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spaceforcewife21's review
2.0
I didn't really care for this book. I was able to finish it, but never really felt a connection with the story or the characters. It is one of those books where I don't really have an opinion about it in the end (it is merely eh) and I will probably forget about it within 24 hours.
mpr2000's review
5.0
I am sure you’ve read a few books about WW2 like me; but I think this one is the one that touched me the most. It felt so real; the fear, the pain, the need… I felt all these feelings in my own skin. Because the Detective Eddie Giral doesn't have an easy life; he is a police officer but he is hungry all the time and is controlled all the time by the Nazis, the killer that he is looking for is also hunting him and ready to kill him if he doesn’t follow the rules. So, let’s be honest, he is not living his best moment.
I’ll be honest and say that I really don’t want to talk much about the plot of this book; it has layers and layers of stories and characters to keep you invested, but it will be much better if you dig in and discover it by yourself. It’s a mystery, there’s been a murder and our detective has to discover who dunnit, but, I don’t think this is the core of the story but instead the personal life of Eddie; his point of view about WW2 and all the situations he is living.
Also, I love how the author is not scared of talking about taboo themes mixing them with fiction; because even if this is a fiction book, at the core it’s a reality we should never forget.
This had been an amazing read; raw and difficult, but a book I will never forget.
I think this is a must read book; it will make you burn and cry with anger; an amazing read to make us not forget.
Are you ready to discover “Paris Requiem”?
I’ll be honest and say that I really don’t want to talk much about the plot of this book; it has layers and layers of stories and characters to keep you invested, but it will be much better if you dig in and discover it by yourself. It’s a mystery, there’s been a murder and our detective has to discover who dunnit, but, I don’t think this is the core of the story but instead the personal life of Eddie; his point of view about WW2 and all the situations he is living.
Also, I love how the author is not scared of talking about taboo themes mixing them with fiction; because even if this is a fiction book, at the core it’s a reality we should never forget.
This had been an amazing read; raw and difficult, but a book I will never forget.
I think this is a must read book; it will make you burn and cry with anger; an amazing read to make us not forget.
Are you ready to discover “Paris Requiem”?
anj_t's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
judefire33's review
challenging
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you to Orion Books for very kindly sending me a proof copy of Paris Requiem, and introducing me to Chris Lloyd and Eddie Giral.
Having read The Unwanted Dead first (book #1 in the series), and having been blown away by this, I was looking forward to going into wartime Paris with Police Detective Eddie Giral again.
We arrive in Paris in September 1940 to find Eddie Giral investigating a grizzly murder in a closed Jazz Club. The way that Chris Lloyd manages to transport the reader from today back into the seedy, brittle and dangerous world of Paris under Nazi occupation, is truly fantastic. The descriptions of the places Eddie Giral visits during his investigation are really so tangible.
Paris is deeply under the grip of the Germans, and they are trying to punish its citizens by starving them, there is food but because of rationing there is not enough to go around. So amongst many other issues Eddie is starving. I thought this was really well written as it is historical fact, and it made me hungry just hearing Eddies stomach growling!
As always Eddie Giral is pulled from trying to run a Police investigation to the Germans interfering in it… in Paris Requiem we really see his moral dilemmas take a hold of him and this has the reader on the edge of their set, waiting to find out how the plot will turn out.
I’m so glad that writers like Chris Lloyd, are able to research and produce such realistic works of fiction based on fact, and I really enjoy reading novels set during WW2, its my favourite time period. Reading Chris Lloyds Paris Requiem was like watching a thrilling film, there is tension, mistrust, deceit and murder. If you like novels set during the war then there is no better place to start than with Paris Requiem. We must write about these past events, even when they are horrifying, so that we can learn from them in the future.
Another gripping and thrilling read from Chris Lloyd, 5 stars for me especially for being so realistic and gripping
loz_reads's review
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
13rebecca13's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
I generally wouldn't reach for a historical fiction book but this year I am trying to branch out more. Paris Requiem is proof that I needed to!
Set in the 1940s in Paris under the Occupation, Detective Eddie Giral is called to a jazz club where a body has been found. The person's lips had been sewn together. Eddie is shocked by this because the body is that of a prisoner that Eddie had helped get put away. He wasn't due to be released so why and how did this happen?
Upon delving into this Giral and his partner Boniface discover that other prisoners have been released but no-one who works at the prison is speaking. Their files are gone too so it is as though they were never incarcerated.
I loved the backdrop of this novel and the pace was perfect. As I mentioned, I don't tend to read historical fiction but I felt as though I learned a lot in the background whilst also being entertained by the plot. The author's note was very helpful too!
Eddie is a complex character for sure and, props to the author, his personality really shone through. I believe this isn't the first in the series so I will have to go back and read!
Set in the 1940s in Paris under the Occupation, Detective Eddie Giral is called to a jazz club where a body has been found. The person's lips had been sewn together. Eddie is shocked by this because the body is that of a prisoner that Eddie had helped get put away. He wasn't due to be released so why and how did this happen?
Upon delving into this Giral and his partner Boniface discover that other prisoners have been released but no-one who works at the prison is speaking. Their files are gone too so it is as though they were never incarcerated.
I loved the backdrop of this novel and the pace was perfect. As I mentioned, I don't tend to read historical fiction but I felt as though I learned a lot in the background whilst also being entertained by the plot. The author's note was very helpful too!
Eddie is a complex character for sure and, props to the author, his personality really shone through. I believe this isn't the first in the series so I will have to go back and read!
kaz_loves_books's review
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
DI Eddie Giral got told to go to the Jazz Chaud where a body had been found. When Eddie took a look, the body was bound to the chair by its hands and legs but the worse bit was its mouth was sewn shut. Plus he knew the man. He was Julot le Bavard and he was supposed to be in prison because he put him there. How come he was free? The club was shut by the Germans so no money in the place and the owner was currently away, due back the following day. The owner's name was Jean Poquelin, a name Eddie didn’t recognise but when Eddie went back the following day he found a friend from the past, Fran, whose real name is Jean-Francois Aveyron.
Walter le Ricaneur, another prisoner freed from prison, was in the cells when Eddie was taken to see him. He asked Walter about ‘Capeluche’, unfortunately before he could question him further he was summoned to see Major Hochstetter. He had brought Eddie with him to watch some communists being arrested which Eddie thought they were leaving alone. Turns out some they are, some they aren’t. The ones who don’t agree with Nazi rule are being arrested. At the end of the meeting, he said to Eddie, ‘Like your colleagues, you will work with us. With me. Willingly or otherwise, but you will work with me.’ By the time Eddie got back, Walter had been released by Judge's orders. Just what was going on? Who was getting prisoners out of prison and had the power to release them so quickly from jail by going to Judges?
DI Eddie Giral and Detective Boniface went to the prison Fresnes to check for themselves what was happening with the prisoners. They had to hand in their handguns at the gatehouse which was unusual and they weren’t happy about it but they wouldn’t have been allowed entry otherwise. They saw the governor Ducousset but he said Julot wasn’t a prisoner nor was Walter. Eddie was impressed that he could tell him that when he had over two thousand inmates. The governor asked his secretary to bring a list in to check and Boniface took it out of her hand to check for them two names and some others, none of them were on the list. Eddie held the governor in his chair, the governor asked his secretary to get help, four wardens came in with batons to escort the detectives out. They were led to a room where some prisoners were let in from the other side and the wardens left them there. There was no escape for the detectives and they had no weapons but Eddie had hidden a backup in his sock so it came in handy now so he used it and actually shot a prisoner in the foot. The prisoners stopped advancing and the wardens returned to round the prisoners up and led the detectives back to the gate house and returned their guns. When Eddie asked Boniface who he thought was behind the missing prisoners, he replied ‘The Germans.’ If so, it was just proving which Germans!
Could it be the Germans behind the missing prisoners? Who was Capeluche? Who was deciding which prisoners came out of prison?
This book started off slowly but the pace then picked up and finished quickly. It was a good read by the end and I enjoyed my first read by this author. I liked DI Eddie Giral and his antics in trying to dodge the Germans which didn’t always work. When involved with a case he was very dogged in his methods and wouldn’t give up easily. I will be looking at reading book one in this series so I can catch up.
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