As his new novel has just been released (Le baptême des ténèbres, Anne Carrière editions, published on October 2), Nice Premium revisits for you this incredible thriller, Le festin du serpent, the first print novel by the promising Ghislain Gilberti.
Incredibly anchored in reality, Le festin du serpent is a dense novel where two stories run in parallel. The first tells the hunt led by Cécile Sanchez to catch a brutal and perverse criminal who eviscerates women and takes their organs. Despite her criminologist skills, Cécile Sanchez feels that something is eluding her: the murders are savage and suggest a serial killer, but the organization and pragmatism of the scenarios don’t really fit this profile.
The second story introduces us to Ange-Marie Barthélemy and his anti-terrorist brigade. After a shooting in a Parisian restaurant, he realizes that the Islamist group An-Naziate (“the soul-snatching angels”) is back on French territory and its members are ready to do anything to make themselves known.
Two sensitive cases that one expects to inevitably converge.
Le festin du serpent, although the author’s first novel, is a mastered and accomplished thriller. It dissects, analyzes, and demonstrates the functioning of several French police bodies. First, the Central Office for the Repression of Violence against People, Cécile Sanchez’s service, but also the SDAT (Anti-Terrorism Sub-Directorate) and UCLAT (Anti-Terrorist Coordination Unit), Ghislain Gilberti delves into a system that we only briefly know. He reveals the mechanics, complexity, technicality, and harsh, uncompromising reality that the media never shows.
The author also possesses a thorough knowledge of police techniques, such as the decryption of synergology, the study of non-verbal language, combat techniques, religions. All of this makes the reading of Le festin du serpent remarkably precise.
The writing is fluid, visual, almost cinematic at times. The alternation of chapters, one devoted to Cécile, the other to Ange-Marie, creates a terrible effect of suspense and frustration. One is disappointed to leave one of the heroes, only to immediately be thrilled to find the other! This effect makes the chapters fly by at top speed.
The plot, daringly mixing genres (terrorism and serial killer), showcases the full extent of Gilberti’s talent in a novel where twists are plentiful and action well-present.
The characters are endearing, determined, passionate about their profession, about the fight they are waging. This is true for the heroes, Torquemada and the Archangel, but also for the other cops: Romane, Hamal, Sylvain Faivreau, Hassan, Antoine Regnault, Laura… The strong female presence among the key characters is obviously a very positive aspect.
The detail of the information, the terrible story of this ripper, the terrorist threats looming over the country, the shock teams pursuing them are the elements of a high-quality, fast-paced novel. Ghislain Gilberti is a name to remember, who undoubtedly holds his place among the great French thriller authors.
