Total Chaos: Book One in the Marseilles Trilogy

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Description

Fabio Montale is the perfect protagonist in this city of melancholy beauty. A disenchanted cop with an inimitable talent for living who turns his back on a police force marred by corruption and racism and, in the name of friendship, takes the fight against the mafia into his own hands.

"Just as Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy made Los Angeles their very own, so Mr. Izzo has made Marseilles so much more than just another geographical setting."-The Economist

"Izzo's ability to describe Marseilles and to make his readers feel the multiracial reality of that city so directly and authentically is fascinating."-Andrea Camilleri

"One of the masterpieces of modern noir."-The Washington Post

Reviews

Praise for Total Chaos

"Izzo's ability to describe Marseilles and to make his readers feel the multiracial reality of that city so directly and authentically is fascinating."
--Andrea Camilleri, author of the bestselling Inspector Montalbano series

"Izzo's Marseilles is ravishing. Every street, cafe and house has it's own character."
--The Globe and Mail

"Like the best noir writers--and make no mistake, he is among the best--Izzo not only has a keen eye for detail . . . but also digs deep into what makes men weep."
--Time Out New York

"Just as Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy made Los Angeles their very own, so Mr. Izzo has made Marseilles so much more than just another geographical setting."
--The Economist

"The Marseilles trilogy may be the most lyrical hard-boiled writing yet."
--The Nation

"Reading Izzo's novels, you're bound to cry sooner or later."
--Le Monde

"Rich, ambitious, and passionate."
--Washington Post

"Izzo provides another guided tour of the underbelly of Marseilles (so extensive that it seems to swallow the whole city) that's bracing in its wit and velocity."
--Kirkus (Starred review)
"One of the masterpieces of modern noir." --Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

Author Bio

Jean-Claude Izzo (Marseilles 1945 2000) achieved astounding success with publication of the Marseilles Trilogy: Total Chaos, Chourmo and Solea. His two novels, The Lost Sailors and A Sun for the Dying, and the posthumous collection of essays and shorter pieces Garlic, Mint, & Sweet Basil also enjoy great success with critics and the public. Award-winning translator Howard Curtis has worked on more than sixty books from French, Italian and Spanish. Among his recent translations for Europa are works by Jean-Claude Izzo and Santiago Gamboa.