Double blanc

Inspector Llob #2

by Yasmina Khadra

In his stark, uncompromising style, Inspector Llob navigates the Algiers underworld and its rich elite. He resists the pressure of politicians, fundamentalists and crooks, in his pursuit of the truth.

Genres: Algeria, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Africa

200 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Yasmina Khadra (Arabic: ياسمينة خضراء‎, literally "green jasmine") is the pen name of the Algerian author Mohammed Moulessehoul.
Moulessehoul, an officer in the Algerian army, adopted a woman's pseudonym to avoid military censorship. Despite the publication of many successful novels in Algeria, Moulessehoul only revealed his true identity in 2001 after leaving the army and going into exile and seclusion in France. Anonymity was the only way for him to survive and avoid censorship during the Algerian Civil War.
In 2004, Newsweek acclaimed him as "one of the rare writers capable of giving a meaning to the violence in Algeria today."
His novel The Swallows of Kabul, set in Afghanistan under the Taliban, was shortlisted for the 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. L'Attentat won the Prix des libraires in 2006, a prize chosen by about five thousand bookstores in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada.
Khadra pledges for becoming acquainted with the view of the others. In an interview with the German radio SWR1 in 2006, he said “The West interprets the world as he likes it. He develops certain theories that fit into its world outlook, but do not always represent the reality. Being a Muslim, I suggest a new perspective on Afghanistan, on the religious fanaticism and the, how I call it - religiopathy. My novel, the The Swallows of Kabul, gives the readers in the West a chance to understand the core of a problem that he usually only touches on the surface. Because the fanaticism is a threat for all, I contribute to the understanding of the causes and backgrounds. Perhaps then it will be possible to find a way to bring it under control.”

Reviews

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sì, lo so che avevo detto che dopo Morituri non avrei più letto i gialli del commissario Llob, ma la lettura di un altro bellissimo libro di Yasmina Khadra e un incipit accettabile mi avevano fatto sperare che questa indagine fosse più leggibile (gradevole certo no, visto che stiamo parlando sempre di un hard boiled). Tuttavia, anche questa volta la storia era altamente confusionaria, per cui adesso sono certa che mi terrò lontana da Brahim Llob, anche se continuerò a leggere Yasmina Khadra.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

For its brevity, this is crime fiction on a grand scale. Inspector, rather, Superintendent Llob of the Algiers police finds himself on the trail of a diabolical scheme played out against the political turmoil of the country whose independence from France he once fought for. Told with all the grittiness of hard-boiled detective fiction, this tale takes readers from one end of the social spectrum to the other - the grinding poverty of the crime-infested slums to the grandiose life styles of the filthy rich.

The plot is engaging enough and its predictability is continually undercut by a fast-forward narrative style that propels the reader from scene to scene, often omitting the plot developments building up to them. More entertaining is Khadra's mastery of the genre itself - the feuding investigative agencies of the police, the ageing rogue cop as hero, the trading of insults among professional colleagues and their suspects, the gruesome crime scenes, the seductive temptress and ruthless villains, the caricatures of humanity ranging from dwarves to giants, the cynical narrator whose observing eye falls on everything that is beyond redemption. The pace is breathless, while finding room enough for social comment and digs at Islamist operatives. Grim but darkly humorous.

[Jrobertus]

the author is an ex algerian army officer writing under a woman's name. this is a crime thriller set in algeria and tries to look like tough guy american novels. interesting, but confusing.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insight into how society functions, and why, and the tensions of surviving in modern Algeria. Grim.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short book. Confusing read.

[Haydee Salcedo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una prosa fluida, pero con estilo inusual. Dos posibles impresiones. Novela policiaca, suspenso ¿?
Y la política incluída dentro de la trama, y la moral del ser humano. Unos hacen lo que se les plazca, destruyendo lo construido por una sociedad que no tenía ni voz ni voto en el pasado; mientras otros tratan de salir adelante inmiscuyéndose en asuntos negros que darán cabida a una solución no mes trágica de la imaginada.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thriller part of the series, but to my Ludlum-ish tastes, not enough thrilling. :)
Enjoyable yes. And different from the other Khadra book (I forgot the title) I read. Quite a bit of humor in the book too (and as often with translated books, I wonder how the original might go..). And I loved the environments and some of the characters too.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Khadra's first Inspector Llob mystery (Morituri) was a wonderfully unexpected pulp fiction take on a large Arab city. This second in the trilogy is also set in Algiers in the mid-90s at the height of the Civil War. Like that book, it owes more than a little in style to Mickey Spillane and Dashiell Hammett, as the intrepid Inspector delves into a dark a corrupt world of powerful men and their vices. Inspector Llob is a classic seeker of justice, armed with battery of wisecracks and caustic insults -- backed up by a pair of distinctive policemen, pony-tailed Lino and hulking Seddig. The story concerns the beheading of a longtime intellectual who wrote a popular book critiquing the FLN regime, but just recently returned to Algeria. The obvious culprits would be a known cell of Islamic guerillas, but Llob isn't so sure. Just a few days before the murder, the victim had met with Llob and told him that he had explosive information that he was going to turn into a book that would rock the country.

As Llob mobilizes his resources and races around the underworld trying to piece together what happened, the bodies start to pile up. Soon he's looking in high places, barging in on the rich and famous in order to find answers. True to Algeria's tragic Civil War, it's a bloody, messy affair, with severed necks, booby-trapped corpses, and dark dark humor (one notorious beheader's nickname is "The Hairdresser"). The writing is so pulpy and staccato that it's hard for the reader to really engage with the material, it's simply too stylized. Moreover, the entire subject matter is so steeped in such corruption and brutality that many Western readers will likely have a hard time getting a handle on it. One kind of wishes Khadra had slowed the pace down a little and toned down some of the stylistic tics to make it a little more realistic, which would have made it that much more powerful.

[Almrausch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leider nur die Übersetzung zur Hand gehabt. Ob mir vielleicht deshalb der Stil nicht gefallen hat, wo Yasmina Khadra einer meiner Lieblingsschriftsteller ist? Die Geschichte ist enttäuschend, die Handlung unglaublich verwirrend und alle Figuren extrem unsympathisch. Dass die Korruption grassiert, ist an sich nicht verwunderlich, aber für einen Krimi ist das Thema nicht besonders spannend behandelt, hingegen aber geht es recht brutal zu. Die Romane von Yasmina Khadra gefallen mir hundert Mal besser ... Aber vielleicht liegt es an der Übersetzung.

[Juan de Dios Reyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Al igual que en el primer libro de la trilogía, me atrae el conocer algo de Argelia, su gente y una etapa de su historia particularmente conflictiva, pero me resulta muy difícil seguir la trama pues no puedo identificar claramente a los distintos personajes (salvo los estables, claro) y todo el contexto se me hace muy difícil de asimilar o de aceptar siquiera que se pueda vivir socialmente en esas condiciones

[Rachel N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspector Llob is investigating the deaths of a former high ranking diplomat and a professor in Algiers. The crime appears to connect to Islamic fundamentalists in the country. The book is short but a lot of murders occur in it. It took me a bit to figure out what was going on as there is no introduction to the characters, their background or the political background of Algeria.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very short novel so it reads quickly. It's set in Algeria, and the police superintendent, Llob, is hot on the trail of a series of murders. Interesting geopolitical commentary wrapped up in a police-procedural. Much of the writing reminded me of the "hard-boiled" detectives of Raymond Chandler/Dashiell Hammett novels.

[asegura7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yasmina Khadra es uno de mis autores favoritos. El investigador Llob no es mi personaje favorito pero esta novela ambientada en un lugar (Argel) y una época determinadas me permite conocer esa sociedad de la mano de un escritor de primera línea.

[Elias Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un bon polar qui nous informe un peu plus sur la décennie noire et les affaires louches en Algérie.

[Malena Ortiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impecable, una descripción de la vida en una época turbulenta en una ciudad fascinante , personajes bien armados y el Comisario Llob merece todos los respetos literarios

[Maria Rosalia]

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