Free (Kobo/iTunes CA) La Sœur by R. J. Ellory [French POV Switch 1950s Crime Short]

[ATDrake]

Trois jours à Chicagoland — La Sœur by award-nominated British thriller author R. J. Ellory (SYKM, Wikipedia) is a French-language translation of the novella which forms the 1st part of his Three Days in Chicagoland triptych historical mystery/crime thriller set in Chicago in the 1950s, which uses a Rashomon-like POV switch to tell the progression of the case through the eyes of three persons involved in it, this installment the one from the sister of the victim, free courtesy of publisher Sonatine, who are translating it from its 2012 edition originally out from Overlook Press.

Fun fact: the author was embroiled in a significant fake Amazon review scandal which has been carefully sanitized from his Wikipedia page (except from the Talk section, which is really where one ought to go to really find out about any given subject). It seems he not only faked glowing reviews on his own books, but also sockpuppeted to trash his fellow crime thriller authors, over the course of 10 years. Also, he's a Scientologist (though that may be one of those correlation-not-causation things, and that blogpost interestingly explains why Ellory seems to be popular in France despite that, hence his novels getting translated and this novella being offered as possibly non-glitch promo, since there was a recent sale at Kobo Canada on his other novels on the front page feature). All of this (possibly minus the Scientology) is apparently quote-unquote "a lapse of judgment".

The things you find out when checking the author credentials…

Currently free @ Kobo & iTunes (both available to Canadians, and apparently nowhere else in the world, when I spot-check assorted regional stores in and outside of La Francophonie on iTunes, though YMMV at Kobo in your region). This does exist at Amazon FR, but is not free, but the same edition just leads to an error page in Canada, and this appears to be the right Google Play page (not available in Canada) should you care to check that as well.

And this has been the (late!) selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.

I was thinking of giving it to the Christian historical novel with Acadian descendants set during the War of 1812 on account of the Canadian connection, but that doesn't even really have real Canadians in it, and quite frankly, I suspect I've gotten considerably more entertainment in reading about this author's less-than-ethical shenanigans than I'm likely to get from reading about those of his characters, so in a way, this has already "paid" for itself.

(Also, it's exceedingly rare that French publishers give away anything besides samplers, even as a glitch, so that's also deserving of a spotlight, and I hope they offer more. )

Enjoy!

Description
Trois jours à Chicagoland : La soeur, Le flic, Le tueur. Un triptyque saisissant construit autour du meurtre d'une jeune institutrice à Chicago dans les années 1950.


Pour vous faire patienter avant la parution de Mauvaise Étoile en octobre, le prochain roman de R.J. Ellory, Sonatine Éditions vous propose trois nouvelles inédites de l'auteur. Trois nouvelles, trois points de vue sur un seul meurtre, celui d'une jeune institutrice retrouvée étranglée dans son appartement. Des années plus tard, alors que le meurtrier est sur le point d'être exécuté, la soeur de la victime, le flic qui a mené l'enquête et le tueur reviennent sur les circonstances de sa mort pour tenter de comprendre ce qui s'est passé. Les apparences sont trompeuses et seuls leurs trois témoignages pourront révéler la triste vérité.

Après Seul le silence, Vendetta, Les Anonymes et Les Anges de New York, R.J. Ellory est aujourd'hui un auteur primé et acclamé par les critiques littéraires et le public. Avec Trois jours à Chicagoland, il signe trois nouvelles au suspense implacable.

Les trois nouvelles : "La soeur", "Le flic" et "Le tueur" paraîtront respectivement les 12, 19 et 26 septembre 2013 au format numérique et seront disponibles sur toutes les plates-formes de vente en ligne.

En exclusivité, à la suite de la troisième et dernière nouvelle, vous pourrez découvrir les premières pages de son prochain roman, Mauvaise Étoile, en librairie le 3 octobre 2013.