Never Forget by Martin Michaud
Translator: Arthur Holden
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Publication Date: originally 2012, first translation release 2/11/20
Tormented, rebellious police detective Victor Lessard races to track down a ruthless killer in Montreal.
“Martin Michaud is a master at twisty storytelling and compelling atmosphere.” — Catherine McKenzie
“Never Forget is a crackerjack read.” — Quill & Quire
“A raucous crime thriller.” — Publishers Weekly
When a homeless man jumps to his death in Old Montreal, the police discover two wallets in his possession: one belonging to a retired psychiatrist who was murdered in a bizarre ritual, the other to a powerful corporate lawyer who has vanished. As Montreal police detective Victor Lessard and his partner, Jacinthe Taillon, work to solve the separate mysteries, a dark conspiracy begins to emerge.
While the pressure builds and the bodies accumulate, disturbing secrets come to light about a pivotal moment in political history. But will Lessard and Taillon crack the case in time to stop the killer from striking again? (from Goodreads)
My thoughts
This is book three in the Victor Lessard series, but the first translated into English. Why did the publishers decide to do this? I have no idea. While this could’ve been confusing (and apparently was for some readers), Michaud includes a lengthy note at the beginning of the book that gives us quite a bit of background on Lessard and his partner Taillon. That was helpful.
One oddity: sometimes Michaud refers to characters by both their first and their last name in the same scene. For example, Loic Blouin-Dubois might be called Loic or Blouin-Dubois. This tripped me up several times, making me think the story was referring to two people rather than one. Once I remembered people’s names, I was fine.
Once I got into the story, I truly enjoyed it.
Characters: Lessard & Taillon
I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic between Victor Lessard and Jacinthe Taillon. They’re work partners and vie with each other for power, even over trivial things. He turns up the car heater; she turns it down. She turns the radio to one station; he switches to a different one.
Taillon is vivid: she drives with a lead foot on the accelerator, eats at every possible moment, and goes nuclear with everyone–even when it’s not a good idea. This is a cop you want behind the wheel when a criminal takes off in a stolen car: fearless, skilled, and ready to burn rubber in pursuit.
Lessard’s temper is slower to erupt, but don’t mistake him for mild mannered. He’s a former alcoholic and when he loses his temper, it’s unforgettable. Fresh out of rehab, he’s dealing with random and overwhelming outbursts of anger.
Characters: Suspects & Supporting cast
Even the supporting characters have their own lives and battles apart from the murder case. Lessard’s boss, Paul Delany, is dealing with his wife’s hospitalization from breast cancer and worries that it has metastasized. Young cop Loic is struggling to redeem himself after a huge mess-up on a previous case. Martin Lessard, Victor’s son, is involved in some activities his father will definitely disapprove–or will he?
The cast of law enforcement characters is large but the author gives everyone a distinct personality. I particularly liked a man nicknamed the Gnome, whose seven children come to the Christmas Eve party.
Another character, a nasty, unlikable man, is fleshed out by a tidbit of information. He longs to savor another Christmas Eve alone, watching a silent film, drinking champagne, and eating foie gras, just as he and his late mother did each year. Not my kind of Christmas Eve! But this desire takes the character from being another arrogant rich man with too much power and too little compassion, and makes him relatable: he misses his mom and their holiday tradition.
Plot
There are a lot of threads in this story. Among other things, we get the CIA, the JFK assassination, addiction, mental illness, experiments on brainwashing inflicted on helpless people . . . The list goes on. It comes together in the end, but I spent much of the book guessing and second-guessing how various elements fit together. Michaud throws in a heaping measure of red herrings that successfully diverted my attention. Consider yourself warned.
Violence
The publisher compares Michaud to authors like Michael Connolly, Ian Rankin, and Jo Nesbo. I’m familiar with all three authors, and I think the comparison is right on, particularly with Nesbo. Some of the violence in Never Forget is graphic, and I’ve noticed that Nesbo, too, includes some truly horrific details about violent crimes.
I’ve written before about my personal conflict with explicit violence: at what point does realistic violence become gratuitous violence? I don’t think Michaud crosses that line, but many readers might disagree. For me, the humanity of the police officers balances out the violence.
Certain character’s actions might trigger sexual assault victims. Though much of that aspect is implied rather than shown, it’s still disturbing. You might need to give Never Forget a pass.
This is a novel about memory. How it affects us. How we remember–or misremember–our own pasts and the collective pasts of communities and nations. And most of all, how some never forget a wrong done to them.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel. It’s long but I think it’s worthwhile reading for crime fiction and thriller readers.
Thanks to Dundurn Press and Netgalley for a copy of Never Forget in exchange for an honest review.
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