Alan S. Cowell Livres

Set against the backdrop of global conflict, the story follows Joe Shelby, a combat reporter who thrives in war-torn regions like Chechnya and Rwanda. Known for his daring reporting style, he faces unexpected personal challenges, including the pain of lost love, a debilitating illness, and professional setbacks. As he navigates these struggles, Shelby must reconcile his tumultuous experiences in the field with the harsh realities of his own life, ultimately exploring themes of resilience and vulnerability.

When Dolores Tremayne, a successful business executive, travels overseas, part of her remains mysteriously behind in X, the family's indoor cat. Through feline eyes, Dolores witnesses the shocking behavior of her errant husband, the stalled novelist Gerald Tremayne. Far away in Germany, the human Dolores is conducting high-powered negotiations with a prestigious auto-maker, but back at home, her husband's liaisons force him into ever more drastic exploits. Meanwhile, Dolores begins to wonder about the strange words and images that have begun to pop into her head, as if from nowhere.

Shelby, whose escapades as a foreign correspondent are legendary, is a true relic from the heyday of print news. Shelby's definition of being a journalist involves gun duels in the Middle East, risky love affairs, and calling in his dispatch at the last possible moment. Now sequestered in the shabby Paris office, safely behind a screen, his identity begins to fracture - and ever more inexorably he is drawn back toward the one unforgettable woman of his life, Faria Duclos, who has mysteriously turned recluse in another part of the city. As the newspaper threatens to crumble, long-held rivalries and ruined passions rear their heads, and intrigues of the newsroom begin to boil over.

The narrative unfolds with a chilling plot involving a group of captors who employ deceitful tactics, including using a patrol light to stop a vehicle. They capture four men, resorting to violence with knives and bludgeons, and ultimately plan to destroy the evidence by incinerating both the bodies and the car. This dark and gritty scenario highlights the lengths to which these characters will go to execute their sinister agenda, setting a tense and suspenseful tone for the story.