Mondays Book Talk - After the Crash

Written by MikeH

After the Crash by Michel Bussi

“After the Crash” (in French “Un avion sans elle") was my first literary encounter with its author Michel Bussi. Presented to me as a gift in March 2015 during a short stay in Paris, its title grabbed my attention due to a strange coincidence; my friend offered me this book only few days after the plane crash which took place in the French Alps. 

Michel Bussi is a French writer of detective novels who is also a political analyst and Professor of Geography at the University of Rouen. According to the Le Figaro list of bestsellers, he was one of the ten bestselling French writers of 2013. “After the Crash” has been translated into 26 languages and sold more than 700,000 copies in its author's native France, and it’s not hard to see why. 

The opening of this thriller is chilling. The recent tragedy in France made the description of a plane full of passengers crashing into a mountainside even more evocative. Back to the story, on the night of 22 December 1980, a plane crashes on the Franco-Swiss border exploding in a fire ball. Almost all passengers are killed instantly. The miraculous sole survivor is a three-month-old baby girl. Two families, one rich, the other poor, step forward to claim her, sparking an investigation that will last for almost two decades. Is she Lyse-Rose or Emilie?

The story starts eighteen years later when, having failed to discover the truth, private detective Crédule Grand-Duc plans to take his own life, but not before placing an account of his investigation in the girl's hands. But as he sits at his desk about to pull the trigger, he uncovers a secret that changes everything. 

This is really an addictive thriller and a good part of this book consists of episodes of the private journal of the detective. Michel Bussi’s utilizes a clear and descriptive style, in some occasions a bit excessive in my opinion. Some chapters cover very specific details which may seem irrelevant, although you must know that no element has been placed randomly; the plot is presented as a puzzle, worked out methodically. Nothing is concealed either, though the truth lies under multiple misleads or false clues. The various subplots are all unusually absorbing and feel much less like padding for its own sake than is common in this sort of fiction. It has also numerous clever little playful moments. 

I strongly recommend you to delve into “After the Crash”. For me the best part of the story is the solution to this puzzle. Yes, the end of the story is somehow implausible, nevertheless, Michel Bussi was smart enough in his writing style to leave me in suspense until the very last pages. Hope you also enjoy reading this intriguing story.

Image: Supplied by Author.