Review: White Leopard by Laurent Guillaume

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Solo Camara is a former cop from France with a dark past and now, a P.I. in Mali. He takes an ordinary missing-person case and ends up dealing with murder and corruption. The translation of French into English hasn’t diminished the poetic rhythm of the language, or the use of setting as a character. The desperation of poverty that drives men and women to do awful things to survive and feed their families is palpable. You can feel the heat and sweat.

Solo has lost his wife and child. He lives life unafraid of death. This bull-headed protagonist pulls the reader through the blood and beating scenes making your heart race. I had to cheer for him each time he survived and continued his plot for revenge against the bad guys, but the sex scenes with the French lawyer are brutal. The “Me Too” movement wouldn’t approve.

I didn’t approve, but I kept turning the pages of this modern noir classic. Rated: 5-Star