The Adversary
A True Story of Monstrous Deception
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4.3 • 16 Ratings
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- £6.99
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
**SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**
On the Saturday morning of January 9, 1993, while Jean Claude Romand was killing his wife and children, I was with mine in a parent-teacher meeting…
With these chilling first words, acclaimed master of psychological suspense, Emmanuel Carrère, begins his exploration of the double life of a respectable doctor, eighteen years of lies, five murders, and the extremes to which ordinary people can go.
Discover the true story that is ‘beyond the imagination of even the best crime writer' (Sunday Times)
'A disturbing look at the dark side of human nature that is powerfully written and beautifully told' Louis Theroux
'Mesmerising' Sunday Telegraph
'Stunning' Evening Standard
'Unputdownable' Washington Post
'A masterpiece' New York Times
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Joseph’s made a contentious choice with this astonishing true-crime story, splitting opinion among our authors and raising intriguing questions about the relationship between writer and subject.
Joseph Knox’s review: “What begins as a conventional, if tragic, true crime story becomes a compulsive, read-it-in-one-sitting glimpse into the human capacity for self-deception. In 1993 Jean Claude Romand murdered his wife and children. The residents of his small French town didn’t believe it until they discovered that the respected doctor they had known for years had never really existed. Combining his investigation with interviews and even correspondence with the killer, Carrère traces the origin of Romand’s ‘monstrous deception’ and begins to understand why he thought murder was his only way out.”
Val McDermid’s review: “The set-up sounds like something out of a Ruth Rendell novel rooted in twisted psychological damage. A respected doctor shoots his parents dead, murders his wife and children, takes an overdose and sets the house on fire. Oh, and he’s previously tried to strangle his mistress. Unfortunately, the style doesn’t live up to the substance. It’s not a novel based on a true case, but it assumes too much to be valid narrative non-fiction. There’s too much faux-philosophising for my taste.”
Sarah Hilary’s review: “I found this an intriguing if frustrating read, a true crime account by an author who becomes entangled in the vanity of his subject. On the face of it, Romand is an interesting subject for a writer. He lived a life of lies which he justified, somewhat pettishly, by questioning whether truth even exists. Everyone around Romand, from psychiatrists to lawyers, seems intent on excusing or mythologising what he did. Carrère’s fascination with him starts to feel as pettish as Romand’s self-devotion.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Those who knew Jean-Claude Romand knew him as a loving father and husband, a brilliant physician with a prestigious post at the World Health Organization and a good-natured, unassuming friend. So when in January 1993, Romand's wife, children and parents were all found dead, his acquaintances were stunned to learn that Romand was suspected of murdering them all. But as the police dug deeper, the motive for his actions soon became clear: neither a doctor nor an employee of WHO, Romand had been living a lie for 18 years and had supported his family primarily by swindling elderly relatives out of their retirement money. Recognizing that his imposture was on the verge of being exposed, he claimed that he killed his family to spare them the shame of learning the truth, and thenDintentionally or notDbotched his own suicide attempt. The story became a media sensation in France, and prize-winning novelist Carr re (Class Trip) reports feeling haunted by the similarities between the life Romand was ostensibly leading and his own, and he found himself almost compulsively drawn to the task of piecing together the identity of the real man behind Romand's deceptions. The resulting narrative is an absorbing, if deeply disturbing, account of an individual who, as Carr re concludes, had virtually no identity beyond the one he fabricated for himself. Carr re constructs a complex and admirably objective portrait of a man who, after botching a single medical exam, found it so difficult to admit his failure that he constructed an increasingly elaborate fabric of lies. While occasionally waxing melodramatic at odd moments, this is a literate and intelligent account of a perplexing story.
