A Review By Ruth Hunter, BookTime Editor, Bertrams

Aptly titled, this novel is strange indeed, and strangely beautiful. Set in Europe ten years ago, it concerns a French judge, Dominique Carpentier, renowned for her campaigns against religious cults. She heads an investigation into one particularly mysterious sect, The Faith. On two occasions, the latter one on New Year’s Day 2000, many of their members have killed themselves en mass in ‘departures’ – or was it murder? Tracing the ancient cult to a passionate composer, Freidrich Grosz, Carpentier finds herself in a love triangle involving Grosz and her colleague Commissaire Andre Schweigen, a married man with whom she’s been having an affair. The characters are not very sympathetic – Carpentier is cold, Grosz arrogant and Schweigen selfishly obsessed – but this doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the story, in fact it adds to it. Blending thriller with romance and philosophical inquiries, it’s furiously addictive and quite unlike any other novel I’ve read.