Caryl Férey's new thriller takes readers into Lakota territory, to mixed reviews
The globe-trotting crime writer sets his latest novel among the Sioux of South Dakota, earning praise for its portrait of the community but criticism for an awkward stylistic choice.
Caryl Férey, known for setting his thrillers in far-flung locations from South Africa to Colombia to the Faroe Islands, has published "Lakota," a novel set among the Sioux community of South Dakota, according to Télérama and Le Temps.
The story opens in Minneapolis, where the Mississippi River drags past the docks, before moving into the Black Hills. Le Temps describes the central characters as Winona, a 38-year-old street educator, and her younger brother Duane, who favors horses, rodeos and strong drink. Their father, Jake Crow Dog, nicknamed "le Général" by his children and described by the paper as a "condensé des défaites indiennes," is a notorious alcoholic and former soldier who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is found dead in the Mississippi, a death police rule an accident.
Le Temps praises the book's precision and its blend of historical and contemporary material on the Lakota, calling Férey meticulous and surprising, and noting that the suspense loses nothing to the depth of the subject matter.
Télérama takes a more critical view. While it credits Férey with well-drawn characters, it faults the novel for an uneven investigative plot and for what it calls an awkward, at times uncomfortable, use of erotic poetry that the reviewer says undermines parts of the narrative.
The novel is on the program at Livres sur les quais in Morges, according to Le Temps, which previews the festival's lineup.
Sources
This article was written from these reports.
