We no longer need to introduce Jean-Jacques Pelletier, the long-distance runner of the Quebec thriller. His gargantuan work already has more than 10,000 pages divided into more than fifteen large novels, short stories and essays. Pelletier is a world in itself, a reflection of ours. The universe he has created over time is based on the demonstration of human stupidity and greed. And this brand new opus, Rien…, is immediately in the same line. It is a hard, relentless and, unfortunately, particularly lucid book.
Nothing… is happening at a hectic pace. Once again, the plot is multiple and quickly overflows the radius of action of the SPVM (Service de police de la Ville de Montréal) even if we find Henri Dufaux and his team of young nerd investigators: Kodak, Parano and the three Sarahs in slightly different roles. As if to underline the dimension and importance of the investigation that is beginning, we will even see old characters reappear, such as Natalya and Victor Prose.
All these beautiful people face, from the outset, an assassination linked to a case of domestic violence, but Dufaux and his team will soon be confronted with the conspiratorial movement and, even more serious, with an organization with ramifications international. Without divulging anything, we will see them forced to fight people who are carefully planning the apocalypse in order to make the most of it. By trying to untangle the threads of the scheme which has implications in Quebec, Dufaux will even find himself the guardian, despite himself, of a teenager struggling with Asperger’s syndrome…
To tell all this, Pelletier jumps from one plot to another with mastery while using, as usual, quotes from social networks and more “official” media. It is his trademark and he knows how to use it like no one to underline with a red line the gap and the fatuity of what is now perceived as information. This is also where a very compromising video emerges: Dufaux finds himself at the heart of a spider’s web woven from scratch and which makes him a pedophile abusing the teenager in his care. The deepfake is so convincing that everything changes.
The proof is in, we can’t even trust the “truth” of the images anymore… which further underlines how the words we find on social networks no longer have any weight. It will therefore require Dufaux and his team to invest mountains of creativity and perseverance in order to succeed in turning the tide and… “saving the world”. For now.
Beyond the complexity of the plot, we will note here how the plot is brilliantly orchestrated by those who intend to take advantage of the apocalypse. References to what has become our daily reality, particularly the suicidal dogmatism that often hides under the concept of “freedom of speech”, may make you shudder…
Nothing…
★★★ 1/2
Jean-Jacques Pelletier, Alire, Lévis, 2023, 556 pages
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