Three Drops of Blood and a Cloud of Cocaine




The author breaks all conventions of the mystery genre. His spare prose is reminiscent of the irony and darkness of 'American Psycho', and his story holds a satirical mirror to our face, rather than attempting to comfort us with the usual flawed but decent hero who will save the day. The story takes place in Watertown, a suburb of Boston in 2013, when the area was still suffering from the aftermath of the Wall Street crash and the sub-prime scandals. Written with the pace and controlled violence of the best of Tarantino’s films, it is the story of two detectives; Franck, a private detective from NY, a cokehead and a dandy and Paul McCarthy, the town sheriff who is a married, church-going, family man. The two are pitted against each other in a race against time as they investigate two brutal murders committed by what could be the same psychopath. The investigation leads to the seamy underside of society, to a gym where drugs are regularly sold and managed by a former porn star, to the local LGBT club scene. The high tempo writing style evokes this sordid world perfectly.
 
Mouron is a young poet and novelist, born in Lausanne, France in 1989. He holds both Swiss and Canadian citizenship. He won the Prix Alpes-Jura in 2011 for one of his three earlier novels. Three Drops is Mouron’s first mystery.


My Review

This book is promoted as like a Tarantino film. I would have to agree to a point. There was this "raw" element to the book that made me like it and picture a Tarantino film playing in my head. Yet, it is not like Kill Bill. I found this book kind of lacked the pure intensity that I was craving. It was more subtle.

Although, I liked both men. When it comes to Franck, I imagine him as Anton played by Javier Bardem in the movie, No Country for Old Men. I have not read the novel that the movie was based upon. He really did not care about anyone or anything but himself. Whereas, Paul was trying to uphold honor and is the good guy. The one that you cheer for. Both these men as I said I liked but they didn't really intertwine a lot. They kept separate paths. If they had interacted more and even been pitted against each other, it would have helped with the intensity that I was requesting. Overall, I appreciated this book and am curious to see what Mr. Mouron comes out with next.

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