Les Sept Jours du talion

by Patrick Senécal

Mieux vaut avoir l'estomac solide pour traverser Les Sept Jours du talion tant certaines scènes frôlent l'insoutenable. On dévore pourtant avidement ce thriller psychologique de Patrick Senécal.

La vie de Bruno Hamel plonge dans les ténèbres lorsque sa petite Jasmine est violée et assassinée. Il concocte alors un ingénieux plan pour kidnapper “le monstre” à qui il infligera les pires tortures (le justicier est chirurgien), tout en le maintenant en vie. Pour les policiers, c'est le début d'un haletant compte à rebours, et pour Bruno, le cauchemar ne fait que commencer… “À la vue de cet embryon de sourire, Bruno ouvrit enfin les portes de son cœur et de son âme à la haine qu'il contrôlait depuis une semaine. Si d'abord elle s'infiltra en lui par un mince ruisseau, elle se transforma en quelques secondes en rivière, en torrent, en fleuve déchaîné qui déferla dans son être en détruisant tout sur son passage.”

Entre les scènes de sévices flirtant avec l'horreur, un genre que l'auteur de Sur le seuil connaît bien, on accueille avec soulagement la description du déroulement de l'enquête. En décortiquant le comportement de plus en plus erratique de Bruno et les interrogations du détective Mercure, Patrick Senécal explore les ressorts de la vengeance, cette tentation horriblement humaine. Très habilement mené, ce cinquième livre de l'un des rares auteurs québécois de roman noir démontre jusqu'où peut mener la haine. --Marie Labrecque

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Fiction, France, Mystery, Suspense, Roman

333 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

... est né à Drummondville en 1967. Bachelier en études françaises de l'Université de Montréal, il enseigne depuis quelques années la littérature, le cinéma et le théâtre au cégep de Drummondville.
Passionné par toutes les formes artistiques mettant en oeuvre le suspense, le fantastique et la terreur, il publie en 1994 un premier roman d'horreur, 5150, rue des Ormes, où tension et émotions fortes sont à l'honneur. Il sera suivi, un an plus tard, par Le Passager, autre roman au suspense insoutenable. Son troisième roman, Sur le seuil, un suspense fantastique publié en 1998, a été acclamé de façon unanime par la critique. Après Aliss (2000), une relecture extrêmement originale et grinçante du chef-d'uvre de Lewis Carroll, Les Sept Jours du talion (2002), Oniria (2004) et Le Vide (2007) ont conquis le grand public dès leur sortie des presses.
Outre Sur le seuil, porté au grand écran par Éric Tessier, des adaptations de tous ses romans, y compris Le Vide, sont présentement en développement, tant au Québec qu'à l'étranger.

Reviews

[Debra - can't post any comments on site today grrr · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

"...there is no bottom to hatred, you keep sinking deeper.."

Dr. Bruno Hamel's life changes when his seven-year-old daughter, Jasmine becomes the victim of a horrific crime. Grief Stricken, yet unable to cry, he hatches a plan of revenge. Not willing to let justice be served by the law, he decides he and only he is going to make this man pay. So, he devises a carefully crafted plan of revenge. He had thought of everything, except, he has not considered, Detective Hervé Mercure, who is clever, notices everything and is adept at studying clues.

“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster . . . when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you” -Friedrich Nietzsche

The blurb sums this book up perfectly. This is a story about when a monster becomes a victim and when a victim becomes a monster. Interesting premise. The Author also explores society's response to Dr. Hamel kidnapping and torturing his daughter's killer - they either support his actions or are against them. Many readers may think about where they might stand on the issue. How many people have made the proclamation "if someone hurts my kid, I will kill them" or something to that affect? But how many would act on that thought? How many would take matters into their own hands.

I enjoyed Detective Hervé Mercure and how he went about his investigation and how he made observations from observing people. He was adept at picking up both verbal and nonverbal communication. He was a clever investigator and I found myself rooting for him. Watching Dr. Hamel spiral into his increasingly sad state was difficult at times.

Be warned: There are extremely graphic torture scenes in this book.. This book is not for those who do not like such horrific scenes. The Author creates unsettling images and mental states of his characters on purpose to show just how horrific the torture is. He does not shy away from being gritty and raw. Neither does he shy away from taking the reader into the lives of a monster - one real and one that lives within.

Thought provoking, provocative and graphic.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Norma ~ The Sisters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting, provocative & thoroughly absorbing!

Cautionary warning: This book has extremely graphic scenes of torture.

SEVEN DAYS by PATRICK SENÉCAL is a gripping, dark, horrific, disturbing and fast-paced read that at times was even a little tough for me to read. I can usually handle quite a bit of explicit content by distancing myself from it so where the graphic scenes did make me pause a few times to catch my breath the storyline itself had me immediately hooked to fully immerse me in this tale.

I do consider this book to be a crime thriller but it does have a high dose of horror added in though. I found that mix of genres to be highly entertaining and an exciting book to read. The intensity level and suspense of this novel increases immensely over the course of what happens over those seven days that totally frightens and intrigues the reader. I definitely needed to know the outcome and come to terms with Dr. Bruno Hamel’s attempt to seek his own retribution and justice for the horrific crime that was inflicted on his daughter.

PATRICK SENÉCAL delivers quite the fascinating, intense, suspenseful and well-written read here with an extremely enthralling storyline. There is an aspect in this novel that haunts Dr. Hamel’s character that I am unable to elaborate on because of spoilers but I will say though that I thoroughly enjoyed the meaning and the message that it all entailed.

This novel definitely invokes some strong opinions that will have you questioning some of the actions of the characters and the subject matter. I thought the author did a great job at allowing us to come to our own opinions of how we felt about the characters and the storyline.

Expected Publishing Date: January 1, 2019

Norma’s Stats:
Cover: Definitely a creepy and sinister feeling happening here with this cover which represents the storyline extremely well.
Title: The title immediately piqued and grabbed my attention.
Writing/Prose: I enjoyed the author’s writing style.
Plot: Disturbing, provocative, emotive, thought-provoking, suspenseful, gripping, fast-paced, absorbing and extremely entertaining. Even though this book was a little tough to read it was an excellent one!
Ending: I was thoroughly impressed and completely satisfied with the way this story ended.
Overall: I thoroughly applaud the author with how the drama of this story all unfolded, making it one heck of a memorable and fantastic page-turner. Would highly recommend with caution though as some of the violence might be a little disturbing to some readers.

Thank you so much to Simon & Schuster Canada and Patrick Senécal for gifting me a physical advance uncorrected proof to read. I thoroughly enjoyed the reading experience!

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started reading this, I realized I had already read the book in 2018. Patrick Senécal is a popular Quebec writer; this was the only one translated into English. He has dozens of thrillers available in French, some translated into Italian, Spanish, and German. He has sold over a million books worldwide. At the end of 'Seven Days,' it was announced that a second English translation would be available in bookstores in 2020, and a selection from it was even included for reading. The book is called 'Silent Move,' but when I looked for it today, Amazon has announced the date of publication as December 31, 2045! Frustrating.
Here is my original review.

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon & Schuster, for an advanced copy of Seven Days in return for an honest review. Peter Senécal is a well-known Quebec writer. This is his first book translated into English, which should introduce his books to a wider audience. I would classify this novel mainly in the horror category and secondly as a police procedural. It does not fit into the mystery classification.

The prospective reader should be prepared for explicit scenes of graphic torture. Although this is a very dark and disturbing story, I did not deduct from my rating for the many scenes of extreme violence. I felt the book was well written, and the author accomplished his goal, always upping the tension and suspense throughout while leaving the reader terrified. I have to admit I felt sickened at times.

I feel there is a large audience for crime stories that throw horror into the mix. It is certainly not for everyone, but I was absorbed in the plot and despicable characters throughout. I was pleased to see that Seven Days included an excerpt from his second upcoming book in English, which also appears to be a horror story.It was to be titled 'Silent Move'. I have added it to my Must-Read list. 4 Stars

[Brenda ~The Sisters~Book Witch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven Days has been translated to English and was originally written in French. It was called Les Sept jours du talion – “seven days of retaliation”.

Seven Days is a story that explores the ethical questions of revenge. Dr Bruno Hamel is a grieving and distraught father who is out for revenge towards the monster who killed his daughter. He kidnaps and tortures him and as the story progressed we started to see how people react to knowing he is out for revenge.

Seven Days is a disturbing thriller that crosses over to horror. Patrick Senécal has been referred to as Quebec’s Stephen King. He doesn’t hold back here with the graphic details of torture. Pushing it almost to the point I started to struggle reading it. I started to question if there was more than one monster in this story. Just when I thought I had enough the story takes a turn and really started to get very interesting. We start to see what shapes Hamel as revenge turns into a monster itself and we see how this all affects him.

Patrick Senécal does a good job here creating our two main characters here with Dr. Bruno Hamel and Detective Mercure who tries to stop him from killing the monster. Mercure becomes the moral center of the story.

I was a bit worried about how this story was going to come together and I am glad I stuck with it. I thought it was cleverly written but maybe pushed it a bit too far with the graphic details that I felt stalled the story instead of driving it forward. In the end, I liked how it wrapped up and was very satisfied with the ending. I recommend with caution. It’s certainly not for everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada and Patrick Senécal for my copy to read and review.

[The Raven King - Feyzan · Rating 5 out of 5]

He has become too human. There is nothing more monstrous.

Perturbing, harrowing and extremely thought provoking.

I am having one of those staring-blankly-at-the-wall moment, and I am completely at a loss for words. It's a powerful book that will subjugate your thoughts completely, and will torture you with those very same lingering, hard to ignore, disturbing thoughts.

The blurb on the back of this book could not be more accurate. This story is about what happens when a victim becomes a monster and a monster becomes a victim. It's an enthralling, thought provoking book about morality and human psyche and can be used as a case study for a psychology class to highlight how different people can have different definition for morality, and how I vs them approach can make us do inexplicable things. It literally made me question my own morality and I hated myself for feeling sympathetic for the sick pedophile.

I have heard so many people say that they would do anything for their kids. But how far are they actually willing to go when they say that? How far is too far?

It's a very well researched and thought out book. I didn't feel anything was over the top; whatever was happening in the book felt real and believable. It portrayed a close to life picture of how society would react, if this were to happen in real life.

But that’s just it, it’s not happening to somebody else, it’s happening to me!” Hamel replied with surprising anger. “That makes all the difference! I’m the victim of the dog! Me!”

Synopsis

Dr. Bruno Hamel, a surgeon, a loving father and a devoted husband turns to violence when his 7 year old daughter becomes the victim of a heinous crime. Consumed with grief and vengeance he devises a clever plan to kidnap the monster who raped and killed his daughter from the courthouse. And In the course of seven days he perform extremely despicable and disgusting form physical torture on the rapist.

But there’s no bottom to hatred, you keep sinking deeper, and I realized that as long as that man existed in my mind, I couldn’t exist.

The author sagaciously and realistically wrote the police investigation. It was extremely refreshing to see a capable and adept police department and an investigator making rational and clever decisions in a book. The author also showed us a very fascinating and very lifelike picture of society's divided reaction on the kidnapping and torture of the rapist.

My favorite scene was when the lead investigator - Herve Mercure, visited the prison to meet the murderer of his wife as two important things happened in this scene: we got to see the distinction between Mercure, who chose the right way to balance the scale of justice and Dr. Hamel, who chose violence. And the second thing, that also left a great impact on me, was Mercure realizing that his visits to the murderer of his wife were a form of torture, that by visiting he was, unintentionally, making him relive his sin again and again, and that he wasn't very different from Dr. Hamel in this regard. It took me a while to fully grasp and process this scene. For this scene only this book deserve 5 stars and all the praise in this world.

There are all sorts of monsters. Some are monsters their whole lives, some are monsters just for a brief moment, and some are monsters without even knowing it.

I think is is the most underrated book I have ever read. I urge everyone to read it.

PS: as you must have already guessed this book comes with a trigger warning for rape and violence.

[alittlelifeofmel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's some context for this book:
I first heard about Patrick Senecal when my aunt came to visit me in Western Canada. I lived in an English part of Canada and could understand french fluently but I could not read or speak it. But my aunt came to visit and was talking about this horrific book she was reading. Not horrific in the writing, more in the plot; she loved it. That book was called Hell.com by Patrick Senecal. He's kind of known as the Stephen King of the french world. Since then, I've wanted to read his books. Hearing her talk about how messed up it was pumped me up. I would periodically check online if his books were being translated to english, but no such luck. I was 16/17 when this happened. I am now 25. Imagine my surprise one day when I go on the Indigo website and see that they're recommending 'Seven Days' by Patrick Senecal to me? I was in absolute JOY. I screamed, I was so happy. I left 3 hours early for work to go buy it. I started it in line to pay. I had waited 7-8 years for this book and I finally had it.
Now, this is not a translation of Hell.com sadly, infact the next translation is also not a translation of hell.com, but it didn’t matter to me. As long as I got to read his work.

Seven Days follows a doctor whos 7 year old daughter is raped and murdered, and he decided to kidnap the man responsible and torture him for 7 days.
It's a story of the psychology of humans. What happens when the monster becomes the victim and the victim becomes the monster. What happens in society when we see someone who we consider a monster in a terrible situation. Are we morally obligated to save them? To protect them? To care if they are going through terrible things? This book touches upon all of that and so well. It causes the reader to also have conflicting emotions, and you are put through the same dilemmas as many of the other characters.

I think the writing is well done, I think the translation is good, and I think the story is amazing. I do think there's a little work that could be done in his writing, but from what I understand this is one of his older books, so I assume he's improved quite a bit since then.

[Greg at 2 Book Lovers Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d heard quite a bit of praise for Patrick Senécal, even before I knew that the English version of Les Sept Jours de Talion was going to be released. To be honest, I’m surprised that it took this long for one of his books to come to the English audience. With the comparisons to King and Nesbo, my expectations rose even higher.

Without getting into the plot, Seven Days is a thought-provoking book. What is a monster? Just because you feel justified in your actions, does it make them the right thing to do? How do you deal with pain and loss? Do you have to forgive to forget?

Senécal wove his scenario together to address all of these themes. He created any parent’s nightmare: the abduction and murder of a young child. I found myself thinking about cases that I remember from the past; what would I do in Dr. Hamel’s place?

Seven Days goes to some brutally dark places; could I/would I go there if that happened to my family? Was it brutal and dark enough compared to the actions of the villain? These are some hard questions to answer.

I love a dark and twisted police procedural. Some of my favorite fictional characters are detectives with an albatross around their necks. This is the point that I felt Seven Days was most lacking. While Hervé Mercure did have a troubled past, it just didn’t feel as overwhelming as I have seen in the past, and expected from Senécal.

Seven Days is a great introduction to Senécal’s work. It is a stand-alone that is entertaining, thought-provoking and cringe-worthy.

*I received a copy of the book from the publisher (via NetGalley).

[Laura Wonderchick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is NOT for the faint of heart! If you can’t handle violence or gore then don’t read it. With that in mind, I LOVED this book! It was a warped rendition of Misery times 10000! In all seriousness, it takes a long hard look at what you say you’d do if someone harmed your family and what you’d really do. Brilliant and intense!

[NILTON TEIXEIRA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was debating if I should rate it 4 or 3 stars. The story line is great and the reading is very fast and easy to follow. I can’t judge the writing as it was translated from French, but the translation seems to be very good, but I’m sure that something went missing because I felt totally detached. I read some reviews and mostly considered this one to be very violent (graphic) but I was not disturbed about it (especially if you have read “The Alienist”, “The Orenda”, “Mr. Murder”, “The Name of The Rose”, “Hideway” or Pierre Lemaitre’s trilogy, just to name a few). Anyways, the story is engaging and I didn’t want to stop reading, but I did find that it did drag for too long. I will definitely check for his other books.

[Toni Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original title: “Sept Jours du Talion”

This new acquisition by Simon & Schuster was recently translated into English the original French version came out in 2002 and in 2010 was adapted for cinema by Podz. Why I am mentioning this? Simple… I have a soft spot for Canadian authors and even more for those living in my Province (Québec) and near my city. I haven’t read any books from Mr. Senécal before and I am grateful for the publisher as well as Netgalleys for introducing me to a wonderful writer. Thank you for the ARC.

Stephen King may be the king of horror in the USA but in Québec Patrick Senécal is the local master of horror and has had the opportunity on many occasions to prove that he had earned his nobility. It is great time that the English audience have a chance to read his novels. Mr. Senécal has won my heart and is now on my watch list.

A warning: this story is extremely graphic and not for the faint of heart.

In a few words:

“Seven Days" tells the story of the kidnapping and torture of a sexual predator by the father of one of his victims. It also follows the police investigation to bring the criminal to justice which also raises several ethical questions, especially since the father's gesture is applauded by the public.

This story is about revenge, which takes place over ten days, including the seven days during which the main character, Bruno Hamel, a surgeon by profession, takes revenge without mercy on the one who annihilated the existence of his daughter and, by extension, his. It doesn’t take long before this story takes fantasies of a horror novel. The plot imagined by Mr. Senécal is of a rare intensity, and the detailed descriptions make some bloody scenes very difficult to read. It is impossible to accuse the author of displaying gratuitous violence, because each of the gestures of Bruno Hamel, we feel, is provoked by the intense madness that has seized him. Being in his shoes, I imagine we would wish having the guts to do the same.

Furthermore this novel touches two very sensitive issues: child safety and the right of victims to fight back. Regardless of our opinion on the subject, it is impossible to remain indifferent to the drama unfolding before our eyes. This story is still strong in my mind and will be there for some time…..

“Seven Days” is very well-written and is played by a cast of strong characters. Excellent read and an outstanding page-turner.

[Matty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Selon moi Patrick Sénécal est un auteur bien plus accomplit que Stephen King. Non seulement il a des histoires beaucoup réalistes, mais il insère juste assez d'éléments fantastiques pour que l'on puisse croire qu'il y a autre chose à l'oeuvre. Ce qui rend la chose encore plus épeurante.

"Les sept jours du talion" est différent des autres roman de Sénécal. Si on regarde "Sur le seuil", "Le Vide" ou alors "5150 ru des ormes", ce sont tous des histoires qui font peur (ce qui ne change rien a la puissance de sa plume). Par contre, ce roman peut être considéré comme un roman de société. Qui n'a jamais déjà avouer de vouloir condamner à mort un criminel ayant commis des actes atroces? Qui n'ai jamais été tenté de prendre la justice en ses propres mains lorsqu'un grand tort leur a été fait? C'est ce qui fait la force de ce roman: au début on peut facilement comprendre les actes de Bruno Hamel, mais au fur et à mesure que l'histoire se développe, on y remarque de profonds changements.

Autre chose d'intéressante dans les romans de Sénécal: le rapport au corps des individus. Les tortures qu'inflige Hamel au "monstre" ont tous une sorte de logique derrière eux. Évidemment, Hamel se croit détenteur de justice en torturant sa victime, mais il y a des changement même chez sa propre personne, autant au niveau physique que psychologique. C'est cet aspect psychologique qui rend l'écriture de Sénécal aussi intéressante.

Voilà l'élément qui rend Sénécal supérieur à King dans les romans d'éprouvante/suspense: le fait que le mal est quelque chose qui peut surgir en n'importe qui, et pour des raisons différentes.

[Virginie Roy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lu en 2007.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review can be found on my blog here: https://booksonthebookshelf.wordpress...

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Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy of this book.

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Wow what a thrill of a ride! Be sure to buckle your seatbelt! I found myself so deeply immersed in this dark and gripping story, that I could not wait to see what would happen next. A dark, edgy story that follows a man on his mission for revenge – revenge on the “monster” who took the life of his little girl. What ensues will shock you! I know it shocked me! I flipped through the pages and could not put this book down.

I felt so many emotions for the main character in this novel, Dr. Bruno Hamel. He seemed like a well known, respected doctor, loving and doting husband and father, full of kindness and love. Then tragedy strikes and it is like a monster emerges. He turns dark and twisted, and turns on the man responsible. Will Hamel continue to listen to the demons inside his mind or will he triumph over his demons and set things right? At times I felt sorry for Hamel and everything he went through, but then I despised him at times for giving into the demons and being unable to battle the monster within. Then as the story continued I felt sorry for him all over again.

A truly great novel that was a joy and pleasure to read.

[Carole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrick Senécal is a bestselling French-Canadian author whose novel Seven Days, first published in the early 2000s, has been translated to English by Howard Scott and Phyllis Aronoff for publication Jan. 1/19. His writing style has been compared to Stephen King's. The book deals with a tragedy that happens to Dr. Bruno Hamel and his partner Sylvie: their young daughter Jasmine is brutally murdered. Dr. Hamel's overwhelming grief takes over and leads him to kidnapping the man responsible in order to avenge Jasmine's murder. The chase is now on with the police lead by Detective Mercure. The plot is difficult for the reader who must decide which man is the real criminal. It is a tense and often gory read but it is one heck of a ride. It is hoped that more of Patrick Senécal's novels will be translated. He is an author to be discovered by an English audience. Highly recommended. Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Roxanne Godin · Rating 5 out of 5]

La douleur comme parent de perdre un enfant de cette façon appelle chez le lecteur une empathie indéfinissable. Patrick Senécal soulève toujours des questionnements très pertinents dans ces romans, dont dans celui-ci. Comment réagirions-nous à la perte de notre enfant par un geste aussi dénué de sens? L'auteur relance habilement le débat sempiternel, soit le destin que devraient connaître les violeurs et les tueurs. Avec ce livre, on vit de fortes émotions avec le protagoniste en proie à une perte indescriptible, on revisite notre position face à la peine infligée aux assassins et, immanquablement avec Patrick Senécal, on assiste avec morbidité et une mystérieuse fascination à la violence et à l'expérimentation du mal.

[Nadège Garneau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow wow wow, 2e livre de Patrick et je ne comprend pas pourquoi je n'ai pas lu ses livres avant cette année. J'étais impatiente de savoir ce qu'il allait se passer, un vrai page turner !!!! Je suis mitigé des gestes poser sur Lemaire, au fond j'ai ressenti un peu de pitié pour lui. La douleur de Bruno reste quand même comprenable et je trouve que la fin est bien fait, une belle réflexion que nous apporte Diane.

[Barbara McEwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - gory and fast-paced, and trying to be something more. Not sure if it completely suceeded. There aren't really any surprises or anything you don't forsee from the start.

[Antoine Lebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce livre nous fait sentir le déclin mental d’un père qui a perdu sa fille. C’est avec les dents qui grincent que j’ai traversé ce livre.

[Leona Bulgin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, full of plot twists and interesting characters.

Highly recommended

[Aqsa]

Read Feyzan's review, you won't be able to resist this:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Ariane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pas possible de décrocher, un super style d’écriture, des aspects psychologiques qui portent à réfléchir, une dégueulasserie qui te donne envie de vomir, un chef-d’oeuvre quoi .

[Steve Stred · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone born and raised in Canada, my French is horrific. I know a few words and phrases but considering I wrote my French 10 exam in English, I’ve kind of given up hope of mastering the language.

Over the last decade, Patrick Senécal’s name is one I’ve seen a lot up here. Through targeted ads, books in Chapters/Indigo/Coles and even in Costco, he has built an incredible readership and the numbers sold support that. But – all of his books have been in French. Until ‘Seven Days.’ I was still not sure if this book was for me. My friend, Randall Perry suggested I might like it but to understand that the potential for some ‘lost in translation’ could rear its head (I’m looking at you author of HEX). I then saw this blurb;

“A visceral thriller propelled by the seething, heartbreaking passion of revenge. Senécal holds nothing back, which is what makes reading him feel so dangerous.” – Andrew Pyper, bestselling author of The Only Child and The Demonologist.

I said, ‘Hey! I know that guy!’ So, I reached out to Andrew to ask him if he thought I’d dig it, and he said the same thing as Randall. Solid, solid book, but be aware some translation issues might arise.

So, with two ‘solid read’ recommendations from two folks who know the world of dark fiction, I decided to dive in. I have to say – for the few of you who read my reviews – you’ll never believe what I found.

**Trigger warnings ahead here for those who need them – child death/rape/extreme abuse/animal death**

What I liked: ‘Seven Days’ follows the story of surgeon, Dr. Bruno Hamel, whose seven-year-old daughter is found raped and dead near her school. When the suspect is arrested, Bruno decides that the normal justice system isn’t enough and hatches a plan to kidnap the man. He does so and then contacts the police – for seven days he will torture the man and then kill him, and once he does that, he will turn himself in.

So begins a horrifying journey into Bruno’s mind as well as a cat and mouse game between him and the police. They’re on a desperate search to locate him, hoping to prevent Bruno from murdering the man, while also saving the man and bringing him to justice.

Senécal offers us an extreme horror novel with plenty of revenge gore and torture, while also giving us a psychological thriller. At the same time – he offers up some truly deep and troubling questions for the reader to digest. What would you do if you were in this situation? Would you let the police handle everything or would you take the law into your own hands? To the readers benefit, Senécal teases this out throughout the days and even begins to trickle out some spiderwebs as the story grows bigger in the local news. Protestors – for and against – take to the streets, arguing why Hamel should or shouldn’t be doing what he’s doing.

Not lost in all of this is the ramifications of Hamel’s partner, Sylvie. We get to see the change between them as a couple but also in her as she realizes the man she loved no longer exists.

The textures that Senécal paints this story with were top notch and it all leads up to that last and final day when everything comes to a head. The finale is claustrophobic and anxiety-laden and done so very, very well.

What I didn’t like: There were a few odd translated phrases, but it wasn’t anything extreme. What I did notice was a significant amount/reliance on exclamation points – which may be the only way in English to accentuate what was meant in French.

I would add – I didn’t really understand the ‘big psychological’ moment that affected Hamel so deeply. Sure, it was disturbing, but the guy was a surgeon and an ER attending doctor, surely he would’ve experienced far worse trauma. Maybe the point was that his experienced career of trauma finally broke him? Geez, look at me discovering things while writing this review!

Why you should buy this: This was a literary level torture novel. The writing in this was top notch and I think that’s what stands this apart from some of the poorly done ‘shock’ novels that are out there. Senécal worked closely with a physician to ensure what happens is possible and I think that makes it even more disturbing. Additionally, I think the way the bad guy responds and degrades was really well done. No unrealistic fight back or escape.

Senécal has truly delivered a home run with this one. A dark, brooding, introspective piece that also has some horrendously awful brutality and gore.

I see that he’s supposed to have another English release coming – teased at the end of this book – but it might be delayed? Either way, Senécal wormed his way into my psyche with this one. An outstanding and unflinchingly depraved read.

[Mommy Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bruno Hamel is a surgeon living in Drummondville with his wife and seven year old daughter. He lives a very normal life, until one afternoon, his daughter, Jasmine, is raped and murdered. On the day of the trial, Bruno comes with a malicious plan: he will kidnap the monster and torture him for what he did to his daughter. He leaves a message for the police: he will torture the man who murdered his daughter for seven days and then execute him. Only then will Hamel surrender himself.

Patrick Sénécal was one of my favorite authors when I was in High School. That was, before I started reading in English. I've read and loved all his books, including Les 7 jours du talion (7 Days). The other day, when I was surfing on NetGalley and saw this book, I originally thought it was a new one and was surprised the author now write in English. Only to find out it was a traduction from one of his books. I had loved his french work and re-reading it again in English brought back memories. It's no secret the author is famous for the violence and cruelty in his novels. This one is no exception, where the author does not spare the reader in the descriptions of the horrific punishments a vengeful father inflicts on the suspect. If you love reading horror stories, I highly recommend this book. 7 Days will have you sitting on the edge of your seat from the first page right up until the very last.

[Kelsey Hlavaty (readingwithkelsey) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel had an interesting premise and was sometimes thrilling, especially towards the end. It obviously has an incredibly difficult subject matter, and there were many scenes in this novel that were extremely hard to read. Part of why I really did not enjoy this novel was to how graphic the scenes were. It is not because I myself was queasy reading them; it would have been fine if they were necessary which I don't believe they were. I think Senécal could have done without them (or at least, some of them) and he would have had the same message conveyed. Ironically, despite these monstrous torture scenes, I still felt like the book's ending was missing something and overall I just feel meh about it.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting story. It has a lot to do with human monsters and morals. This would have been a 5 star read except for one very graphic scene including a dog which dropped it down a star for my rating.

[Iwan Mourad · Rating 4 out of 5]

a psychological warfare tbh, but pretty good shoutout patrick

[marguerite · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 lis Aliss à la place🤭

[Michel Benoit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un autre chef d’oeuvre de Senécal!! 👌

Je comprends absolument pourquoi ce roman à été développé en film. (2010).
Vous feriez quoi avec le meurtrier de votre enfant si vous le kidnappé pour 7 jours?? 😨

[Andy Appleby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mon premier "vrai" roman d'adulte que j'ai lu (secondaire 3 environ). Avant ça, j'avais lu que des BDs et des trucs jeunesses.

[Mélissa Bélanger · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5