Dewey Decimal843/.914
SynopsisIn a typical conflation of mystery, comedy, and the remarkable, fortune-teller Bouc Bel-Air tells Paul J., "Everything will come in twos, always more or less in twos." Little does Paul realize that he and his friend will be caught in a wild adventure of gun running, robbery, and insurrection, taking them to distant Malaysia aboard the mutinous Boustrophedon in which characters, events, and plot lines double each other like so many mirrors. A thrilling adventure la Conrad, a sly black comedy, and a finely crafted work of literature., "Double Jeopardy recounts the twin stories spanning two generations of two pairs of male buddies. . . . Transglobal gunrunning, insurrection in a Malaysian rubber plantation, storm-tossed stowaways, mutiny at high sea, armed bank robberies, cannibalism under the streets of Paris and, of course, the infinite complications of unrequited love-all drive the reader from page to page. Yet it is Echenoz's voice, the most distinctive French voice of his generation, that holds us under its spell with its legerdemain of witty turns of phrase, inspired metaphors, fresh pop culture allusions, and the wackiest cast of characters this side of a David Lynch movie."-Washington Post Book World.