The Adversary

A disturbing look at the dark side of human nature that is powerfully written and beautifully told -- Louis Theroux
The story told here is truly beyond the imagination for even the best crime writer * Sunday Times *
The mesmerizing true crime tale of an apparently ordinary man whose life mutates in the space of a few blood-splattering hours from the realm of Renoir to that of Stephen King * People *
He’s the best kind of writer, not just a bestseller but a man who is not afraid to leave the comfort zone of his desk, go out into the world, take risks, and get his shoes dirty * Observer *
Unputdownable... Imagine a sleek, twenty-first century version of In Cold Blood * Washington Post *
A triumph of insight and concision, brilliant both as a psychological study and as the portrayal of a community * Independent on Sunday *
A masterpiece... It's a level of moral discomfort almost without equal in literature * New York Times *
Savagely intense and utterly compelling... This is his paciest and cleanest-cut book...few books could better deserve a second chance to find new readers * Sunday Times *
The Adversary is exactly the idea I have of a modern novel: struggling deftly with facts and with itself
An absolutely stunning piece of work, totally involving and unforgettable * Evening Standard *
This is the sort of story I dreamed of covering when I was a journalist. The sort of story for which the phrase You couldn’t make it up was invented. The Adversary takes a deep, mesmerising dive into the darkness of a human soul. There were moments when I truly could not believe what I was reading. But unlike other serial killer noirs sitting on my shelves, this horror is real. And so much more chilling for that.
[A] book that fairly struck me over the head was The Adversary… it’s the coexistence of almost unimaginably variant realities within a family that haunts you. -- Megan Nolan * New Statesman, *Books of the Year* *
A remarkably thoughtful and unnerving book...mesmerising * Sunday Telegraph *
Profoundly disturbing...a remarkable and undoubtedly important book - perhaps even a necessary one * Daily Express *
A fascinating meditation on Jean-Claude Romand and what his bizarre life might mean... Carrère's inquiry is highly personal, written in lucid prose...the narrative is often mesmerizing, and revealing about the fragility of human relationships * New York Times *