enlighten Pete as to Vercier's wartime collaboration with Nazi occupiers. As Pete delves deeper into Vercier's past, he learns painful truths about Lily's family, finally concluding, When it comes to making blanket moral judgements about people¢please, leave me out of it. Some of the characters are sketchy, particularly Lily, who never amounts to more than an incredible simulation of Leslie Caron. The plot takes familiar paths, with an ending that ties up matters rather too neatly, especially given Pete's hard-earned tolerance for moral relativity. Still, this first-person novel captivates, largely because Pete's voice, a garlicky mix of France and Brooklyn, always sounds just right.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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(*Starred Review*) One of the many joys of reading Elkins comes from sorting through his myriad plot layers. In his latest, Brooklyn College history professor Pete Simon has been happily married for 17 years to Lily, a lovely French woman he met during World War II. In 1963, two events rock Pete's comfortable world: JFK's assassination and the discovery that Lily has lied about much of her life. After finding Lily engaged in a heated argument with an elderly Frenchman, Pete learns that the man is Lily's supposedly long-dead father. Lily refuses to explain why she lied, and, when the old man is murdered, she disappears, leaving Pete only with a note telling him not to follow. Realizing that the solution lies in Europe, Pete sets off to learn more about Lily's father and to find his wife. Elkins masterfully weaves both backstory about his characters' lives and WWII history into a highly suspenseful plot. Without condoning collaborators or glorifying Nazis, he shows us that what we think of as black and white is sometimes closer to gray. Elkins is best known for his fine series starring forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver, but he also excels at WWII-era thrillers
(Loot,
1998). An outstanding novel.
Jenny McLarinCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
