Released in September, Torrents is the third thriller by Christian Carayon. Blending small and large history, this noir novel will reveal all the secrets of the Neyrat family, which will be swept away by tumultuous waters.
When body parts are discovered in the Fontmile river, the small town is gripped with emotion. The two victims are young women who had been missing for a long time, one of whom was the girlfriend of François, the son of the eminent surgeon Pierre Neyrat.
Pierre is reported by his own daughter, and François, shaken by these events, will attempt to piece together the past and uncover the truth.
With a unique style, Christian Carayon weaves a dark story, a noir novel that will bring to light the secrets of the Neyrat family because while Torrents is indeed a detective story, it is also a family story. Accused by his eldest daughter, Marie, from a previous marriage, Pierre becomes the prime suspect in the investigation. An influential surgeon, yet also a quiet and secretive figure, Pierre Neyrat enjoys isolating himself in his small cabin near the river, and his past is unknown to everyone.
After his hearing, François, with the help of Camus, a former cop and his father’s best friend, will try to discover if his father could really be the author of these heinous crimes because, despite everything, doubt lingers.
Christian Carayon presents a complex family portrait at the heart of this novel. Pierre, the iconic figure, Estelle, his gentle and somewhat withdrawn wife, their two children, Valentine and François, and Marie, the eldest daughter.
The novel is divided into four parts, narrated respectively by Camus, Pierre, and François. Tracing the thread of the novel, we will plunge again into the dark and not always glorious past of the post-war period, while conducting the investigation alongside François.
Perfectly written, Torrents is imbued with a heavy atmosphere, that of a sordid crime, that of a small town that will make life difficult for the Neyrat family, and that of the troubled post-war past. Christian Carayon, who teaches history and geography in high school, brings all his expertise to make us feel this often-unspoken period of history, but also to bring to life the town of Fontmile and the gorges of Vissalès, whose contours and the violence of the torrent we can perfectly visualize.
Torrents by Christian Carayon is a heart-wrenching family thriller, enriched by its depth, its writing, and its character psychology. Christian Carayon will carry you away in a flood of emotions!
