While his latest novel, “Surtensions” (Michel Lafon, 2016), received the 2016 “Le Point” European Crime Novel Prize, Nice Premium takes you on a trip to 9-3 with Captain Coste’s team, in “Territoires,” the second thriller by Olivier Norek.
For this new investigation by Captain Coste, Olivier Norek takes us to Malcenyโa fictional city in 93โwhere a new kingpin is trying to make a name for himself in the drug scene. Reactive and cunning, he swiftly and brutally eliminates his enemies. If Victor Coste wants to prevent the situation from escalating, he must act quickly. But in Seine-Saint-Denis, nothing ever goes as planned, and an event will spark the flames, which will slowly but surely spread to Maceny…
As a police lieutenant in the Investigation and Research Section of SDPJ 93, currently on leave, Olivier Norek is well-versed in his subject and delivers a fast-paced urban crime novel. Discovered with “Code 93,” his first novel, readers will be pleased to reunite with Coste’s team. While the heroesโCoste, Ronan, Sam, Johannaโare the same, the plot is quite different, and “Territoires” can be read without having read “Code 93” beforehand.
In this thriller, Coste faces the omnipresence of drug trafficking in the housing projects and the inevitable settling of scores that result, except in Malceny, the situation is even more rotten than elsewhere… a gang leader barely 12 years old with limitless cruelty, retirees under pressure who involuntarily participate in these trafficks, a morally bankrupt political system with compliant leaders, and in the midst of it all, the police and its lieutenants trying to contain the rising tension.
With “Territoires,” Olivier Norek successfully combines his experience as a cop with his talent as a writer to immerse us in the frightening reality of 93, all while offering a truly well-crafted crime novel. In addition to honest yet uncompromising descriptions of the inhabitants’ living conditions, the police’s difficulties, and political scheming, Olivier Norek presents a team of investigators with strong and endearing personalities, not to mention finely tuned dialogues.
“โ Four-millimeter drill bit. It’s engraved on it. I was assured you were a good investigator, I’m rather disappointed.
โ I was assured you were downright unpleasant. Personally, I’m thrilled.” โ p.40 Pocket edition
In a novel full of tension and pace, Olivier Norek plunges us into the heart of Malceny’s blaze. The reader follows Coste and his entire team, as well as the newly arrived magistrate, Fleur Saint-Croix, as they do everything in their power to solve this delicate case as quickly as possible before Malceny burns entirely…
