four women have experienced horror and they are thirsty for revenge

If you like strong emotions, you will be served. From twists and turns to twists and turns, with bursts of ultraviolence where horror follows the sordid in extreme tension. Women who have been through hell have decided to never be victims again. Cédric Sire offers us his new thriller: “Survivantes”. In bookstores January 16.

Tanya is a veterinarian, Cheryl, a software developer, Kate a psychologist and Farrah, a high-end real estate representative. They find themselves in a support group. They are survivors. Each escaped sadistic murderers.

“Like the others, she went through hell. Like the others, she was made prey, and she survived. Because she had the courage to stand. Because she didn’t not let despair and pain paralyze her.” (Extract) Because it didn’t take long for the four women to combine their skills to take revenge. They will eliminate their executioners one by one.

What is this doing to us? Healers. Against all odds. Which prevent cancer from spreading and claiming more victims…

Cédric Sire does not let us go. From twists and turns to twists and turns, with bursts of ultraviolence where horror follows the sordid in extreme tension. With a little love, anyway. Phew! But we dare to release the book. Will give you nightmares. But what else will happen? “What is this making us? Healers. Against all odds. Preventing cancer from spreading and claiming more lives…”

We thought tracking down these guys was going to fix our lives. Did you see the result?

But everything does not go as planned. They are followed. But by whom? Crazier than them. Sick people. But what do they want? Are they in danger again? Can a victim find peace by behaving like a predator in turn? Farrah asks: “We thought tracking down these guys was going to fix our lives. Did you see the result?”

Born in 1974, Cédric Sire from Toulouse is part of the closed circle of masters of French thrillers. He is the author of ten novels and two collections of short stories, bordering on mystery and thrill.

Winner of the 2023 Pocket Book Readers’ Prize and the 2022 Mediterranean Prize for his suspense thriller La Saignée, he also received the Masterton Prize for The Child of the Cemeteries, as well as the prestigious Polar Prize of the Cognac festival for De Fever and blood.

Happy to meet your readers?

Very, very, very happy. I had a long Covid which really weakened me. And this meant that I took a little longer than usual between two novels: three years. In my opinion, it is by far the best novel I have written. And there, I can’t wait to see readers again and especially to see how they will perceive it.

Why do you say the best?

This is my eleventh novel. I learn by writing. I get better with practice. It’s a novel that addresses current issues, notably violence against women, a problem that is really close to my heart. I managed to go beyond the simple genre novel and talk about more human things, deeper perhaps.

The book addresses violence against women, an issue that is really close to my heart.

So we can read both as pure entertainment, because it clearly is. But there is also a look at today’s world and current France where, ultimately, nothing works anymore. Justice works very poorly. The police, due to lack of resources, are finding it increasingly difficult to operate. We can even say that our government, in France, at the moment, And it’s quite paralyzing for me, as a novelist.

And precisely, the horror genre is there to explore our fears, our anxieties, to try to put them at bay, to try to ask questions. I’m not a teacher of lessons, but it’s true that novels help me, personally, to work on questions that worry me.

You are therefore addressing this very contemporary theme, which is that of violence against women. You describe sordid scenes to us. Sometimes we are even horrified. Does fiction exceed reality?

This is how I realize that my novel is really anchored in current events. We saw with the Mazan trial. Every time I turn on the television, I am immersed in my novel over the last few weeks, these last few months. And it’s quite disturbing as a writer, because I have the impression that I’m trying to invent things by forcing the line, by caricaturing a little bit, because once again, I’m writing truly entertainment without any other pretension behind it. But I realize that reality always surpasses all the horrors that we can invent. And this, in my eyes, makes the importance of reading, of culture, of escape, of distancing, precisely, from these problems even more essential.

Every time I turn on the television, I am immersed in my novel over the last few weeks, these last few months. And it’s quite disturbing as a writer

When you write this type of story, it grabs the reader’s guts, but do you too?

Quite. And that’s the reason that pushed me to write this novel. The characters came first in the desire to write this novel. The personalities of these characters really touched me, and I lived with them, during a year of writing. I lived with them, and they are, to me, as real as real people.

These four women will seek revenge. But is revenge the solution? They will end up asking themselves the question.

In fact, it was precisely me who wanted to play with this question, simply, because we can all ask ourselves it. Can a victim, ultimately, truly find peace when he, in turn, behaves like a predator? At what price?

The horror genre allows you to play with these feelings. Can eliminating those who made us suffer repair the psychological damage we have had? Actually, no, the answer is obvious but it was directing it that interested me. Police officers, in particular, told me that everything I said could almost be real and exist, happen like that. That it was plausible. I wonder if readers will put themselves in the shoes of these characters. In any case, I put myself in their place, and it also made me think a lot about myself.

Toulouse, Carcassonne, Rodez, Nîmes, Sète, a large part of your intrigue takes place in the region, does it inspire you?

I often base myself on places I know. It’s true that I live in Toulouse, and I placed the home of one of the characters, Cheryl, Faubourg Bonnefoy, very precisely. I don’t live far away. I regularly passed that street while writing and the novel takes place in 2023, so I talk about the work on the future Toulouse metro line.

I always find it very playful, very amusing to place action scenes, especially chases, in places that I know, where I can walk around, take photos. I’m really having fun, that’s the joy of this job, and I know that I’m incredibly lucky to be able to practice it. I live my childhood dreams, I get up in the morning and I tell stories. I do what I like, it’s really priceless, I have fun.

“Lire” magazine compares you to Stephen King, isn’t that too difficult to bear?

It’s extremely flattering, but no, I would never compare myself to this giant. Stephen King is a genius. Me, I tell my little stories.

Cédric Sire begins his tour of meetings and signings in Toulouse. It will be Thursday January 16 at FNAC Wilson from 5:30 p.m. Then you can meet him on Wednesday January 22 at Cultura Balma, Wednesday February 12 at Cultura Béziers then Saturday February 15 at the Espace culturelle de Castres from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.