Apocalypse Baby

The filmmaker and author of the Vernon Subutex trilogy delivers “a terrific page-turner . . . a compelling punk, queerish spin on the noir genre.” Apocalypse Baby is a smart, fast-paced mystery about a missing adolescent girl traveling through Paris and Barcelona.

She is tailed by two mismatched private investigators: the Hyena, part ruthless interrogator, part oversexed rock star, and Lucie, her plain and passive—almost to the point of invisible—sidekick. As their desperate search unfolds, they interrogate a suspicious cast of characters, and the dark heart of contemporary youth culture is exposed.

Apocalypse Baby is an addictive feminist thriller that reads like shameless gossip from your smartest friend. Structured like a classic noir, this French novel exposes the rotten core of contemporary European society through the perspectives of several female characters.

Apocalypse Baby does not drift. It propels forward, hardly taking a breath. This is a book written to make the reader think, to challenge assumptions and provide no easy answer or understanding.