Autumn of the Phantoms

Inspector Llob #3

by Yasmina Khadra

Brahim Llob, Khadra's policeman-turned-detective writer is summoned by the chief of Algerian police and fired for having published Morituri, the book which the establishment considers dishonorable and full of lies - and in actuality, Yasmina Khadra's previous book in this series.... After revisiting his hometown, Llob becomes the victim of an attack by a GIA commando, and goes back to Algiers. In this third volume of the Inspector Llob series, fiction and reality intermesh against the pervasive violence of war-torn Algeria.

Genres: Crime, Fiction

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Yasmina Khadra (Arabic: ياسمينة خضراء‎, literally "green jasmine") is the pen name of the Algerian author Mohammed Moulessehoul.
Moulessehoul, an officer in the Algerian army, adopted a woman's pseudonym to avoid military censorship. Despite the publication of many successful novels in Algeria, Moulessehoul only revealed his true identity in 2001 after leaving the army and going into exile and seclusion in France. Anonymity was the only way for him to survive and avoid censorship during the Algerian Civil War.
In 2004, Newsweek acclaimed him as "one of the rare writers capable of giving a meaning to the violence in Algeria today."
His novel The Swallows of Kabul, set in Afghanistan under the Taliban, was shortlisted for the 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. L'Attentat won the Prix des libraires in 2006, a prize chosen by about five thousand bookstores in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada.
Khadra pledges for becoming acquainted with the view of the others. In an interview with the German radio SWR1 in 2006, he said “The West interprets the world as he likes it. He develops certain theories that fit into its world outlook, but do not always represent the reality. Being a Muslim, I suggest a new perspective on Afghanistan, on the religious fanaticism and the, how I call it - religiopathy. My novel, the The Swallows of Kabul, gives the readers in the West a chance to understand the core of a problem that he usually only touches on the surface. Because the fanaticism is a threat for all, I contribute to the understanding of the causes and backgrounds. Perhaps then it will be possible to find a way to bring it under control.”

Reviews

[M M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is difficult to place in either crime or thriller genres. It is much much more than escapism. It is social criticism, a withering lambasting of the censorship laws in Algeria, a powerful cry against the constant undercurrent of fundamentalist terror. An (autobiographical, I think) Inspector Llob has written a book showing the country and the army in poor light and he is forcibly thrown out of the force; he is targeted by a terrorist bomber and, while recuperating, pulled into the surreal world of the super-rich and intellectual Algiers, where he finds that corruption and power work hand-in-hand. [Yasmina Khadra is the pseudonym of Mohammed Moulessehoul, a high-ranking military officer in the Algerian armed forces, who was castigated and vilified for writing what were considered lies about the incestuous nexus between the government and the radicals.]

[Sjonni]

Encore une fois, même écriture caricaturale débile où chaque nom est systématiquement suivi d'un adjectif, où il y a surenchère d'expressions cliché franchement insupportables (les babines se pourlèchent TOUTES) et où chaque réplique apporte un rouspétage qui se veut cinglant mais qui est surtout incompréhensible.

Malgré tout, les propos de Khadra concernant les événements survenus en Algérie depuis 30 ans rachètent le ton criard par leur pertinence et leur justesse.

[Silvio111 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just started this book, and I realize I have started in the middle of a series.
Just want to note my delight at finding a writer who seems to be the love child of Albert Camus and Raymond Chandler. To find a mystery writer who feels deeply the pain of society's disrespect for poets and philosphers while dealing first hand with his country's climate of violence and fundamentalist tension really got my attention. More when I finish the book!

[Juan de Dios Reyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como lo expresé en los dos libros anteriores de esta trilogía, me interesa sobre todo el conocer algo acerca ce un país que me es tan ajeno como Argelia y en un momento particular de su historia, pero me pierdo con los personajes al resultarme ajenos sus nombres y muy difícil de retenerlos para luego identificarlos... En fin! Lo distinto de este libro es que ahora más me parece un intento de justificarse y alabarse por parte del autor más que de contar una historia... No entiendo por qué es tan reconocido, el autor, por otros escritores que sí me gustan mucho (como Coetzee por ejemplo... o al menos eso dicen)

[Malena Ortiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Otro relato del Comisario Llob que merece ser leído, aunque más oscuro que las otros relatos de la Trilogía de Argel. Un aprpopiado telón de cierre.