Eyes Full of Empty

(Paperback)

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Description

The son of an Algerian immigrant, Idir is a disappointment to his doctor father. Torn between his wealthy school friends and his neighborhood pals, who range from petty thieves to professional criminals, Idir operates easily between worlds, and yet is at home nowhere. Without much effort, Idir becomes one of the Parisian upper crusts most sought-out private dicks, thanks to his understanding of the needs of his privileged clients. The only thing standing in his way is Idir's unfortunate habit of crying uncontrollably.
Things change when Oscar Crumley, a wealthy media scion that Idir knew at university, reappears in Idir's life, hiring him to find his missing younger half-brother, Thibaut. Idir assumes it is an open and shut case. But when Idir discovers that Thibaut was hiding his homosexuality from his conservative family, his disappearance takes on sinister connotations.
Distracted by his intense affair with the wife of a wealthy friend, Idir ultimately becomes embroiled in a war of lies and corruption between two of France's most powerful media conglomerates. Inspired by Chandler and the American greats, Guez uses the familiar tropes of noir to create an entirely new language.

Reviews

"Guez makes his English-language debut with this taut crime novel...with a wicked grace that will appeal to American noir fans." -- Publishers Weekly "In Eyes Full of Empty, Jeremie Guez scores the dark immediacy of Paris with all its shadowy corners. Dripping with atmosphere, from the world of spoiled offspring of bourgeois boheme to the North African immigrant quartiers, from the elite designer clad denizens to tattooed immigrant grandmothers and ex-cons it comes down to how one person's word counts for honor. Idir, the protagonist, an immigrant's son with a university education and rich friends, follows his own code of honor and the result is a new Paris Noir. I couldn't put it down." -- Cara Black, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Aimee Leduc Series "Guez doesn't reinvent the private-eye novel, he reinvigorates it. Eyes Full of Empty does what all great crime fiction does: Dare the reader to stop turning pages." --Gar Anthony Haywood, author of Cemetery Road Praise for the French edition of Eyes Full of Empty: "Jeremie Guez strikes again, strong and true." --Macha Sery, Le Monde " Tense, electric, carried by a beatnik drum, Eyes Full of Empty is devoured in a sitting and leaves you ringing." --Alexandre Fillon, Livres Hebdo "In the weaving of a classic noir novel, Jeremie Guez scores. An echo of Chandler, but with his own unique voice, he is bringing more and more." --Michel Abescat, Telerama "A crime prodigy, Jeremie Guez has written at the age of 25, a novel that is urban, raw, and jazzy." --Mikael Demets, Transfuge "Jeremie Guez once again probes his talent as a storyteller and his ability to use the tropes of the crime novel to give them an original voice." --Encoredunoir.com "A crime novel that grabs you and doesn't let go." --Plume libre "Jeremie Guez is the kind of crime author that we wish we could read more often." --Passion Polar "This third novel confirms the talent of a very young author that we will continue to talk about in the world of crime." --Les Gridouillis Jeremie Guez received the Prix SNCF du polar in 2013

Author Bio

Jeremie Guez was born in Paris in 1988 and has already been hailed as the rising star of contemporary French noir. His two previous novels, Balance dans les cordes and Paris la unit, were awarded the 2013 SNCF du Polar and 2012 Plume Libre prizes, respectively. Eyes Full of Empty is the highly anticipated first English translation of Jeremie Guez's work, and the third novel in his Parisian trilogy. He lives in Paris. Edward Gauvin is a prolific translator and the recipient of numerous awards. His work has been featured most recently in The New York Times, Tin House, Best European Fiction 2014, PEN America, Words Without Borders, and Gigantic, among others. He lives in San Jose, CA.