I abhor violence, both in life and in literature. Crime fiction and thrillers seem to thrive on violence, therefore I'm usually not attracted to books within the genre. However, when Pascal Garnier adds elements of existentialism or Stieg Larsson addresses social and cultural issues, count me in.
Inhuman Resources by French crime writer Pierre Lemaitre contains lots of violence and action and thrills but there's also Pascal Garnier existentialism and Stieg Larsson social commentary revolving around a topic I find endlessly fascinating - corporate culture.
For crime fiction, I frequently listen to the audio book while taking my walks. I did this for Pascal Garnier and Stieg Larsson and I did this for Inhuman Resources. And when I click into the story, I can listen for hours at a time - exactly my experience here as Pierre Lemaitre spins a riveting, absorbing tale about a fifty-seven-year-old unemployed corporate executive who, after four years of no corporate job, little money, is about to find out how far he'll go to regain everything he so desperately craves.
In many ways, Inhuman Resources reminds me of Thomas Ligotti's My Work is Not Yet Done and Donald E. Westlake's The Ax - the story of a man kicked out and stripped of all self-respect, a story that provides many insights into the mindset of those women and men whose life revolves around working and being part of a corporation.
French author Pierre Lemaitre, born 1951
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