Richard's Reviews > Fatale

Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette

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201275
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May 13, 11

Read from May 12 to 13, 2011

OK, that was pretty awesome. A short, fast-paced noir that builds to a blood drenched, uncompromising finale and a fantastic last couple of lines that are just too much (which makes it even better!) The opening is pretty great too, a doomed hunting expedition, dropping you right into the work of the main character, a mysterious killer for hire, a nihilist, adept at disguise and disappearing on a dime. Her MO ("Modus Operandi!" - to quote Gordon Cole) is to go from town to town, creating a temporary new identity, finding the town's biggest problem citizen and then someone to hire her to kill them. Her own problems start, of course, when she starts to care, and realizes how many people in her latest stop deserve to be knocked off. Along the way, you find out some of her motivations and more about her life, enough so that, when the end comes, even with that ridiculous (and great!) last line, it's like a righteous brick through a windshield.

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