Don't Turn Out the Lights

Starred review from September 26, 2016
French author Minier once again displays a rare gift for raising goose bumps in his intricate third thriller featuring Commandant Martin Servaz (after 2015’s The Circle). The Toulouse cop is on leave, undergoing treatment for depression, six months after the sadistic killer he was hunting sent him the heart of a woman Martin was involved with. He gets back on the job after receiving another package, which contains an electronic hotel key and an unsigned invitation to a meeting in the room it opens. When Martin visits the Grand Hôtel Thomas Wilson, he learns that room 117 was the scene of an artist’s bloody suicide a year earlier. Meanwhile, radio show host Christine Steinmeyer receives an unsigned note from someone threatening to take her life on Christmas Eve. Unsuccessful in her efforts to identify the disturbing letter’s author, she soon finds herself the victim of a sadistic plot to drive her mad. Minier sustains a high degree of tension throughout, while making his characters’ reactions to extreme stress plausible.

October 1, 2016
In a frigid forest on the border between Poland and Belarus, fever dreams assail Martin Servaz as he struggles to get to safety. Meanwhile, in Toulouse, France, radio host Christine Steinmeyer finds a suicide note in her mailbox on Christmas Eve. There's no address on the envelope and no stamp, so Christine is convinced that the letter was meant for someone else in her building and was left in her mailbox by mistake. She becomes obsessed with figuring out whom the letter was meant for, so they can try to save the writer's life, but has no luck. The next morning, she finds a profane Christmas message written in frost on her windshield, and later that day, a mysterious caller to her radio show accuses her of heartlessness: "It doesn't bother you that you let someone die?" he asks. Shorter chapters continue the perils of Servaz, who receives a hotel key and a summons to a meetingin Room 117. Christine receives anonymous threats against her fiance, Grald. Pieces of the puzzle slowly come together as the two storylines edge closer. Servaz, we learn, is a Toulouse detective returning after a bout of depression. Grald decides that hes had enough of Christines erratic behavior and breaks it off with her. Servaz receives a valuable diary; Christine is betrayed by someone she trusts. Ultimately, she needs the help of the detective shes never met to slay the very real demons that are tormenting her. Minier (The Circle, 2015, etc.) builds suspense with tantalizing teaspoons of menace and a narrative crafted with believable immediacy. Both protagonists confront their nemeses with a determination that should hook readers and keep them hooked.

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November 1, 2016

Commandant Martin Servaz's third outing (after The Frozen Dead and The Circle) sees the Toulouse police commandant attempting to uncover what really happened to an artist who allegedly killed herself a year earlier. Recovering from the kidnapping and death of his girlfriend, Servaz resides at a clinic for depressed police officers where one day he receives a hotel key with a note that says "Meeting tomorrow in Room 117." In a parallel story line, controversial radio talk show host Christine Steinmeyer finds a suicide note in her mailbox on Christmas Eve. She is alarmed and unsure what to do, but her fiance pressures her to leave the letter until after the holidays. From that point on Christine is harassed by a mounting series of bizarre incidents, including people who accuse her of sending them vicious emails and a colleague's claim of sexual abuse. The two stories merge in an astounding denouement. VERDICT Packed with layers of intrigue and unrelenting suspense, this dark and twisty Gallic procedural will keep fans of international crime fiction and admirers of Minier's earlier mysteries glued to their armchairs.--Deb West, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2016
This third entry in the highly praised Martin Servaz series finds the police commandant confined to a clinic in the depths of a dark and icy Pyrenees winter. He is beset by vicious nightmares and grappling with issues from his experiences in The Circle (2015). When he receives a key card to a hotel room in the mail, a room where a woman committed suicide a year earlier, Servaz goes AWOL. He uncovers evidence that she was cruelly and deliberately hounded to death. After Christine Steinmeyer finds an anonymous suicide note in her mailbox on Christmas Eve, it seems as though someone has taken over her life, which has become a gruesome and terrifying waking dream. Servaz is the only one who believes her bizarre story. This is not your ordinary stalker thriller. Christine is not easy prey. After her initial fear subsides, her intelligence and determination, guided by an inspiring inner voice, bring about an astonishing transformation. This is not Gone Girl. It is Go, Girl! No one is the person they seem at first to be. Each of the characters either greatly deceives the reader or manages to rise to a challenge unexpectedly. It is a brilliant aria da capo, set appropriately to an operatic soundtrack, with a surprising and thoroughly satisfying conclusion. Perfect for fans of Martin Walker's Bruno Courreges series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)