The Adversary
Ratings5
Average rating4.2
'On the Saturday morning of January 9, 1993, while Jean Claud Roman was killing his wife and children, I was with mine in a parent-teacher meeting ... ' With these chilling first words, acclaimed master of psychological suspense, Emmanuel Carrère, begins his exploration of the double life of a respectable doctor, eighteen years of lies, five murders, and the extremes to which ordinary people can go.
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This bizarre but true story is expertly narrated by Carrère is of interest to all true crime buffs or anyone interested into the darker, baffling side of human psychology. Its a short quick read that will stay with you long after you've read it.
A very well-written book I'll never read again.
Carrère says at the end that writing this story could only be a crime or a prayer.
I disagree. A crime it isn't. But it doesn't qualify as a prayer either, at least not to me.
Looking to understand the monstrosity of a life and crime such as Jean Claude Romand's is a fool's errand. It doesn't bring any clarity to what was evidently a dark and broken abyss of meaninglessness to begin with.
True crime, even when elevated by superb writing such as in this case, will never be my thing.
