Lyon, nowadays. Bastien, a labor inspector, is called upon to investigate an accident: a worker working in a waste treatment factory was crushed to death in a compactor.
Maïa, science journalist, goes to the European Center for Nuclear Research (Cern) to write an article on the scintillator crystal, a recently discovered material with unknown properties.
A few days later, Bastien learns that the accident was actually a homicide. As for Maïa, she discovers that the experiment has gone wrong: the crystal has turned into an ultra-powerful drug that leads to depression, even crime. His aunt, a physicist at the prestigious Swiss institution, asks him to help her get rid of it.
This is the double intrigue which serves as the backdrop to a love story which gradually reveals itself: between a vaguely alcoholic and vaguely Catholic man, in search of a joy of living which has abandoned him, and a young woman who built his independence into a wall.
The bookseller’s opinion
“In this true page turner, we visit Lyon, its second-hand booksellers; we discover particle physics and the largest fridge in the world – the particle accelerator – and we come across funny birds there, all unforgettable. But above all, we thrill when reading this fabulous love story which develops with finesse and slowness between these characters with their elaborate psychology. Mixing the thrill of action with the thrill of feelings with such mastery is a feat! »
Marguerite Martin Bookstore Land of books (Lyons)
The Excerpt:
loading
Find the 2024 selection of the France Bleu Book Prize – PAGE des Libraires on francebleu.fr
