Un sale hiver

Karl Kane #3

by Sam Millar

« Sarcastique, sexy, dramatique et original. » Stern

Une enquête de Karl Kane

Il neige dru sur Belfast lorsque, tôt le matin, Karl Kane, allant chercher le lait devant sa porte, y trouve aussi une main sectionnée. La deuxième à se matérialiser dans la ville en quelques semaines. Que signifient ces macabres cartes de visite ? Attiré par la récompense substantielle qu’offre un homme d’affaires inquiet pour la réputation de la ville, Kane enquête. Un caïd local, brute impitoyable qui contrôle la drogue et la prostitution, retient son attention. De bars crapoteux, où des clients à la sexualité incertaine n’hésitent pas à sortir leur couteau, en bordels lamentables, Kane aborde une nouvelle descente en enfer. Son humour caustique et son code moral inaltérable ne seront pas de trop pour affronter l’épreuve.

Né à Belfast en 1958, Sam Millar a fait de la prison en Irlande du Nord comme activiste politique, et aux États-Unis comme droit-commun. Gracié, il rentre au pays et écrit : deux romans noirs, un récit autobiographique (On the Brinks), puis la série Karl Kane : Les Chiens de Belfast, Le Cannibale de Crumlin Road et, aujourd’hui, Un sale hiver, tous publiés au Seuil.

Traduit de l’anglais (Irlande) par Patrick Raynal

Genres: Crime, Ireland

269 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

An award-winning crime writer of numerous true and fiction crime books. Dark Souls, On The Brinks, The Redemption Factory, The Darkness of Bones, Bloodstorm, and The Dark Place.



Best-selling memoir acquired by Warner Brothers.

Reviews

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like noir, you’ll love this book.

Karl Kane, P.I. in the mold of Sam Spade, wakes up one morning only to discover a hand (minus a finger that a local cat was making off with.) He calls the police and figures that’s the end of it until his secretary and bedmate, the gorgeous (of course) Naomi mentions there’s a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the killer. Apparently there had been another hand found belonging to someone else. An abattoir plays a prominent role in the story.

Soon Kane is up to his eyeballs in a complex tale of vengeance and police corruption that had begun during the Troubles with the arson killing of three children. It’s set in Belfast just after the peace accords when many grudges have yet to be settled.

Solid story. Not sure what happened to the $20,000 though.

[Morgane - · Rating 1 out of 5]

La lune ressemblant au testicule géant m'a quelque peu sortie de ma lecture... Je ne vais pas pouvoir continuer je pense ... SORRYNOTSORRY

[Clarabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roman noir par excellence, l'ambiance est aux petits oignons et nous sert un bon bouillon de cynisme, d'ironie et de sarcasme. Après Les chiens de Belfast, puis Le Cannibale de Crumlin Road, ce troisième tome de la série est un rendez-vous incontournable, pour qui apprécie les intrigues féroces et les personnages sur la corde raide. Karl Kane ne fait pas dans la dentelle, mais son rôle s'étoffe au fil des épisodes pour révéler une facette autrement plus humaine et attachante.

http://blogclarabel.canalblog.com/arc...

[Homicidal Muffin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know what happened with this book. I feel there could have been so much more. The book itself was very short and it seems as though Sam didn't put all his effort into it. Instead of more detail and character background's he filled the pages with unnecessary dialog between Karl and his girlfriend which added nothing to the story, like added fluff just to fill pages. The actual crimes and characters could have been fabulous. I don't know who he used to run this by prior to publishing but they failed him miserably. I was disappointed. This isn't what I'm used to coming from Sam.
If you've never read Millar do not start with this book. In my opinion it doesn't reflect the type of work he normally puts out.

Write me Sam, we need to talk.

[Jer Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Belfast Noir is laugh out loud funny and deadly serious. The Karl Kane books are my new favourite serial killer series.

[La Livrophile]

«Un sale hiver» m'a plu, tout comme les deux premiers tomes de la série. Là encore, l'auteur crée une énigme dont il donne rapidement certaines réponses, ainsi, le lecteur connaît certains éléments, et tente d'imaginer ce qui manque. Ce qui m'a plu, c'est que même si j'avais deviné des choses (que j'ai trouvées parce que l'auteur l'a bien voulu) je n'avais pas compris quel était le mobile. En outre, à un moment, quelque chose que je ne parvenais pas à caser dans l'enchaînement des faits est arrivé. J'ai eu beau chercher, je n'arrivais pas à tout assembler. Lorsque j'ai eu la réponse, je me suis dit que j'avais été stupide, et que c'était évident. Soit, mais je n'ai pensé cela qu'après avoir eu la solution. ,-) Pour moi, cela montre encore que l'auteur a habilement joué. D'autre part, malheureusement, les faits qui ont mené à cette série de meurtres sont très réalistes.[...]Lire la suite sur:

[Isabelle Larocque · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un détective qui deviendra je pense un de mes favoris, dans la veine de Varg Veum. J'aime son sens de la répartie. évidemment il y a le classique qu'il se fait battre à plusieurs reprises et sans sort plus ou moins indemme, mais bon ca va avec le personnahe du détective privé... je recommande

[Patrick Fabri · Rating 2 out of 5]

J'ai eu l'impression de lire un polar qui aurait pu être excellent, mais les dialogues du personnage et de sa femme qui se veulent drôles(?) et un érotiques (?) sont banals et lourdingue. Dommage!

[Mila Caron · Rating 2 out of 5]

100% this book wasn't for me, it was just so so so so boring, it took me forever to turn one page after the other.

[Tomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of a confusing mess, I found it hard to follow this outing.

[Druss · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read

[Derrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, the sign of a meaningful series is the main character is interesting and engaging from the beginning and starts to get more fleshed out and fully developed as the series goes along. The Karl Kane series is one of the best series being generated today.
In anticipation of the newest addition to the series, I read the previous two novels in succession and dove right into Dead of Winter. In the series, Kane has certainly been fleshed out as a man with true moral convictions and the three books contain an abundance of meaningful characters that drive his story forward.
Kane is driven by his underlying guilt for an event that happened in his past and has shaped him as a man always looking to right a wrong and make amends for what he perceives as his inability to protect the ones he loves from harm. His attempts at living a righteous life are thwarted by his former brother-in-law now Chief Detective, corrupt cops, and even his loved ones who want to shelter him from himself.
This addition to the series centers on a theme of revenge for crimes committed to love ones. The theme works wonderfully as we witness Kane holding fast to his belief that he can find inner salvation by attempt to solve the current crime spree and the tension that mounts as he races against the clock and the police to do just that.
While the book would be more than enjoyable as a stand alone, the book references many plot points from the other Kane novels and you will be more than rewarded to read the series in order.
Overall, this book stands out in the world of hardboiled novels. A great book and a great addition to an outstanding series

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A number of gruesome murders are committed in Belfast and a private investigator starts to examine the case when a reward is offered.

The first half of this book is excellent, with a really good pace and gripping storyline, but I found the second half to plodding and the motives / actions of the characters to be a be plodding.

[Robert Brunet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un peu moins bon que les deux précédents de la série Karl Kane. La fin nous laisse.croire à une foule de rebondissements lors du prochain.